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[return to A. Fellows by region or B. Condensed tables of Fellows] TRI Fellows Research Projects, 2006
Asia
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| A fisherman from Siar Village, Madang Lagoon, Papua New Guinea enters the water to gather fish after throwing dynamite. The fine for throwing dynamite is 1000Kina in Papua New Guinea but the practice still continues, even in a designated wildlife management area such as this one. |
On paper, Papua New Guinea appears to be a country that incorporates local landowners into conservation decision-making. Papua New Guinea has progressive conservation legislation and 97 percent of the land is communally owned. I was interested in researching whether or not the land tenure system and the conservation legislation allowed for high levels of participation among local landowners. I examined five wildlife management areas in Madang Papua New Guinea and asked local landowners questions about the importance of land, their fishing habits, their water supply, their knowledge of conservation legislation, and their relationship with NGOs and local, provincial, and central government. Overall, I found that conservation decisions are not driven by local communities without some form of outside intervention in Papua New Guinea. While some local landowners may traditionally conserve some parts of their land or their sea and be interested in conservation for a number of reasons, the legal process of officially creating a wildlife management area is too difficult for local communities to negotiate without the help of researchers or NGOs.
Brent Frey
Effects of Patch Size and Anthropogenic Disturbance on Understory Diversity in Forests of the Central Himalayan
High population densities, coupled with intensive agriculture and forest use, pose a significant threat to the species diverse ecosystems of the Himalayas. While numerous studies have assessed floristic patterns in the Himalayan region, few have assessed understory floristics in heavily degraded forests. This study will attempt to improve our understanding of the relationship between anthropogenic disturbance intensity and patch size in shaping understory plant composition. This study will be undertaken in the state of Uttaranchal, India, in the Lesser Himalayan hills (1000-3000m) an area with a range of forest fragments in different stages of degradation. Forest stands of different sizes, and levels of disturbance will be selected for study, and sample plots will be randomly established in edge and interior habitats. The forest overstory will be characterized in terms of basal area and canopy openness, while understory floristics will be a! ssessed for species, density and cover using fixed areas plots. Analysis of floristic patterns will enhance our understanding of the relationship between patch size and understory diversity in forest fragments subject to different intensities of anthropogenic disturbance. This should inform efforts aimed at conserving plant diversity in this region.
Monisha Gangopadhyay
Transition of Indigenous Knowledge: The Effects of Land-Use Changes on the Transmission of Indigenous Garo Knowledge
The Garo Hills of Meghalaya ("Abode of Clouds"), India is both rich in biodiversity and cultural diversity. It is located in the infamously neglected northeast, the arm of India that stretches over Bangladesh, nestled in the lap of four neighboring countries. The people who inhabit this region, the Garos, primarily rely on a form of subsistence agriculture called shifting cultivation, also known as 'slash-and-burn' agriculture (experts in the region consider this term derogatory) or regionally as, 'jhum cultivation'. Although, it has been a contentious issue since British colonial times, particularly with India's Wildlife and Forest Departments, some ecological experts believe that this practice has contributed to the biodiversity of plant and animal species in the region.
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| A rhesus macaque from the forest, caught by a slash-and-burn cultivator. Though this practice is banned, it continues on a small scale to supplement incomes. |
I went to the Garo Hills to research the transition in indigenous knowledge as agriculture livelihoods change from subsistence-based to market-based as a result of societal, political and economic pressures. In the last fifty years, this region has experienced a number of changes affecting the social and economic fabric of its agricultural-based livelihood. These changes include the reduction of land due to 1. efforts of the Wildlife Department to "protect" forests and its wildlife inhabitants by purchasing large tracts of forested land and converting them into protected forest reserves and 2. population pressure. They also include reduction in agricultural productivity, resulting in a growing need for outside income, giving rise to wage labor in the region. The shift in land tenure practices from commonly-owned land to private land has supported the general trend away from subsistence farming towards cash-crop farming.
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| A sacrificial altar (using chickens) in the fields of one of the few remaining practitioners of the Garo traditional relgion, Sonsrek. |
Given these changes, I sought to research and document the transition in indigenous agricultural knowledge, making comparisons between communities with market/road access and remote communities, as well as between younger generation and older generations. My intention is to give back to the community what I learned in the hopes that they can learn from each other, particularly as social divisions become more defined with increasing social and economic assimilation with mainland India and indeed, the world.
Rachelle Gould
Living from the Forest: NTFP Inventory and Curriculum Development in the Bhutanese Himalaya
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| Bangchung bamboo and cane baskets. |
Future foresters in Bhutan will be trained at the Ugyen Wangchuck Environment and Forestry Institute, an educational institution that will open in 2008. My summer work, conducted under the direction of this emerging Institute, focused on Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP), or items extracted from the forest other than timber. These NTFP are a significant part of life in Bhutan, where 72% of the land area is covered by forests and where almost 80% of inhabitants live a subsistence farmer-forester lifestyle. This summer, I helped the Institute with curriculum design and also conducted more general research on NTFP.
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| Rachelle and staff members of UWEFI pose for a picture. |
The theme of how the Bhutanese use their forests stitched together the patchwork of my research activities. I observed, interviewed, collected with, or followed a diversity of Bhutanese citizens, from high-ranking forestry officials to ten-year-old village children. My goal was to understand the role that products from the forests play in Bhutanese life.
The role of NTFP in Bhutan is significant and complicated, but I made steps toward understanding it; my data is copious and varied. The specific deliverable that I left with the Institute was a semester-long curriculum designed to teach Bhutanese forestry students about the entire system surrounding NTFP-their biology, extraction, processing, marketing, management, and policy. The semester plan incorporates the variety of data collected through my research, including: case studies most relevant in Bhutan; reports both peer-reviewed and unpublished; guest speakers who work with NTFP; and specific recommendations for field work sites and projects.
I am now beginning to compose my thesis on the larger, deeper issues regarding the importance and use of the forests of Bhutan.
Ruoting Jiang
Effects of Indoor Particular Matter Pollution from Biomass Fuels Burning Cooking and Tobacco Smoke in Six Sheyang Rural Households, Northeastern China
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| A sampling subject burns biomass fuel while carrying personal monitor. |
Indoor particulate matter (PM) pollution resulting from the combustion of biomass fuels and tobacco smoke is one of the most serious, yet least studied, environmental problems in China. Indoor PM level in homes burning biomass fuels exceed EPA's regulations by several-fold; indoor PM concentrations of homes with smokers were two to three times higher than that in homes without smokers. PM is associated with a wide array of adverse health effects, such as respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses and mortality, but many rural Chinese are unaware of these risks. China has high morbidity and mortality from lung diseases, and respiratory disease is the primary cause of death among rural Chinese residents. Despite the severity of this problem, there are huge data gaps regarding indoor air quality in China's rural households, making it difficult to address the issue.
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| An indoor PM10 Monitor that Ruoting used in her study. |
In this research I analyzed the contribution of biomass fuel burning, cooking and tobacco smoke by performing a comprehensive study on indoor PM pollution in six households of Shenyang city, three in the rural areas and three in urban areas, during the summer of 2006. Outdoor and indoor PM monitors were used to collect data on PM10 levels of the six households. PM10 levels inside and outside the rural houses are compared with urban houses. Indoor PM10 monitors will also be used to collect information on short-term PM episodes. The results will help associate specific indoor activities with sudden elevations of PM levels. As part of this project, I generated personal exposure profiles of PM2.5 for different subgroups of the subjects based on the data collected by personal monitors -- Sidepak AM 510 Aerosol Monitors and time-activity diaries. These profiles will contribute to understanding of the variation of exposure levels among different subgroups.
Mira Manickam
Environmental NGOs, Civic Engagement, and Identity in Southern Thailand
I spent this summer in Thailand's Southern Three Provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, examining the impact of environmental NGOs on local political identities and participation. Unlike the rest of the mainly Buddhist country, the Southern Three Provinces of Thailand are predominantly Muslim and ethnically Malay. These provinces once constituted the ancient kingdom of Pattani and, since their annexation by the Siamese in the early 20th century, have had a tense relationship with the Thai government. An insurgent movement has exerted its influence in waves since the early 20th century, and after a long dormancy, exploded onto the scene again in January 2004. Since then, the violence associated with the insurgency has escalated, and trust between local people and security forces has further eroded.
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| Children taking a break from weekend religious school. |
I am interested in the role of local Thai environmental NGOs in mediating conflicts between rural people and commercial and state interests over natural resources. Not only do these groups work to address local livelihood issues relating to environmental access and control, but they also create an avenue for civic engagement with the state that is an important democratizing force in Thailand. This is particularly relevant in the southern three provinces, where many locals view their relations with the state as being unproductive and where such sentiments have recently been expressed through violence. Additionally, NGOs play an important role in shaping the political and cultural identities of their constituencies.
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| A boy on a fishing boat on the Eastern shore of Pattani Bay. |
This summer, I spent 3 months in the Southern Three Provinces of Thailand. I spent the majority of this time living in a small Muslim fishing village observing people's relationships with and attitudes towards environmental NGOs, the environment, and the Thai government. I also followed the activities of one NGO network in those provinces. Besides learning a great deal about the relationships between NGOs and the villages where they work, I learned a great deal about the unique culture of Southern Thailand's Muslims, and the contours of their poverty and persistent exclusion from mainstream Thai culture. I hope that my research will a) help environmental NGOs in Southern Thailand understand the impact of their programs on villages, and b) more broadly shed light on a complicated region of the world, where few foreigners have spent extended periods on the ground since the violence erupted in 2004.
Kate Neville
"Public vs. Private" Ideology in the Philippines: Finding Context-Appropriate Institutional Arrangements for Urban Water Provision
My project focused on institutional analysis of water management practices, to determine what aspects of management systems and decisions dictate whether a water provision system will be successful or will run into problems. I used several cities in the Philippines as case studies for this project (Metro Manila, Baguio, Tagbilaran, and Laoag), with a specific focus on the experiences in Manila.
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| Water truck in Baguio City, Philippines: Small-scale independent water providers, including water truckers, provide freshwater for households in many cities in the Philippines and other developing countries. They serve families that are not connected to a centralized piped network, and supplement water supplies even for connected households. |
The varied experiences in the Philippines with water management provided a series of comparative cases that provide insight into how context-specific features of a city influence the resource governance options that are available and effective. I needed to determine what systems were in place in various cities, which systems were working well and what problems they faced, what barriers were identified by different stakeholders, and what options and alternatives were seen to be available to different communities. To do this, I conducted interviews and meetings with a range of stakeholders in the water sector, including government officials in regulatory and management capacities, private company administrators, non-governmental organizations, development agencies and banks, media, and academics.
The viewpoints offered by the different sectors provided insights into the goals and needs of different affected parties, and contributed to an understanding of the current situations and of the obstacles that have been or would be faced in any reform efforts. The research highlights the importance of considering local characteristics when designing a resource management system, and the need to recognize existing variations in management when undertaking reform processes.
Camille Rebelo
Ecotourism as a mechanism for development, Papua New Guinea
Community based ecotourism has vast potential as a longterm mechanism for the diversification and economic development of rural communities, particularly in areas of high ecological value.
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| Highlanders in traditional warfare makeup. |
While Papua New Guinea (PNG) has the core resources necessary for an extensive network of ecotourism facilities - diverse and relatively untouched ecosystems and a rich and vibrant culture - current levels of infrastructure do not allow for the quick or easy development of such an industry. Rather, such development requires a multi-generation commitment, and the barriers faced at different stages of this development are numerous and complex.
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| Oil palm seeds on the way into the processing plant, Kimbe, West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. Oil palm plantations are the biggest cause of deforestation on New Britain Island. |
This study addresses the overall status of current initiatives at a multitude of levels, beginning with community or village based facilities. I then address the potential for niche tourism markets, through an economic analysis of the PNG dive association, and its benefits to local communities. Finally, in a country where guidelines are regulations are few, benchmarks are often the best way to analyze the potential success and future growth of tourism initiatives. I use the case study of Walindi Plantation Resort, one of PNG's earliest and most successful tourism destinations, to provide an overview of the factors required for success, and the potential for further economic growth and development.
Laura Robertson
GIS modeling of Crop Raiding by Buton Macaques in Southern Sulawesi
Crop-raiding is one of the most serious conflicts occurring along the boarders of human beings and wildlife today. With natural habitat quality decreasing and human population increasing, the trend for human/wildlife conflict is likely to increase in the future. This research proposes that a significant tool to lessen the collision is GIS modeling. As a pilot study for predicting the crop-raiding of Buton Macaques (Macaca orchreata brunnescens), an endangered primate inhabiting the island of Buton, Indonesia, I mapped and collected spatial data for farms and forestland surrounding the village of Kawalli. I also conducted interviews with local people about their perceptions and tolerance for crop raiding which I can then integrate into spatial data layers in order to predict "hot spots" of conflict between subsistence farmers and Macaques. Ultimately, this research will produce maps that will be helpful to guide future land use planning, pointing the way to a path of "coexistence" with wildlife and minimizing economic loss to local farmers.
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| Buton macaques eating sweet potato in a local farmers crop field. Kaweli village, Buton, Indonesia. |
While in Buton, Indonesia, I looked at such questions as what physical characteristics of the farm (eg proximity to forest, type of principle crop, size of farm) and/or mitigation methods (eg dogs, alarms, guarding) influence the success of crop raiding. During interviews with the farmers, I looked for variables such as education level, income level, or farm type that correlated with their attitudes towards monkeys. Local Butonese will take the completed GIS model into consideration when they look at policies for mitigating crop loss and try to bring the benefits of conservation more closely in line with local farmer's interests.
Krishna Roka
Armed Conflict, Environment and Conservation in Nepal
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| Krishna poses during a field visit to one of the most forest-rich and Maoist-affected districts, which forms a route between Nepal and India for various activities. |
Nepal's 10 year long conflict (1996-2006) between the Government of Nepal (then His Majesty's Government of Nepal) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) resulted in loss of more than 13 000 lives, and millions worth of infrastructure and economic activities were destroyed during that period. The major cause of the conflict is socio-political in origin, as a result of disparities based on economy, geography, ethnicity, culture, political system and ideology among the different parties in Nepal. Environment during the conflict had become least concerned subject against the economic, political and human rights discussions. The impact of the conflict on environment is both positive and negative, which can be further categorized as direct and indirect in effect depending on the outcomes. Indirect effects have wider reach affecting every sector in the environment conservation and management realm. Burning of offices and vehicles, death of staff, wildlife killings, and forest destruction are some of the direct negative effects. While taxation of community forests, threats to forest members, park officials and forestry staffs, pressure from internally displaced people, blockades to forests and protected areas, new rules and regulations, issues in natural resources governance system, etc., are some of the indirect negative outcomes. Some of the positive consequences are conservation system becoming more inclusive, transparent, and increase in forest areas and wildlife population in some areas. Even though environment was not a subject of the conflict, the conflict inflicted greater negative impacts on the environment than positively. The scale of impact might not be alarming, but it has raised several issues to be dealt in a post-conflict scenario ranging from rights, control, and usage of natural resources.
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| Inside a forest, an army barrack using tree logs for bunker establishment, which is common in Nepal. |
The research was conducted during June-August 2006. The method involved interviewing of forest users groups (Community forests), experts on biodiversity, Maoists (both national and local leaders), army, park and forest officials, locals and NGO personals; gathering secondary information; and field visits to 10 districts- five each in hilly region and Terai (plains). The interview focused on questions, dealing with the direct and indirect impacts from the warring parties (Maoists and army) on forests and conservation, policy of Maoists regarding forests, involvement of Maoists in forest felling and trade, impact on forest resource governance (community forestry), positive implication of the conflict in forest management, measures to minimize risks during conflict while working on forest related issues, and many more similar topics. Few times I was interrogated by the Maoists regarding my motives and got involved in protests and road blockades. I also attended an international conference on "Conservation in Conflict" September 5-7, 2006 attended by experts from 14 conflict affected nations.
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