title: Local perceptions as a guide for the sustainable management of natural resources: empirical evidence from a small-scale society in Bolivian Amazonia.
abstract: Research on natural resource management suggests that local perceptions form the basis upon which many small-scale societies monitor availability and change in the stock of common-pool natural resources. In contrast, this literature debates whether local perceptions can be effective in guiding the sustainable management of natural resources. With empirical evidence on this matter still highly limited, this work explores the role of local perceptions as drivers of harvesting and management behavior in a small-scale society in Bolivian Amazonia. We conducted structured interviews to capture local perceptions of availability and change in the stock of thatch palm (Geonoma deversa) amongst the Tsimane', an indigenous society of foragers-horticulturalists (n= 296 adults in 13 villages). We analyzed whether perceptions of availability match estimates of abundance obtained from ecological data and whether differences in perception help to explain harvesting behavior and local management of thatch palm. Perceptions of availability ofG. deversaare highly contingent upon the social, economic and cultural conditions within which the Tsimane' have experienced changes in the availability of the resource, thus giving a better reflection of the historical, rather than of the ecological, dimensions of the changes undergone. While local perceptions might fall short in precision when scrutinized from an ecological standpoint, their importance in informing sustainable management should not be underestimated. Our findings show that most of the harvesting and management actions that the Tsimane' undertake are, at least partially, shaped by their local perceptions. This paper contributes to the broader literature on natural resource management by providing empirical evidence of the critical role of local perceptions in promoting collective responses for the sustainable management of natural resources.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Metapopulation Research Centre (MRC), Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Álvaro
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Fernández-Llamazares
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Díaz-Reviriego
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Maximilien
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guèze
authors.affiliation: Metapopulation Research Centre (MRC), Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Mar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cabeza
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Metapopulation Research Centre (MRC), Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Aili
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pyhälä
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Reyes-García
keywords: Tsimane’; change perceptions; collective action; common-pool resources; local peoples; overharvesting