Tanya M. Howard – författare

Invasive species are among the greatest challenges to environmental sustainability and agricultural productivity in the world. One of the most promising approaches to managing invasive species is voluntary citizen stewardship. However, in order for control measures to be effective, private citizens often need to make sustained and sometimes burdensome commitments. Community-Based Control of Invasive Species is based on five years of research by leading scholars in natural resource and human behavioural sciences, which involved government and citizen groups in Australia and the United States. It examines questions including, 'how can citizens be engaged in voluntarily managing invasive species?', 'what communication strategies will ensure good motivation and coordination?' and 'how can governing bodies support citizens in their efforts?'. With chapters on institutional frameworks, changing governance, systems thinking, organisational learning, engagement, communication and behavioural change, this book will be a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners involved in natural resources management.

This book presents a collection of practitioner and community stories that reveal how invasive species management is a community issue that can spark community formation and collective action. It combines the unique first-person narratives of practitioners on the frontline of invasive species management in Australia with three case studies of community action for wild dog management across a range of geographical landscapes. The book offers readers a new understanding of how communities are formed in the context of managing different species, and how fundamental social and political processes can make or break landholders’ ability to manage invasive species. Using narrative analysis of practitioner profiles and community groups, drawing lessons from real-world practices, and employing theories from community development, rural sociology and collective action, this book serves multiple functions: it offers a teaching tool, a valuable research contribution, and a practitioner’s field guide to pursuing effective community development work in connection with natural resource management, wildlife management and environmental governance.