Addressing the gap between participatory ideals and the reality of environmental management: The case of the cormorant population in Finland

Environmental management, similar to public management generally, is increasingly challenged by an ever more complex society. Generally, in scientific literature, participatory features are presented as solutions for adapting centrally steered management to local circumstances and for mitigating conflicts. This article argues that local realities and transformations are easily neglected in environmental management due to unsuccessful implementation of its own participatory ideals. By studying the management of cormorant-human conflicts in Finland, the article identifies critical features that can be implemented to overcome the gap between participatory ideals and the reality of environmental management. By interviewing locals and civil servants and by directing questionnaires to fishers, the article presents how management and science look for dependencies between cormorants, fish stocks, and water nutrition, although fishers and locals are primarily concerned with the combination of seal- and cormorant-induced damages, the changed behaviour of fish, and reduced recreational possibilities. Narrow scientific approaches and the national interpretation of the EU Birds directive thereby impede the management system from perceiving the complete local impact of a growing cormorant population. This article identifies obstacles hindering a balanced environmental management policy and concludes that there is a need to reinforce (a) social scientific approaches; (b) vertical negotiations at the local, national, and supranational level; and (c) the training of civil servants as facilitators of communication.