Description of work view
The spatial distribution of highland aquatic resources will be mapped with secondary stakeholders in each of the study sites and employing appropriate RRA techniques, communities whose members depend on goods and services originating from selected highland aquatic resources areas will be identified; new knowledge collected will be collated and presented back to stakeholders using GIS approaches to facilitate subsequent participatory action planning and implementation (WP3-8).
Having identified communities associated with highland aquatic resources, participatory research will be undertaken in at least 3 communities in each site, differentiated by wealth and gender status, to assess the role of highland aquatic resources derived goods and ecosystem services in livelihoods of poor people and society more generally; the vulnerability context of each community and an assessment of assets will be established. Gender Framework Analysis will be used to identify and address gender specific issues; an initial training workshop (Box 1.3.a) will be used to sensitise partners to the need for gender mainstreaming and develop appropriate participatory research methods. Where possible existing data sets and traditional and local ecological knowledge resources will be used to describe the general biogeochemical, hydrological and ecological setting of selected highland aquatic resources, although where necessary research will be undertaken to fill gaps in the knowledge-base.
A key element in the assessment will be biodiversity assessment and subsequent IUCN Red Listing through the collation of existing data at 2 regional workshops with national and international experts. Understanding of existing data collection programmes and where applicable, recording by local communities, will also be useful in developing more appropriate ecosystem monitoring approaches and indicators for application by stakeholders in WP6-8 and beyond the term of the proposed project. Institutional Analysis will be undertaken to assess relationships, motivations and legal frameworks governing highland aquatic resources exploitation and management. To identify opportunities for capacity building in WP6-8, current policy formulation and linkages will be investigated and interactions between local and centralised decision-making understood; stakeholder analysis, an assessment of CBOs, NGOs and institutions and overview of marketing networks will be used to investigate the role of power relations, market forces and processes related to globalisation on ecosystem functioning, livelihood strategies and institutional arrangements. Outcomes will be presented to local and national stakeholders in workshops at each study site and feedback used to check and verify findings.-conducts a situation analysis for each field site, including a gender framework and IUCN Red Listing outputs
