Research on natural resource management suggests that local perceptions form the basis upon which many small-scale societies monitor availability and change in the stock of common-pool natural resources. In contrast, this literature debates whether local perceptions can be effective in guiding the sustainable management of natural resources. With empirical evidence on this matter still highly limited, this work explores the role of local perceptions as drivers of harvesting and management behavior in a small-scale society in Bolivian Amazonia. We conducted structured interviews to capture local perceptions of availability and change in the stock of thatch palm (Geonoma deversa) amongst the Tsimane', an indigenous society of foragers-horticulturalists (n = 296 adults in 13 villages). We analyzed whether perceptions of availability match estimates of abundance obtained from ecological data and whether differences in perception help to explain harvesting behavior and local management of thatch palm. Perceptions of availability of G. deversa are highly contingent upon the social, economic and cultural conditions within which the Tsimane' have experienced changes in the availability of the resource, thus giving a better reflection of the historical, rather than of the ecological, dimensions of the changes undergone. While local perceptions might fall short in precision when scrutinized from an ecological standpoint, their importance in informing sustainable management should not be underestimated. Our findings show that most of the harvesting and management actions that the Tsimane' undertake are, at least partially, shaped by their local perceptions. This paper contributes to the broader literature on natural resource management by providing empirical evidence of the critical role of local perceptions in promoting collective responses for the sustainable management of natural resources.

中文翻译：

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地方观念作为自然资源可持续管理的指南：来自玻利维亚亚马逊流域小规模社会的经验证据

对自然资源管理的研究表明，地方观念构成了许多小规模社会监测公共资源储备的可用性和变化的基础。相比之下，该文献讨论了当地的看法是否可以有效地指导自然资源的可持续管理。由于关于这个问题的经验证据仍然非常有限，这项工作探讨了当地观念在玻利维亚亚马逊流域小规模社会中作为收获和管理行为驱动因素的作用。我们进行了结构化访谈，以了解当地人对 Tsimane'（一个由觅食者-园艺家组成的土著社会（n = 13 个村庄的 296 名成年人））的可用性和茅草棕榈（Geonoma deversa）库存变化的看法。我们分析了对可用性的感知是否与从生态数据中获得的丰度估计相匹配，以及感知差异是否有助于解释茅草棕榈的采伐行为和当地管理。对 G. deversa 可用性的看法在很大程度上取决于 Tsimane 经历资源可用性变化的社会、经济和文化条件，从而更好地反映了 G. deversa 的历史而非生态维度所经历的变化。虽然从生态角度进行审查时，当地的看法可能不够精确，但不应低估它们在为可持续管理提供信息方面的重要性。我们的调查结果表明，Tsimane 人进行的大部分收获和管理行动至少部分是，由他们的当地观念塑造。本文通过提供经验证据证明地方观念在促进集体应对自然资源可持续管理方面的关键作用，为更广泛的自然资源管理文献做出了贡献。