Exploring Human-Nature Interactions Around the World
From the stewards of Bangladeshi mangrove forests via land-users in the Spanish Sierra de Guadarrama, up to the community of a High Atlas valley — people and landscapes interact in manifold ways.
After long delays due to Covid-19, many of us have finally been able to go to the field. Again we keep getting amazed by the complexity of human-nature interactions and by people’s diverse ways of using and perceiving landscapes. In the meantime, several new team members have enriched our group in the German offices in Göttingen and Witzenhausen, adding up to a broad research portfolio.
Here is an overview on what happened in our research and on the People • Nature • Landscapes blog during the past months.
Recent Stories
CESMINE: Towards Positive Post-Mining Legacies
Closed mines are increasingly being rehabilitated, and transformed into farms and new woodlands, tourist attractions, or renewable energy sites. Kamila Svobodova reports on her research on their socio-cultural benefits to local and wider communities.
Natura 2000 and the Dos and Don’ts of Conservation
Among German private forest owners, the European Natura 2000 conservation scheme is strongly contested and might even result in actions adverse to nature conservation. Malin Tiebel has researched their perceptions and attitudes.
Apples, Saffron and Dinosaur Tracks: Impressions from Morocco’s Central High Atlas landscapes
Accompany our postdocs Emmeline Topp and Laura Kmoch on their reconnaissance trip through the biocultural landscapes of Azilal Province, visiting famous apple orchards amidst rugged terrain and exploring the High Atlas social-ecological context.
Local Ecological Knowledge and Conservation in the Sundarban Mangrove Forests
Our new colleague Md. Abul Bashar Polas is conducting his PhD research on the Bangladeshi Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove ecosystem. How did he come to examine social-ecological interactions in this unique landscape?
From Indigenous Crops and Mexican Food Systems to Cultural Values of German Peatlands
Cultural landscapes are reservoirs of biodiversity, traditions, and knowledge. Our new team member Claudia Heindorf introduces herself and takes us on a journey through very different working contexts around the world.
The Owner Shapes the Difference — How Ownership Patterns Affect Forest Biodiversity and Conservation
In forest landscapes of Europe and North America, effective conservation strongly depends on motivated landowners who support and recognize its aims, our recent study shows. This is especially true when looking at the results of public and private ownership.
Notes From the Field: Researching visions for biodiversity conservation during the global COVID-19 pandemic
Our guest writer Veronica Lo from the ENVISION project has conducted research on visions for protected area management during the pandemic. In such challenging times, this requires a high degree of flexibility and sensitivity — the results, however, are revealing.
Learning from the past: Oral histories of biocultural diversity and human-nature connectedness
Miguel A. Cebrián shares first insights from his social-ecological fieldwork in the Spanish Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range, which he conducted in the frame of the ENVISION project. What histories of resource use do those people tell who have spent their whole lives here?
The Counterpart of Urban Forest’s Benefits: Looking at perceived disservices to close the loop
The positive effects of urban forests are well researched — so what about the negative ones? Our colleague Christoph Baumeister from University of Freiburg has asked people what they dislike about forests in city settings.
Upcoming Story
In our next post, Irene Holm Sørensen tells us about the state of the Portuguese montado. In a recent study, she and co-authors propose a novel approach for connecting cork producers with the industry in order to ensure the integrity of cork oak forests currently under pressure.
Enjoy reading!
Any remarks? Share your opinion with us in a comment or two. Looking forward to your feedback
— the Social-Ecological Interactions group
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