Social Factors That Influence Restoration Management Intensity: Watershed Rehabilitation and Wet Meadow (bofedal) Restoration in the Bolivian Andes

Arresting land degradation in impoverished rural environments is a global priority. Restoration ecology provides a promising framework, but it will need to be modified when applied to a rural development setting. There is a need for increased understanding of social dynamics in land restoration, however few systematic studies exist. This paper explores the social factors influencing restoration management intensity, including motives and perceived benefits, incentives, land tenancy, institutional factors, conflict resolution, accessibility, off-farm labor, and outmigration. The study area is a wet meadow restoration and watershed rehabilitation project ongoing in the Bolivian Andes since 1992. Household survey methods were used to compare 4 high restoration management intensity communities with 4 low restoration management intensity communities, with additional data from detailed census and geospatial analysis. The results suggest that several endogenous factors that may facilitate or constrain investments in land restoration, and that land restoration may help slow the rate of rural to urban migration. The potential policy implications are discussed.