Identifying and Classifying Stakeholders
In this module, you will evaluate the strengths and limitations of the ecosystem management approach based on practical experience from a case study. One of the first steps in the case study is to identify the ecosystem’s stakeholders.
A stakeholder is usually defined as a person or group that has a legitimate interest in the management activities of an ecosystem and its resources, such as e.g. employees or the local community.
When identifying stakeholders for your case study you will recognize that not all persons or groups with a legitimate interest are equally important for your management activities. That is why literature distinguishes stakeholders into groups based on their relative importance:
Primary Stakeholders: Those who are most dependent upon or affected by, either positively (beneficiaries) or negatively, the ecosystem or its management, and most likely to take an active part in its management.
Secondary and Tertiary Stakeholders: People who do not greatly depend upon the ecosystem or its resource but who may live nearby such as the local community or local government officials, advocacy organisations, or simply governmental, NGO and private sector organisations.
