Topic Overview

This topic will introduce the concept and in-depth analysis of conservation governance through various case studies from different parts of Asia. You will learn about concept of governance, its key elements and apply this concept in conservation. Moreover, you will learn about different types of conservation governance, key elements and analyze its advantage and disadvantages. Evolution and analysis of paradigm shift in conservation governance in Asia will be explained along with its causes and consequences for conservation. Governance systems in forest and protected area management will be discussed through various case studies across Asia. New conservation governance system such as adaptive governance will be explained.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• Describe governance and its goals and apply this concept in conservation.
• Describe different types of conservation governance and analyze the driving force behind the change in conservation governance.
• Analyze the pros and cons, of the different types of governance; understand what make it successful in each category.
• Analyze conservation governance trend in Asia and its progress and challenges using different cases.
• Explain adaptive governance and analyze its benefits.

Required & Optional Readings

Required Readings

• Agrawal, A., A. Chhatre, and R. Hardin. “Changing Governance of the World’s Forests.” Science 320, no. 5882 (June 13, 2008): 1460–62. doi:10.1126/science.1155369.
• Delabre, I., Boyd, E., Brockhaus, M., Carton, W., Krause, T., Newell, P., ... & Zelli, F. (2020). Unearthing the myths of global sustainable forest governance. Global Sustainability, 3.
• RECOFT 2013 Community forestry in Asia and the Pacific: Pathway to inclusive development (Chapter 3).
• Juffe-Bignoli, D.1 , Bhatt, S.2 , Park, S.1,5, Eassom, A.1 , Belle, E.M.S.1 , Murti, R.3 , Buyck, C.3 , Raza Rizvi, A.3 , Rao, M.4 , Lewis, E.1 , MacSharry, B.1 , Kingston, N.1 (2014). Asia Protected Planet 2014. UNEP-WCMC: Cambridge, UK (Chapter 6).

Fundamental Concepts

• Topic 3.1 Introduction to the conservation governing system.pdf Download Topic 3.1 Introduction to the conservation governing system.pdf

Self-test Quiz (For certificate learning only)

After viewing lecture PPT presentation for this topic, take 10 minutes to take this self-test quiz. It is intended to serve as a quick check points of your learning progress about the factual content for this topic. Immediate feedback or answer key will be provided after your attempt. Click Self-test Quiz 3.1 to start.

Online Discussions (For certificate learning only)

Each week you will participant in the topic discussions of the week. The purpose of these discussions is to enable you to critically discuss and apply the core concepts you learned each week. Each online weekly topic discussion will include two parts: 1) your initial response to topic discussion questions posted by the instructor; and 2) your peer comment on other peer posts. Instructor will post one or two discussion questions related to the assigned module and topic every week. Response to these online discussion question and subsequent peer comment on these responses is mandatory. By doing this, you will enhance your knowledge through multiple perspectives posted by your peers. These questions will be focused on the most important aspect of the assigned module and topic and reflection on how you can apply these concept and tools from the assigned module and topic in your own context. For detailed requirements and grading rubric go to Online Discussions page.

To join the online topic discussions for this week go to Online Topic Discussion 3.1.

Graded Assignment for the Week (For certificate learning only)

Proposal for Term-Paper

This assignment asks you to write a proposal for your final term paper. You should select a case related to conservation issue in Asia of either a forest ecosystem or species or other conservation issues in Asia and write a proposal of 800-1000 words with 8-12 relevant/key references. In the proposal, you should illustrate a clear intention of the paper that you are planning to write with the justification of selecting the particular case along with detailed plan for completing their final term paper.  The main purpose of the proposal is to present a working title and detailed description of the paper so that an instructor can provide feedback, corrections and adjustments for the final paper. Doing enough prep work for the proposal will get you started on writing a draft of your final term paper.  For detailed requirements and grading rubric go to Assignment 1: Proposal for Term Paper page.