ESPM 298:21 Rudy Grah Graduate Seminar on Sustainable Use
Fall Semester 1998


Ignacio Chapela ichapela@nature.berkeley.edu
office hours
Louise Fortmann fortmann@nature.berkeley.edu
limited office hours by appointment 121 Giannini
Adina Merenlender adina@nature.berkeley.edu
office hours: by appointment 160 Mulford Hall


We will be exploring the rigorous interdisciplinary scientific study of sustainable use of natural resources at a variety of scales from the micro to the global. We will be addressing questions such as what is to be sustained, for what period of time? How do the concepts, theories and methods of the biophysical and social sciences overlap or complement each other. Where is there need for bridging or rethinking? What are the new intellectual tools we need to address sustainable use? How can we deal with the mismatch between ecological and social units?

If all goes well, copies of the readings will be in the Resource Center in Mulford Hall.

August 25 Sustainable Use- What is It?

Students and instructors will share their definitions and understanding of sustainable use.

September 2 Framing the Problem

Reading: Levine, S. 1993. Science and SustainabilityEcological Applications 3

September 9 Emery Roe- Perspectives from a Policy Analyst

Reading: D. Ludwig, R. Hilborn and C. Walters 1993. "Uncertainty. Resource Exploitation, and conservation: Lessons from History" Science 260-17-36
Emery Roe. 1998. Taking Complexity Seriously: Policy Analysis, Triangulation and Sustainabile Development. pages: 23-103

September 16 Dick Norgaard-Perspectives from a Resource Economist
Reading: Lele, S. and R.B. Norgaard. 1996. "Sustainablity and the Scientists' Burden." Conservation Biology: 10 (2):354-365.

September 23 class will actually be on September 25 (Friday)

Readings: R.P. Neumann. 1997. "Primitive ideas: Protected area buffer zones and the politics of land in Africa." Development and Change 28 (3):559-582.
C. B. Barrett and P. Arcese. 1995. "Are Integrated Conservation-Development Projects (ICDPs) Sustainable? On the Conservation of Large Mammals in Sub-Saharan Africa" World Development 23(7): 1073-1084


September 30 class will actually be on September 28th at 4pm
Marshall Murphree will be giving the Inauagural Rudy Grah lecture on Forestry and Sustainable Development during the regular ESPM seminar time.

October 7 Wayne Getz Perspectives from an Ecological Modeller

Reading: A. M. Starfield. 1997. A pragmatic approach to modeling for wildlife management. J Wildlife Management 61:261-270.

J. Macnab. 1991 Does game cropping serve conservation? A reexamination of the African data. Canadian J. Zoology, 69:2283-2290.

And for those interested in Elephants:

R. F. W. Barnes. 1996. The conflict between humans and elephants in the central African forests. Mammal Review 26:67-80

October 14 Presentation of Prospectus. Your prospectus is due today.

October 21 David Hughes :An Anthropological Perspective

Turning sustainability on its head: people who make forests and conservationists who manage people in Africa

Readings:Bonner, Raymond. 1994. 'Western conservation groups and the ivory-bandwagon.' In Milton M.R. Freeman and Urs. P. Kreuter, eds. Elephants and Whales: Resources for Whom? Basel: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers. Pp. 59-71.

Fairhead, James and Melissa Leach. 1994. 'Contested forests: modern conservation and historical land use in Guinea's Ziama Reserve.' African Affairs 93: 481-512.

Hughes, David M. 1996. 'When parks encroach upon people: expanding national parks in the Rusitu Valley, Zimbabwe.' Cultural Survival Quarterly 20(1) : 36-40.

Peluso, Nancy. 1993. 'Coercing conservation? The politics of state resource control.' Global Environmental Change 3(2): 199-217.

Ribot, Jesse. 1996 'Participation without representation: chiefs, councils and forestry law in the West African Sahel.' Cultural Survival Quarterly 20(3): 40-44.

October 28 Pam Matson (Stanford University) Perspectives from a BioGeochemist

What will it take to sustain an atmospheric commons?: Multiple Interactions among Humans, Ecosystems and the Atmosphere

Reading: Vitousek, P., Mooney, H., Lubchenko, J., & J. Melillo 1997. "Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems"Science vol 494-499.


November 4 Hottest Topic

November 11 Claire Kremen (Stanford University)
Lessons from the Masoala ICDP.
Reading: "On scientific grounds: designing the Masoala National Park in Madagascar." Kremen et al.

November 18 Presentation of papers

November 25 No Class Thanksgiving Holiday

December 2 Presentation of papers Papers are due today in class

Course Requirements:

Class Participation (40%) Each student is expected to attend and participate fully in the discussion in every class unless s/he has been run over by a bus in which case the absence will be excused with a note from the bus driver.

1 page Paper Prospectus (5%) In Class Prospectus Presentation (5%) Paper (45%) Paper Presentation (5%) Each student is required to write a 20 page (MAX including footnotes, double spaced 12 point type (with page numbers- thank you !)) paper on some aspect of the interdisciplinary study of sustainable use. You should discuss your topic with one of the instructors before writing your prospectus. A one page (MAX- double spaced 12 point type) prospectus is due in class on October 14. Prospecti will be presented and discussed in class. Papers are due in class (Dec 2?). No Late Papers will be accepted unless you have been run over by a bus-see above. Papers will be presented and discussed in class.

In doing the readings and listening to lectures, ask these questions (to yourself and out loud to the lecturers.)

What is the problem?
Does this problem occur differently at different scales? How does that affect its study?
Are social and ecological scales congruent in this problem? How does that affect its study?
How would someone from a different discipline study this problem?
What are the generalizable lessons we can learn from this problem which are independent of location and species?


Please bring your own cup to every class so we can be sustainable and not use paper cups. thanks!

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