Another key evidence of the changing state of the ecological stakeholders is the change in predation habits of wolves (Canis lupus chanco) and snow leopards (Panthera uncia), which are increasingly preying on domestic livestock (Namgail et al. 2007b; our interviews).
We present this study as a model to demonstrate the consequences of socio-political reorganisation in pastoralist groups, together with changes in pasture use patterns, as a set of multiple events that created a shift in the traditional pastoral practices to an alternative 'state' in which the three main ecological stakeholders are affected.
However, there is a mismatch between the available ecological models and stakeholder needs.
Thirdly, ecological networks facilitate stakeholder decision-making on feasible biodiversity goals.
From Northern Senegal to Southern Benin, the research group explores a wide range of ecoregions and socio-ecological contexts, including stakeholders and their objectives, land use and agricultural practices, and management of biodiversity for enhancing biological control.
In this article we use both standard scientific assessment and the stakeholders' local ecological knowledge in order to acquire information about both the ecological integrity of an Atlantic Forest watershed, and the ecosystem services it provides.
In a small-scale case study of the Macabu River watershed in Brazil, we investigated and compared a rapid field assessment of stream ecological integrity with the stakeholders' local environmental perceptions as revealed through interviews.
A comparison of the three approaches related to depth of analysis of ecological processes, type of stakeholders that can be included, main kind of values elicited, etc. is shown in Table 1.
Interaction with ecological models can improve stakeholder participation in fisheries management.
In Austria, national policy-makers were interested in new guidelines for funding that increase the transparency of the planning, ensure the adequate treatment of ecological problems, and foster stakeholder involvement, but keep the process as simple as possible, and require minimal changes of the current guidelines.
This model cannot guarantee the global optimality in terms of CSD, but it may better fit in the reality, such as in a social-ecological system, where various stakeholders often have the full control of their own decisions, and when choosing collaborative partners, they usually pursue the maximization of their own interests.
