A sustainability framework based on threats, consequences, and solutions (TCS) for managing watershed commons

PLoS One. 2023 Dec 6;18(12):e0295228. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295228. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Sustainable management of common pool resources requires local information and participation. We develop a framework for managing commons based on threats, consequences, and solutions (TCS). The status of the community's interaction with their local commons is critical in developing viable solutions to avoiding the loss of natural resources, enhancing the benefits they provide, and sustaining the functions they perform. Threats to natural resources, the consequences of their depletion, and the solutions local communities perceive as most effective to prevent this loss are assessed as related to socioeconomic and landscape factors to develop strategies for the resilience of commons. Communities and representative stakeholders (224 respondents) participated in a survey in Honduras's Lake Yojoa watershed. The community's perception was also evaluated for impacts of changes in land use and climate on local commons. An ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to determine the effect of land use, geographic, and demographic factors on community perceptions. Distance to the lake, landcover percentages, slope, type of work, age, and importance of tourism were significant in influencing community interaction and perception of TCS. The involvement of communities in deriving knowledge on TCS is critical to increasing the resilience of local commons to emerging threats.

MeSH terms

  • Climate
  • Conservation of Natural Resources*
  • Ecosystem
  • Knowledge
  • Natural Resources
  • Resilience, Psychological*

Grants and funding

Partial support is provided to Dr. Randhir by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, CSREES, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES), under Projects MAS00036, MAS00035, and MAS00045. Partial support to Dr. Randhir and Ms. Ana Quinonez Camarillo from the US National Science Foundation’s Grant No. 2120948 under Growing Convergence Research is gratefully acknowledged. There was no additional external funding received for this study.