scholarly journals Perceptions of, and Motivations for, Land Trust Conservation in Northern Michigan: An Analysis of Key Informant Interviews

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1609
Author(s):  
Kathryn N. Braddock ◽  
Joel T. Heinen

Land trusts are common and expanding mechanisms for conservation, although their impacts have been little-studied. The objective of this paper is to understand the perceptions and motivations of stakeholders of small-scale land trust conservation. We used 33 key informant interviews to learn the motivations and opinions of stakeholders regarding the Little Traverse Conservancy (LTC) of northern Michigan, USA. The interviews were coded for relevant themes and interpreted alongside a literature review. The highest reported motivation for stakeholder involvement with LTC was the protection of nature and scenic beauty. Economic and social factors were also considered motivators; however, were not the key facilitators for conservation action for LTC stakeholders. Interviews emphasized that relationship and partnership formations are critical for facilitating successful land conservation. We conclude that land trust organizations can captivate the long-term support and participation of stakeholders through the consideration of local dynamics and building upon existing community relationships.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Dow

The cost of affordable rental units in Calgary is amongst the highest in Canada, despite a rental vacancy rate that is 3 percent higher than the national average (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 2017). Nearly 1 in 5 Calgary households are struggling to pay for shelter costs and as of 2016, more than 42,000 households were spending more than 50 percent of their incomes on shelter, putting this population at a greater risk of becoming homeless due to job loss or from some other unexpected financial hardship (City of Calgary, 2017). Counter to popular belief, economically depressed communities with weak rental and housing markets such as Calgary following the 2015 collapse of the oil and gas sector can be subject to a critical lack of affordable housing. A soft housing market cannot make up for an insufficient range of affordable and non-market housing options. In other cities facing similar challenges, especially those in the United States, the formation of Community Land Trusts has proven to be a viable solution for providing both affordable rental and affordable ownership opportunities for residents who are struggling to afford the cost of housing in their area. This paper explores whether the Community Land Trust model is an appropriate tool to augment Calgary’s limited supply of affordable housing and will end with five recommendations to encourage the adoption of the Community Land Trust model in Calgary. Key Words: affordable housing, affordable ownership, Calgary, community land trust, small-scale affordable development.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Le

Housing in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) is increasingly unaffordable due to rising housing costs. Community land trusts (CLTs) have recently emerged as a tool for providing affordable housing in the GTHA. This paper investigated the form that CLTs should take to ensure its long-term success for providing affordable housing. Through an analysis of academic and grey literature, the element of community control was identified as being a critical success factor. This paper explored four CLTs operating in American and European contexts to understand whether and how community control was manifested and the resulting implications it had on the CLT and residents. The findings of the paper confirm the importance of community control in the long-term functioning of CLTs, and that community control can be manifested in various forms. Planners operating in the GTHA must therefore be mindful of ensuring that community control is expressed in CLTs. Keywords: Community land trust; affordable housing; community control; Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Dow

The cost of affordable rental units in Calgary is amongst the highest in Canada, despite a rental vacancy rate that is 3 percent higher than the national average (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 2017). Nearly 1 in 5 Calgary households are struggling to pay for shelter costs and as of 2016, more than 42,000 households were spending more than 50 percent of their incomes on shelter, putting this population at a greater risk of becoming homeless due to job loss or from some other unexpected financial hardship (City of Calgary, 2017). Counter to popular belief, economically depressed communities with weak rental and housing markets such as Calgary following the 2015 collapse of the oil and gas sector can be subject to a critical lack of affordable housing. A soft housing market cannot make up for an insufficient range of affordable and non-market housing options. In other cities facing similar challenges, especially those in the United States, the formation of Community Land Trusts has proven to be a viable solution for providing both affordable rental and affordable ownership opportunities for residents who are struggling to afford the cost of housing in their area. This paper explores whether the Community Land Trust model is an appropriate tool to augment Calgary’s limited supply of affordable housing and will end with five recommendations to encourage the adoption of the Community Land Trust model in Calgary. Key Words: affordable housing, affordable ownership, Calgary, community land trust, small-scale affordable development.


2018 ◽  
pp. 28-41
Author(s):  
Warintorn Khunanake ◽  
Art-ong Pradatsudara ◽  
Sura Pattanakiat

Stakeholder involvement is recognized as critical to successful long-term watershed management.Approaches to developing sustainable watershed management plans are based upon selection and weighting of a set of relevant indicators on which the watershed’s sustainability and health can be measured. This study aimed to identify key environmental issues affecting the Lam Nam Yang Part 1 watershed in Thailand, and to work with stakeholders to develop a set of environmental indicators to support sustainable watershed management. The study used a community survey and key informant interviews to obtain stakeholder inputs into the process. Applying the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework, key environmental issues were identified and used to frame environmental indicators for the Lam Nam Yang Part 1 watershed. Key environmental issues identified included drought and water shortage, forest area depletion, biodiversity decline, and soil deterioration. A total of 101 candidate indicators were identified for monitoring the sustainability of the Lam Nam Yang Part 1 watershed, with 31 prioritized.


2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (27) ◽  
pp. 33-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debajit Datta ◽  
Suranjana Banerji

Abstract Many famous tourism destinations of the eastern Himalayas have become severely polluted and environmentally vulnerable due to decades of unsustainable mass tourism practices. The recent popularization of the so called 'ecotourism destinations' as alternatives to these degraded sites have raised considerable debate among academia, planners and decision makers regarding community based development and environmental conservation. In this study, the newly initiated tourism ventures of a mountainous village named Silerigaon located in this region were evaluated as a case study through participatory appraisals among tourists and local residents to comprehend whether these ventures could truly be termed as ecotourism initiatives. Results derived from the analyses of the primary data collected through these appraisals showed that although the area possessed pristine natural environment and excellent scenic beauty, lack of proper civic amenities and physical infrastructure was hindering the development of sustainable tourism. Here, tourism activities had notably contributed to the increase in annual savings of community members but these financial gains had not equally transcended to all spheres of sustainable community based development. Till now, the activities have lacked the systematic long-term planning required for sustainable ecotourism and nature conservation. Accordingly, these could not be designated as ecotourism activities in their present orientation and capacity. In this regard, several necessary corrective measures to transform these activities into proper ecotourism ones have been suggested.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Le

Housing in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) is increasingly unaffordable due to rising housing costs. Community land trusts (CLTs) have recently emerged as a tool for providing affordable housing in the GTHA. This paper investigated the form that CLTs should take to ensure its long-term success for providing affordable housing. Through an analysis of academic and grey literature, the element of community control was identified as being a critical success factor. This paper explored four CLTs operating in American and European contexts to understand whether and how community control was manifested and the resulting implications it had on the CLT and residents. The findings of the paper confirm the importance of community control in the long-term functioning of CLTs, and that community control can be manifested in various forms. Planners operating in the GTHA must therefore be mindful of ensuring that community control is expressed in CLTs. Keywords: Community land trust; affordable housing; community control; Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area


GeoScape ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-46
Author(s):  
Lenka Slavíková ◽  
Zdenka Smutná ◽  
Marta Žambochová ◽  
Vladislav Valentinov

AbstractAlthough private or community initiatives for biodiversity conservation (such as land trusts) have a strong tradition in many countries, rigorous evidence of recently evolved movements in post-socialist countries is missing. This study describes the evolution of Czech land trust movement and analyses their representatives’ motivation for engagement in biodiversity conservation. It also investigates the intensity of interaction among public and land trust conservation efforts. For this purpose, we identified localities in which the territory managed by Czech land trusts overlaps with small-scale public nature reserves managed by regional governments. We conducted semi-structured face-to-face interviews with representatives of all NGOs and regional officials in-charge. Our qualitative analysis revealed that some regional biodiversity conservation officials see land trusts as partners, but others are rather indifferent to, or uninformed about, their activities. Additionally, land trust representatives see themselves as complementing the public effort: their main motivation for engagement is to facilitate biodiversity conservation in addition to the public provision.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly L. Bernardo ◽  
Pati Vitt ◽  
Rachel Goad ◽  
Susanne Masi ◽  
Tiffany M. Knight

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine L Madliger ◽  
Oliver P Love ◽  
Vivian M Nguyen ◽  
Neal R Haddaway ◽  
Steven J Cooke

Abstract Conservation physiology represents a recently emerging arm of conservation science that applies physiological tools and techniques to understand and solve conservation issues. While a multi-disciplinary toolbox can only help to address the global biodiversity crisis, any field can face challenges while becoming established, particularly highly applied disciplines that require multi-stakeholder involvement. Gaining first-hand knowledge of the challenges that conservation physiologists are facing can help characterize the current state of the field and build a better foundation for determining how it can grow. Through an online survey of 468 scientists working at the intersection of physiology and conservation, we aimed to identify characteristics of those engaging in conservation physiology research (e.g. demographics, primary taxa of study), gauge conservation physiology’s role in contributing to on-the-ground conservation action, identify the perceived barriers to achieving success and determine how difficult any identified barriers are to overcome. Despite all participants having experience combining physiology and conservation, only one-third considered themselves to be ‘conservation physiologists’. Moreover, there was a general perception that conservation physiology does not yet regularly lead to tangible conservation success. Respondents identified the recent conceptualization of the field and the broader issue of adequately translating science into management action as the primary reasons for these deficits. Other significant barriers that respondents have faced when integrating physiology and conservation science included a lack of funding, logistical constraints (e.g. sample sizes, obtaining permits) and a lack of physiological baseline data (i.e. reference ranges of a physiological metric’s ‘normal’ or pre-environmental change levels). We identified 12 actions based on suggestions of survey participants that we anticipate will help deconstruct the barriers and continue to develop a narrative of physiology that is relevant to conservation science, policy and practice.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003232172110072
Author(s):  
Ramon van der Does ◽  
Vincent Jacquet

Deliberative minipublics are popular tools to address the current crisis in democracy. However, it remains ambiguous to what degree these small-scale forums matter for mass democracy. In this study, we ask the question to what extent minipublics have “spillover effects” on lay citizens—that is, long-term effects on participating citizens and effects on non-participating citizens. We answer this question by means of a systematic review of the empirical research on minipublics’ spillover effects published before 2019. We identify 60 eligible studies published between 1999 and 2018 and provide a synthesis of the empirical results. We show that the evidence for most spillover effects remains tentative because the relevant body of empirical evidence is still small. Based on the review, we discuss the implications for democratic theory and outline several trajectories for future research.


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