Posted on January, 16 2007

A Guide for Understanding, Evaluating and Improving the Links in the Context of Marine Turtle Programs.

Anthropologist Felipe Montoya and WWF biologist Carlos Drews present a conceptual framework and methodology for making the link between marine turtle conservation, community livelihoods and community well-being. This holistic approach considers community well-being as the interaction between a wide spectrum of objective community assets, on the one hand, and subjective perceptions regarding the satisfaction of fundamental needs, on the other.

Community assets include financial capital, as well as natural resources, built capital, social, cultural, political and human capital. Fundamental human needs include the organic needs of subsistence, protection of person and place, affection, and liberty of movement and expression, as well as the existential needs of understanding, participation, creation, leisure, identity, and transcendence.

The creation and implementation of a Community Livelihood Improvement Program (CLIP) involves:

1. Establishing a multi-pronged partnership, including the local community, the environmental conservation organization with external experts, and the government institutions with local authority, along with other possible stakeholders;
   
   
2. creating a community livelihood improvement plan based on a shared vision of who the community is, what it does, what it has, how it is, and where it wants to be; and
   
   
3. Implementing data-based management for effective decision-making. Three case studies from Latin America (Tortuguero, Junquillal, and Chiriquí) are included for illustrative purposes representing different stages of implementation of the CLIP. The document provides a road map for improving the integration of conservation efforts with progress in community well-being, that is relevant to natural resource conservation projects in general.

Cite this document as: Montoya F. & C. Drews 2006. Livelihoods, Community Well-Being, and Species Conservation. A Guide for Understanding, Evaluating and Improving the Links in the Context of Marine Turtle Programs. WWF - Marine and Species Program for Latin America and the Caribbean, San Jose, Costa Rica.