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Riggs RA, Langston JD, Beauchamp E, Travers H, Ken S, Margules C. Examining Trajectories of Change for Prosperous Forest Landscapes in Cambodia. Environ Manage 2020; 66:72-90. [PMID: 32333037 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-020-01290-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2019] [Accepted: 03/31/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Tropical forest landscapes are undergoing rapid transition. Rural development aspirations are rising, and land use change is contributing to deforestation, degradation, and biodiversity loss, which threaten the future of tropical forests. Conservation initiatives must deal with complex social, political, and ecological decisions involving trade-offs between the extent of protected areas and quality of conservation. In Cambodia, smallholders and industrial economic land concessions drive deforestation and forest degradation. Rural economic benefits have not kept pace with development aspirations and smallholders are gradually expanding agriculture into protected forests. We examine the drivers and effects of rural forest landscape transitions in Cambodia to identify trade-offs between conservation and development. Using historical trends analysis and information gathered through key informant interviews, we describe how local communities perceive social and ecological changes, and examine the implications of local development aspirations for conservation. We explore three scenarios for the future of conservation in Cambodia, each with different conservation and community development outcomes. We contend that conservation efforts should focus on strengthening governance to meet social and environmental requirements for sustainable forest landscapes. We suggest potential entry points for governance improvements, including working with local decision-makers and fostering collaboration between stakeholders. There is a need for realistic priority setting in contested tropical forest landscapes. Prosperous rural economies are a necessary but not sufficient condition for conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Anne Riggs
- Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, 4870, Australia.
- Tanah Air Beta, Batu Karu, Tabanan, Bali, 82152, Indonesia.
| | - James Douglas Langston
- Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, 4870, Australia
- Tanah Air Beta, Batu Karu, Tabanan, Bali, 82152, Indonesia
- Faculty of Forestry, Forest Sciences Centre, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Emilie Beauchamp
- International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London, WC1X *NH, United Kingdom
| | - Henry Travers
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - Sereyrotha Ken
- Wildlife Conservation Society Cambodia Program, #21, Street 21, Sangkat Tonle Bassac, PO Box 1620, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
| | - Chris Margules
- Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, 4870, Australia
- Institute for Sustainable Earth and Resources, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia, Kota Depok, Java Barat, 16424, Indonesia
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