Integrating Conservation and Development

Abstract

Integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) are increasingly being critiqued for having failed to meet their objectives. Designed with the goal of combining biodiversity conservation with the promotion of local economic development to create a win-win situation for both endangered species and marginalized peoples, numerous recent studies have questioned the effectiveness of the ICDP approach. This research, based on more than 200 interviews at Caohai Nature Reserve in China provides support both positive and negative assessments of ICDPs. The community development and conservation programs at Caohai, cosponsored by the Guizhou Environmental Protection Bureau, Caohai Nature Reserve, the International Crane Foundation, and the Trickle Up Program, were developed in response to violent confrontations between local people and nature reserve managers when managers attempted to enforce reserve regulations. Although the programs at Caohai have met with both failures and successes, these programs have been successful in transforming what was once a violent relationship between local people and nature reserve managers into a much more cooperative one.