Social Aspects
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 |
Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees: The Oversight of Defaunation in REDD+ and Global Forest GovernanceBackgroundReducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is a global initiative aimed at mitigating climate change by preserving forest carbon stocks. While REDD+ has focused primarily on reducing deforestation, it largely ignores the role of defaunation—the loss of forest wildlife due to unsustainable hunting. Many tropical forests are increasingly experiencing "empty forest syndrome," where large frugivores and seed dispersers are being hunted out, leading to disruptions in seed dispersal and carbon sequestration. This study highlights how REDD+ policies fail to address the ecological role of forest fauna and argues that overlooking defaunation could compromise the long-term effectiveness of forest conservation efforts. Open access copy available |
Institutional Design of Forest Landscape Restoration in Central Togo: Informing Policy-making through Q Methodology AnalysisBACKGROUND:Open access copy available |
The Realities of Community Based Natural Resource Management and Biodiversity Conservation in Sub-Saharan AfricaBACKGROUND:Open access copy available |
Climate Risk ManagementBACKGROUND:Worldwide efforts are underway to devise and apply strategies to manage these risks effectively. Key challenges in climate risk management include the integration of necessary scientific disciplines, articulating stakeholder values and objectives, and quantifying pivotal uncertainties and trade-offs, all of which are vital for crafting effective management strategies. The paper addresses the intensification of global climate risks driven by accelerating climate change. The authors review these challenges based on existing literature to identify potential avenues to overcome them. Open access copy available |
Livelihoods, Forests, and Conservation in Developing Countries: An OverviewBACKGROUND:Poverty is a huge challenge, with 2.8 billion of the world’s 6 billion people living on less than $2 a day. The paper highlights the alarming extent of poverty in developing countries and addresses the rapid deforestation, which compromises ecological integrity and exacerbates social inequities. The authors focus on exploring whether poverty alleviation and forest conservation can be aligned as complementary rather than conflicting objectives. Available with subscription or purchase |