Building local community commitment to wetlands restoration: a case study of the Cache River Wetlands in southern Illinois, USA.
Natural resource professionals are increasingly faced with the challenges of cultivating community-based support for wetland ecosystem restoration. While extensive research efforts have been directed toward understanding the biophysical dimensions of wetland conservation, the literature provides less guidance on how to successfully integrate community stakeholders into restoration planning. Therefore, this study explores the social construction of wetlands locally, and community members' perceptions of the wetland restoration project in the Cache River Watershed of southern Illinois, where public and private agencies have partnered together to implement a large-scale wetlands restoration project. Findings illustrate that the wetlands hold diverse and significant meanings to community members and that community members' criteria for project success may vary from those identified by project managers. The case study provides managers with strategies for building community commitment such as engaging local citizens in project planning, minimizing local burdens, maximizing local benefits, and reducing uncertainty.
Davenport
Mae A
MA
Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, 115 Green Hall, 1530 Cleveland Avenue North, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA. mdaven@umn.edu
Bridges
Christopher A
CA
Mangun
Jean C
JC
Carver
Andrew D
AD
Williard
Karl W J
KW
Jones
Elizabeth O
EO
D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D007087:Illinois; D017149:Private Sector; D017150:Public Sector; D045483:Rivers; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D053833:Wetlands