基于社区活动的自然保护项目优先度确定

准确选择项目社区及优先干预领域,是成功实施自然保护项目的基础。当前自然保护项目优先社区及活动的选择,主要沿用20世纪80年代早期形成的农村快速评估(RRA)和参与式农村评估(PRA)等方法,这些方法源于农村扶贫开发项目,倡导以社区为主的决策机制,但在自然保护项目中并不能很好地平衡保护和发展的关系,也无法突出自然保护目标和特点。本文在详细分析沿用传统参与式方法不足的基础上,综合考虑周边社区社会经济发展和自然保护区生物多样性保护的需要,结合参与式制图和参与式地理信息系统技术的研究进展,首次提出区位关系分析法。新方法以周边社区在自然保护区内的生产活动为分析对象,构建了确定项目社区和活动优先度的指标及算法。通过调查统计周边社区各类活动的频度f、强度s和面积A,计算社区对保护区的总体影响P,确定项目社区优先度;通过求算项目社区各类活动对自然保护区的影响Pj,结合同类活动对社区社会经济的贡献率Cj或对农户生计的重要值Ij,建立2×2交叉矩阵,确定项目活动优先度。除自然保护项目开发设计外,区位关系分析法可用于保护区的日常监测和管理,对提升保护成效具有参考意义和实践价值。

Identification of Priorities in Nature Conservation Programs Based on Community Activities

Identifying pilot communities and project priorities paves a way for successful nature conservation programs. China's protected areas, after over 50 years of development, are at a conjuncture from number increase to quality improvement. To enhance effectiveness, the major difficulty lies in how to coordinate relationships between local communities and protected areas. Methodologically, Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) formed in the early 1980s are still used in current nature conservation practices. RRA and PRA, originating from poverty alleviation and rural development programs, were designed to build community-orientated decision-making regimes. There are, however, puzzles in employing these methods in nature conservation programs, including: 1) problems existing in local communities cannot be completely reflected and resolved through PRA tools such as brainstorms and problem prioritization; 2) problems and activities prioritized in communities are always excluded during project design, so as to highlight essence and goals of nature conservation; 3) appraisal results are affected by competences of RRA/PRA team members. To overcome these disadvantages, we proposed a new approach named Location and Relation Analysis (LARA), in accordance with progress of participatory mapping and participatory GIS. In the LARA approach, local production activities in protected areas are primary objects since they generate perturbations to protected areas (P). To measure P, we define variables comprising activity scope/area (A), strength (s), and frequency (f). Algorithms between P and A, s, f are constructed using the dimensional analysis method. Meanwhile, dimensionless constant k is obtained through the area ratio of activities in different functional zones to all activities in the protected area and the weight of corresponding zones. We applied the LARA to nature conservation programs in this study, i.e., pilot community identification and project activity prioritization. Based on algorithms constructed, the total perturbation (P) of each community to the protected area is calculated so as to identify pilot communities through simply sorting the value of P. In pilot communities, the disturbance of each activity type is again calculated. Disturbance of jth kind of activity (P_j), for instance, is obtained through A_j, s_j, and f_j. Intervention priorities or project activities are determined in a 2×2 cross matrix, which combines P_j with its corresponding contribution rate to the socioeconomics (C_j) or importance value to livelihoods (I_j). The LARA integrates common interests of protection institutions with local communities through analyzing linkages between local communities and protected areas. Besides nature conservation program development and design, the LARA can be used for regular monitoring and management of protected areas.