Land Use Change and Trends
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 |
Recalibrating burdens of blame: Anti-swidden politics and green governance in the Philippine UplandsBackgroundOpen access copy available |
People and Mangroves: Biocultural Utilization of Mangrove Forest Ecosystem in Southeast AsiaBackgroundMangrove forests in Southeast Asia are recognized as biodiverse ecosystems that offer ecological, social, and economic benefits. However, this region also experiences the highest global rates of mangrove loss. This is concerning because the decline of mangrove forests in Southeast Asia potentially leads to the loss of valuable indigenous and local knowledge systems (ILKS) and even the disappearance of ethnic cultures. Open access copy available |
Integrating science-based and local ecological knowledge: a case study of mangrove restoration and rehabilitation projects in the PhilippinesBackgroundOpen access copy available |
Perceptions of local communities on mangrove forests, their services and management: implications for Eco-DRR and blue carbon management for Eastern Samar, PhilippinesBackgroundOpen access copy available |
Comparing Inductive and Deductive Modeling of Land Use Decisions: Principles, a Model and an Illustration from the PhilippinesBackgroundOpen access copy available |
Community perceptions of long-term mangrove cover changes and its drivers from a typhoon-prone province in the PhilippinesBackgroundOpen access copy available |
The use of non-wood forest products by migrants in a new settlement: Experiences of a Visayan community in Palawan, PhilippinesBackgroundIn the early 20th century, Palawan, historically a sparsely populated island of the Philippines, became a “frontier,” attracting migrants from other Philippine islands who sought land ownership. Previous studies of migration to Palawan focused on the difficulties of converting forests to farmland and the subsequent hunger these migrants experienced. Despite coming from agricultural backgrounds, the predominantly Visayan migrants in Dumanguena, a village located south of the Palawan capital, Puerto Princesa, had to learn new skills related to the collection and use of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) in their new environment. Open access copy available |
The social and ecological costs of reforestation. Territorialization and industrialization of land use accompany forest transitions in Southeast AsiaBackgroundOpen access copy available |

