Agroecological transitions to sustainability and biosphere reserves

ABSTRACT We examine the potential of local agroecological transitions to sustainability in Spain and their interaction with Biosphere Reserve (BR) designation. The BR program has experienced great success in Spain however questions linger regarding their contribution to agricultural sustainability. Here, we evaluate the performance of two selected local agroecological initiatives through a Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS) approach focusing, specifically, on their potential contribution to community resilience. To do so, we collected survey data from participants in one local agroecological initiative in the non-BR designated “La Vera” area and in the “Mariñas Coruñesas e Terras do Mandeo” BR. We found that participants valued positively the achievements of both initiatives but identified two important obstacles for CHANS community resilience: 1) lack of economic competitiveness of the products and services offered due to the higher prices of agroecological products when compared with conventionally produced market-oriented competitors and, 2) governance obstacles related to subsidy dependence and excessive governmental regulations of local community management practices and decision-making. Though there were no statistically significant differences between BR and non-BR survey data, non-BR respondents did identify more governance issues than BR respondents suggesting that BR designation may empower local communities institutionally providing them with more decision-making leverage in their interactions with the administration.