Beyond Operational Capacity: Institutional Gaps and Transformative Resilience in the Governance of a Forest Protected Landscape in the Philippines

Résumé fourni par la source

Protected landscapes are increasingly recognized as both ecological conservation areas and complex governance systems exposed to climate and disaster risks. This study assesses perceived governance capacity in the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL) in the Philippines. Using a survey adapted from established resilience and institutional capacity frameworks, the study examined seven dimensions: access rights and entitlements, information flows, decision-making processes, application of new knowledge, capacity to anticipate risk, capacity to respond, and capacity to recover and change. Data were gathered from 55 respondents across five local government units, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Rizal Provincial Planning Office, and the Protected Area Management Board. Descriptive statistics assessed perceived institutional capacity, while Spearman's rho and Cramér's V tested associations between resilience conditions and selected sociodemographic variables. Results showed an overall mean score of 3.76, indicating a high level of perceived institutional capacity. Application of new knowledge (3.88) and capacity to respond (3.87) received the highest scores, whereas information flows (3.59) and capacity to recover and change (3.64) received comparatively lower scores. Age and years in office were significantly and negatively associated with selected institutional dimensions. While UMRBPL institutions demonstrate robust operational capacity in response, risk anticipation, and knowledge application, they are constrained by fragmented information flows, weak institutional memory, and limited transformative recovery mechanisms.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.