CULTURE – what it is

1. Institutionalizing cultural values– lessons &challenges of integrating cultural values in protected areas management in Uganda

2. CULTURE – what it is Culture

3. Cultural Values Cultural values are • commonly shared concepts about right, wrong, possible or impossible, true or false and so on Find expression in terms of • Cultural heritage, Traditional knowledge, language, lifestyle, arts & crafts, aesthetic values, spiritual values. • Unwritten unrecorded

4. How these values are institutionalized • Often informal or bestowed onto individual • Believed and practiced on individual basis • Enforcement based on individual no policing • Punishment collectively undertaken and includes the ‘unseen’ consequences

5. Cultural values and conservation • Cultural values include meanings, practices, and behavioral patterns and shape attitudes • Context-specific conservation, empathetic to communities and their values • Partnership with communities can be better anchored by understanding and engaging with their values

6. Protected Areas • PA are seen as cornerstones of National & International biodiversity conservation strategies • Designated based on their biodiversity values and subsequently economic benefits • Have formal institutions with policies laws, guidelines, regulations and protocols • People’s cultural values and interests forgotten or least understood

7. Protected Areas • Yet often such landscapes are culturally and spiritually significant to local populations • Integration of intangible values of local people in PA management has been overlooked

8. What are institutions A set of rules governing cooperative human behavior. Term commonly applied to: • customs and behavior patterns important to a society • particular formal organizations of government and public service

9. Formalizing cultural values; challenges • Different parameters of defining ‘values’ – tested and proven versus ‘professional’ knowledge • Biased balance of power – national/international interests versus local needs • Failures in expressions and presentations – shy, powerless and hopeless

10. Challenges continued • Lack of clearly defined boundaries of jurisdiction over the resource/cultural landscape. • Un-defined community/groups managing/using the resource. • Rules that are not locally appropriate or devised.

11. Challenges Cotd… • Unclear, un-recognised rights to resources and rules about them. • Those involved in resource use not taking part in decision making about the resources. • Decision making taking place in offices that are inaccessible to resource users. • Lack of accountable monitoring and effective authority structures to meet expectations of the resources users.

12. Learning from Case-study session • Bring the culture question to bear upon the enquiries into community practices and associations with the landscape • Thorough understanding of rules and norms that communities follow and its implications for conservation

13. Learning Ctd… • Graduated sanctions should be devised for non-compliance with collective rules. • Conflict resolution mechanisms should be clear, accessible and rapid. • ‘Nesting’ local values in decision-making allows multi-layered resources management in complex systems

14. Learning Contd… • Engage with traditional structures However, • be aware of cultural politics, • ways by which communities could be asserting their power, • perpetrating inequitable practices, etc. Encourage and practice: • Open and transparent deliberations • provide spaces for negotiation and collaboration, not to intensify conflicts

15. Addressing Challenges • Understanding the concept, not a threat but a complimentary approach in the basket of other community based conservation approaches • Have targeted communication strategy to make the approach accessible and understandable to a wide variety of stakeholders • Anchor the approach in partnership with other institutions so that more organizations understand the approach and greater potential of it being effectively engaged with

16. Addressing challenges Ctd. • Requires rigorous field-level engagement to understand the nuances within and between stakeholders • It is time-consuming process to deliver results but starting with acknowledging and understanding local values often is the key to effective, long-term engagement with communities

17. Recommendations • The approach calls for open, transparent and accountable systems for dialogue and negotiations. • There is a need to think outside the ‘box’ – beyond PA boundaries and beyond the ‘enabling policy and legal framework • Need for constant reviews with respect to the context

18. Recommendations Ctd • Explore policy spaces within which the approach can be institutionalized • Possibility for advocacy through this approach, for inclusion of local communities and their values in PA governance • Re-think how to include the cultural values in the planning and management ‘instruments’ of Protected areas i.e. laws, policies etc.