The authors investigate how land cover, land use, and protected area management affects communities around a forest reserve in the Philippines. They conclude that incorporating local livelihoods into forest conservation strategies results in a measure of sustainability and positively impacts the socioeconomic well-being of communities near the protected area.
The authors provide an overview of the scientific and traditional knowledge that the Zaira community, located in the Solomon Islands, uses to underpin their community-based management regime of Leatherback Sea Turtles. This highlights the important role local communities play in the conservation of iconic species.
The authors use the case study approach to provide insights into how an indigenous population, the Baka in Cameroon, face barriers to participation in policy making, hindering recognition of rights to traditional forestland.
Victoria Gonzalez Carman and Maria Carman focus on the interaction between a fishing community and a group of conservation experts in Brazil. They find that although fishers classify species according to their capacity to be exploited as a resource, they may also be willing to become strategic conservationists by negotiating with conservation experts to protect some of these species.
Arjaan Pellis, Annemiek Pas, and Martijn Duineveld build upon Niklas Luhmann’s Social Systems Theory to study the multidimensional nature of resource-based conflicts in and around Loisaba conservancy in Kenya.
Gustavo A. Garcia-Lopez and Camille Antinori trace and analyze the historical processes driving formation and change of Mexican inter-community forestry associations over time, drawing on survey data and in-depth case studies from two Mexican states.
Zhen Wang’s photo essay explores in detail how nearly 40 years of urbanization and rapid economic development have transformed the past, present, and future of the Yi population and of China’s rural and cultural landscapes.
Content
Alternative Futures brings together 35 essays on India’s future, written by a diverse set of authors: activists, researchers, media persons, those who have influenced policies, and those working at the grassroots. Divided into four sections—Ecological Futures, Political Futures, Economic Futures, and Socio-Cultural Futures—the book covers a wide range of issues including environmental governance, biodiversity, democracy and power, law, agriculture, pastoralism, industry, languages, learning and education, knowledge, health and sexuality among others.
Birds in Our Lives is an account of bird conservation in India, written by conservationist Ashish Kothari. It educates the reader on the importance of birds in Indian culture and economy and highlights the imminent threats to their habitats and populations, as well as growing efforts to conserve birdlife.
