Abstract Social-ecological system (SES) promoting sustainable management of natural resources in common ownership are steered by a complex governance system that includes regulations through laws and policies, and management by administrative authorities operating across multi-level institutional structures that, in turn, are shaped by stakeholder interests. In addition, the long-term progress of natural resource management not only relies upon the existence of a well-structured and functional governance system, but needs that system to adaptably facilitate sustainable resource management in line with current knowledge and best practices. In this research we mapped the administrative structure that steers rangeland management in Iceland and undertook a critical analysis of the governance system´s structure and functions to examine if agricultural and environmental policy targets have facilitated improved rangeland management practices. A survey, based on a questionnaire distributed to selected public sector employees and sheep farmers, was used to gauge the participants: a) attitude towards rangeland management practices, b) perception of the level of collaboration and state support for rangeland restoration and c) views on current agricultural and environmental policies on rangeland management. The results strongly indicate that neither the current administrative structure nor the governance process itself have significantly facilitated expected attitude changes within the agricultural sector or among local authorities. Furthermore, it has neither facilitated significant attitude nor behavioral changes among sheep farmers aimed at improved rangeland management, in line with current government agricultural and environmental policy targets. Our key findings support previous research that shows the governance system for rangeland management in Iceland as structurally limited and suffering from weak vertically and horizontally integration. Furthermore, our findings clearly reveal the need for improved governance for rangeland management and the need for increased levels of knowledge application within the system.

中文翻译：

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冰岛牧场管理的功能孤岛和其他治理挑战

摘要 促进共同所有权自然资源可持续管理的社会生态系统 (SES) 由复杂的治理系统引导，该系统包括通过法律和政策进行监管，以及由跨多层次机构结构运作的行政当局进行管理，反过来，受利益相关者的利益影响。此外，自然资源管理的长期进展不仅依赖于结构良好且功能齐全的治理系统的存在，还需要该系统根据当前知识和最佳实践，适应性地促进可持续资源管理。在这项研究中，我们绘制了指导冰岛牧场管理的行政结构，并对治理系统的结构和功能进行了批判性分析，以检查农业和环境政策目标是否促进了牧场管理实践的改进。基于分发给选定公共部门雇员和养羊户的问卷调查，用于评估参与者：a) 对牧场管理实践的态度，b) 对合作水平和国家对牧场恢复的支持的看法以及 c) 意见关于牧场管理的当前农业和环境政策。结果有力地表明，当前的行政结构和治理过程本身都没有显着促进农业部门或地方当局之间预期的态度转变。此外，它既没有促进旨在改善牧场管理的绵羊农民的重大态度或行为改变，符合当前政府的农业和环境政策目标。我们的主要发现支持先前的研究，该研究表明冰岛牧场管理的治理体系在结构上受到限制，并且垂直和水平整合薄弱。此外，我们的研究结果清楚地表明，需要改进牧场管理的治理，并需要提高系统内的知识应用水平。