A Social-Ecological System Approach to Analyze Stakeholders Interactions within a Large-Scale Rangeland Restoration programme

• Published in: Ecology and Society
• Main Authors: PETURSDOTTIR Thorunn, ARNALDS Olafur, BAKER Susan, MONTANARELLA Luca, ARADOTTIR Asa
• Language: English
• Published: RESILIENCE ALLIANCE 2013
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC73518; http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol18/iss2/art29/; https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05399-180229

Large-scale restoration projects are normally part of a complex social-ecological system where restoration goals are shaped by governmental policies, managed by the surrounding governance system and implemented by the related actors. The process of efficiently restoring degraded ecosystems is therefore not only based on restoring ecological structure and functions but relies also on the effectiveness of the related policies, the relevant stakeholder groups and the surrounding socio-economic and political settings.In this research we investigated the SES system of rangeland restoration in Iceland to estimate whether social factors, like stakeholders’ attitude and behavior, can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of agri-environmental policies on rangeland restoration and improved land management. We used qualitative approaches, interviewing fifteen stakeholders. Our results indicate that social factors like attitude towards restoration and land management practices can be used as indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of restoration policies. They also strongly indicate that lack of effectiveness in the governance system of a SESs system can reduce the desired progress of policies related to large-scale natural resource management projects like rangeland restoration and possibly halt necessary paradigm shift among stakeholders regarding improved rangeland management. JRC.H.5 - Land Resources Management