1.
1
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
06/08/2015
Are alternative livelihood
projects effective at
delivering conservation
results?
Francesca Booker @BookerFrancesca
IIED Associate
International Institute for Environment and Development
francesca.booker@iied.org

2.
2
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
06/08/2015
What is an alternative livelihood?
Define alternative livelihoods as an:
1. Alternative Occupation
2. Alternative Resource
3. Alternative Method

3.
3
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
06/08/2015
What do we know?
• Alternative livelihood projects are used in a
variety of contexts to achieve conservation
objectives
• Concern that the approach is not working…
E.g. FFI (2013) ‘Why NOT alternative livelihoods’
• BUT alternative livelihood interventions continue
to be used…
E.g. CARPE 2010 – 2020 includes an objective
to ‘expand alternative livelihood opportunities to
rural communities’

4.
4
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
06/08/2015
Why now?
• IUCN WCC 2012 passed Resolution 111
calling for ‘a critical review of the biodiversity
benefits of alternative livelihood projects’
• Our response:
Systematic map - provides an overview of
the existing evidence
Systematic review - analyses and syntheses
the existing evidence
• Partners include IIED, CIFOR, & ZSL

5.
5
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
06/08/2015
What we did…
• Extensive literature search & stakeholder
engagement
• Searches were conducted in English & French
• Captured over 20,000 documents
• Inclusion criteria used to screen titles, abstracts and
full texts
• For more detail see our Protocol available at:
http://www.environmentalevidencejournal.org/

6.
6
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
06/08/2015
Systematic map – a description
of the evidence
106 projects included in the systematic map
(97 documents)
• 69% alternative occupation, 7% alternative resource,
8% alternative method
• 18% standalone initiatives
• 8% had a contractual agreement to secure conservation
outcomes

7.
7
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
06/08/2015
Systematic map – a description
of the evidence

8.
8
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
06/08/2015
Systematic map – a description
of the evidence

9.
9
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
06/08/2015
Systematic review – a synthesis
of the evidence
• 106 projects included in the systematic map
(97 documents)
• 21 projects included in the systematic
review (20 documents)
• No measure of effectiveness for 66 of the
106 projects

10.
10
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
06/08/2015
Systematic review – a synthesis
of the evidence
• 9 alternative livelihood projects assessed as
having a ‘positive outcome’
E.g. Homestays, Guatemala
• 9 alternative livelihood projects assessed as
having a ‘neutral outcome’
E.g. Seaweed farming, Philippines
• 3 alternative livelihood projects assessed as
having a ‘negative outcome’
E.g. Micro-credit, Indonesia

11.
11
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
06/08/2015
So, are alternative livelihoods
projects effective for
conservation?
• Insufficient evidence to answer the
question!
• Important shortfalls in the evidence
base…

12.
12
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
06/08/2015
Implications…
... for policy and management
• We need Theories of Change
• What’s the biodiversity outcome?
• Encourage reporting of positive AND
negative experiences
… for research
• Capture project implementers’ experience
• Third party evaluations

13.
13
Barbara Trapani
26/06/14Francesca Booker
06/08/2015
Acknowledgements
Dilys Roe
Terry Sunderland
Nicholas A O Hill
Noelle Kumpel
Gillian Petrokofsky
Kent Redford
Dianne Russel
Gill Sheperd
Terry Sunderland
Mike Day
Wen Zhou
Sophie Allebone-Webb
Juliet Wright