How does decentralisation of government affect conservation implementation?

Many countries have signed various international treatises and agreements that aim for environmental protection and sustainable development. However, these goals are still somewhat unattainable, particularly for developing... [ view full abstract ]

Many countries have signed various international treatises and agreements that aim for environmental protection and sustainable development. However, these goals are still somewhat unattainable, particularly for developing countries that continue to struggle to balance people’s demands for development, and the need for and reliance on healthy ecosystems. Moreover, despite the great support for conservation in developing countries, success of protected areas still largely depend on governance and the supporting structures underpinning effective implementation. And although integrated approaches and more inclusive institutional arrangements have been recommended for governing protected areas, certain shifts in policies, decision-making processes and network organisation can also influence conservation implementation. Hence in this talk, we present how protected areas evolved in a developing country context that changed from a centralised to decentralised government system. Using the municipality of El Nido in the Philippines as a case study, we describe how conservation and resource management efforts have evolved, and how donor driven initiatives and structural reforms in the country’s governance system have catalysed or impeded conservation initiatives. We hope that the lessons and proposed mechanisms in this study be considered to facilitate better alignment and integration of existing policies, and structural reforms in order to properly implement conservation initiatives in El Nido, the Philippines, and other countries who have shifted to a decentralised policy.