Lessons from Chiloé, Chile: Transforming Natural Resource Governance Amid Environmental Change

Environmental change is not occurring in isolation, especially for communities and groups who may live close to and depend very directly on local ecosystems for their livelihoods and economic wellbeing. Climate change in most places is occurring in conjunction with cultural shifts, political reorganization, and globalizing economic impacts. While economic, environmental, and social change tended to happen gradually in the past, many regions are now struggling with managing a bewildering array of forces, many of which they have little control over, forcing difficult decisions whose implications may be hard to manage much less foresee. Governance — especially around management of natural resources — must evolve in order to better address the interests of a growing number of stakeholders in increasingly complex socio-environmental systems. In this episode of ClimateReady, we bring in environmental anthropologist Dr. Sarah Ebel to discuss an ongoing example of transformative governance in Chile. Drawing on nearly a decade of work with coastal fishing communities, Dr. Ebel describes how legislative changes to Chile’s fisheries management plans and a rare shift towards “polycentric governance” have impacted local fishermen, indigenous groups, the aquaculture industry, and the environment — topics she further covers in the book "Chiloé" (http://bit.ly/chiloe-book). We also discuss the role of “individual agency” in our quest towards resilience and much more. The show concludes with another “Climate of Hope” story as part of an ongoing collaboration with the World Youth Parliament for Water, where Alex Whitebrook highlights encouraging trends from China’s industrial and agricultural sectors.

Environmental change is not occurring in isolation, especially for communities and groups who may live close to and depend very directly on local ecosystems for their livelihoods and economic wellbeing. Climate change in most places is occurring in conjunction with cultural shifts, political reorganization, and globalizing economic impacts. While economic, environmental, and social change tended to happen gradually in the past, many regions are now struggling with managing a bewildering array of forces, many of which they have little control over, forcing difficult decisions whose implications may be hard to manage much less foresee. Governance — especially around management of natural resources — must evolve in order to better address the interests of a growing number of stakeholders in increasingly complex socio-environmental systems.

In this episode of ClimateReady, we bring in environmental anthropologist Dr. Sarah Ebel to discuss an ongoing example of transformative governance in Chile. Drawing on nearly a decade of work with coastal fishing communities, Dr. Ebel describes how legislative changes to Chile’s fisheries management plans and a rare shift towards “polycentric governance” have impacted local fishermen, indigenous groups, the aquaculture industry, and the environment — topics she further covers in the book Chiloé. We also discuss the role of “individual agency” in our quest towards resilience and much more.

The show concludes with another “Climate of Hope” story as part of an ongoing collaboration with the World Youth Parliament for Water, where Alex Whitebrook highlights encouraging trends from China’s industrial and agricultural sectors.