Can Law Foster Social-Ecological Resilience?

Authors

Ahjond S. Garmestani, U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyFollow
Craig R. Allen, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Melinda H. Benson, University of New Mexico - Main CampusFollow

Date of this Version

2013

Citation

Garmestani, A. S., C. R. Allen, and M. H. Benson. 2013. Can law foster social-ecological resilience? Ecology and Society 18(2): 37.

Comments

Copyright © 2013 by the author(s).

Abstract

Law plays an essential role in shaping natural resource and environmental policy, but unfortunately, many environmental laws were developed around the prevailing scientific understanding that there was a “balance of nature” that could be managed and sustained. This view assumes that natural resource managers have the capacity to predict the behavior of ecological systems, know what its important functional components are, and successfully predict the outcome of management interventions. This paper takes on this problem by summarizing and synthesizing the contributions to this Special Feature (Law and Social-Ecological Resilience, Part I: Contributions from Resilience 2011), focusing on the interaction of law and socialecological resilience, and then offering recommendations for the integration of law and social-ecological resilience.