V. Toward A Synthesis of Process and Methods for Understanding Conservation Behaviors

 

 

BACKGROUND

We have discussed the general process of un-
derstanding and influencing behavior in con-
servation and natural resources management,
and presented a synthetic model of the process,
based on a hierarchy of means and ends (Chap.
II). In our fieldwork we found that the first stage
of the process, assessment and research, is of-
ten neglected; therefore, to meet a need, we fo-
cused on this stage. We have broken the assess-
ment stage of the process into three steps: (1)
assessing the situation, (2) identifying critical
behaviors, and (3) understanding key factors
that influence critical behaviors (Chap. III). Ac-
tually carrying out the three steps of the assess-
ment stage involves using various methods and
tools of social research discussed in the previ-
ous chapter (Chap. IV). In this chapter we will
begin to put methodological "flesh" on process

"bones" by presenting illustrative examples of
how specific information-gathering methods
and tools can be matched with each step of the
assessment process.

TOOLS FOR ASSESSING THE SITUATION

The goal of this first step of the assessment pro-
cess is to identify relevant decisions, practices,
and actions involved in people's interaction
with their environment and to begin to investi-
gate the social and ecological context of those
behaviors. Chapter III discussed some of the
questions practitioners and communities should
ask, including questions about who is doing
what that affects the environment, where and
when they are doing it, and whether any envi-
ronmental trends result from those behaviors.

 

Who and What?

Because questions about actors and actions can-
not easily be separated, information-gathering
methods and tools often will ask Who? and
What? at the same time. A number of techniques
can be used, including background research
from secondary sources, direct observation, sur-
veys, interviews, focus groups, and community

 meetings. In the area around Ranomafana Na-
tional Park in Madagascar, for example, about
20 groups of actors in the natural resources man-
agement situation were identified using a com-
bination of methods (see Table 2). Some of
those groups have overlapping membership;
Venn diagrams can be used to indicate how the
membership of such social groups overlaps (see
Fig. 22).

 

Some information-gathering tools such as dia-
grams or matrices allow information to be or-
ganized and displayed while it is being gath-
ered during participatory activities like focus
groups or community meetings. Such tools are
often used by practitioners of participatory
methodologies like RRA and PRA. The tools
combine information gathering with participa-
tory analysis, and often allow quick insights into
behavioral motivations. One example, a dia-
gram of natural resources management activi-
ties by gender in Okambuga village, Namibia,
that was produced by villagers during a par-		 ticipatory rural appraisal activity, is shown in
Figure 10. The diagram indicates that men cut
trees and men and boys herd cattle, while
women collect firewood, wild foods, and wa-
ter. Figure 11 shows a matrix of user groups
and the uses they make of various natural re-
sources. The matrix was produced during a
rapid rural appraisal activity in the Koundou
Watershed, Fouta Djallon, Guinea. Note the use
of a very simple quantification technique-
placing varying numbers of beans or stones in
a given square of the matrix- to indicate the
degree of resource use by various user groups.




Figure 10. Natural Resources Management Activities by Gender, Okambuga, Namibia

Source: Cousins, Davids, and Wyckoff-Baird, 1994
Figure 11. Matrix of User Groups and Natural Resource Uses, Koundou Watershed, Fouta Djallon, Guinea



Source: Freudenberger, 1994, p. 39

Where?

Understanding which behaviors are relevant to
sustainability and understanding their social and
ecological context requires knowing something
about the spatial distribution or occurrence of
the behaviors that affect natural resources. Maps
and transects are the most convenient way of
representing such information. They can be pro-
duced using information-gathering methods
such as interviews and group meetings. Spatial
patterns of land uses such as agricultural fields,

 grazing lands, secondary forest, fallow areas,
or undisturbed forest are a summative record
of behavior as recorded on the landscape. Fig-
ures 12 and 13 show two creative ways in which
maps and transects can represent important in-
formation about resource uses. In Figure 12 the
control of- and responsibility and labor inputs
for- various resource uses are identified by
gender on a map from the Dominican Repub-
lic. Basic economic resource flows from a
household in Nepal are shown on the map re-
produced in Figure 8.

Figure 12. Resources Map from Zambrana, Dominican Republic, Showing Control, Responsibility, and Labor by Gender
Source: Rocheleau and Ross, 1993, reproduced in Thomas-Slayter, Esser, and Shields, 1993, p. 19


Figure 13. Transect from Kiboum, Cameroon, Showing Natural Resources and Land Uses

Source: Freudenberger and Gueye, 1990, p.31

When?

Understanding when behaviors that affect natu-
ral resources occur--their temporal, as well as
their spatial, distribution and occurrence--is
essential to understanding the context and rel-
evance of the behaviors. Information about an-
nual, seasonal rhythms is often most useful.
This information can be organized in the form
of seasonal calendars or timelines. A number
of social research methods, including surveys,
interviews, focus groups, direct observation,
and community meetings, can be used to gather
information. Figure 14 shows one such seasonal
calendar.

 

Figure 14. A Seasonal Calendar from Mbusyani, Kenya

Source: National Environment Secretariat, et al., 1990, p. 38

 

Trends?

Identifying long-term changes in the quantity,
quality, or level of use of natural resources is
one of the most effective ways of learning more
about the sustainability of decisions, practices,
and actions. Such long-term trends can show
whether behaviors are leading toward the deple-
tion and degradation of a given resource or
whether the level or quality of a resource is


stable or increasing. A historical matrix is a con-
venient way of representing quantitative infor-
mation about trends over time. Participatory
techniques such as community meetings can be
used to gather the information for this type of
matrix; many other social research methods,
such as interviews or surveys, can be used also.
Figures 15 and 16 show examples of the use of
historical trends matrices.

 


Figure 15. Historical Trends in Natural Resources and Land Use from Okambuga Village, Namibia

Source: Cousins, Davids, and Wyckoff-Baird, 1994

Figure 16. Historical Matrix of Resources and Land Use from Ndam Mor Fademba, Senegal

Source: Freudenberger, 1994, p. 40

TOOLS FOR IDENTIFYING CRITICAL BEHAVIORS

The goal of the second step of the assessment
process is to identify the most critical behav-
iors of relevant actors (including individuals and
organizations or groups at the local, national,
and international level) to target for mainte-
nance or change. In the previous step, an un-
derstanding of the range of relevant behaviors
and their social and ecological context was de-
veloped. This second step serves to refine the
assessment of the situation and identify behav-
iors to focus on. Practitioners and communi-
ties should ask: Which behaviors are the big-
gest threat or problem? Which have the most		 potential to provide for human well-being in a
sustainable fashion? Decisions, actions, and
practices with the biggest impact, positive or
negative, on ecological and social sustainability
are the most critical.

Identifying critical behaviors requires informa-
tion-gathering and analytical methods and tools
that can help practitioners and communities:

  • focus on specific behaviors rather than general categories of behavior
  • prioritize based on the impact behaviors have on sustainability
  • understand the feasibility of influencing relevant behaviors

Focus on Specific Behaviors Rather than on
 General Categories

One way to begin to identify which relevant
behaviors are really critical to maintain or
change is to get specific. For example, reduc-
ing the hunting of duikers with wire snares for
the commercial market may be critical for
sustainability, rather than reducing hunting in
general.

The matrix of uses, importance, and availabil-
ity of trees in a Namibian village shown in Fig-
ure 17 is an example of one tool for getting spe-
cific. This matrix was generated by a group of
villagers as part of a participatory rural appraisal
exercise (Cousins, Davids, and Wyckoff-Baird,
1994). Information for similar matrices could
be obtained using other social research meth-
ods, such as direct observation, surveys, or in
dividual interviews. The matrix gives informa-
tion about 10 important uses of 11 tree species.
The matrix thereby identifies specific behav-
iors such as "cutting omufyaati trees for fenc-
ing material" or "cutting omulunga trees for
craft-making," rather than the general behav		 ioral category "cutting trees." A simple quanti-
fication technique based on placing from one
to five dots in the cell of the matrix shows the
relative availability of each species (left col-
umn) and relative importance for each use (body
of matrix). Comparing availability and impor-
tance for various uses can give an indication of
which kinds of tree cutting are the biggest
threats to people's well-being. For example, the
omulunga tree was described as very important
(five dots) for making tools, crafts, liquor, and
as food; it is the only species used for crafts;
and it is also very rare (no dots, left column).
The local people who created this matrix com-
mented that because of the scarcity of omulunga
trees, craft-making is a threatened activity, de-
spite the fact that it plays a "very important part
in the history and income generation of the
people." Omuthakano trees, in contrast, have
only one use- as fodder- a use for which sev-
eral other abundant or not-so-rare trees will also
do. The information in the matrix thus shows
that reducing the cutting of omulunga trees is
much more critical for sustainable well-being
than reducing the cutting of omuthakano trees.

 

Figure 17. Uses and Importance of Trees in Omuthiya Village, Namibia



Source: Cousins, Davids, and Wyckoff-Baird, 1994

Prioritize Based on the Impact of Behaviors on Sustainability

Historical trend matrices generated by partici
patory processes, such as those shown in Fig-
ures 6, 15, and 16, represent a kind of indig
enous or local knowledge about sustainability.
Such trends matrices can give valuable clues
about unsustainable practices, and can help in
the prioritization process, although environmen
tal trends identified in this way may, in some
cases, need to be confirmed by more scientifi
cally rigorous ecological monitoring or impact
assessment.

Simple matrix techniques can be used to rank
or prioritize relevant behaviors, in order to se
lect critical behaviors to target for maintenance
or change. An example of the kind of pairwise
matrix that can be used to rank behavioral
threats or "pressures," in this case from the
Ranomafana National Park area in Madagas
car (Swanson, 1995), is shown in Figure 18. To
use such a pairwise ranking matrix, each be-
havior is compared with each other behavior
on the basis of some criterion-such as which
behavior is a bigger threat to, or opportunity
for, sustainability-and the most important of
the two is listed in the matrix cell. The more
times a behavior is listed in the body of the
matrix, the higher its ranking or priority (Na-
tional Environment Secretariat, et al., 1990).
Pairwise ranking can be done by individuals or
in large or small groups; results are likely to
differ somewhat depending on which of these
methods is used. In general, it is important to
involve different stakeholder groups in both
identifying the behaviors to be considered in
the matrix and doing the ranking itself. Com-
paring the results of pairwise ranking by dif-
ferent stakeholder groups can yield insights
about potential conflicts. In the Ranomafana
National Park example given in Figure 18, the

list of behaviors seen as direct pressures or
threats to the park was developed by staff of
the Ranomafana Integrated Conservation and
Development Project, and ranking was done by
project management or government agency
staff. Involving local people in both identify-
ing behaviors and ranking them as threats would
undoubtedly give somewhat different results.

Understand the Feasibility of Influencing Relevant Behaviors

Information about how common a given prac
tice or action is in a community may provide
some insight into how feasible it may be to in
fluence it. If most people in a community en-
gage in an unsustainable behavior, there are
undoubtedly good reasons why, and changing
it may be difficult. If no one, or very few people,
engage in a sustainable practice it may be hard
to increase its acceptance. A number of meth
ods, including direct observation, surveys, in-
terviews, or participatory group methods, can
be used to obtain information about how com-
mon a given behavior is. Matrices comparing
the frequency of the behavior in various sub-
groups within a community (rich-poor, young-
old, women-men, etc.) can give a more detailed
picture of the behavior. Simple quantification
techniques, such as placing varying numbers
of dots or beans in a matrix cell to show rela-
tive frequencies, can be used.

It is also important to find out where the locus
of control or decision-making power for a given
decision, practice, or action lies. Who decides?
For example, if commercial logging permits are
granted by the national government, then work-
ing at the village level may not reduce com-
mercial logging. If village chiefs allocate land
for cultivation, working with national policy
makers may not be effective in influencing
the amount of land cultivated. If individual women

 

Figure 18. Pairwise Ranking Matrix of Behavioral Threats to Sustainability in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar

 

BEHAVIOR

LEMUR HUNTING
CUTTING FERN TREES FOR POTS
CRAYFISH GATHERING
GRAZING CATTLE
HONEY GATHERING
SETTING BRUSH FIRES
TAVY AGRICULTURE
COMMERCIAL LOGGING
CUTTING FIG VINE SCULPTURES
BIRD HUNTING
CUTTING TREES FOR CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL
EEL GATHERING
CUTTING WEAVING MATERIALS
CRAB GATHERING

Adapted from Swanson. 1995

 # OF TIMES PREFERRED 

6
10
9
1
12
8
13
11
7
3
4
2
5
0

    RANK   

8
4
5
13
2
6
1
3
7
11
10
12
9
14

 

                                            

 

decide which tree species to cut for firewood,
women must be the audience for any effort to
influence firewood collection practices. Infor-
mation about the locus of decision-making
power, or the level at which a given natural re-
source management decision is made, can be
represented in a matrix like that given below in
Figure 19. Such a "level of decision" matrix
can help practitioners and communities under-		 stand how they might best try to influence a
given behavior: "By persuading individuals to
change their practices? by working through the
head of the family who has the most influence
over a given activity? by persuading the chief
of the village or village council to promulgate
a certain regulation? by encouraging the gov-
ernment to enact national legislation?"
(Freudenberger, 1994).



Source: Freudenberger, 1994, p. 58

TOOLS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE
KEY FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE
BEHAVIORS

The goal of this step of the assessment process
is to understand the determinants of, or moti-
vations for, the critical behaviors identified in
the previous step. Practitioners and communi-
ties should ask why people do what they do;
why they take certain actions, make certain de-
cisions, and engage in certain practices that af-
fect the environment. They need to explore a
range of factors that could influence or moti-
vate critical behaviors and understand which
perceived benefits and barriers are the key ones.

Three approaches to understanding key factors
were discussed in Chapter III, including the use
of the following:

  • checklists of potentially important factors
  • techniques for identifying perceived
    benefits and barriers
  • causal webs or wiring diagrams

Each of these approaches requires information-
gathering and analytical methods and tools.
Some illustrative examples are given below.

Potentially Important Factors

Checklists of factors that could potentially in-
fluence and motivate behavior (see Chap. III)
can be used to organize information gathering
at this step. Such lists could be incorporated
into decision trees or flow diagrams, both of
which are tools for systematically asking ques-
tions or gathering information, or they could
be used as a kind of script to guide an inter-
view, focus group, or community discussion.
An example of a decision tree is given in Fig-
ure 20. Flow diagram techniques designed for
use in gathering information about factors that
influence the behavior of rural households to-

ward biodiversity resources are described in a
recent report titled "A Framework for Affect-
ing Household Behavior to Promote Biodi-
versity Conservation" (Ferraro and Kramer,
1995).

Matrices using simple quantification techniques
like those described earlier could be used to
gather information about the relative impor-
tance of factors suspected to influence behav-
ior. Pairwise ranking matrices could be used to
compare and rank potential factors (see Fig. 18).
Asking about the causes of environmental or
resource use trends can give clues about which
factors may influence a given practice, deci-
sion, or action (see Fig. 15). Analysis of infor-
mation obtained from wealth ranking can help
to determine the importance of economic fac-
tors in motivating a given behavior.

Perceived Benefits and Barriers

If the behavior in question is practiced by some
people and not others, comparing doers and
nondoers-a kind of contrastive analysis- may
be an especially useful tool for learning about
the perceived benefits and barriers that influ-
ence the behavior, according to Susan
Middlestadt, a behavioral scientist at the Acad-
emy for Educational Development in Washing-
ton, D.C. (see Box 13). Interviews, focus
groups, surveys, and community meetings are
all ways of gathering information from doers
and nondoers. Matrices can be used to orga-
nize the information gathered. Comparing do-
ers and nondoers may reveal differences in
wealth, resource access, gender, or other fac-
tors that influence conservation behaviors by
acting as benefits or barriers. For example, poor
people may hunt for bushmeat, while rich
people don't; landless people may make char-
coal, while landowners don't; women may har-
vest palm fronds for making baskets and mats,
while men don't.

 

Figure 20. Decision free for Identifying Factors That Influence Behaviors and Selecting Strategies to Affect Those Factors

Source: Mapaad from the Flow Diagram in Analyzing Perlotmasce ProbLems, Mager & Pipe, Second Edition. 1984. p.3. Copyright© 1964 by Lake Publishing Company, Belmont, CA 94002.

 

Source: Graeff, Elder, and Booth, 1993, p. 73

 

Box 13 Comparing Doers and NonDoers to Understand Perceived Benefits and Barriers: An Example from the Health Sector

An example in which doers and nondoers were compared to understand perceived benefits and barriers to condom use comes from a study on "Understanding Women's Prevention Behavior," carried out as part of the USAID-funded AIDSCOM Project. Katherine Carovano and Susan Middlestadt compared Tanzanian women who said that they always use condoms (doers) with those who don't (nondoers). Doers and nondoers differed significantly on four measure of "perceived self-efficacy" - their perceived self-efficacy was evaluated by whether the women said they "know hoe to" actually use condoms, discuss using condoms with their partner, force their partner to use condoms, and refuse to have sex if their partner doesn't use a condom (Carovano and Middlestadt, 1993). These differences show that both knowledge and skill factors are acting as barriers to behavior change in this case. This understanding leads quickly to ideas about interventions that could lower those knowledge and skill barriers and thereby influence behavior.

 

Matrices can also be used as tools for compar-
ing the costs and benefits of various activities.		 An example from a village in India is given in
Figure 21.

 

Causal Webs or Wiring Diagrams

Venn diagrams can be used to "map" or repre-
sent the social organizations or institutions-
both local and at larger scales- that provide the
context for behaviors (see Fig. 22). These so-
cial organizations and institutions can be of all
kinds: governmental, private, political, eco-
nomic, religious, gender-based, ethnic, and so
on. Venn diagrams are most often created us-
ing participatory group processes. Venn dia-
grams of social institutions can be a prelimi-
nary step to sketching out the causal webs or
wiring diagrams of social system components

and their environmental linkages (see Fig. 7).
Level of decision matrices, such as that shown
in Figure 19, can provide additional related in-
formation about linkages and relationships be-
tween social institutions. Supplemented with in-
formation gathered using other methods and
tools, more complete diagrams can be devel-
oped, and these can be a source of important
clues and hypotheses about the key factors that
influence critical natural resources management
behaviors.


Source: Freudenberger and Freudenberger 1993, p. 20