East Asia and Pacific
Herbaceous plant diversity in forest ecosystems: patterns, mechanisms, and threatsBACKGROUND:Recent studies have expanded our ecological understanding by focusing on forest herbs, highlighting that while trees dominate ecological theory, they represent only a small fraction of forest plant diversity. Forests showcase varying plant diversity due to human activities like land-use changes, invasive species, climate change, and overabundant herbivores, necessitating comprehensive management strategies. By understanding the complex interplay of these factors, the research aims to promote effective long-term conservation and sustainability of herbaceous plant communities in these environments. Available with subscription or purchase |
REDD’ing Forest Conservation: The Philippine PredicamentBackgroundAvailable with subscription or purchase |
Against political ecologyBackgroundAvailable with subscription or purchase |
Violent enclosures, violated livelihoods: environmental and military territoriality in a Philippine frontierBackgroundHistorically, agrarian change in the Philippines involved shifts in land enclosure, from colonial and church usurpation to capitalist intensification and protected areas, sparking peasant resistance and the rise of insurgent groups like the New People's Army (NPAs). Currently, in Palawan, military operations against the NPA often conflate peasants and insurgents. These military actions converge with conservation in national park buffer zones, creating restrictive and politically charged spaces for indigenous groups like the Tagbanua. Authorities frequently stigmatize their traditional land use as criminal, such as swidden farming. Available with subscription or purchase |
The Social Life of Forest Carbon: Property and Politics in the Production of a New CommodityBackgroundAvailable with subscription or purchase |
Hope for Threatened Tropical Biodiversity: Lessons from the PhilippinesBackgroundOpen access copy available |
The Prospects for Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) in Vietnam: A Look at Three Payment SchemesBackgroundAvailable with subscription or purchase |
Automating violence? The anti-politics of ‘smart technology’ in biodiversity conservationBackgroundBiodiversity conservation initiatives, such as the UN's post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (30x30), increasingly use smart technologies. Despite recognizing Indigenous and local rights for successful conservation, these initiatives often neglect customary rights and uses. Smart technologies, like AI, camera traps, and drones, enable new surveillance methods. State, private, and corporate actors, including big tech and BINGOs, actively adopt these tools to enhance data access and form smart governance networks. Open access copy available |
Experimental Science for the ‘Bananapocalypse’: Counter Politics in the PlantationoceneBackgroundOpen access copy available |
Recalibrating burdens of blame: Anti-swidden politics and green governance in the Philippine UplandsBackgroundOpen access copy available |
