51
Stakeholder A: Director of National Parks Authority
Your job is to protect the beautiful national parks of Justikana, which are collectively considered one of the
greatest biodiversity ‘hotspots’ in the world. In the past, the National Parks Authority has managed the national
parks through the “fortress conservation” approach, by making sure the parks are free of human settlements and
use. However, you are the new director and have a different perspective. You recently attended an international
conference about new approaches to conservation and met people involved in national parks management in
other countries. You have learned that sometimes conservation programs actually work better when they involve
local communities, rather than excluded them. You are now considering options for working with communities in
Justikana such as the Magge. To do so, you need more information about the traditional knowledge and
customary ways of life of the Magge to make sure that they are having a positive impact on the Kinget Forest.
Stakeholder B: Head of Department of Forestry
Part of your job is to preserve Justikana’s forests and the best way to do this is to keep humans out of them. You
believe that the Magge community is over-exploiting the natural resources in the Kinget Forest and causing
degradation. In order to protect the Kinget Forest, you want to establish a forest reserve and make it illegal for
the Magge community to use it. That way, they will stay out of the forest and not disturb its natural processes.
Your job is also to create revenue for the government through economic use of the forests (for example, logging
concessions). You believe that your work is for the benefit of the entire population of Justikana and that national
development should be the top priority of all government agencies’ work.
Stakeholder C: Native Chief of the Magge Community
Your job is to ensure that your community can continue to live in and around the Kinget Forest and to use its
natural resources. The Magge’s culture and way of life are completely dependent on the forest and you have
generations of accumulated traditional knowledge about its resources. Your customary laws and management
practices help conserve the forest’s biodiversity, which in turn plays a role in your cultural traditions. You have
been working with the NGO Diversity is Life to document some of the traditional knowledge and practices that
contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of the forest biodiversity. When you learned that the
Department of Forestry wanted to establish a forest reserve on your traditional lands, you were very upset and
confused. You oppose to establishment of the forest reserve because being banned from the forest would
devastate your culture and way of life. You want to work with other stakeholders to prevent this from happening.
You want to communicate that your community is helping conserve the forest and is not harming it, but you are
not sure how to do this.
Stakeholder D: NGO “Diversity is Life”
Your job is to work with the Magge community to document their traditional knowledge and customary ways of
life that help conserve the Kinget Forest. You are helping train community members on scientific research
methods such as species identification, data collection and analysis. The Magge people are already very
knowledgeable about the forest’s biodiversity and they are interested in learning more about how to
communicate their knowledge to other stakeholders such as the National Parks Authority. You would like to help
the Magge community work with the Parks Authority towards the joint research and co-management of national
parks. The Magge people are also interested in knowing how the draft national biodiversity law will impact them,
but you do not know much about it either. You would like to find out more about the draft law from the National
Biodiversity Authority.
Stakeholder E: National Biodiversity Authority
If the draft national biodiversity law is passed, it will be an important step towards the national implementation
of the Convention on Biological Diversity. It will also be the first law relating to the protection of traditional
knowledge and customary ways of life in Justikana. Your job is to ensure that the draft law represents the
interests of all stakeholders involved in biodiversity conservation and use, including the Magge, the Department
of Forestry and the National Parks Authority. However, each stakeholder has their own interests and it is very
difficult to make everyone happy. You know that the Magge community will want protection of their traditional
knowledge and customary management practices, which would enable them to continue their ways of life within
areas of high biodiversity. The Department of Forestry will want strict protection of forest resources and the right
to use forests for national economic benefit. The National Parks Authority will want protection of natural
resources, but they are open to discussing whether or not this should involve local communities such as the
Magge. You are interested in discussing the draft law with all of the stakeholders to find out how it might impact
them and what rights they need protected.