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LIVING WITH DISTURBANCE: TOMORROW'S DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

Farmers in Samoa grow a mix of different crops in an agricultural system that might seem inefficient. But these farmers expect the unexpected. They use several techniques to cope with recurrent and unpredictable cyclones. Their flexible approach to living with uncertainty holds lessons for resource managers working in an ever more unpredictable environment due to global environmental change.

The coastline of Samoa looks calm on this picture. But cyclones are common. Local communities have developed many ecological and social strategies to cope with the recurrent and unpredictable cyclones. Photo: Louise Hård af Segerstad

Tropical cyclones are common in Samoa, located in western Polynesia. More than 40 cyclones have been recorded there since 1831. It is impossible to say when and where they will occur, but when they hit, they cause widespread destruction of villages and plantations. Traditional agriculture in Samoa has, however, learnt to live with these recurrent disturbances. After two severe cyclones in the early 1990's, farmers were asked what they would do to reduce the effects of another cyclone. The most common answers were: 1) pray, 2) diversify my crops, and 3) work harder. In practice, their strategies have been much more sophisticated. They have developed an array of techniques to cope with uncertainties in their environment. These include traditional techniques for long-term storage of food and "polyculture" - the growing of a mix of different crops together with many different trees and shrub species. Trees and shrubs provide shade, erosion control, soil improvement and wind protection. In addition, they are a source of timber, medicines, rubber, and fuel wood and are also used to craft objects of religious value. Polyculture is a conscious strategy to reduce the risk of a total loss of food supply. After the two major cyclones a decade ago, the most important cash crops (banana, breadfruit, coconut) were damaged, and less common crops (like yams) became the staple for a rather long period of time. After cyclones, taboos are also used to protect certain forest species that show significant decline. In Samoa the village councils organize the practice of polyculture and other techniques to cope with cyclones. This is a sophisticated decision-making structure that allows control from the family to village level.

Dancing with the river or drowning in aid in Bangladesh
An estimated four to five million poor people in Bangladesh live on chars, temporary islands made up of sand and mud. Some chars are washed away in a single day and others can become more or less permanent for decades. When the river starts to rise during the monsoon season people leave the chars with their belongings and return when the water recedes. Some people have shifted their homes up to twenty times. Bangladesh is vulnerable to extreme floods, but the traditional farming system depends on the milder annual monsoon floods to irrigate and fertilize the fields.
In 1988 Bangladesh was hit by one of the worst floods of the century. Its devastating effects and international media attention convinced the heads of state of the developed countries (G8) that the international community should solve the problem of floods once and for all. In 1989 the Flood Action Plan (FAP), financed by the World Bank and fourteen donor nations, constructed embankments and dikes to protect humans and industries from floods. However, many claimed that this was just throwing money in the river and that Bangladesh was drowning in aid. FAP was widely criticised for not understanding that rural populations perceived the yearly floods as a normal part of agriculture. "We need to apply 50 kilograms of fertilizer to the same amount of land inside the embankment whereas outside we apply only 15 kilograms. Yet the crop yield inside is not any better," complained one char-dweller.

The FAP construction also had surprising consequences for water flow in the rivers, actually leading to increased char erosion in many places. By blocking fish migration paths between rivers and submerged floodplain fields, the FAP-funded embankments have also hurt fisheries. Worse, FAP neglected the most pressing flood danger, that posed by cyclone-driven coastal floods. Several scientists and NGO's suggested that it would be much more cost-effective to help local farmers adapt to living on the flood-prone delta (see box) and to replant coastal mangrove forests that provide shoreline stability, erosion prevention, and storm protection.

In recent years The World Bank seems to have learned its lesson from experiences with the FAP. Recent documents describe a strategy for a long-term, sustainable water management system that emphasises environmental impact assessment and public participation. Others say that little has been done and indeed in 1998, tens of millions of people lost their homes during another major flood. More recently, however, the experiences from the FAP have resulted in the establishment of a holistic National Water Policy and a National Water Management Plan in Bangladesh. Both call for a multi-use approach to water, participatory planning and low-tech initiatives.

Western resource management strives for too much control
In an influential 1996 article, American ecologists CS Holling and Gary Meffe argue that western society wants too much control over Nature. To suppress natural disturbances and ensure consistent harvests we fertilise and irrigate more and spray more pesticides. In the short term, this strategy is almost always successful. However, it is seldom sustainable in the long run. When pests, small fires, and other natural variations are constantly thwarted, the future capacity of the ecosystems to cope with disturbance and gradual changes is reduced. Resistant pests devour harvests sprayed with pesticides. Unstoppable fires destroy protected forests. There are often many other negative side effects of this command-and-control strategy, like polluted rivers, nutrient pollution in lakes and the coastal zone, and the build-up of salt in the soil due to irrigation.

Instead of striving after ever greater control also we in the developed countries in the Western World must accept that Nature is complex and unpredictable, Holling and Meffe argue. We must learn to both read and understand changes in Nature, such as fires, drought and floods, to be able to cope with these "surprises." Biodiversity often plays a crucial role in this management strategy by spreading risks and providing "insurance," for both ecosystems and agriculture as seen in the Bangladesh and Samoa examples above.

Learn to live with disturbance again
This is not to say that modern western societies can or must live as the traditional societies do. However, modern societies can learn from local communities with long-term experience in environmental uncertainty that have developed valuable rules of thumb to avoid large-scale crises. Many traditional management techniques to cope with environmental variability and disturbance appear to have developed by trial and error and by responding to environmental feedback. In fact, this is the same approach now advocated by modern science and promoters of "adaptive co-management" (see In Brief this issue: Adaptive co-management: learning-by-doing to meet environmental uncertainty).

Recent research, such as that from the UN climate advisory body (IPCC), has warned that we all face increasing environmental variability and uncertainty due to global environmental change. So, developed countries themselves must learn to live with disturbance again, instead of clinging to the belief that Nature is predictable. Rigid governance systems with prescriptions for resource use, and aid to developing countries that fund command and control measures seem more and more outdated.

Flood in Bangladesh.

BOX: Strategies to cope with cyclones and floods, used by char-dwellers along the Jamuna river in Bangladesh

1) Polyculture and animal husbandry
A mixed cultivation system gives both a varied diet and food security, as weather conditions may be unsuitable for a particular crop, but ideal for another. For instance people on the chars grow three different rice strains, each adapted to the dominant weather conditions during its growth period. They also breed cows, goats, sheep, hens, doves, and ducks, sold to acquire material goods, land, food and medicine during bad floods.

2) Erosion control practices
Char-dwellers reclaim land and uphold soil fertility by growing a special kind of grass, kaisha. The grass supplies building material and fodder and is very tolerant -- it can survive both periods of drought and severe floods.

3) Societal and cultural risk spreading mechanisms
Marriage between char-dwellers and people in the mainland is common to provide an escape route to relatives during floods. Land owned by one family is often spread over several locations to reduce the risk of erosion damage to the family. Farmers with land under water often switch to other sources of income, such as paid work, handicrafts, and fishing. Moreover, char-dwellers who have lost their land are allowed to harvest catkin grass and grow crops, regardless of who owns the land. After two years the field returns to its original owner.

Fredrik Moberg & Per Olsson

Sources:
The examples from Samoa and Bangladesh are from Chapter 7 of Navigating Social-Ecological Systems: Building Resilience for Complexity and Change, Cambridge University Press, 2002. The chapter is written by Colding, J., Elmqvist, T, Olsson, P. "Living with disturbance: building resilience in social-ecological systems."

See a review of the book at: http://albaeco.com/sdu7/htm/main.htm#inbrief4.

Holling, C.S., and Meffe, G.K. 1996. Command and control and the pathology of natural resource management. Conservation Biology 10:328-337.

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FOREIGN INVASIVE SPECIES IN AFRICAN WETLANDS COST BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ANNUALLY

Foreign invasive species, like the water hyacinth and the Louisiana crayfish, threaten African wetlands. As the damage runs into billions of dollars annually this issue is not only a concern for conservationists. It should be high also on the agenda of economists and planners.

Woman wading through water hyacinths in Lake Victoria.
Photo: Nils Kautsky

Foreign plants, fish and shellfish are threatening the native flora and fauna in African lakes, rivers and wetlands, according to a new report. Wetlands provide many goods and services to the African people and are home to a diversity of animals and plants. As the damage caused by the alien invasive species runs into billions of dollars annually, this issue is not only a concern for conservationists. It should be high also on the agenda of economists and planners. Global trade and communication are directly leading to the mixing of fauna and flora worldwide. The total global economic damage caused by invasive alien species has been estimated at US$400 billion per year.

The report lists the South American water hyacinth as the species causing the most damage. It is now found in fifty countries on five continents and has long been a problem for fishermen and people living around Lake Victoria, Lake Kariba and many other places throughout Africa. The water hyacinths grow extremely fast and produce large floating carpets of fleshy flowers that can block waterways and obstruct hydroelectric plant turbines. Moreover, it can also crowd out other species and prevent sunlight and oxygen from reaching plant and animal life below.

Next on the report's list is the Louisiana crayfish. This species escaped from aquaculture ponds in Africa and is responsible for the disappearance of water lilies and many species of snails. It threatens the existence of smaller fish and damages dams and reservoirs.

"The damage caused by foreign species can slow nations' efforts to cut poverty rates," says Klaus Toepfer, executive director of UNEP. Alien species are either introduced on purpose or arrive by accident. Some are given a lift on boats, airplanes or trains, and others are spread by wind, water currents or by birds and mammals. In their new environments many species spread quickly because they often have no natural predators or competitors, and are not sensitive to local parasites or pathogens.

Source:
"Invasive Alien Species in Africa's Wetlands," is a booklet published jointly by The World Conservation Union (IUCN); the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance and the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP).

More at:
More information about the booklet itself is available from IUCN's Eastern Africa Regional Office, or to order: mail@iucnearo.org.

The Ramsar Convention site about the booklet and with an excerpt.

Sida-report on utilisation and control of Water Hyacinths.

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RENAISSANCE FOR OLD KNOWLEDGE SHOWS THE WAY TO WISER USE OF MARINE RESOURCES IN OCEANIA

Pacific Island cultures used advanced marine resource management practices centuries before Europeans. These ancient practices were largely abandoned due to modern pressures, but are now being reinstituted to manage increasingly scarce marine resources.

Traditional outrigger used by Samoan fishermen.
Photo: Tony Persson

In 1978, Canadian ecologist Robert Johannes demonstrated that some tropical Pacific Island cultures invented and employed marine resource management practices centuries before Europeans. These included limited entry, closed seasons, closed areas, size limits, and gear restrictions. He also described how the impacts of cash economies, export markets and new technology were severely eroding these practices. However, in a recent paper, Johannes describes how many island nations, such as Fiji, the Cook Islands and Samoa, are rediscovering traditional practices. Factors contributing to the upsurge include a growing perception of scarcity, the strengthening of traditional village-based authority and marine tenure, better conservation education, and increasingly effective assistance and advice from regional and national governments and NGO's. Johannes concludes that "the Pacific Island region has much to contribute to innovative thinking about small scale fisheries management worldwide."

Nowhere has this renaissance been as dramatic as in the islands of Samoa (see box). Strong incentives for local conservation and the re-establishment of traditional marine management practices emerged in the 1990's, when village councils were given the right to exclude outsiders from their fishing grounds. Previously, local incentives to conserve the marine resources were weak, since outsiders always could expropriate the benefits. The introduction of specific bylaws reinforced traditional authority by recognizing the primacy of village rights to manage near-shore fisheries. Now, village councils can take formal legal action against outsiders if traditional measures do not work. The traditional laws are culture-specific and locale-specific as needs and customs can differ greatly from village to village. The new bylaw system preserves the flexibility and heterogeneity of village laws. Each village has its own set of bylaws, which may be altered or revoked as necessary. The ability of traditional laws to adapt quickly to meet changing circumstances is especially useful in Oceania, which has changed significantly over the past few decades.

In 2002, 52 of 64 Samoan villages (86%) had established community-owned fish reserves (marine protected areas). Interviews indicate that virtually all villagers support conservation efforts and the establishment of reserves, and that other coastal villages also wished to be included in the program.

BOX: Marine resource management practices recently implemented by Samoan villages

- Ban use of chemicals and dynamite to kill fish
- Ban use of traditional plant-derived fish poisons
- Establish small protected areas in which fishing is banned
- Ban other destructive fishing methods (e.g., smashing corals to extract seafood)
- Ban dumping rubbish in lagoon
- Enforce (national) mesh size limits on nets
- Set minimum size limit for fish
- Ban coral collection for export
- Ban removal of mangroves
- Restrict or ban use of flashlights for night spearfishing
- Ban removal of beach sand
- Control or limit numbers of fish fences or traps

Thomas Elmquist

Source:
Johannes RE. 1978. "Traditional marine conservation methods in Oceania and their demise." Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 9:349-64

Johannes RE. 2002. "The renaissance of community-based marine resource management in Oceania." Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 2002. 33:317-40

More at:
http://www.pewmarine.org/PewFellows/pf_JohannesRobert_tribute.html (more about Robert Johannes, who died on 4 September 2002)

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TRANSGENIC COTTON BETTER FOR POOR FARMERS?

Transgenic cotton can lead to higher yields and less pesticide use in the tropical developing world, according to a new study. This could help poor farmers. However, the use and success of the transgenic cotton is still disputed.

According to a February report in Science, the genetically modified cotton variety "Bt cotton" gave astonishingly higher yields in India compared to conventional varieties. The transgenic cotton had an 80 percent higher yield and used almost 70 percent less pesticides compared to cotton without foreign genes. As the largest yield gains are expected in developing countries, the transgenic cotton can positively impact the lives of poor farmers, the authors of the study say. Bt cotton plants carry a gene from a bacteria for a toxin that makes them resistant to bollworm caterpillars. The toxin does not affect non-target species.

However, the use and success of Bt cotton is disputed. In June 2002 a summary of Chinese research on Bt cotton reported several negative results. For example, natural enemies to the bollworm decreased whereas other pests on cotton showed an increase. Later in the season, when the bollworm had gone through 3-4 generations, the Bt resistance to the bollworms decreased and the farmers needed to apply insecticides two or three times. The Chinese report also concluded that the bollworm would become resistant to the Bt toxin in 8-10 years.

Notably, the Chinese study was produced in cooperation with Greenpeace whereas the Indian study was based on trials initiated by the Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (Mahyco), which distributes Monsantos Bt cotton. The genetically modified cotton has been grown commercially in India since last year. About 0.4 percent of the Indian cotton fields were planted with Bt varieties in 2002. Farmers have, however, protested and even burnt crop trials.

Louise Hård af Segerstad

Sources:
Qaim, M., Zilberman, D. Yield Effects of Genetically Modified Crops in Developing Countries. Science, Vol 299, 7 February 2003.

Dayuan XUE. A Summary of Research on the Environmental Impact of BT Cotton in China. Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences the State Environmental Protection Administration of China

More at:
> Science Development Net
> Nature Science Update
> Press release about the Chinese report

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GENETICALLY MODIFIED MOSQUITOES NO GOOD MALARIA-FIGHTERS

Transgenic mosquitoes, containing a gene that stops the malaria parasite, would not survive in competition with wild mosquitoes.

A new way to fight malaria is to replace natural malaria-carrying mosquitoes with transgenic ones unable to spread the virus (see SDU 5/2002). "Genetic modification of mosquitoes offers exciting possibilities for controlling malaria, but success will depend on how transformation affects the fitness of modified insects" a research team reports in Science.

The transgenic mosquitoes were introduced two years ago, but already researchers have found that the GM mosquitoes would not survive in competition with wild mosquitoes. The transgenic mosquitoes are inbred and have been reared in laboratories for years, while the wild mosquitoes have a much higher genetic diversity, which gives them a survival advantage.

Malaria kills one million people a year, and finding a way to stop it would reduce much suffering. Researchers suggest that the genetically modified mosquitoes would be stronger if they where crossed with wild ones before released into the wild.

So, along with high-technology GM-solutions it is still important to tackle the underlying causes for malaria's spread. These include poverty, hunger, lack of sanitation and public health access, land-use changes, biodiversity and climate change. The ecological effects of spreading GM-mosquitoes are far from being fully understood.

Louise Hård af Segerstad

Source:
Catteruccia, F., Godfray, C. J. & Crisanti, A. "Impact of genetic manipulation on the fitness of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes." Science, 299, 1225 - 1227, (2003).

More at:
Nature Science Update

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