Index | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 |
Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Appendix | Literature Cited
Chapter Five: Discussion
Challenges to the success of protected areas (PAs) begin before their establishment as legally demarcated sites for biodiversity conservation. For example, when the impetus for creation of a PA is a reaction to some environmentally destructive aspect(s) of the dynamic relationship between human productive activity and the natural resource base. In Latin America, gross inequity of access to resources underlies much environmental destruction (Painter and Durham 1995) and thus interferes with conservation goals of participatory PAs. Ultimately, widespread conservation in PAs must involve examination of political, ecological and other related aspects of inequity with sensitivity to local residents' perspectives so that they might be assets through participation.
Productive local resident participation in the process of conservation is a necessary component when people live in or near the proposed PA, which is essentially true everywhere in the 20th century. An ideal participatory process might begin with the identification of all relevant stakeholders and progress to decision-making discussions that includes the stakeholders. For conservation goals, status quo and political reasons, however, participation does not always begin at this point, which can hamper an ideal participatory process, but does not necessarily spell failure.
The rush to save fast disappearing resources, recognized by biologists, governments and NGOs, sometimes calls for immediate action without regard for local residents or user groups. When people become aware of changes being imposed on their lives or activities, it is not surprising that resentment and tensions rise. At this point, when tensions are high, local residents may be motivated to demand input or threaten noncompliance. It is also at this point that local resident opinions and needs are often allowed to be heard. The chronology of NPPI follows this pattern.
Local resident involvement can be a productive and important element at later stages of development. I argue that this can be the case in NPPI if certain measures are taken at this juncture. Experience has demonstrated that local resident involvement is critical in long-term conservation success. Therefore, strengthening local resident involvement in the management plans being developed for NPPI should contribute to the long-term conservation success of the area.
No matter what the timing of initial community participation, it is an important and complex process. It is also a time-consuming process, which is why it is not always or should not always be accomplished in initial phases. It is complicated because economic, cultural and social roles, among other variables, differ among individuals and affect their views of what is important. One goal of including people in the process of biodiversity conservation is to bulwark their futures so that the probability of achieving conservation of tropical forests or marine areas and the flora and fauna within these areas is strengthened. The search for local knowledge and behavior in relation to a PA are critical in working towards participation.
The goal of analysis of quantitative and qualitative data collected in the field in Honduras was to provide one perspective on involving local residents in the processes of conservation and management of NPPI. The general question was ìHow do the people living in the core and buffer zones of NPPI feel about imminent changes related to its establishmentî? By asking specifically about their attitudes, expectations and knowledge I hoped to achieve a better understanding of the situation to make appropriate recommendations for participatory management and conservation of NPPI. Hopefully this story will contribute to the growing body of experience in participatory conservation in PAs.
Attitudes, Expectations and Knowledge about Punta Izopo
Attitudes and Expectations
The mean scores of the semantic differentials (SD) (6.39 of 7 and 6.51 of 7) indicate positive attitudes towards NPPI and conservation, respectively. The relatively high reliability scores for SD One (0.689) and SD Two (0.513), according to a Pearson's reliability correlation, indicate that responses to these questions would likely be similar if the questions were repeated. Thus, some aspects of statistical analysis on data collected in the field point to a positive start for NPPI as a site of participatory conservation. However, a noteworthy difference exists between interview data and general interactions with people in the communities. Conversations with many community members, especially GarÌfuna, revealed strong dislike and fear of NPPI. These sentiments may reflect upon historical experiences of difficulty with government programs, which NPPI is overwhelmingly seen as, or lack of information on its specific impacts on resource use. It will be important to keep these comments in mind as the organization of NPPI progresses.
The high mean score for the LS (3.76 of 5) is another positive attribute for potential local resident involvement. The reliability score of 0.274 for the LS indicates that there are wide ranges of expectations for NPPI, or the interview questions were not well understood.
It is interesting that the least positive scores on the LS are consistent with the negative statements (numbers 1, 5, 7 and 10). When presented with negatively phrased statements, interviewees stated the lowest mean expectations. Conversely, all mean scores for the positively worded statements were higher. Thus it seems that the phrasing of statements has some impact on the trend of answers.
The presence of multiple concepts in the LS statements may explain this instrument's low reliability score. Concepts addressed in LS statements included NPPI's impact on the futures of interviewees children, its impacts on livelihoods and its impacts on wildlife abundance. The wide range of concepts creates more room for individual interpretation, which may be influenced by a myriad of factors unique to each individual, such as age, social role, stage in life cycle and land tenure status, to name a few. In contrast, the SDs requested a response to a single concept--NPPI or conservation. I believe that the many possible influences create a wide range of responses and thus low reliability for the LS.
Ladinos indicated more statistically significant positive attitudes towards NPPI than did GarÌfuna according to a two sample Student's T-test and the Kruskal-Wallis Test. This could be tied to the fact that the GarÌfuna lifestyle is more closely tied to resource extraction within the area of NPPI. As a group, GarÌfuna depend significantly on fish and coconuts for household consumption and sale and on cane and palm fronds for construction. Ladinos in the area use these resources as well, but appear to rely more heavily on agricultural products from markets, industrial jobs not as directly related to natural resources from NPPI and cattle ranching mostly outside of the park limits.
Figures 5.1 and 5.2 illustrate job categories by culture group. The largest category in both culture groups is Agriculture/Cattle/Fishing. These jobs were combined based on the criteria that all involve direct natural resource use. Agriculture is common to both culture groups, but cattle is almost exclusive to the ladino communities and fishing to the GarÌfuna community.
There are three or four head of cattle owned by a GarÌfuna man in Triunfo, but most residents buy milk from ladinos or in town. An explanation for the absence of cattle in Triunfo was given to me by a GarÌfuna woman. She said that the GarÌfuna are afraid of cattle and that they do not typically have sufficient land for grazing purposes. Their traditionally coastal location provides an alternative source of livelihood production--fishing. Observation confirmed that most often GarÌfuna men were responsible for the activity of fishing while ladinos mainly acquired fish through purchase.
Thus, although the natural resource use job category is an agglomeration, there is a fairly well defined cultural differentiation between cattle and fishing activities. If GarÌfuna perceive more of a threat to maintenance of their extractive livelihood based on fishing and agriculture (33.1%) as a result of NPPI, it may explain why they have more negative attitudes towards it. Ladinos may feel less of a threat to their livelihood resources because they rely more heavily upon cattle and agriculture (37.5%).
A surprising result of employment categories was that although GarÌfuna reported nearly 20% incidence of tourism-related jobs, their attitudes of NPPI were less positive than those of ladinos who reported zero first response incidence of tourism-related employment. This would seem to indicate either a lack of association of NPPI with tourism on the part of GarÌfuna or more skepticism about tourism. The latter is more likely given responses to LS statement two and five, related to tourism, and high visibility of GarÌfuna involved in tourism.
Several GarÌfuna men and women stated that the community is in need of training in order to benefit from the growing tourism. They stated that without such training, people are getting involved in businesses related to tourism and are losing money or experiencing problems that have potentially far reaching negative implications (a tourist's story of a bad experience in Triunfo on the Internet, for example). Others simply voiced concern over the influence on younger generations. Outsiders coming into the community with different cultural views and attributes are seen as contributing to a loss of pride and interest in traditional GarÌfuna culture among the youth. Thus, the tourism associated with NPPI stirs mixed sentiments and may influence GarÌfuna residents' attitudes towards the PA.
Between ladinos and GarÌfuna, expectations as measured by LS, were lower for GarÌfuna This may be a further indication of historical experience coming to bear on a current event. The inefficiency of government and inequity of resource distribution in Honduras were mentioned on multiple occasions by both GarÌfuna and ladinos. Proposed National Park Punta Izopo may be viewed as another opportunity for distant or unconnected bureaucrats to impose decisions on people in the area who depend on the terrestrial and marine resources. Top-down practices have been common and have produced few positive changes for the poor majority.
Another possible contribution to the GarÌfunas' lower expectations is their experience with the Marbella tourist housing project on the eastern edge of Triunfo. Investors from San Pedro Sula bought this prime coastal land for below market-value prices and have subsequently installed fences (La Tribuna 1997). These events have created significant tension in the community.
First, this project represents a loss of agricultural land as well as employment opportunities. As the development of the tourist complex progresses, Triunfo community members face the reality that they have lost agricultural production space and are not being employed in the construction as promised, while ladinos are hired.
Secondly, fences are not traditionally part of the Garifuna property rights regime and are viewed as interfering with community cohesion. Historically, land and wildlife resources in the community have been based on unwritten but commonly understood property rights, which do not include demarcation with fences.1 My interpretation is that the erection of fences is a violation of traditional property rights that erodes trust promoted by the system and thus contributes to a deterioration of community cohesion.
Furthermore, the legality of the land acquisition has come into question. Former minister of the environment, Dr. Carlos Medina, is quoted as saying that environmental license to build was halted when the conflicts over land acquisition were realized (La Tribuna 1997). Yet, more recently, the license was granted. Thus, on multiple levels this project is a source of growing conflict for the community, centering around lost subsistence abilities, forgone employment opportunities and erosion of community cohesion. Unfortunately, this commercial development project is not likely to be halted and its confusion with NPPI is extremely dangerous to conservation goals. Because the GarÌfuna are physically closer, have unfairly lost land, are not being employed by the project and reportedly face serious threats if they oppose it, it is not surprising that their expectations of NPPI are lower than those of ladinos. This is especially true given the confusion about the two projects that exists.
Comparative Study in Costa Rica and Panama
A comparative study of attitudes towards and expectations for the Biosphere Reserve La Amistad conducted in Costa Rica and Panama indicated similar findings to the larger Honduran study between gender and culture groups (Conway in press). In the La Amistad study, attitudes towards conservation measured by the SD used in Honduras were only statistically significant in one case--necessary versus not necessary. Women from all three countries were considered one group and indicated more positive attitude towards conservation than men with this adjective pair (p = 0.01) based on a Mann-Whitney test for difference with 95% confidence. In contrast, attitudes between the three nationalities in the comparative study were statistically significant for eight of the 12 adjective pairs, based on Kruskal-Wallis test for difference with 95% confidence (p = 0.03 or less) (Conway in press).
The LS for expectations in the comparative study indicated no statistically significant differences between men and women according to a Mann-Whitney tests with 95% confidence. When expectations were analyzed by nationality with a Kruskal-Wallis test, statistically significant differences were present in four of the ten statements (p 0.04 or less) and suggested a trend in a fifth statement (p = 0.055) with 95% confidence (Conway in press).
This comparative study, based on two of the same instruments and the same hypotheses, corroborates evidence of differences among culture groups when nationality is defined as culture group affiliation and biological sex presumed to indicate gender. In both studies, the hypothesis of differences in attitudes and expectations between genders were rejected.
Knowledge Scores
The mean knowledge score of 10.28 overall represents 64.25% awareness of natural history of the area, according to the choice of important conservation issues. The reliability score of 0.35 indicates a wide range of scores or low probability of seeing the same results if the instrument were administered again. In my opinion, the mean of 64.25% is a low score and does not reflect all of the potential information that exists in the community and that may demonstrate the value of local resident involvement in park management. Local residents are storehouses of information on local species and ecological patterns that may need to be elicited through other methods. Like the LS, multiple aspects of knowledge about NPPI were assessed with the questions asked. The aggregate score may not reflect areas of strength.
An interesting although not surprising finding was that knowledge scores of women were lower than for men, even though women on average have higher levels of education. This indicates that years of formal education do not necessarily impact natural history knowledge, or there is no apparent link between formal education and environmental education. The suggestion, based on average level of education indicated, that girls are permitted to stay in school longer than boys is not surprising. Boys are often called to contribute to productive work either in the fields or at sea, at earlier ages than are girls, who may be permitted to attend school longer before being called upon to help with household duties. Specific information on the natural history of the area is not currently being disseminated in schools, which can be changed with some effort.
Statistical tests done on knowledge scores indicate that culture plays a statistically significant role in knowledge score differences. In this case there are several possibilities. The argument for different perceptions of the environment between culture groups was strongly reflected to me in the field through a map drawing exercise.
Map Drawing Exercise
I volunteered to give a talk about conservation to the two sixth year classes in the primary school in Triunfo de la Cruz. Through this process of sharing I hoped to glean further insight into what the children considered to be conservation, and therefore perhaps into what adults in the community thought. Before I offered my explanation of what is important for conservation in the area, I asked students to draw their impression of an area of conservation. The three examples shown here, chosen for their simplicity, illustrate PAs that conform to my western perception of what a PA might look like. However, the children's explanation of their drawings revealed significant differences.
For Figure 5.3 the students explained to me that the area in the foreground, where the lettuce and tomatoes are being grown, is the PA. I consider this an agroforestry plot, which is one type of conservation, although not the type planned for the majority of NPPI. The mountains behind the fence are not included in the children's definition of a PA, while to me, this area conforms most closely to the design for NPPI. Thus, there exists a marked variation in perceptions here, likely based on cultural differences.
Figure 5.4 also illustrates a significant human presence in a PA. Four of the mountains have crops planted on them and the fifth has homes and a soccer field. Human activity is incorporated into conservation. Based on the children's interpretation here it appears that there is no separation of humans from conservation.
Figure 5.5 also shows a relationship between conservation and humans, with the picture of a person in the middle. The words written on Figure 5.5 say ìTake care of the animals, take care of the home, we should protect the flowers.î All three of these maps state an active relationship between humans and PAs. Based on these interpretations by GarÌfuna children, a strict separation of humanity and conservation does not seem apparent, which may be good for participatory conservation. At the least, this cultural perspective must be considered in enforcement of conservation in NPPI.
These drawings might be interpreted to say that the conservation of native flora and fauna is not important to the students and therefore to their culture group. However, this is far from the truth based on physical evidence in the community. In Triunfo, trees and plants abound outside houses and are regularly used for food and medicinal purposes (personal experience verified medicinal plant use). Many adult interviewees noted the current absence of wild animals, such as iguana and pacas, which previously were commonly seen in the community. Furthermore, it would hardly be plausible to argue that GarÌfuna do not value their natural surroundings when their lives visibly depend on these resources on a daily basis. In GarÌfuna culture, fish and coconut constitute staple ingredients in their diet.
In fact, these drawings illustrate the statistically noted differences in perception between culture groups. It appears that nature is considered an extension of the home in GarÌfuna culture, more so than in ladino or European-influenced culture. This might explain the more negative attitudes and expectations held by GarÌfuna. If they consider the physical area of NPPI part of their home and are not as well informed about the actual impacts, it may represent severe restrictions and therefore be negatively received. History has shown that in eurocentric cultures, nature is considered something to be dominated (Schama 1995) or tamed because it represents evil (Harrison 1992). The domination of nature theme was supported by casual observations while walking along streets in the ladino communities where I interviewed people and made comparisons with the streets of El Triunfo de la Cruz. There are fewer trees and they are farther away from the houses in much of the ladino communities. In the GarÌfuna community, trees and plants more often grow up to the very edge of homes and roads are built around trees instead of causing their removal. Cultural differences, both qualitatively and quantitatively recorded, must be taken seriously in planning for community involvement in NPPI. Doing this requires participation of local residents in the process of decision-making.
The children's drawings illustrate the value and importance of including stakeholder perspectives in conservation and management projects. Reflecting back on the survey instruments, the drawings may prove to be an explanation for the lower scores among GarÌfuna on all three instruments. It is not that conservation is not important to the GarÌfuna, it may be that their perception of what conservation is varies from the model I carry with me. This perception will naturally affect responses to the questions I have asked about conservation and PAs, which are largely informed by western models. Another perception offered by a 68 year old GarÌfuna fisherman was that a PA should be established not because GarÌfuna are destructive but because those who come to visit may harm the area.
Whether the cultural influences juxtaposed in this case are western vs. developing world, eurocentric vs. indigenous, or any other, they play a role in knowledge measurements according to the scale used. This is noteworthy for planning purposes. Cultural perspective does influence knowledge and perception of NPPI and must be considered for an appropriate participatory design process to take place.
Conclusions and Outlook for Punta Izopo
In light of culture differences present near NPPI and the existing body of literature on cultural influence, the variation in reliability scores on SD, LS and knowledge scores is not surprising. What is surprising is that the knowledge questions were the only portion of the survey instrument that demonstrated statistically significant differences along gender lines. Attitudes and expectations were not significantly different when men and women were considered separate groups and presumed to hold different social roles. The difference in knowledge scores may well be a result of different social expectations that allow women to remain in school longer but later prevent them from working outside the home and therefore being exposed to and familiar with certain aspects of the natural environment.
Basing analysis purely on gender, there is only one statistically significant difference between men and women, for knowledge scores. Following this evidence, there is not much support for the argument that women are more likely to be conservation-minded because of their more physically and socially demanding roles in labor reproduction. It does however, indicate that there is need for specific consideration of women as a separate stakeholder group in efforts aimed at increasing natural history knowledge.
Because knowledge was significantly influenced by the most variables (age, gender, culture group, education and land possession) there are a variety of avenues through which to pursue increasing knowledge of area natural history. This allows for creative license in environmental education efforts.
Studies in a variety of social and natural sciences and policy, including anthropology (Peluso 1994), biology (Meefe and Carroll 1994), ecology (Holling and Sanderson 1995), sociology (West and Brechin 1991) and policy (Borrini-Feyerabend 1997, WRI et al. 1995, Johnston and Lorraine a,b,c 1994, Lucas 1992 and Wells and Brandon 1992), have indicated the importance of integrating local residents in social diagnostic studies to determine appropriate means for local resident inclusion in PA management. Agarwal and Yadama (1997) point out that an understanding of resource use and conservation will benefit from consideration of interactions that vary among stakeholder groups, which is suggested in political ecology and social justice approaches.
In this study, culture and gender have been used as means of determining stakeholder groups and thus independent variables that affect attitude, expectations and knowledge. Culture explains differences in all three behavioral components while gender only does for one.
The protection of natural resources in NPPI is significant for biological conservation purposes and must be based on an interactive relationship with local residents. Such an interactive process can be molded to create a sustainable and long-lived system if the necessary balance of input by local actors is achieved (Grimble and Chan 1995, McNeely 1995, Slayter-Thomas 1995, Lucas 1992, Bidol and Crowfoot 1991 and West and Brechin 1991).
Present infrastructural and biological attributes combined with local residents positive attitudes and expectations, expressed through SD and LS scores, paint a potentially positive picture for the future of NPPI as a participatory national park. Efforts to increase knowledge that result in higher knowledge scores will round out the third component of behavior. This behavioral foundation in combination with appropriate legal and social frameworks for shared decision-making among stakeholders could represent the starting point if community involvement in management is actively pursued, beginning immediately.
Recommendations
The following recommendations are made based on information and observations gathered in the field and analysis completed. Concrete short-term recommendations are offered for immediate discussion and action by stakeholders, if deemed appropriate by these parties. More diffuse long-term recommendations are also provided, with the intention that these may provide starting points for discussion between stakeholder groups to create a community-based management and conservation plan for NPPI. Short-term recommendations are indicated with a bullet and long-term recommendations with a diamond.
Community Organization
(S) Community cohesion should be promoted in both Garifuna and ladino communities.
Recommendations for community organization are made following the premise that this "is often the best approach for overcoming individual selfishness, governmental dominance, and lack of enforcement that mar so many failed forest management efforts" (Ascher 1995). Management of marine resources is also impacted by community cohesion and may be best realized if placed at the local level in appropriate situations (Warner 1997, Berkes 1986). It is not appropriate if communities are suffering from internal division. This appears appropriate in the case of the communities around NPPI where there exist varying degrees of disharmony brought about by factions within and from outside the communities. (L) Use culture to promote understanding of neighbors and environment. In the case of NPPI, there is potential for a loss of culture to negatively affect residents interaction with their natural surroundings through adoption of new technologies, not all suited to the physical conditions of the area. Lack of understanding may also contribute to a lack of appreciation of both within and between culture groups. Culture can be used as an asset in this situation. Cultural expression can serve as a social mediation between the Garifuna and ladino groups. Through increased communication, misunderstandings may be reduced, thus increasing the strength of communities to take over management responsibilities.
Within the Garifuna community, cultural pride can be built to strengthen group cohesion where significant out-migration is destroying it as a result of integration into the transnational urban-dominated monoculture. Ladinos in the area, who come from many other regions of the country, can be bound together by their shared experiences of recent arrival or common livelihood practices and thereby be strengthened as a group.
Livelihoods
(S) Promote alternative practices to cattle production and ensuing deforestation.
Access to means of earning a livelihood is of great importance to many local residents in tropical areas where biological diversity is an important goal of scientists and conservationists and critical to the support of communities. Near NPPI this involves providing alternatives to residents' livelihood earning practices in fishing, cattle or agricultural activities. If ideas for more ecologically sound long-term activities than currently take place can be generated based on acquired knowledge, this should be done.
(L) Promote community-based marine resource reserve. In the fishing community of Triunfo de la Cruz, establishment of a community managed marine resource reserve is one potential alternative. Discussion by PROLANSATE, WCS and fishers in the community for a community-managed reserve as a feasible project to create a long-term means of livelihood production has begun. Interviews with several fishermen in Triunfo about participating in such an entity revealed positive interest not only in the concept but also in the management of such a reserve. Such an entity must involve active participation and decision-making by fishers in Triunfo. If the marine reserve is to be community-managed, the most immediate next step is to identify the decision-makers within the community, whose stake can be built in from the near beginning (since discussions have already begun).
Identification of communities based on groups who share common interests, generally linked to their work, is more likely to produce groups which will work together for a common interest (Ascher 1995). Inter-community differences may signal important considerations to be made in the development of activities aimed at involving people. An understanding of the social dynamics and roles of communities has implications for suggestions made. In Triunfo de la Cruz, for example, it would be most effective to address men regarding techniques and limits for fishing and address women regarding processing and selling strategies of the catch.
This project can be designed so as not to be a top-down imposition but one over which the community has control. This may be done in conjunction with marine biologists but ultimately, the decisions must be made locally. The role of PROLANSATE may be to facilitate establishment of rules and regulations, because of their access to marine biologists, but this is applicable only if the community requests such assistance, if this is to be truly participatory process.
Education and Outreach Efforts
(S) Use map drawing excercises to access different groups' views of conservation and to inform community involvement enforcement. My experience with map drawing highlighted a specific difference in perceptions based on cultural affiliation that had not been illuminated with 136 interviews--the human role in conservation from the Garifuna perspective. Map drawing may be a powerful tool to point out differences that are missed through verbal and written communication.
Multiple maps may be requested from each community and separte stakeholder groups within each community. These maps could be used to create a categorization of elements in the drawings to quantify people's awareness of natural history, for example. Map drqwing need not be restricted to environmental education efforts. It may also point out different perceptions between gender groups regarding roles in teh management of NPPI and may inform efforts to involve community members in management.
(S) Develop and promote environmental education efforts with cultural target groups. Solicit culture group representatives to design programs.
The differences between cultural groups' attitudes, expectations and knowledge about natural history and NPPI are significant based on the Student's T-test, ANOVA GLMs and Kruskal-Wallis tests for difference. Culture does impact people's behavior as measured by its three components. Therefore, the foundation of any education program related to NPPI should be designed specific to the different culture groups. Possibly a Garifuna and ladino teacher or outreach agent should conduct the program in their respective cultural group.
(S) Develop and promote environmental education efforts with gender target groups.
Gender was found to be a significant source of explanation for variance in knowledge scores only. Thus, this is another area where efforts in increase knowledge of the natural history and management of NPPI must be designed specific to a stakeholder group. Although women have higher levels of formal education than men, it does not necessarily follow that they have a greater understanding of their natural environment. Efforts to increase knowledge of the natural history and purpose of creating a PA must be designed with different gender groups in mind because these groups have different knowledge bases about the environment.
Based on low scores about who is responsible for NPPI, women would benefit from increased awerness of the managerial aspects of NPPI. They would also benefit from more information illustrating the connection between potential long-term benefits to flora and fauna and their lifestyles. Men would benefit from increased information about managerial aspects of NPPI based on their responses to question nine. (L) Develop and promote environmental education program combining main stakeholder groups (women and men, Garifuna and Ladinos) in an interactive project.
A long-term project aimed at getting stakeholder groups together around a common issue may reduce conflict based on differences and misunderstandings. A retired teacher mentioned to me the importance of extneded activities as learning opportunities. "Hour long or half-days talks are not sufficient" he said "people need to get out into the field and be exposed to things." A long-term project actively integrating the different culture and gender groups might serve to bridge the gaps which currently exist. Soliciting ideas from stakeholders for potential projects is a productive and praticipatory means of determining the best types of programs to implement.
(L) Increase environmental education presence in the Garifuna community. Due to fiscal constraints, there is no full-time position dedicated to environmental education efforts in the area. The lower mean score of the Garifuna in Triunfo may reflect this reality. However, since this community represents the majority of the human population within NPPI's influence and their attitude, expectation and knowledge scores are lower than those of the ladinos, efforts should be increased in this community. Since the environmental education efforts have been led by ladinos associated with PROLANSATE, it is possible that their efforts do not speak to the Garifuna in a culturally significant way. Or, the lower scores could simply reflect less environmental education in the community of Triunfo de la Cruz. In either case, increased presence of PROLANSATE members offering information on NPPI should increase the general knowledge of Garifuna residents.
Studies in a variety of social and natural sciences and policy, including anthropology (Peluso 1994), biology (Meefe and Carroll 1994), ecology (Holling and Sanderson 1995), sociology (West and Brechin 1991) and policy (World Resources Institute, United Nations Environment Programme and World Conservation Union 1995, Johnston and Lorraine unpublished, and Lucas 1992), have indicated the importance of integrating local residents in social diagnostic studies to determine appropriate means for local resident inclusion in PA management. Agarwal and Yadama (1997) point out that an understanding of resource use and conservation will benefit from consideration of interactions that vary among stakeholder groups. In this study, culture has been identified as one means of determining a stakeholder group and a variable that affects attitude, expectations and knowledge. Gender to a lesser degree was seen to determine stakeholder groups and explain variation.
The protection of natural resources in NPPI is significant for biological conservation purposes and must be based on an interactive relationship with local residents. Such an interactive process can be molded to create a sustainable and long-lived system if the necessary balance of input by local actors is achieved (Grimble and Chan 1995, McNeely 1995, Slayter-Thomas 1995, Lucas 1992, Bidol and Crowfoot 1991 and West and Brechin 1991). Effective co-management of NPPI combined with the infrastructural and biological attributes signal potential harbingers of a positive local future. To realize success, planning that encourages community-based conservation and management of the area and works towards alternative livelihood production must be the rule.
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