USAID Democracy Human Rights and Governance and Biodiversity Conservation Linkages

Strong linkages exist between good governance and biodiversity conservation, as both focus on improving the collective good and require the participation of local communities in decision making and management. Better governance, conservation, and natural resource management all share a common goal of improving the collective good. Good governance and biodiversity conservation require the participation of local communities in decision making and management, and where governance institutions are seen as legitimate, transparent, and effective, people are more likely to follow the rules and regulations set by these institutions. Combining collective action, natural resource management, and good governance can provide incentives for individuals and groups to manage natural resources in more sustainable ways. USAID democracy, human rights, and governance (DRG) staff place primary importance on democratic values and citizen-centered governance. However, many living in historically authoritarian countries face limited freedoms and a restricted space for independent civil society. In this context, USAID seeks to motivate and support democratization that is entwined with improving livelihoods. Natural resource management and conservation are good entry points for strengthening governance and civil society because they focus on issues and concerns central to the livelihoods and wellbeing of a large part of the population in many countries where USAID works. At least 1.6 billion people worldwide rely on forests for some part of their livelihood, and about 2.6 billion people in developing countries depend on fish for protein and/or income. The poor management of both forests and fisheries means that these resources will not meet human demand over the long term, compromising global food security and straining the resilience of these systems and society. Unbridled exploitation is also leading to unprecedented rates of species extinction, threatening the ability of families to lift themselves out of extreme poverty and communities to protect against economic or environmental shocks. Power has numerous dimensions and operates at all levels, from the household to the global scale. Social sustainability and improved governance involve understanding power, resulting inequalities, and crafting explicit strategies to enable stakeholders with different levels of power to communicate and work together in a way that does not harm the less powerful. At the local scale, inequalities among stakeholders contribute to elite capture, conflict, and lack of collective action. Political economy analysis (PEA) can be a useful tool to gain greater insight into power dynamics that affect natural resource management at the regional, country, and community levels. Conservation and natural resource management initiatives benefit greatly from partnership with DRG programs and partners to reinforce the importance of good governance, transparency, and the rule of law to society as a whole and to conservation and natural resource management specifically. Key DRG concepts such as the rule of law, civil society strengthening, judicial strengthening, accountability, transparency, and human rights can be applied in the context of biodiversity. Many biodiversity conservation projects support actions that increase the authority of, or devolution of management to, local communities and institutions, which can decrease dependence on higher-order institutions and expand options for community self-sufficiency. Integrated approaches to natural resource management and good governance include the Nature, Wealth, and Power (NWP) framework, decentralization, co-management, property rights, and resource tenure. The NWP framework posits that conservation outcomes are influenced by how biodiversity and natural resources are used to generate and sustain livelihoods and economic growth, and by governance of land and resources. This framework recognizes the role of rights, institutions, and policies in resources for development and the influence of power and decision-making in determining who benefits from resource management. Decentralization, or the transfer of power and authority to representative local actors and institutions, is one approach through which governments devolve control over natural resource management. Co-management describes situations in which governments share rights and responsibilities with resource users. Common property resources are resources that are owned and managed by communities, societies, or nations. Well-written natural resource policies can help to clarify ownership, management, use, and benefits, minimizing overexploitation of natural resources. Additional power dynamics related to natural resource management include property rights and resource tenure regimes, such as the right to manage and benefit from land, fish, trees, wildlife, and water. Land or marine tenure is the institutional structure that determines how individuals and groups secure access to lands, oceans, or resources. Tenure rules define the ways in which property rights to land and natural resources are allocated, transferred, used, or managed and can be held by individuals, communities, governments, or other groups. When individuals and communities have secure rights to land and resources, incentives shift in positive directions. Rather than poach or overuse, people with secure land and resource rights have incentives to conserve resources; people are better able to capture future investment returns. Efforts to address land and marine tenure issues also offer an avenue to contribute to strengthened governance and accountable, inclusive, and responsive institutions through addressing issues that underlie or trigger conflict or violence. Stronger land and marine tenure can contribute to