| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 亞太研究英語碩士學位學程(IMAS) === 105 === Over the past several decades, local communities, scientists, and government officials have had to contend with increasing environmental degradation and the growing need for sustainable development and resource use. In more recent years, in order to address these rising concerns, the concept of co-management of land and resources has become increasingly popular. Co-management is commonly defined as “a situation in which two or more social actors negotiate, define, and guarantee amongst themselves a fair sharing of the management functions, entitlements and responsibilities for a given territory, area or set of natural resources” (Borrini et al. 2000). More specifically, forest co-management refers to situations in which the area and resources for which responsibility is being shared are forest-related. In theory, the benefits of forest co-management should not only be environmental, but socioeconomic as well.
In this thesis, I will conduct two case studies of co-management in Taiwan, the Taroko National Park co-management committee, which was established over a decade ago, and another more recently emerging case of co-management between Rukai indigenous peoples and the Taiwan Forestry Bureau. In order to provide a model framework for Taiwanese co-management agreements, I will also discuss co-management as it has been incorporated into Canadian national park management. I will trace the history and evolution of indigenous-state relations across the pertinent periods of colonization in both Taiwan and Canada to better understand the foundations upon which current indigenous-state co-management efforts have been constructed.
This thesis will also touch upon the role that the emergence of an international indigenous rights regime has played in shaping domestic indigenous policies in Taiwan. I will identify how indigenous peoples fit into the policy and decision-making frameworks of Taiwan’s national park and forest management efforts. In assessing the nature of power relations between indigenous peoples and the central government in this context, I aim to answer the following question: how do local Taiwanese indigenous peoples engage in co-management agreements with the state government of Taiwan? Upon analyzing the historical and international contexts, the policy frameworks, and the specific details of each case, I will posit suggestions for future co-management efforts between the Taiwanese state government and indigenous communities.
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