The IMEW Project
Integrated Management of European Wetlands
The IMEW ProjectIntegrated Management of European Wetlands |
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Conserving biologically diverse areas is a widely accepted ethos. Yet the views of the people living within these areas are often not consulted before policy is drafted. This sometimes leads to implementation difficulties. The Integrated Management of European Wetlands Project (IMEW) is investigating the conflict between wildlife conservation and local livelihoods.
The areas under investigation are the Danube Delta (Romania), Kerkini Lake (Greece), Nemunas Delta (Lithuania) and the Saimaa Lakes (Finland). For each of those areas, the IMEW project set out to understand the role of people in relation to biodiversity conservation. The research focussed on perceptions of nature among adults and children; the informal and formal social institutions that mediate between people and natural resource use; and local people's livelihoods and the development of responsible tourism.
The finding that people who live in these wetlands feel marginalised by conservation biologists and policy makers. Inhabitants' knowledge, perceptions and views concerning the natural environment are not taken seriously. They also feel that their own needs for clean water, sewage, transport, health and social services appear to matter little to policy makers who prefer to focus on conservation issues. Despite the frequently negative appraisal of those who make and contribute to conservation policy, local people are not against the general principles underlying nature conservation. We have found that positive attitudes towards the environment and optimism for future environmental care are certainly present among young children in the wetland areas studied. Local people want a more collaborative approach through which they can negotiate respectful partnerships, together with workable programmes to address social and economic issues.
Local people would like to host visitors in their homes and/or tavernas but require tourism training. These local entrepreneurs would like to work with conservationists and local governments to develop responsible tourism, but require financial support to begin this partnership. Infrastructure improvements are critical to the development of responsible tourism. It should also be mentioned that many local people regard tourism as the sole hope for the future in terms of making a living in the future. This is because of the decline of fish stocks or constraints on fishing and other livelihoods imposed through conservation regulation.
The most effective conservation projects occur when led by locally respected, strong personalities. From this finding it would appear that much greater transparency is required between scientists, policy makers and local populations and more respect paid to the input from local natural resource user.
