Environmental History and Commons for the Colombian Caribbean Challenges
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear Author,
Thank you for an interesting and important manuscript. The issues of further sustainable development of the tropical countries of Latin America are very relevant, especially in the context of the active transformation of natural ecosystems into agricultural ones, occurring against the backdrop of global climate change. It is especially important that these issues are considered in the context of respect for the rights of the indigenous inhabitants of the region, as well as socially and economically vulnerable other ethnic minorities, including Afro-Colombians.
Along with this, I strongly recommend that you strengthen in the manuscript the part that clearly shows (proves) that the agricultural practices of the Afro-Colombian population have been environmentally more sustainable over the past centuries, compared to modern agricultural practices (pastoralism, growing trees for palm oil production, etc.) associated with land fencing. It is necessary to provide demonstrative examples with links to sources. Please make your main points more compelling and better understood by the international readership of Sustainability. This is my main comment on your manuscript.
I do not insist, but a small Conclusion section would be appropriate in this manuscript.
In addition:
(1) The linear scale of Figure 1 is incorrect. Please check and change it carefully.
(2) Table 3. Does it present data for two studied zones of the Valledupar region? If so, please write about this fact in the title of the table.
Author Response
Dear reviewer
Thank you very much for all your input. I hope this new version of the article meets the expectations. I have followed one by one your recommendations as well:
| Comments / Recommendations | Answers |
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The issues of further sustainable development of the tropical countries of Latin America are very relevant, especially in the context of the active transformation of natural ecosystems into agricultural ones, occurring against the backdrop of global climate change. |
Agreed. I added this point in the introduction. |
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shows (proves) that the agricultural practices of the Afro-Colombian population have been environmentally more sustainable over the past centuries, compared to modern agricultural practices (pastoralism, growing trees for palm oil production, etc.) associated with land fencing. It is necessary to provide demonstrative examples with links to sources. |
Section 2.2, which contains the bibliography of published case studies that show that collective management systems, through local regulatory agreements, are an effective strategy and contribute significantly to conservation. For the specific case study, in section 2.3 I show how the arrival of agro-industrial rice cultivation since 1950, and then large-scale cotton cultivation, are the main cause of the change in structure and functionality of local community-managed flood systems. And then oil palm cultivation for biodiesel production. I have added emphasis to show that before these interventions Afro-descendants were herders, fishermen and gatherers. All of them sustainable activities. |
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(1) The linear scale of Figure 1 is incorrect. Please check and change it carefully.
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Quite right. Quite right. When I was manipulating the layers in ArcGis I kept the scale corresponding to the miniature map of Colombia. Thank you for noticing that mistake. I already re-exported the map with the correct graphic scale. |
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Does it present data for two studied zones of the Valledupar region? |
Okay, I've added it to the title. I added it in the titles. It is a table summarizing coverage in percentage of figures 3 and 4 (north and south zone). |
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small Conclusion section would be appropriate in this manuscript |
You are right. I have included it. |
Reviewer 2 Report
Title “Environmental history and commons for the Colombian Caribbean challenges
Article abstract:
This paragraph presents a clear and concise overview of the article's main objectives and methodology. By framing the research within the context of environmental history, the article provides a deep understanding of how human interactions with natural systems have changed over time in the Cesar region of Colombia. The article's use of satellite images and aerial photographs to analyze changes in land cover, coupled with an ethnographic approach to document local communities' perceptions and valuations, adds depth and nuance to the study's findings. The article's conclusion, which highlights the conflict implicit in different tenure models and the need for public policies that prioritize sustainability, peace building, and the recognition of territorial rights, underscores the study's relevance and significance beyond the scope of the Cesar region. Overall, this paragraph effectively conveys the article's main points and provides a strong rationale for the research's importance.
· One potential limitation of the methodology used in this study is that relying solely on satellite images and aerial photographs to analyze changes in land cover may not capture the full extent of changes in social-ecological systems over time. While these techniques provide valuable information, they do not necessarily account for the complex interactions and feedbacks between human and natural systems that may be better captured through more fine-grained, on-the-ground observations.
· Another potential issue is the generalizability of the study's findings beyond the Cesar region of Colombia. While the article provides a rich, detailed account of the region's environmental history, it is unclear to what extent these findings can be extrapolated to other regions or contexts. Further research may be needed to determine the extent to which these findings are representative of other areas facing similar challenges related to commons privatization and degradation of social-ecological systems.
· Overall, while the study's methodology provides valuable insights into the environmental history of the Cesar region of Colombia, it is important to consider these limitations and potential issues when interpreting the study's findings and implications.
Some point-by-point comments:
1. Sample Size: The article uses an ethnographic approach to document the perception and valuation of local Afro-descendant communities in the region. However, the sample size is not explicitly stated, and it is unclear whether the findings are representative of the broader population. The article would benefit from a more detailed explanation of the sampling method and size.
2. Data Quality: The study uses satellite images and aerial photographs to analyze the changes in land cover. It would be helpful to have more information on the quality of the data used and whether the data are accurate and reliable.
3. Generalizability: While the article provides valuable insights into the environmental history of the savannahs of the Cesar region in Colombia, the findings may not be generalizable to other regions or contexts. It would be useful to acknowledge the limitations of the study's generalizability explicitly.
4. Bias: The article documents the milestones in the privatization of the commons and the degradation of social-ecological systems. However, there may be biases in the selection and interpretation of the data, particularly with regard to the role of local Afro-descendant communities in the degradation of the environment. The article could benefit from a more detailed discussion of potential sources of bias.
5. Reproducibility: The article would benefit from more detailed information on the data and methods used to allow for the replication of the study by other researchers.
6. Timeframe: The article documents the changes in land use and tenure models over the last 60 years. However, this timeframe may not be sufficient to capture long-term changes in social-ecological systems. The article could benefit from a more extended temporal perspective.
7. 81-90 Theoretical Framework
a. A critical limitation of this paragraph is that it does not provide specific examples or evidence to support its claim that there is a lack of research on the environmental history of Colombia. Additionally, it does not mention any potential biases or limitations in the rising interest in analyzing environmental history from a historical perspective or in the Latin Americanist methodological approach. The paragraph also does not acknowledge potential challenges or limitations in the use of cartographic analysis, documentary sources, and ethnographic approach for studying environmental history.
8. Materials and Methods 278-304
a. One limitation of the methodology described is that it only relies on two points in time for data collection and analysis, which may not capture the full extent of changes occurring over a longer time period. Additionally, while the use of remote sensing and satellite imagery is a valuable tool, it may not provide a complete understanding of the complex social and ecological dynamics at play in the study area, and may not capture important nuances that can only be revealed through direct observation and engagement with local communities. Furthermore, the use of a buffer around urban centers to analyze land cover may not be representative of the entire community council and may lead to biased results.
9. Some point for the limitations of the study, 353-361,
a. One critical limitation of this paragraph is that it does not provide a detailed explanation of the factors that have led to the increase in vegetation cover in some areas. Without this information, it is difficult to assess the overall impact of privatization on the natural systems in the region. Additionally, the paragraph only focuses on the loss of access to commons by Afro-descendant communities and does not provide a more comprehensive analysis of how other stakeholders in the region have been affected by the changes in land use patterns. This narrow focus may limit the usefulness of the findings for policy-making and decision-making processes aimed at promoting sustainable development in the region.
10. Hedging analysis-287-396
a. One potential limitation of the paragraph is that it does not provide a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impacts of the changes in land cover. While the paragraph does mention that areas of shrublands and low vegetation cover have recovered, it does not fully explore the potential ecological consequences of increased areas of mono-crops or the decreasing of extensive cattle ranching. Additionally, the paragraph does not consider the potential long-term impacts of urban growth on the surrounding ecosystems and communities.
11. Author should provide conclusions and future recommendations
12. Some latest research related to this study should be included.
Over all decision: accept with minor changes.
Author Response
Dear reviewer 2
Thank you very much for all your input. You have done a very detailed work that helped me to improve the manuscript, go back to the data and get more out of it.
I hope this new version of the article meets expectations.
Attached is a detailed document that responds to all your comments and suggestions.
Regards,
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Environmental history and commons for the Colombian Caribbean challenges
By Johana Herrera Arango
Introduction
The article presents an account of the “environmental history of the savannahs of the Cesar region in Colombia, documenting the milestones in the privatization of the commons and the degradation of social-ecological systems.” Much information is presented in the article, and many problems (challenges) are mentioned. Some involve environmental challenges that were created through historical injustices and political regimes. The article makes for interesting reading, but sometimes claims are made without the necessary academic/scholarly references, otherwise giving the article a political flavour. While these may be unavoidable, care should be exercised to stay within the borders of academic writing and scholarly contributions. Data used in the article include aerial photographs and surveys among the population in the region(s). The author mentions one (or more) survey(s) that has/have been conducted, but it’s really unclear whether these were conducted by the researcher (author) or other people (possibly secondary data then).
The actual contribution of the article is explicit and should be strengthened. I make a recommendation in this regard at the end of this report.
Further, I have the following more specific comments:
11. Line 31: Maybe the use of the word “dramatic” is somewhat dramatic – pick a synonym.
22. Last paragraph on page 1 flowing into the claims on page 2 (above Figure 1): Give a scholarly reference to these claims.
33. Page 2: Give the source of “Figure 1. Study Area in the Colombian Caribbean”.
44. At about page 2, I get the feeling there is a political undertone to this article (see Introduction above). Please be mindful of words like “regime”, “violent”, “controversial”, etc.
55. Lines 70 – 77: I suggest you make your research questions for this article stand out more, e.g., give them a sub(sub)section of their own. Also, will you develop some form of a framework in line with the “model” idea in line 75?
66. Possible aside comment: The italicised legislation in Section 2.1, page 3 still mentions the non-gender-neutral term “fishermen”. Maybe some comment on this is warranted. Just a thought, though. This word appears in Table 4 as well.
77. Line 123: “perfected” Does this mean the legislation was changed, or an entire new legislation came into effect?
88. Line 126: “subjectivity” According to whose view? The inhabitants, government, or the author of the article?
99. Lines 130 -131: Resolve the citation: Error! No se encuentra el origen de la re-ferencia.].
110. Somewhere around page 6, the question arose in my mind: “What’s the contribution of this article?” But see my recommendation at the end.
111. Here and there are some editorial gremlins – missing full stops at the end of sentences, a full stop preceding a citation, e.g., line 238.
112. Line 242: “for several reasons” Is this somewhat unacademic phrase necessary in the sentence?
113. Lines 246 – 248: Give some reference (citation) to these claims to make it sound less like folklore. In fact, that whole paragraph appears to be devoid of any reference. The same challenge occurs with lines 262 – 268. Also, for lines 313 – 320. While these claims may be factual, a scholarly reference or at least some sort of justification is needed for each.
114. Likewise, lines 332 – 333: “The communal ecosystems in Valledupar currently feature a barbed wire border that the local inhabitants rarely dare to transgress.” Please provide a justification (reference).
115. Also, pages 334 – 342. Give references – looks like personal accounts. Same for the two paragraphs, lines 433 – 442.
116. Lines 452 – 461: There’s a footnote “v” given as an explanation, but the footnote itself is devoid of any justification or support in the form of a reference or URL as (e.g.) footnote “iv” has. Kindly provide justification.
117. Line 463: Replace “once and for all” with (e.g.) “permanently”.
118. Lines 369 – 379: The account given here without references strongly suggests that these are observations from the survey. But it seems to suggest that the researcher (author) was not part of the survey team (e.g., the reference to “they” in the paragraph. Please clarify.
219. Lines 307 – 308: I saw the RQs earlier but missed where the actual research objectives were defined. See also my suggestion to make the RQs (and objectives) more visible.
220. Table 1 (Editorial): Line up the entries in the 4th column per the line where they appear.
221. Table 2 layout is problematic. I suggest you make this a landscape page. Also, it’s not entirely clear whether the content of this table stems from the Appendix A fieldwork. There is a footnote, but I fail to spot what the superscript “1” below the table refers to. Also, what does the “//” in the table represent?
222. Figure 2 needs to be made much clearer. Not sure what to suggest. Maybe a landscape page on its own? Likewise, Figure 3 should be larger, especially since its content is referred to in the text above it. Also, Figure 4 could be larger.
223. Table 3 is quite interesting, and I suggest the researcher adds a paragraph below it to discuss the trends in the table.
224. Table 4 (and all tables, for that matter): Repeat table header rows across pages, especially Table 5. Also, I suggest you make Table 5 landscape. Further, does Table 5 stem from the fieldwork or conceptual, interpretive, or operational? (refer to lines 469 – 470).
225. Line 418: Please pick another (more academic) word or phrase for “impossible”.
226. Lines 427 – 429: “According to this report, the savannahs were cemeteries during the paramilitary period and the central plazas went from being meeting points to places of fear and intimidation (Table 4).” How do you infer this from the information in Table 4?
227. Line 486: “eleventh century [19,8].”? Guess it should be the 21st century?
228. Line 499: What do you mean by: “The actors in dispute are dissimilar.” Does it mean they disagree, or does it mean they are not the same?
329. NB: Line 527: What would be your “criterion of sustainability”? See also the last point in this report.
330. Line 622: Throughout the article you refer to a survey that has been conducted in the region (refer Appendix A), so since a survey among humans? has been conducted, then why do you have “Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.” Still with this: Did you or your group conduct the survey? If not, did you obtain the info through secondary data? It’s really unclear which parts of the information in the article flow from the survey, and which parts were obtained through other means? These need to be better explained.
331. Appendix A: Linking with the above, I would have expected Appendix A to be populated with the info you obtained through these dialogues?
332. Section 5. Discussion An academic article needs to make a contribution, other than giving a mere historical account of events presented in this article. Amongst other contributions, I would expect to see a discussion of sustainability principles (see point [29] above), link the violation of these principles with the numerous challenges elicited in the article, and then present plausible solutions to each of these challenges. Also, the challenges should be classified into groups to give them more structure instead of giving a flat, one-dimensional mention of individual challenges throughout the article.
333. NB: Therefore, I suggest that Section 5: Discussion be shortened, and much of the material you have in it be presented in a table with columns as follows: Column 1 – Sustainability principle(s) violated; Column2 – A group name for two or more challenges; Column 3 – a listing of the individual challenges belonging to the said group; Column 4 – plausible solutions (you already have these in Section 5, but they need to be synthesised better) to the column 3 challenges.
In doing the above, the title of the article would have to be amended.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 3
Thank you very much for all your input. You have done a very detailed work that helped me to improve the manuscript, go back to the data and get more out of it.
I have been able to incorporate many of his observations into the text. Others I did not consider feasible because they would change the sense of this research and would imply gathering new data. In any case, I have taken careful note to use their recommendations in future research. One of the issues I am most interested in clarifying with you is the political tone you perceived in my manuscript.
A detailed explanation can be found in the attached document.
Regards,
Author
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
This study examines how social and natural systems in the savannah and floodplain areas of the Cesar River have changed over time, focusing on the impact of going from shared ownership to private ownership. The manuscript used satellite images, aerial photographs, and ethnographic approach to study these changes. The manuscript suggests that policymakers should consider the conflict arising from different tenure models when creating policies related to sustainability, peace building, and territorial rights in the Colombian Caribbean. Overall, the manuscript is well written, but some minor changes need to be made before it can be accepted.
(1) The reference for [17¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.] in line 130 is a citation error.
(2) A period is missing after the citation [32] in line 228.
(3) There is also an error in the citation for [...] in line 512.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 4
Thank you very much for your contributions. I hope this new version of the manuscript meets expectations.
I will respond to your comments below.
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Comments / Recommendations |
Responses |
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This study examines how social and natural systems in the savannah and floodplain areas of the Cesar River have changed over time, focusing on the impact of going from shared ownership to private ownership. The manuscript used satellite images, aerial photographs, and ethnographic approach to study these changes. The manuscript suggests that policymakers should consider the conflict arising from different tenure models when creating policies related to sustainability, peace building, and territorial rights in the Colombian Caribbean. Overall, the manuscript is well written, but some minor changes need to be made before it can be accepted.
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Thank you very much for the review and positive assessment of the article. It has been hard work, but very rewarding. |
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(1) The reference for [17Error! Reference source not found.] in line 130 is a citation error. |
Already corrected |
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(2) A period is missing after the citation [32] in line 228. |
Already corrected |
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(3) There is also an error in the citation for [...] in line 512. |
Already corrected |
Reviewer 5 Report
The material and method did not explain clearly and your study had not a right research frame work. Which statistical method used for obtaining field data?
The main question is "The effects of human communities and their land use planning on land degradation rate of research area".The results obtained only by interpretation of satellite images and this discussion is not accurate without field data. For suitable conclusion an algorithm or flowchart based on a logical model should be use by researchers. Land degradation can be evaluate by considering soil, water and plant sampling and analysis of them in a certain period under standard manual such as FAO that used by many environmental organizations around the world. The researchers did not answer to main above question .The methodology of this research did not have a suitable statistical design in order to recognize essential challenges of environmental destruction by comparison of anthropogenic factors.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 5,
You have done a very detailed job in contributing to the methodology. In this new version you will find a more extensive section explaining the phases, the procedure, the instruments.
I respond to some specific issues on your comments:
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Comments / Recommendations |
Responses |
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The material and method did not explain clearly and your study had not a right research frame work. Which statistical method used for obtaining field data?
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I have added a much more detailed explanation of the fieldwork methodology. Much of the quantitative data has been obtained from the special analysis cited in the article that I advanced for this research. |
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The main question is "The effects of human communities and their land use planning on land degradation rate of research area". The results obtained only by interpretation of satellite images and this discussion is not accurate without field data. For suitable conclusion an algorithm or flowchart based on a logical model should be use by researchers. Land degradation can be evaluate by considering soil, water and plant sampling and analysis of them in a certain period under standard manual such as FAO that used by many environmental organizations around the world. The researchers did not answer to main above question .The methodology of this research did not have a suitable statistical design in order to recognize essential challenges of environmental destruction by comparison of anthropogenic factors.
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I understand the concern raised here. However, this article was not intended as a biophysical study that required a methodological procedure with soil surveys or other similar procedure. I am a biologist and cartographer, so I share your appreciation of the importance of clarifying the methodology, but the process I followed is in the field of environmental history and the socioecological approach, with a methodological design proper to these transdisciplinary approaches. I hope that this new version of the article can address your doubts about the methodological approach.
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Regards,
Author
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
Thanks very much for the revised article.
Everything of the best with your future research.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 3,
I really appreciate your feedback. Thank you!
Author
Reviewer 5 Report
The new version of this paper is suitable.Some tables should be rearrange and cited one by one.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer 5,
The 5 tables in the manuscript have been cited and I have adjusted the formatting. In addition, the 4 tables in appendices A and B have also been cited. And I have checked that all the tables have the sources.
I appreciate your review.
Regards,
Author
