Political embeddedness in public-private partnership for nature conservation: A land trust reserve case from China.

Private sector plays an increasingly vital role in nature conservation globally. This study explores the concept of political embeddedness, which suggests that governments and environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs) can leverage each other's strengths to achieve both formal and informal goals. Using the case of Laohegou Nature Reserve in China, this study illustrated how the complementary advantages of the government and ENGOs form the foundation of a land trust reserve. Within the case, the study found that power and interest balance between the government and ENGOs during project implementation supported their formal cooperation in nature conservation. This study proposed a political perspective to elaborate power and interest in the formal and informal dimensions of nature conservation public-private partnership (PPP) project. Moreover, it noted that a balance of power between the government and ENGOs is essential in building partnership networks with inclusive interests.

Detecting formal and informal interests in forest governance.

To reveal the interests of actors in forest governance, this paper proposes a power-based interest identification (PII) approach. Based on the assumption of intentional action, the benefits that actors derive from policy impacts are the result of interest-driven actions. This paper further proposes a theoretical definition of interests that includes formal goals at the social and ecological levels, as well as informal political, economic, and strategic interests. Researchers need to identify powerful actors by identifying power mechanisms and resources, and can then observe actors' formal goals through interviews and documents. For informal interests, the actor observes the informal gains of powerful actors in policy impacts, which are then coded according to political, economic, and strategic interests. Combining these steps, actors can infer the formal and informal interests of powerful actors.•Researchers can verify actors' formal objectives by interview and documents.•Among policy impacts, researchers can observe influences at the social and ecological levels, as well as changes in actors' control, economic gains, and dissemination of ideas.•Researchers can infer informal interests of powerful actors from observation of policy impacts.

Representation-Influence Framework (RIF) for analyzing the roles of organized interest groups (OIGs) in environmental governance.

This paper outlines Representation-Influence Framework (RIF) for analyzing the roles of organized interest groups (OIGs) in environmental governance. This framework is created to check OIG claims as representatives of particular groups within society, to capture OIG diversity, including those acting beyond the pursuit of common interests. The development of this framework used two basic OIG roles-the extent of OIGs in representing group interests and exerting political influence on governments. This framework proposes three main categories of OIGs based on their claims as representatives of particular social groups, en route to fulfilling the claims, breaking the claims, and opposing the claims. Finally, this framework is able to present types of OIGs in environmental governance.•RIF is an applicable framework for analyzing the roles of organized interest groups•This framework proposes categories and types of OIGs based on the extent of their role-fulfillment in representing particular groups within society and exerting political influence on governments•This framework captures the actions of OIGs beyond the pursuit of common interests.

Toward successful implementation of conservation research: A case study from Vietnam.

A number of different approaches have been used to explain the successes and failures of biodiversity conservation strategies in developing countries. However, to date, little attention has been paid toward assessing the influence of knowledge transfer between science, policy, and conservation practices in the implementation of these strategies. Vietnam's Pu Luong Cuc Phuong Conservation Area is a globally important ecosystem, situated within a limestone landscape and inhabited by hundreds of local communities. Biodiversity conservation has become an important part of sustainable development in this area. This study analyzes three conservation strategies employed in the Pu Luong Cuc Phuong Conservation Area by applying the Research-Integration-Utilization (RIU) model of scientific knowledge transfer. Our analyses reveal weaknesses in scientific knowledge transfer arising from low-quality research and poor integration strategies. Based on our results, we developed recommendations to improve research and integration in an effort to enhance science-based policy support.

Endangered Mangroves in Segara Anakan, Indonesia: Effective and Failed Problem-Solving Policy Advice.

The success of scientific knowledge transfer depends on if the decision maker can transform the scientific advice into a policy that can be accepted by all involved actors. We use a science-policy interactions model called research-integration-utilization to observe the process of scientific knowledge transfer in the case of endangered mangroves in Segara Anakan, Indonesia. Scientific knowledge is produced within the scientific system (research), science-based solutions to problems are practically utilized by political actors (utilization), and important links between research and utilization must be made (integration). We looked for empirical evidence to test hypotheses about the research-integration-utilization model based on document analysis and expert interviews. Our study finds that the failures in knowledge transfer are caused by the inappropriate use of scientific findings. The district government is expected by presidential decree to only used scientifically sound recommendations as a prerequisite for designing the regulation. However, the district government prefers to implement their own solutions because they believe that they understand the solutions better than the researcher. In the process of integration, the researcher cannot be involved, since the selection of scientific recommendations here fully depends on the interests of the district government as the powerful ally.