Constraints on Public Policy Design and Formulation: A Case Study on the Conservation of Natural Resources in Local Governments of the Amazonia, Peru

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to read article sustainability-3166574 « Limitants for the design and formulation of public policies: case of natural resource conservation at the local government level, Peru», on the important issue of sustainable management of natural resources.

The merit of the article is an interesting selection of material and a careful analysis of practical cases. The authors in the introduction have well described the subject of study and the problem. 

Despite this, the article has obvious shortcomings.

The annotation needs to be rewritten. More limiting factors are presented in the article than mentioned in the annotation. 

Article is poorly organized. The logic of a scientific article implies that the authors, after careful review of the scientific literature on the chosen topic, present the results of their own research. The discussion then shows which conclusions are consistent with previous results presented in scientific articles mentioned earlier in the review and which are not. This is not the case in this article. The article rather resembles a survey report without scientific evidence of the validity of the answers received.

More papers discussing the article should be brought forward, perhaps not only for Peru but also for other countries.

The authors mention statistics in the article, referring to a scientific book. It is better if the authors provide official statistics, indicate the appropriate link. Similarly with regulatory documents. The article makes repeated references to laws, regulations and other regulatory instruments. Please provide references.

In the introduction, specify the purpose of the article and the related tasks.

In Reverences 48 sources, but not all are mentioned in the article. In the section Introduction 4  (Link 72) source then immediately 11 source (Link 75).

The authors argue that their paper is more theoretical. Then it would be logical to add a section of the Literature Overview, in which to show discussion of scientific approaches to solving the problem of the article.

The main disadvantage is the lack of calculations confirming the representativeness of the sample and the adequacy of the authors' conclusions.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

From the presented manuscript, it is clear that formulating public policies for natural resource conservation at the local government level in Peru faces several significant limitations. These constraints arise from a combination of several key challenges. Amongst them are limited technical and administrative (local governments’) capacity to design and implement effective conservation policies, fragmentation of Peru's legal framework regarding natural resource management, and corruption. The most important issue is not only the lack of economic resources at the local level in remote and rural areas where illegal activities are prevalent but also weak coordination between different levels of national, regional, and local authorities within various sectors (agriculture, mining, and tourism) that can lead to conflicting policies.

I would definitively recommend this contribution to publication. One note seems to be important: I recommend adding some graphical illustrations to clarify the results obtained and further strategic ways out of the current situation  

Comments on the Quality of English Language

I would recommend minor revisions to quality of English text

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

 

The conservation of natural resources is an important task at the national level. Measures on natural resources conservation comply with the biodiversity conservation goals, economic well-being, and social development. The ratification of international conventions on the conservation of biodiversity is a practical mechanism for all countries.

The study could further benefit, if the authors:

1.     specify the subject of research;

2.     substantially increase the abstract;

3.      back their research with statistical data, as well as diagrams, tables, and figures, developed by the authors.

The Discussion section should be included.

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors. You did a good job and gave a detailed comment on the edits. In my opinion, it turned out to be an interesting and useful article.