Colombia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, and broader societal participation is urgently needed to prevent ecosystem degradation, extinction of irreplaceable endemic species, and fair distribution of natural resource benefits. In rural Colombia, however, where biodiversity, ecosystem services, and local livelihoods intersect, pervasive inequity and social unrest has persisted for decades and challenged sustainable development progress. Nonetheless, in the midst of those difficulties, some rural communities have self-organized to integrate their livelihoods with biodiversity conservation. Examples of those grassroots initiatives are the Networks of Reserves of the Civil Society, known locally as "Redes de Reservas de la Sociedad Civil" which emerged 20 years ago as a conservation and development initiative in the Southern Colombian Andes and now boasts of more than 400 Reserves most of them owned by small farmers. These reserves play an important role in protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services, and many are officially considered part of Colombia's National System of Protected Areas. This research explores the factors that motivate farmers and rural landowners to strive for a balance between conservation and rural development through those grassroots initiatives, and to assess the effectiveness of these reserves in terms of conservation and sustainable livelihoods.
Considering biodiversity and ecosystem services as common pool resources in urgent need of sustainable management, the researchers focus on resource users and the governance system, two components of the theoretical framework for socio-ecological systems developed by the late Nobel Laureate, Elinor Ostrom. This research explores both socio-economic factors, the farmers' psychological characteristics, and personal social/professional networks. Elements of social-psychology theories of Value-Belief-Norm and Self-determination are incorporated to analyze decision making at the individual level. Social networks analysis are used to understand how structural properties of land owners' informal and formal personal networks influence social learning and participation on decisions for natural resource governance.
This study will provide new insights from the under-represented perspective of small rural landowners - information that can directly contribute to the design of public policies that advance both biodiversity conservation and community well-being. Improvement of rural livelihoods is vital to foster economic stability, food security, and better and diverse sources of legal employment; and ultimately, to advance the goals of social stability, national security and democracy. Results from this research will provide new insights on the factors that foster or hinder conservation and sustainable rural development.
