ABSTRACT Comparative Ecosystem Management and Local Participation: From the Caribbean to the Bearing Sea This study assesses the effectiveness of local participation in the process and institutions of ecosystem management. Comparative methods are employed to examine a variety of successful, unsuccessful and developing cases in the Eastern Caribbean and Alaska involving multiple jurisdictions, diverse stakeholders, conflicting and uncertain property rights, and a variety of international, national and local political entities. The research tests the proposition that managing successfully for sustainability requires substantive local participation at all stages of the process, from the initial gathering of information, top the building of institutions, to the assessment of actual practices. By focusing on the types and effectiveness of participation by locally affected groups in cases that have already proven successful or unsuccessful, the study will provide valuable lessons for currently unfolding Arctic regional project such as the proposed Bering Sea region international heritage park.
