Environmental governance: A practical framework to guide design, evaluation, and analysis

Comparative analysis of environmental sustainability indicators: Insights from Japan, Bangladesh, and Thailand

This study analyses environmental sustainability indicators (ESIs) and explores their governance challenges in developing countries (Bangladesh and Thailand) and advances possible remedies in light of the practices of a developed country (Japan). A comparative analysis of countries' performance based on the ESIs could help identify useful practices from countries with high ESI to improve the poor ESI countries. While it is broadly understood that renewable energy and effective governance support environmental sustainability, our findings extend this knowledge by detailing how these factors interact specifically within the contexts of developed and developing nations. The analysis delineates the complex relationship between GDP growth, fossil fuel reliance, and sustainability efforts, offering a detailed examination of the variance in ESI performance across these countries. Beyond established notions, this study empirically validates the relationships between environmental sustainability (ES) and its influencing factors, providing a country-specific analysis that emphasizes the differential impact of renewable energy adoption, governance quality, and economic policies on environmental sustainability in Japan, Bangladesh, and Thailand. The results also revealed that Bangladesh's performance in terms of majority ESIs ranges from bad to worse, while Japan exhibits good performance in all its ESI indicators except for emissions. Thailand's ESI performance indicates its vulnerability to climate disasters and slow growth of renewable energy. The ESI measures of Thailand have shown its susceptibility to climate-related calamities and a slowdown in the rate of renewable energy implementation. A noticeable discrepancy in the execution of regulatory frameworks was noted between developing countries, such as Bangladesh, and industrialized ones, such as Japan. The outstanding results of Japan's ESI may be credited to the successful practices of its citizens and their strong devotion to the rule of law.

Governance hurdles for expansion of low trophic mariculture production in Sweden

The study examines the governance of low trophic species mariculture (LTM) using Sweden as a case study. LTM, involving species such as seaweeds and mollusks, offers ecosystem services and nutritious foods. Despite its potential to contribute to blue growth and Sustainable Development Goals, LTM development in the EU and OECD countries has stagnated. A framework for mapping governance elements (institutions, structures, and processes) and analyzing governance objective (effective, equitable, responsive, and robust) was combined with surveys addressed to the private entrepreneurs in the sector. Analysis reveals ineffective institutions due to lack of updated legislation and guidance, resulting in ambiguous interpretations. Governance structures include multiple decision-making bodies without a clear coordination agency. Licensing processes were lengthy and costly for the private entrepreneurs, and the outcomes were uncertain. To support Sweden's blue bioeconomy, LTM governance requires policy integration, clearer direction, coordinated decision-making, and mechanisms for conflict resolution and learning.

Introducing Elinor for monitoring the governance and management of area-based conservation

Monitoring the governance and management effectiveness of area-based conservation has long been recognized as an important foundation for achieving national and global biodiversity goals and enabling adaptive management. However, there are still many barriers that prevent conservation actors, including those affected by governance and management systems from implementing conservation activities and programs and from gathering and using data on governance and management to inform decision-making across spatial scales and through time. We explored current and past efforts to assess governance and management effectiveness and barriers actors face in using the resulting data and insights to inform conservation decision-making. To help overcome these barriers, we developed Elinor, a free and open-source monitoring tool that builds on the work of Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom to facilitate the gathering, storing, sharing, analyzing, and use of data on environmental governance and management across spatial scales and for areas under different governance and management types. We consider the process of codesigning and piloting Elinor with conservation scientists and practitioners and the main components of the assessment and online data system. We also consider how Elinor complements existing approaches by addressing governance and management in a single assessment at a high level for different types of area-based conservation, providing flexible options for data collection, and integrating a data system with an assessment that can support data use and sharing across different spatial scales, including global monitoring of the Global Biodiversity Framework. Although challenges will continue, the process of developing Elinor and the tool itself offer tangible solutions to barriers that prevent the systematic collection and use of governance and management data. With broader uptake, Elinor can play a valuable role in enabling more effective, inclusive, and durable area-based conservation.

Crisis and environmental governance decisions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons from European countries

This study investigates the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis on environmental governance decisions within publicly listed European companies. It utilizes a comprehensive analysis of publicly available data regarding these firms and check the environmental governance practices during the pandemic, informed by risk society theory which describes modern societies marked by ongoing risks and uncertainties primarily stemming from technological and scientific advancements. The regression and robustness analysis has been performed on how companies have responded to the crisis, specifically in terms of their approaches to environmental sustainability and governance. Covid-19 has a significantly positive impact on environmental governance (EG), with a coefficient of 18.73 and a p-value of .000. Other variables like human development (HD), size, and free cash flow (FCF) positively affect EG, while corruption (Corrupt) and leverage (Lev) have a negative influence. Robust analysis confirms the negative impact of Covid-19 on EG, with a coefficient of 18.46 and a p-value below .01, consistent across different subsamples. However, it also underscores the challenges companies have encountered in upholding their sustainability efforts amid the crisis. In sum, this research offers valuable insights into how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected environmental governance decisions, with potential implications for policymakers, regulators, and business leaders striving to advance sustainability in the post-pandemic landscape.

Co-Producing Narratives and Indicators as Catalysts for Adaptive Governance of a Common-Pool Resource within a Protected Area

The theory and practice of adaptive management and adaptive governance have been widely studied in the complex social contexts that mediate how humans interact with ecosystems. Adaptive governance is thought to enable adaptive management in such contexts. In this study, we examine four often-used principles of adaptive governance (polycentric institutions, collaboration, social learning and complexity thinking) to develop a framework for reflecting on adaptive governance of a social-ecological system-the Knysna Estuary in South Africa. This estuary is a priority for biodiversity conservation, as well as a common-pool resource central to livelihoods. We used the framework to structure dialogue on the extent to which the four principles of adaptive governance were being applied in the management of the Knysna Estuary. The dialogue included diverse stakeholders, from those who have the power to influence adaptive management to those most dependent on the resource for their livelihoods. Based on a combination of theory and current reality we then identified eight indicators that could be used to guide a transition towards improved adaptive governance of the estuary. These indicators were assessed and supported by most stakeholders. The main contributions of our research are (a) a process for combining theory and stakeholder dialogue to reflect on adaptive governance of a social-ecological system; (b) a set of indicators or conditions that emerged from our participatory process that can be used for reflexive monitoring and adaptation of adaptive governance of Knysna Estuary; and (c) a real-world example of seeking complementary links between adaptive governance and adaptive management to promote effective management of complex social-ecological systems.

A global perspective on the governance-health nexus

BACKGROUND

This study raises two key arguments: First, government health expenditure (GHE) and per capita out-of-pocket expenditures on healthcare (OPEH) are sensitive to contemporary good governance practices, giving policy importance to the exogeneity of healthcare determinants, i.e., governance for health rather than health governance. Second, it is the income level of countries that reflects the volatility of the governance spillovers on the subject.

METHODS

The present study constructs a composite governance index (CGI) and employs a set of panel data for 144 countries over the period from 2002 to 2020. To allow comparability and extract specific policy implications, the countries are classified as full, high-, middle-, and low-income panels. Meanwhile to delve into the short- and long-run effects of CGI on GHE and OPEH, the study employs the cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lags (CS-ARDL) model. Further, to establish a causal link between the variables, it uses the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality technique.

RESULTS

The results indicate that CGI is significantly cointegrated with GHE and OPEH in all recipient panels. It indicates that while CGI has significantly positive impacts on GHE and OPEH, its effects vary according to the income level of the underlying economies. The findings support the idea of governance for health and show that CGI drives the stabilization and enhancement of GHE and OPEH in the long run. Furthermore, the findings reveal that economic growth, the age dependency ratio, and tax revenue have positive effects, while the crude death rate and the child mortality rate exert negative impacts on the subject. Finally, the results highlight a unidirectional causality running from CGI to GHE and OPEH, while no feedback response is evident.

CONCLUSIONS

Although an increase in GHE and OPEH is associated with the improvement of the population's healthcare, the results suggest the recognition of the importance and institutionalization of good governance to streamline this improvement through effective channelization, outreach, and social environment development for extensive health inclusion.

Linking governance with environmental quality: a global perspective

Sustainable environmental quality is a global concern, and a concrete remedy to overcome this challenge is a policy priority. Therefore, this study delves into the subject and examines the effects of governance on environmental quality in 180 countries from 1999 to 2021. To maintain comparability and precision, we first classify countries into full and income-level panels and then, innovatively, construct a composite governance index (CGI) to capture the extensive effects of governance on CO2 emissions. Complementing the stationarity properties of the variables, we employ the cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lags model to analyze the data. Our survey yields four key findings. First, a long-run nexus between CGI, CO2 emissions, and other control variables is confirmed. Second, the findings indicate that CGI is crucial to improving environmental quality by reducing CO2 emissions across all panels. Third, we find that while CGI maintains a similar magnitude, the size of its effects substantially varies according to the income level of the underlying countries. Fourth, the findings reveal that energy consumption, population growth rate, trade openness, and urbanization contribute to environmental degradation, while financial development and the human development index are significant in reducing CO2 emissions. Our findings suggest specific policy implications, summing up that one common policy is not a good fit for all environmental quality measures.

More streamlined and targeted. A comparative analysis of the 7th and 8th Environment Action Programmes guiding European environmental policy

Environment Action Programmes (EAP's) are the most important documents defining the environmental policies within the European Union. Their implementation, over the previous 50 years, represented a significant advance in raising eco-friendly awareness and suggesting solutions for environmental problems in the European Union. In this paper, we used Institutional Grammar Tool and network analysis to identify the evolution of EU EAP's by investigating the most recent two programmes (7th Environment Action Programme and 8th Environment Action Programme), particularly in priority objectives, institutional statements, enforcement perspectives, and projected participation of stakeholders. We found that the EU's 8th Environment Action Programme (2021-2030) is further streamlined and target oriented as compared to 7th Environment Action Programme. Furthermore, institutional statements included in the 8th EAP will be implemented predominantly at the levels of European Union and European Commission. On the contrary, in the 7th EAP, the number of institutions, frameworks, and stakeholders is higher and often regional and local (e.g., European Union, Environment Action Programme, European Environment Agency, European Commission, European Parliament, Convention on Biological Diversity, regional authorities, local authorities). The close links of the 8th EAP targets with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the European Green Deal represent an important step towards a greater applicability of environmental policies in the European Union. Our study reveals that comparative analysis of legal documents using Institutional Grammar Tool and network analysis can assist policymakers in assessing the drafting of legal environmental documents and obtain indispensable information about the changes to improve environmental policies.

Mangrove management in Sri Lanka and stakeholder collaboration: A social network perspective

Understanding the extent of collaboration among stakeholders is key to supporting mangrove management. Despite the existence of robust policies, collaboration among stakeholders of mangrove co-management remains largely unexplored in Sri Lanka. This was partly due to the civil war, natural disasters, and other socio-economic changes over the past 30 years. Our study aimed to identify the collaboration between stakeholders of mangrove management and their perceptions regarding mangrove co-management in Sri Lanka using social network analysis and content analysis. Surveys were conducted in all five coastal provinces of Sri Lanka. Stakeholders included in the study were from government departments, non-governmental organizations, and private institutes. Our results showed that there were differences between coastal provinces in the mangrove management networks, specifically in the number of stakeholders involved and their degree of collaboration. Some important stakeholders (for example the Land Use and Policy Planning Department) were excluded from the social networks in certain provinces (Eastern and Western provinces). There were various issues hampering effective mangrove management such as inefficient communication, inconsistencies between policies, and insufficient financial capacity of government stakeholders responsible for policy implementation. According to the stakeholders in our study, providing mangrove management initiatives with long-term collaboration, post-care, continuous monitoring, and funding may help to overcome these challenges. Additionally, we suggest the establishment of a common platform to coordinate stakeholders. We further encourage increasing the participation of academics, researchers, and students from national universities in the mangrove co-management of Sri Lanka. Insights from this island-wide survey can be adapted to mangrove and other natural resource management trajectories in other countries as well.

Will China's audit of natural environmental resource promote green sustainable development? Evidence from PSM-DID analysis based on substantial and strategic pollution reduction

Countries around the world have become concerned about their responsibility to protect the environment and resources. In this paper, we established a model of multi-period PSW-DID (weighted propensity score matching- differences-in-differences) to test the effect of China's audit of natural resource. We found that: (1) local governments had a strategic incentive to reduce pollution, they paid more attention to environmental performance linked to individual promotion than to green innovation and development. (2) Compared with the long-term and complexity of water pollution control, they paid more attention to air pollution treatment. (3) In the long run, the environmental audit was indeed beneficial to the improvement of environmental quality, but the time of taking effect was the second year (one-year lag). (4) In addition, because of the contradiction between the neglect of human capital and the timeliness of environmental supervision, the local government did not show substantial pollution reduction. Therefore, local officials should foster the long-term responsibility consciousness of green innovation and pay more attention to the integration of human capital. The audit of natural resources should establish a long-term mechanism, which could establish a complete accountability system or change off-office audit to interim audit. The construction of audit big data platforms should pay more attention to substantive characteristic data, such as data on population inflow, which is not only a paper score of air pollution. This study can reveal the dilemma of pollution prevention and control in China, urge local governments to promote the rational flow of human resources, improve the innovation level, and achieve substantive pollution control and efficiency enhancement of green development.

Big events, little change: Extreme climatic events have no region-wide effect on Great Barrier Reef governance

Extreme climatic events trigger changes in ecosystems with potential negative impacts for people. These events may provide an opportunity for environmental managers and decision-makers to improve the governance of social-ecological systems, however there is conflicting evidence regarding whether these actors are indeed able to change governance after extreme climatic events. In addition, the majority of research to date has focused on changes in specific policies or organizations after crises. A broader investigation of governance actors' activities is needed to more fully understand whether or not crises trigger change. Here we demonstrate the use of a social network analysis of management and decision-making forums (e.g. meetings, partnerships) to reveal the effects of an extreme climatic event on governance of the Great Barrier Reef over an eight-year period. To assess potential shifts in action, we examine the topics of forums and the relative participation and influence of diverse governance actors before, during, and after two back-to-back mass coral bleaching events in 2016 and 2017. Our analysis reveals that there is little change in the topics that receive attention, and in the relative participation and influence of different actor groups in the region. Our research demonstrates that network analysis of forums is useful for analyzing whether or not actors' activities and priorities evolve over time. Our results provide empirical evidence that governance actors struggle to leverage extreme climate events as windows of opportunity and further research is needed to identify alternative opportunities to improve governance.

A Study on the Impact of Organizing Environmental Awareness and Education on the Performance of Environmental Governance in China

The advancement of technology and economic development has raised the standard of living and at the same time brought a greater burden to the environment. Environmental governance has become a common concern around the world, and although China's environmental governance has achieved some success, it is still a long way from the ultimate goal. This paper empirically analyzes the impact of environmental publicity and education on environmental governance performance, using public participation as a mediator. The results show that: the direct effect of environmental publicity and education on environmental governance performance is not significant; environmental publicity and education have a significant positive effect on public participation; public participation significantly contributes to environmental governance performance; public participation shows a good mediating effect between environmental publicity and education and environmental governance performance. The government should adopt diversified environmental protection publicity and education in future environmental governance, and vigorously promote public participation in environmental governance so that the goal of environmental governance can be fundamentally accomplished by all people.

Opening the black box between governance and management: A mechanism-based explanation of how governance affects the management of endangered species

Good governance is needed to foster good management of the environment. Yet, the link between environmental governance and environmental management has received very little research attention. This paper adopts a mechanism-based framework to unpack the link between the governance and management of species at risk or endangered species in a working landscape. Using species at risk management in the South of the Divide region of southwestern Saskatchewan as a case study, we identified four governance conditions connected by five mechanisms to produce management outcomes. The governance conditions include facilitative leadership, local autonomy, trust, and incentives. The five mechanisms include institutional disruption, institutional crafting and drift, brokerage or bridging, program uptake, and alleviation of fear of harm. We discuss how using a mechanism-based approach could help us better understand the processes within the governance system that trigger particular management outcomes. For example, in this case study, dissatisfied factors disrupt the existing governance arrangements and create new ones that reflect their desire for local autonomy. Local autonomy, in turn, creates an atmosphere for local actors to form coalitions and build trust; trust enhances program uptake and the co-design and co-implementation of incentives, which then alleviates land managers' fear of harm from participating in species at risk management. Our study also suggests that top-down institutions that create room for further institutional work can become acceptable at the local level and enhance endangered species management. We conclude that a mechanism-based explanation can be useful for opening the black box connecting environmental governance and management and offering valuable recommendations to guide policy.

Expanding narratives of governance constraints to improve coral reef conservation

To understand and address the failures of reef governance, it is critical to understand the perceptions of diverse policy makers and practitioners about the challenges they face in achieving their goals. Examining the discourse of policy makers and practitioners can reveal the extent to which these perceptions capture the full spectrum of potential governance challenges, including those related to management, institutional structures and processes, the values and principles underpinning governance, and the social and environmental context. We conducted semistructured interviews with 110 policy makers and practitioners across multiple sectors, scales, and contexts in Barbados, St Kitts and Nevis, Belize, and Honduras. We used thematic qualitative analysis informed by theories of interactive governance and governability to examine the challenges perceived by governance actors. Perceived governance challenges were broadly consistent across countries, but differed by sector (V = 0.819, F_6,60 = 1.502, p = 0.01) and by level (community compared with national) (V = 0.194, F_1,10 = 2.178, = 0.026). Management inputs and outputs, challenges relating to the socioeconomic context, issues of leadership and power, and stakeholder engagement were commonly cited challenges (>75%). Few respondents discussed challenges relating to the ecological context, governance processes, or the values and principles underpinning governance. We argue that examining perceptions can inform efforts to improve governance and assess the appropriateness of particular management tools under context-specific governance constraints. Furthermore, expanding the narratives of governance challenges to encompass the subtle values and images underpinning governance, and the scale of the challenges faced, can help identify a wider set of opportunities for change.

Blocked chains of governance: Using blockchain technology for carbon offset markets?

Information and communication technology (ICT) plays a critical role in environmental governance; however, research into power in governance has not focused on the impact of ICT. In this study, we analyze the use of blockchain in a voluntary carbon offset market using the “Four Faces of Power” (compulsory, institutional, structural, and productive) conceptual framework to determine how ICT can change the power dynamics within a network of stakeholders. Proponents have proposed that blockchain technology can solve several issues that carbon marketplaces and offsets face, such as cybersecurity, traceability, and financial liquidity. Despite these proposals, there is little scholarship on existing cases using blockchain in carbon offsets. We found that the use of blockchain technology by the company Veridium changed the compulsory and institutional power dynamics within the network of stakeholders it was a member of. Veridium’s choice to use blockchain technology was likely the result of structural and productive power dynamics surrounding the technology at the time. The power dynamics changed because the use of blockchain for Veridium’s carbon offset market caused additional stakeholders to join the network of stakeholders. The new stakeholders held greater compulsory and institutional power than Veridium. This research contributes to the limited scholarship focused on ICT and power in environmental governance. Empirically it contributes to the ongoing discussion around the possibilities of blockchain technology for climate policy.

Remote Sensing Monitoring of Ecological-Economic Impacts in the Belt and Road Initiatives Mining Project: A Case Study in Sino Iron and Taldybulak Levoberezhny

Under the Belt and Road Initiatives, China’s overseas cooperation in constructing mining projects has developed rapidly. The development and utilization of mining resources are essential requirements for socio-economic development. At the same time, the ecological impacts of the exploitation and utilization of mining resources have increasingly aroused the widespread concern of the international community. This paper uses Landsat images, high-resolution images, and nighttime light (NTL) data to remotely monitor Sino Iron in Australia and Taldybulak Levoberezhny in Kyrgyzstan in different development periods to provide a reference for the rational development of mineral resources and environmental management. The results show that the Chinese enterprises have achieved good results in the ecological protection of the mining area during the construction period. The development of the mine has caused minor damage to the surrounding environment and has not destroyed the local natural ecological pattern. The different NTL indices show an overall rising trend, indicating that the construction of mines has dramatically promoted the socio-economic development of countries along the Belt and Road in both time and space. Therefore, relevant departments should practice green development in overseas projects, establish a scientific mine governance system, and promote a win-win economic growth and environmental governance situation.

What’s governance got to do with it? Examining the relationship between governance and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

Deforestation continues at rapid rates despite global conservation efforts. Evidence suggests that governance may play a critical role in influencing deforestation, and while a number of studies have demonstrated a clear relationship between national-level governance and deforestation, much remains to be known about the relative importance of subnational governance to deforestation outcomes. With a focus on the Brazilian Amazon, this study aims to understand the relationship between governance and deforestation at the municipal level. Drawing on the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) as a guiding conceptual framework, and incorporating the additional dimension of environmental governance, we identified a wide array of publicly available data sources related to governance indicators that we used to select relevant governance variables. We compiled a dataset of 22 municipal-level governance variables covering the 2005–2018 period for 457 municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon. Using an econometric approach, we tested the relationship between governance variables and deforestation rates in a fixed-effects panel regression analysis. We found that municipalities with increasing numbers of agricultural companies tended to have higher rates of deforestation, municipalities with an environmental fund tended to have lower rates of deforestation, and municipalities that had previously elected a female mayor tended to have lower rates of deforestation. These results add to the wider conversation on the role of local-level governance, revealing that certain governance variables may contribute to halting deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.

Measurement and Spatial Correlations of Green Total Factor Productivities of Chinese Provinces

The measurement of green total factor productivity (GTFP) helps to improve environmental evaluation and to supervise environmental protection. This article establishes a system of assessment indicators (AIS) for GTFP and computes the GTFPs of 30 provinces of China from 2000–2019, using the evidence-based measure (EBM) model. Then, the spatial correlation between provincial GTFPs was analyzed and the convergence between them was discussed with spatial panel data. The main results are as follows: China faces a regional difference in GTFP. In general, GTFP descends stepwise from east to west. The 30 Chinese provinces vary significantly in GTFP. The high GTFP provinces are concentrated in the east, and the low GTFP ones mainly exist in the west. According to Global Moran’s I, an indicator of spatial correlation, China’s GTFPs bear prominent features of spatial clustering. The spatial clustering of China’s GTFPs has a significant impact on GTFP convergence. If this spatial effect is considered in traditional convergence models, the GTFP convergence rate can be measured more correctly. The provincial GTFPs show a significant absolute beta convergence, the rate of which reached 0.943% in the research period. Among the various impactors of GTFP, industrial structure and technical innovation significantly enhance GTFP convergence; opening-up and urbanization level significantly suppress GTFP convergence; environmental governance does not significantly affect GTFP convergence. Unlike the previous studies, this paper includes the spatial effect in traditional convergence models to obtain spatial convergence models. The GTFP convergence measured by our spatial convergence models was slower than that measured by the traditional model, suggesting that the spatial effect plays a significant role in GTFP convergence. In addition, this paper proves that the GTFP gap between Chinese provinces has narrowed gradually. This absolute convergence trend of GTFPs provides the key basis for the catch-up effect of the green economy. To improve the convergence of China’s provincial GTFPs, it is important to fully consider the varied effects of factors such as industrial structure, technical innovation, opening-up, urbanization, and environmental governance, and to formulate green development policies according to local conditions.

Social Acceptability of a Sustainable Forestry Industry in Puerto Rico: Views of Private, Public, and Non-Profit Sectors

Sustainable forestry is key to increase the adaptive capacity and resilience of regions exposed to extreme atmospheric events. Understanding social acceptability of forest management practices through a public dialogue that involves a diversity of stakeholders is important to define management policies and strategies. Here, we inquire about social acceptability of a sustainable forestry industry in Puerto Rico by convening a set of local experts from private, non-profit, and public sectors through focus group discussions. We presented three scenarios characterized by different elements of sustainability. Discussions included organizational and management considerations, potential products and markets, and the impact of extreme weather events. The results show that greater agreement was observed within groups than across groups. Most of the private sector participants valued mainly financial viability, while the public and the non-profit sectors gave more importance to social equity and environmental protection. This suggests that there is no single ideal model; thus, participation from all sectors in subsequent conversations would be worthwhile to seek a model that would work for most of the stakeholders. As a next step, we suggest expanding the stakeholder consultation effort to delineate a clear road map that can inform sustainable forestry planning at the local level.

Transforming fire governance in British Columbia, Canada: an emerging vision for coexisting with fire

The dominant command and control fire governance paradigm is proven ineffective at coping with modern wildfire challenges. In response, jurisdictions globally are calling for transformative change that will facilitate coexisting with future fires. Enacting transformative change requires attention to historical governance attributes that may enable or constrain transformation, including diverse actors, objectives, worldviews of fire, decision-making processes and power, legislation, and drivers of change. To identify potential pathways for transformative change, we systematically examined the history of fire governance attributes in British Columbia (BC), Canada (until 2020), a region that has experienced seven catastrophic fire seasons in the twenty-first century. By reviewing 157 provincial historical documents and interviewing 19 fire experts, we delineated five distinct governance eras that demonstrated the central role of government actors with decision-making power shaping fire governance through time, superseding First Nations fire governance starting in the 1870s. The emerging vision for transformation proposed by interviewees focuses on the need for increased decision-making power for community actors, yet legacies of entrenched government power and organizational silos between fire and forestry continue to constrain transformation. Although progress to overcome constraints has been made, we argue that enabling transformative change in fire governance in BC will require intervention by the provincial government to leverage modern drivers of change, including recent catastrophic fire seasons and reconciliation with First Nations.

Stakeholders’ Perceptions Concerning Greek Protected Areas Governance

In this paper, we are interested in assessing the Greek protected areas’ (PAs) operation, and in particular, to what extent the stakeholders engaged in their management consider that the “good environmental governance” criteria are met. Through the use of Q-methodology, we find that, despite the very different circumstances of each PA, the stakeholders’ views cluster around four distinctive main perspectives (or factors). Furthermore, we find that stakeholders do not consider, overall, that the Greek PAs management strongly meets any of the “good environmental governance” criteria, with particularly poor assessments on crucial governance aspects such as a shared vision guiding the PA management, the rule of law, and the effectiveness/efficiency of the procedures, which suggests that the environmental governance of Greek PAs is suboptimal at least.

A qualitative systematic review of governance principles for mangrove conservation

Management of mangrove ecosystems is complex, given that mangroves are both terrestrial and marine, often cross regional or national boundaries, and are valued by local stakeholders in different ways than they are valued on national and international scales. Thus, mangrove governance has had varying levels of success, analyzed through concepts such as principles of good governance and procedural justice in decision-making. Although there is substantial research on case studies of mangrove management, global comparisons of mangrove governance are lacking. This research aims to fill this gap by comparing relationships among qualities of governance across mangrove social-ecological systems worldwide. Through a systematic literature search and screening process, we identified 65 articles that discussed mangrove governance and conservation. Case studies in these articles, drawn from 39 countries, were categorized as top-down, bottom-up, or comanaged and thematically coded to assess the influence of eight principles of good governance in mangrove conservation success. Across all three governance systems, the principles of legitimacy, fairness, and integration were most important in determining conservation success or failure. These principles are closely related to the concept of procedural justice, highlighting the importance of stakeholder inclusion throughout all stages of mangrove management. Thus, we recommend clearly defined roles for all governance actors, transparent communication of policy development to stakeholders, fairness in both process and outcome, and careful consideration of sustainable access to conservation resources.

An integrative framework for transformative social change: a case in global wildlife trade

To achieve a sustainable future, it is imperative to transform human actions collectively and underlying social structures. Decades of research in social sciences have offered complementary insights into how such transformations might occur. However, these insights largely remain disjunct and of limited scope, such that strategies for solving global environmental challenges remain elusive. There is a need to integrate approaches focusing on individuals and social structures to understand how individual actions influence and are in turn influenced by social structures and norms. In this paper, we synthesize a range of insights across different schools of thought and integrate them in a novel framework for transformative social change. Our framework explains the relationships among individual behaviors, collective actions, and social structures and helps change agents guide societal transitions toward environmental sustainability. We apply this framework to the global wildlife trade-which presents several distinct challenges of human actions, especially amidst the Covid-19 pandemic-and identify pathways toward transformative change. One key distinction we make is between different individual actions that comprise the practice itself (e.g., buying wildlife products; private action) and those that push for a broader system change in practice (e.g., signaling (dis)approval for wildlife consumption; social-signaling action, and campaigning for policies that end unsustainable wildlife trade; system-changing action). In general, transformative change will require an integrative approach that includes both structural reforms and all three classes of individual action.

Drivers of ecological effectiveness of marine protected areas: A meta-analytic approach from the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean (Brazil)

With the rapid global increase in the number and extent of marine protected areas (MPAs), there is a need for methods that enable an assessment of their actual contribution to biodiversity conservation. In Brazil, where MPAs have been designated to replenish biodiversity, there is a lack of regional-scale analysis of MPA impacts and the factors related to positive ecological change. This study aims to quantify the magnitude of the ecological effects of Brazilian MPAs and test whether some study and MPA characteristics (e.g., taxonomic group studied, exploitation level of species, MPA area, protection time, management effectiveness, level of connectedness, etc.) were underlying factors associated with their performance. We conducted a structured search in a database of scientific articles, selecting comparative studies of direct biodiversity metrics inside and outside MPAs offering different protection levels (i.e., fully- or partially-protected MPAs) or within MPAs with distinct zones. We then carried out a meta-analysis based on 424 observations found in 18 articles. Averaged across all studies, we found that MPAs had a 17% increase in the abundance of species, length of individuals, and community diversity. When compared to open-access areas, fully-protected MPAs increased biodiversity by 45%. However, MPAs offering partial protection had variable effects, ranging from significant positive to significant negative effects. MPA effects depended on the taxonomic group and exploitation level of species, with the strongest positive effects seen on exploited fish species and benthic invertebrates. Partially-protected MPAs that reported strong positive effects required long time of protection (>15years) and high level of connectivity. Conversely, fully-protected MPAs (i.e., no-take ones) could be effective even when small, under intense fishing pressure in their surroundings, and regardless of their level of connectivity. We used the Brazilian MPAs as a case study, but these results can contribute to a more comprehensive assessment of the association between ecological impacts of MPAs and drivers of conservation success, and offer key information to consolidate MPA networks that sustain biodiversity.

Impacts of Decentralized Environmental Governance on Andean Bear Conservation in Colombia

Decentralized environmental governance has become increasingly common across much of Latin America and in developing countries more generally, yet the impacts of decentralization on wildlife conservation remain unclear. Decentralized environmental governance is thought to improve efficiency, local compliance, and democratic potential of natural resource management. However, wildlife conservation, especially that of large mammals, poses unique challenges in the context of decentralized governance: wildlife conservation is often expensive, requires large expanses of contiguous habitat, and often offers few economic benefits. We analyzed Colombia's decentralized environmental governance and its performance in conserving a contentious and border-crossing wildlife species, the Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus). We considered both decentralized institutions and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). This analysis is informed by 67 semi-structured interviews with conservation practitioners in Colombia. We found inconsistent program implementation across the country and little information exchange among institutions. These issues quite likely contribute to exacerbated human-bear conflict and thus more Andean bear deaths suggesting that the successful coordination of large-scale wildlife conservation may yet require the leadership of strong central institutions. A few international NGOs were working to improve Andean bear conservation in Colombia, but we saw little involvement at the national level of Colombian NGOs-some of whom felt they were being unfairly outcompeted by international elites. We recommend a greater engagement with Colombian NGOs (by both donors and international NGOs) as a means through which to ensure the integrity of Andean bear conservation into the future.

Successful Deer Management in Scotland Requires Less Conflict Not More

What would successful deer management look like in Scotland? To some, flourishing populations of native wild deer represent success. But to others, negative impacts such as damage to woodlands and peatlands, agricultural and forestry losses, deer-vehicle collisions, and facilitating Lyme disease spread represent failure. Conflicting interests and incentives among people involved in deer management mean a common definition of success, and therefore clear management targets, remain elusive. While some environmental groups urgently call for an increase in the number of deer culled (shot) each year, other stakeholders aim to maximize deer numbers. Overcoming this governance failure will require clearly articulated, scientifically valid, and socially acceptable socio-ecological objectives to be co-produced by a broad range of stakeholders. Systematic monitoring of deer impacts will also be needed to evaluate the ability of specific management interventions to achieve defined objectives. Reintroducing Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) has been suggested as a means to reduce deer numbers and their negative ecological and socioeconomic impacts. However, evidence of lynx impacts on deer numbers, deer impacts, and social conflicts over deer suggest lynx reintroduction alone would not effectively reduce negative impacts of deer in Scotland, though it could be part of a broader solution. In the short-term, achieving sustainable numbers of deer in Scotland will require a substantial increase in the number of deer culled and effective changes to the way deer management is incentivized, regulated, implemented, and monitored.

Land-use Decisions in Complex Commons: Engaging Multiple Stakeholders through Foresight and Scenario Building in Indonesia

In the midst of global change uncertainties, Indonesian spatial planning authorities are developing 20-year strategies. However, the lack of collaborative engagement of stakeholders and unclear methodology around using futures studies in addressing land management undermine such plans and affect environmental governance. A crucial question is how to link a future-oriented process with governance transformation processes, particularly related to land-use planning and management. To address this issue, we used a co-elaborative scenario-building approach, referred to as participatory prospective analysis (PPA), to facilitate the creation of local multistakeholder platforms considering future-oriented perspectives. The PPA design combines equally the knowledge of local communities, technical experts and decision-makers, and was applied in a series of sequential multistakeholder workshops in two regencies in Indonesia, followed by public consultations on the main results. In both regencies, participants agreed on a common topic related to spatial planning in their jurisdiction to be explored with a 20-year time horizon. They reached consensus on relevant variables, analyzed their dependence/influence, and developed several plausible yet contrasting scenarios for land management and road maps with guidelines for the implementation of desired outcomes. The PPA approach stimulated stakeholder engagement and ensured that more local voices were not only heard but also duly included in the process. It allowed participants to consider strategies that would otherwise have been less readily accepted by their respective organizations. It showed that it is possible to improve existing spatial planning processes in Indonesia by integrating tools for a more inclusive and long-term future-oriented collaborative approach.

Do governance indicators interact with technological innovation and income inequality in mitigating CO2 emissions in Belt and Road Initiative countries?

Environmental degradation is being studied by linking with various factors depending upon the interest of researchers. Our interest is in investigating how income inequality and innovation affect the role of governance in mitigating CO₂ emissions in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries because no previous study provides any thoughtful insight into this. We also included Gini and technological innovation in our model to check the interaction effect with governance. Therefore, to study our field of interest, we included 49 BRI countries, and the panel data covered ranges from 1996 to 2014. The generalized method of moments was used to estimate the parameters in our statistical model. Results suggest that governance managed to decrease CO₂ emissions in BRI countries in the long and short terms even when high-income inequality existed. However, in a government-technological innovation interaction and government-technological innovation and Gini interaction, the CO₂ emissions are increased.

Evaluating institutional fit for the conservation of threatened species

Recovery and conservation of threatened species require adequate institutional responses. We tested an approach to systematically identify and measure how an institutional framework acknowledges threats and required responses for the recovery of endangered species. We measured institutional functional fit with a drivers-pressure-state-impacts-response (DPSIR) model integrated with a quantitative text mining method and qualitative analysis of statutory instruments to examine regulatory responses that support the recovery of 2 endangered species native to Australia, the bridled nailtail wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata) and the Eastern Bristlebird (Dasyornis brachypterus). The key components of the DPSIR model were present in the institutional framework at statutory and operational levels, but some institutional gaps remained in the protection and recovery of the Eastern Bristlebird, including feral predator control, weed control, and grazing management in some locations. However, regulatory frameworks varied in their geographic scope and the application and implementation of many instruments remained optional. Quantitative text mining can be used to quickly navigate a large volume of regulatory documents, but challenges remain in selection of terms, queries of co-occurrence, and interpretation of word frequency counts. To inform policy, we recommend that quantitative assessments of institutional fit be complemented with qualitative analysis and interpreted in light of the sociopolitical and institutional context.

The MPA Guide: A framework to achieve global goals for the ocean

[Figure: see text].

Spatial Scale Mismatches in the EU Agri-Biodiversity Conservation Policy. The Case for a Shift to Landscape-Scale Design

Agriculture is a major driver of the ongoing biodiversity decline, demanding an urgent transition towards a system that reconciles productivity and profitability with nature conservation; however, where public policies promoting such transitions are in place, their design often poorly fits the relevant biogeophysical systems, decreasing the policies’ expected effectiveness. Spatial scale mismatches are a primary example in this regard. The literature reviewed in this paper, drawing from both ecology and policy studies, suggests to foster policy implementation at the landscape scale, where most functional ecological processes—and the delivery of related ecosystem services—occur on farmland. Two strategies are identified for coordinating policy implementation at the landscape scale: the promotion of farmers’ collective action and the partition of space on an ecologically sound basis through spatial planning. As the new European Union Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post-2023 is currently being defined, we assess if and how the draft agri-biodiversity legislation includes any of the strategies above. We find no comprehensive uptake of the landscape-scale perspective at the EU level, thereby suggesting that a powerful tool to overcome the CAP underperformance on biodiversity is being overlooked.

Waxing power, waning pollution: The effect of COVID-19 on Russian environmental policymaking

Like most countries globally, COVID-19 continues to have a demonstrable health, economic, and environmental impact on Russia. The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible ramifications for environmental quality in Russia during and following the coronavirus pandemic. Our work builds on the framework of Elinor Ostrom, as we argue that the pandemic and subsequent lockdown in Russia has highlighted the need for a more polycentric, de-centralized approach to environmental protection. We provide evidence for this point using a novel econometric strategy: given the tight centralization of environmental policymaking, we proxy for de facto decentralization using the amount of influence a regional governor has at the federal level. Using timely data on pollution in major Russian cities both before and during the pandemic, we employ an instrumental variable analysis which shows that pollution in a particular Russian region is negatively related to the amount of influence a Russian governor has at the federal level. Thus, the more powerful a governor is in their ability to set their own course, the better results they have in environmental quality. We conclude that Russia's environmental policy needs a fundamental rethink - and extensive decentralization - in a post-COVID-19 world.

Improvement Path for Resource-Constrained Cities Identified Using an Environmental Co-Governance Assessment Framework Based on BWM-mV Model

Global warming and extreme weather have increased most people’s awareness of the problem of environmental destruction. In the domain of sustainable development, environmental governance has received considerable scholarly attention. However, protecting and improving the environment requires not only substantial capital investment but also cooperation among stakeholders. Therefore, based on the network structure of stakeholders, the best–worst method (BWM) and modified Vlsekriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje method were combined to form an environmental co-governance assessment framework that can be used to evaluate the effects of various policies and identify strategies for further improvement through data analysis (henceforth the BWM-mV model). This mechanism is not only useful for evaluating the effectiveness of environmental governance policies but also for generating suggestions to enhance these policies. Hence, the BWM-mV model is particularly suitable for local governments with limited resources in time, money, or labor. Pingxiang City Government is currently subject to such limitations and was therefore selected as the subject of an empirical case study. The results of this study revealed that the aspects (i.e., criteria) the Pingxiang City Government should urgently improve on pertain to a high-quality information communication platform (C₁₃) and smooth joint decision-making by stakeholders (C₂₄).

Conceptual framework for increasing legitimacy and trust of sustainability governance

While the quantity of sustainability governance initiatives and systems has increased dramatically, crises persist over whether specific governance systems can be trusted as legitimate regulators of the sustainability of economic activities. This paper focuses on conceptual tools to improve our understanding of these crises as well as the facilitating factors and barriers for sustainability governance to play a role in transitioning to profoundly more sustainable societies than those that currently exist. Bioenergy is used throughout the paper as an example to aid contextually in understanding the theoretical and abstract arguments. We first define eight premises upon which our argumentation is developed. We then define sustainability, sustainability transition, legitimacy, and trust as a premise for obtaining effectiveness in communication and minimising risks associated with misunderstanding key terms. We proceed to examine the literature on "good governance" in order to reflect upon what defines "good sustainability governance" and what makes governance systems successful in achieving their goals. We propose input, output, and throughput legitimacy as three principles constituting "good" sustainability governance and propose associated open-ended criteria as a basis for developing operational standards for assessing the quality of a sustainability governance system or complex. As sustainability governance systems must develop to remain relevant, we also suggest an adaptive governance model, where continuous re-evaluation of the sustainability governance system design supports the system in remaining "good" in conditions that are complex and dynamic. Finally, we pull from the literature in a broad range of sciences to propose a conceptual "governance research framework" that aims to facilitate an integrated understanding of how the design of sustainability governance systems influences the legitimacy and trust granted to them by relevant actors. The framework is intended to enhance the adaptive features of sustainability governance systems so as to allow the identification of the causes of existing and emerging sustainability governance crises and finding solutions to them. Knowledge generated from its use may form a basis for providing policy recommendations on how to practically solve complex legitimacy and trust crises related to sustainability governance.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13705-021-00280-x.

Conceptual framework for increasing legitimacy and trust of sustainability governance

While the quantity of sustainability governance initiatives and systems has increased dramatically, crises persist over whether specific governance systems can be trusted as legitimate regulators of the sustainability of economic activities. This paper focuses on conceptual tools to improve our understanding of these crises as well as the facilitating factors and barriers for sustainability governance to play a role in transitioning to profoundly more sustainable societies than those that currently exist. Bioenergy is used throughout the paper as an example to aid contextually in understanding the theoretical and abstract arguments. We first define eight premises upon which our argumentation is developed. We then define sustainability, sustainability transition, legitimacy, and trust as a premise for obtaining effectiveness in communication and minimising risks associated with misunderstanding key terms. We proceed to examine the literature on "good governance" in order to reflect upon what defines "good sustainability governance" and what makes governance systems successful in achieving their goals. We propose input, output, and throughput legitimacy as three principles constituting "good" sustainability governance and propose associated open-ended criteria as a basis for developing operational standards for assessing the quality of a sustainability governance system or complex. As sustainability governance systems must develop to remain relevant, we also suggest an adaptive governance model, where continuous re-evaluation of the sustainability governance system design supports the system in remaining "good" in conditions that are complex and dynamic. Finally, we pull from the literature in a broad range of sciences to propose a conceptual "governance research framework" that aims to facilitate an integrated understanding of how the design of sustainability governance systems influences the legitimacy and trust granted to them by relevant actors. The framework is intended to enhance the adaptive features of sustainability governance systems so as to allow the identification of the causes of existing and emerging sustainability governance crises and finding solutions to them. Knowledge generated from its use may form a basis for providing policy recommendations on how to practically solve complex legitimacy and trust crises related to sustainability governance.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13705-021-00280-x.

Transitioning towards human-large carnivore coexistence in extensive grazing systems

In light of escalating threats to biodiversity, conflicts between humans and large carnivores in production landscapes must be resolved. We explore how interactions between humans, large carnivores, and livestock can be modified to promote coexistence. We identify four rationales for building coexistence capacities in extensive rangeland livestock production systems: (1) livestock production is a dominant terrestrial land use; (2) large carnivores provide critical contributions to ecological functions; (3) the persecution of large carnivores has high ethical, welfare, reputational and social costs; and (4) a growing body of evidence shows that lethal control can be counterproductive to reducing predation risk. Two key leverage points to foster human-carnivore coexistence are the adoption of preventive non-lethal innovations, and the creation of an enabling environment. Leverage points must be appropriate at the local landscape scale and contribute towards global efforts to conserve large carnivores.

Stakeholder engagement in the governance of marine migratory species: barriers and building blocks

Meaningful stakeholder engagement is important to collaborative decision-making and to effective polycentric governance, particularly when managing cross-scale environmental issues like those involving marine migratory species. In this paper, we explore the barriers to, and opportunities for, stakeholder involvement in the governance of threats to marine migratory species in eastern Australia, using semi-structured qualitative interviews and a focus group, as an example of the generic problem of managing migratory species within a large range state with multiple jurisdictions. Respondents identified several barriers to, and opportunities for, improved stakeholder involvement in the governance of marine migratory species, corresponding to 4 main themes: decision-making processes, information sharing, institutional structures, and participation processes. Respondents indicated that the governance system protecting marine turtles, dugongs, humpback whales, and non-threatened migratory shorebirds in eastern Australia would benefit from the introduction of new information pathways, reformed institutional structures (including environmental legislation), and improved participatory pathways for non-government stakeholders. Such changes could help harmonise the process of managing these species, leading to more effective conservation management throughout their range.

Improving marine protected area governance through collaboration and co-production

Marine protected areas (MPAs) socio-ecological effectiveness depends on a number of management and governance elements, among which stakeholder engagement and community support play key roles. Collaborative conservation initiatives that engage stakeholders in action research and knowledge co-production processes can enhance management and governance of MPAs. To design effective strategies aimed at reconciling biodiversity conservation and management of sustainable human uses, it is key to assess how local communities respond to such initiatives and identify the set of contextual factors, institutional, local and individual, potentially affecting these responses. This paper presents the approach and results of one such initiative, spanning 6 EU countries and 11 MPAs in the Mediterranean Sea, focusing on small-scale fishers as key MPA users. Through a collaborative project, managers and fishers agreed upon specific governance interventions (e.g. increasing stakeholder engagement, engaging fishers in monitoring activities, reducing fishing efforts) to be implemented in each MPA for one year. Structured surveys queried: MPA managers on the MPA context, governance structure, feasibility and effectiveness of the tested interventions; and small-scale fishers on their perceptions of the impact of the tested interventions on a set of 9 socio-ecological variables (e.g. amount of fish caught, level of participation in decision-making, support for the MPA). Results revealed that the interventions tested were relatively feasible, effective and cost-effective. Fishers reported positive perceptions of the interventions for the 9 variables considered, especially for level of support for the MPA and for those associated with aspects of governance. Proportional odds models highlighted perceived effects are maximized under certain institutional, local and individual circumstances (e.g. old MPAs, small fisher communities, and fishers with a high proportion of income from fisheries). Findings highlight that employing good governance processes involving stakeholders may rapidly generate improved local support for conservation and provide insights for potential leverage points upon which to act to maximize perceived effectiveness and enhance support toward MPAs.

Ways Forward for Advancing Ecosystem Services in Municipal Planning—Experiences from Stockholm County

This case study from Stockholm County, Sweden, explores practitioners’ experiences of barriers and bridges in municipal planning practices to support actions for ecosystem services. This qualitative study is based on information gathered from a focus group, workshops, and semi-structured interviews, which aided in identifying key factors for integrating ecosystem services in municipal planning. We identified 10 key factors divided into three themes: (i) regulatory framework and political support, (ii) local organizational capacity, and (iii) local adaptation of tools and practices. In particular, the practitioners pointed to the need for the development of legal support and regulations for ecosystem services on the national and EU policy levels. Furthermore, the need for local capacity building and understanding of ecosystem services as well as increased regional support to enhance local knowledge exchange and learning was emphasized. Also, in a decentralized local governance system such as in Sweden, to fully implement ecosystem services in urban planning for sustainable development, locally adapted practical tools and monitoring procedures were considered important.

Livelihood impacts and governance processes of community-based wildlife conservation in Maasai Mara ecosystem, Kenya

Community-based wildlife conservation (CBWC) programmes have been a pervasive paradigm in the conservation circles since the 1970s. The key elements of such programmes are that local communities are given ownership rights or custodianship and management responsibilities over wildlife, and that they gain social and economic benefits from conservation of the resources. However, to date, there have been only a few studies that offer in-depth analyses of the interplay between governance processes and livelihood impacts of CBWC programmes. Here, I conducted key informant interviews and focus group discussions in five wildlife conservancies in the Maasai Mara ecosystem in Kenya to address the following questions: i) What are the perceived impacts of the wildlife conservancies on livelihoods of the local people? ii) To what extent are the wildlife conservancies governed in relation to the principles of environmental governance? I assessed impacts on livelihoods by applying the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework to explore perceived conservancy-related benefits and costs (i.e. perceived changes in social, financial, human, physical, and natural capitals). I assessed governance by asking the respondents whether the following eight principles of environmental governance were applied: legitimacy, transparency, accountability, inclusiveness, fairness, integration, capability, and adaptability. Perceived benefits of participating in wildlife co-management were identified as: enhanced income from gainful employment and new business opportunities, membership to cooperative societies and participation in community work (e.g. school bursary and feeding programmes), enhanced social relations, improved access to credit and health facilities, enhanced physical infrastructure (schools, roads and bridges), improved physical security and coordinated sharing of provisioning ecosystem services like pasture and water. The principles of legitimacy, inclusiveness, and integration had reportedly been well implemented in wildlife co-management. However, the institutional mechanisms for sharing resources within the conservancies lacked transparency, accountability, and fairness, and tended to favour those who were politically connected to the leadership of the conservancies. Moreover, most of the conservancies had weak systems and few resources to facilitate delivery on responsibilities (i.e. had low capability), and had some costs associated with human-wildlife conflicts. For an improved co-management of wildlife to be achieved in these conservancies, local institutions should be reconfigured to allow active participation by conservancy landowners in decision-making, information sharing, and equitable access to conservancy-related benefits.

Just Transformations to Sustainability

Transformations towards sustainability are needed to address many of the earth’s profound environmental and social challenges. Yet, actions taken to deliberately shift social–ecological systems towards more sustainable trajectories can have substantial social impacts and exclude people from decision-making processes. The concept of just transformations makes explicit a need to consider social justice in the process of shifting towards sustainability. In this paper, we draw on the transformations, just transitions, and social justice literature to advance a pragmatic framing of just transformations that includes recognitional, procedural and distributional considerations. Decision-making processes to guide just transformations need to consider these three factors before, during and after the transformation period. We offer practical and methodological guidance to help navigate just transformations in environmental management and sustainability policies and practice. The framing of just transformations put forward here might be used to inform decision making in numerous marine and terrestrial ecosystems, in rural and urban environments, and at various scales from local to global. We argue that sustainability transformations cannot be considered a success unless social justice is a central concern.