Bringing big ideas to the ground: policy mobilities and frictions in the translation of international guidance on other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) in Kenya

Abstract

In the closing moments of the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held in the Japanese prefecture of Aichi in 2010, the gathered delegates coined a new phrase as they debated the language of Target 11 of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. Specifically, this target aimed to ensure that by 2020 at least 17% of terrestrial and inland water and 10% of coastal and marine areas would be effectively conserved through “systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures.” The inclusion of this latter phrase in what became known as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets sparked almost a decade of debate about its meaning and implications, leading to the establishment of a dedicated IUCN Task Force to develop an internationally agreed definition for so-called ‘OECMs’ and associated technical guidance. With a definition now agreed upon and guidance adopted by the CBD at COP 14 in 2018, countries are tasked with reconciling this new concept with their own policies and practices to identify those approaches to conservation that might align with the OECM definition and create a roadmap for implementation. This thesis examines how this process is unfolding in Kenya. As one of the first countries to test the guidance on OECMs, the Kenyan case provides important lessons for other countries preparing to engage with and apply this concept.

In examining the process of translating the new international guidelines into national policy frameworks, I build on ideas from the new geographies of policy to ‘follow the policy’ and address three main questions: (1) How is the OECM concept being interpreted and framed by different conservation actors across diverse landscapes in Kenya? (2) How are international guidelines for recognising and supporting OECMs translated into conservation policy frameworks at the national and sub-national scale? (3) What might the outcomes of this translation process mean for conservation in Kenya? This thesis addresses each of these questions in turn, adopting a mixed methods approach to examine spaces of policy circulation, translation, and implementation and trace the twists and turns in the processes of policy development. I combine interviews, document analyses, and ethnographic methods to open up the ‘black box’ of policy discussions before using geographic information systems (GIS) to explore potential implications for area-based conservation in Kenya.

The analyses highlight how the unique form and composition of national policy assemblages and the dominance of key actors in the policy translation process can restrict the scope of policy discussions resulting in a narrow interpretation of the OECM guidance that constrains the potential for more transformative change in conservation. This research also demonstrates the importance of sustained engagement with new policy ideas, calling attention to the vital role of ‘policy mobilisers’ in maintaining the policy assemblage across space and time. These results have important implications for the design of stakeholder engagement in policy development, emphasising how outcomes are shaped by who decides to engage with the concept and how they do so.