Research Stories

by Adelheid Fischer

Lake Tanganyika coastline at Gombe Stream National Park: Photo Credit to Andrew Cohen, University of Arizona at Tucson; National Science Foundation

Lake Tanganyika in central Africa is a place of earned superlatives. In the 12 million years of its existence, the lake and its basin have become home to more than 2,000 species of plants and animals. An astounding number—some 600 species—are found nowhere else on Earth. Among the most famous are the lake's 250 species of cichlid fishes.

But like many of the world's rarest and richest ecosystems, Lake Tanganyika is an ecological jewel at the heart of desperate human misery. The lake is divided between four countries—Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania, and Zambia. The lake's water flows into the Congo River system and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean.

All four countries bordering its shores rank near the bottom of the United Nation's Human Development Index. As the poverty-stricken population swells, so do the pressures on the lake. The fallout from pollution, soil erosion, and destructive fishing practices are adding up. The sum is not pretty. The world's second oldest lake could be damaged beyond repair our in our lifetime.

Ecological havens like Lake Tanganyika have attracted their share of attention. Ann Kinzig is an associate professor at Arizona State University's School of Life Sciences and an affiliate of the university's Global Institute of Sustainability. She says that conservationists, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and heads of state are aware of the situation.

Tanzania has established two national parks and a zone of protection that extends up to one mile from the shoreline. The prohibition of fishing in this aquatic reserve, however, has triggered cascading tensions between preservationists and local fishermen.

Such conflicts are not unique. "The number of conservation projects in which both conservationists and local people are happy about the outcomes are alarmingly small," Kinzig observes.

To better understand why, many scientists are part of a global project called Advancing Conservation in a Social Context (ACSC). Kinzig serves as one of the project's leaders, along with her ASU colleagues Thomas McShane and Sheila O'Connor.

Kinzig says the project's goal is to investigate the arena of decision-making in which tradeoffs are struck between conservation and human development. The knowledge that is generated will be used to improve the ability of key actors to effectively identify, analyze and negotiate these compromises. The players are many. They include governments, development agencies, banks, conservation organizations, community-based groups, academic institutions and donors.

The initiative couldn't have come at a better time, Kinzig says. Traditionally, conservation organizations have focused their efforts in the developing world on preserving rare species and ecosystems.

"But we've learned that it doesn't make sense to preserve the world's ecological systems in isolation from the people who use them, value them, protect them, degrade them," she says. In recent years, the dialogue has shifted.

"More and more conservation organizations are incorporating concerns about livelihoods and development into their conservation strategies," Kinzig says. In response, they've launched increasing numbers of so-called win-win projects. These projects seek to preserve the ecological legacies of these places while improving the material well-being of the people who live within their reaches.

But success in achieving both conservation and economic development goals has proven far more elusive than originally believed.

"The original promises of how conservation could go hand-in-hand with development and livelihood security haven't always come to fruition," Kinzig explains.

That's because conservation goals are subject to a thorny set of competing economic, political, ecological, and social agendas. Often these factors are not well understood. Or they are not thoroughly considered in decisions affecting biodiversity and development.

"Conservation organizations often can't just step back and assess what does and doesn't work," Kinzig points out. "Their sense of urgency is so strong. They're on to the next piece of unique landscape that they think is about to disappear. They don't necessarily feel the luxury of time."

The capacity for more study and greater reflection is a role that university researchers and academics can play, she adds.

The ACSC project is designed to bring greater clarity to these issues. Researchers are working in three case-study countries—Peru, Vietnam, and Tanzania. Experts are examining lots of factors ranging from ecology to economics. They want to document how cultural values and practices and social attitudes shape the tradeoffs that are made between conservation and development. At the same time, a global-level research program also is addressing similar questions on broader scales.

The second phase of the project will identify ways in which key actors can better incorporate the findings of this new research. The task will be to implement on-the-ground decisions that call for striking a difficult balance between meeting social objectives and conserving biological diversity. ACSC's ultimate goal is to help improve the conservation strategies that are used to ensure the long-term richness and stability of people and the ecosystems in which they live.

"We have to get the conversation right," Kinzig says. "We have to understand both sides of it. What do people want from their landscapes? What are they willing to give up to get what they want? And therefore how much should we be conserving?" the ASU scientist asks.

"If people don't see the value in conservation, ultimately it won't happen," Kinzig adds. "We can establish conservation projects on the ground. We can try to protect parks and other biologically important areas. But if the public doesn't believe that these are worth having, eventually they'll disappear."

Advancing Conservation in a Social Context (ACSC) as a global research initiative is supported by a $4.3 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. For more information, contact Ann Kinzig, Ph.D., School of Life Sciences, 480.965.6838. Send email to kinzig@asu.edu