Preservation and recovery of mangrove ecosystem carbon stocks in abandoned shrimp ponds

Mangrove forests capture and store exceptionally large amounts of carbon and are increasingly recognised as an important ecosystem for carbon sequestration. Yet land-use change in the tropics threatens this ecosystem and its critical ‘blue carbon’ (carbon stored in marine and coastal habitats) stores. The expansion of shrimp aquaculture is among the major causes of mangrove loss globally. Here, we assess the impact of mangrove to shrimp pond conversion on ecosystem carbon stocks, and carbon losses and gains over time after ponds are abandoned. Our assessment is based on an intensive field inventory of carbon stocks at a coastal setting in Thailand. We show that although up to 70% of ecosystem carbon is lost when mangroves are converted to shrimp ponds, some abandoned ponds contain deep mangrove soils (>2.5 m) and large carbon reservoirs exceeding 865 t carbon per hectare. We also found a positive recovery trajectory for carbon stocks in the upper soil layer (0-15 cm) of a chronosequence of abandoned ponds, associated with natural mangrove regeneration. Our data suggest that mangrove carbon pools can rebuild in abandoned ponds over time in areas exposed to tidal flushing

Social-ecological resilience of mangrove-shrimp farming communities in Thailand

Tropical coastlines are regions of extraordinary productivity and host a diversity of interlinked ecosystems which are vital for humanity, including mangrove forests. These environments provide a clear example of how societies and natural ecosystems interact to form complex ‘social-ecological systems’. Yet, although humans depend on mangrove forests in so many ways, these ecosystems are proving to be highly vulnerable under increased human pressures. This research focuses on the rapid social and ecological change brought about by the expansion of shrimp aquaculture in coastal mangrove areas of Thailand. Like in many other parts of the world, the intensification of shrimp aquaculture along the coast of Thailand over the past few decades has come with high social and ecological costs, including widespread conversion of mangrove forests, negative biophysical changes, and loss of coastal livelihood. The overarching aim of this research was to show how studying shrimp farming in mangrove areas as a social-ecological system can advance understanding of some selected drivers of resilient social-ecological systems, and how they are related. Integrating approaches from the natural and social sciences, the research draws on mixed methods combining biophysical sampling of mangrove ecosystem change, semi-quantitative household surveys, and qualitative participatory approaches. The first research chapter of this thesis (Chapter 4) assesses the influence of mangrove to shrimp pond conversion on ecosystem carbon storage on the southern Andaman sea coast of Thailand. The assessment was based on field inventories of forest structure and soil carbon stocks in mangrove forests and abandoned shrimp pond sites. While the results showed that mangrove conversion for shrimp farming results in a large land-use carbon footprint, the observed pattern of mangrove recovery in abandoned shrimp ponds demonstrates the high resilience capacity of mangrove forests. The second research chapter (Chapter 5) analyses shrimp farming diversity along the Gulf of Thailand coast. The research examines shrimp farmer behaviour in relation to production intensity, and its embeddedness in the wider socio-economic context of shrimp farming households. Shrimp farming intensity was found to be associated with a combination of technical, social, and ecological factors, and a range of different combinations of variables were important in influencing the adoption of farming at a particular intensity, relating to subjective culture and values, risk perceptions, and socio-economic conditions. The final research chapter (Chapter 6) uses participatory methods to explore the different forms of knowledge and perceptions of ecosystem health and ecosystem service delivery among mangrove-dependent communities on Thailand’s Andaman sea coast. The communities were shown to have high dependency on mangroves and hold a wealth of local ecological knowledge. Strong cultural and religious links among user-groups have facilitated greater communication and social cohesion and this could have a positive effect on community resilience by enabling collective synthesis and use of their ecological knowledge. The research also shows how periods of abrupt environmental change can bring coastal communities together, creating opportunity for self-organisation, environmental education, and capacity building, which plays a significant role in the sustainability of natural resources, livelihoods and social resilience. This thesis generates important contributions to the study of social-ecological systems and provides new findings that are relevant to inform sustainability and natural resource management decisions. The findings of this research are also timely to inform implementation of Thailand’s National Economic and Social Development Plan (2017- 2021), which calls for developing environmentally-friendly coastal aquaculture, and encouraging community forest management though creating participatory networks of forest restoration and protection

Viewer perceptions (and misperceptions) of animal-visitor interactions with big cats and crocodilians on YouTube

Animal-visitor interactions (AVIs) that involve “touching” captive wild animals are hugely popular, increasingly in-demand, and widely shared on social media. Social media may help raise awareness of conservation, and educate viewers, but the quality of information provided via AVIs varies, as does the treatment of the animals involved. Global standards for AVIs are lacking but various recent national-level codes and regulations call for increasing consideration of animal welfare (particularly for large, potentially dangerous animals). For accredited facilities, World Association of Zoos and Aquariums guidelines demand “respect” for the animals involved, and that AVIs are accompanied by animal welfare and conservation messaging. We described, and analysed the response to, 78 YouTube videos showing AVIs with captive “big cats” or crocodilians. Videos comprised predominantly promotional material, coupled with messaging that touched on conservation and animal welfare issues but lacked detail, and, in some cases, was potentially misleading. Both the videos themselves and viewer response to videos (assessed on the basis of video comments) revealed superficial “respect” for the animals, but there was little apparent appreciation of the “wildness” of the animals or of their place in the natural world. The sentiment of viewer comments was variable, but positive on average. We conclude that social media has considerable potential to perpetuate a potentially damaging perception of wild animals being “safe” and “protected” in captivity, where people seem to desire an unnatural relationship with wild animals and appear to be largely unaware of the welfare implications for the animals involved

Elephant ‘selfies’: evaluating the effectiveness of Instagram’s warning of the potential negative impacts of photo opportunities with wild animals

Wildlife tourist attractions offering opportunities to observe, touch, and interact with wild animals, are visited by millions of people every year. Wildlife tourism has considerable economic value in many countries and can have positive impacts on wild animal populations (e.g. through habitat protection); it can also have negative impacts on population conservation and individual welfare (due to, e.g. habitat encroachment, disturbance, or disease). The recent phenomenon of ‘wildlife selfies’ shared on social media may seem harmless but can involve animals illegally or unsustainably captured from the wild, kept in poor conditions, or subject to cruel treatment. To address this issue, Instagram introduced a pop-up alert system that is triggered when users search for wild animal selfie hashtags (e.g. #elephantselfie), warning of the potential negative impacts of wildlife selfies on wild animals. Using elephant selfies as a case study, we found that Instagram’s alert was triggered by only 2% of 244 elephant selfie-related hashtags tested. By comparing three pairs of similar hashtags (one of each pair that triggered the warning and one that did not), we were unable to detect a consistent difference in the type of post using each of the hashtags, the popularity of posts, or the sentiment of viewer comments. The warning is not shown when posting an image, or if a post is viewed directly by a follower, only if the post is encountered via a hashtag search. Currently, what is portrayed on social media appears to be inconsistent with apparent recent shifts in social acceptibilty regarding tourism, particularly as concerns direct contact between tourists and elephants. Instagram’s wildlife selfie initiative was commendable but given its apparent lack of effect, we urge Instagram and other social platforms to do more to prevent harmful content from being posted on their platforms and to promote fair, ethical and sustainable interactions between wild animals and people

How is mangrove ecosystem health defined? A local community perspective from coastal Thailand

Mangroves, intertidal forests, are increasingly considered a high-priority ecosystem for international conservation efforts. Setting targets for future mangrove conservation and restoration requires understanding of the health of the ecosystem. However, the way ‘ecosystem health’ is defined varies across locations, users, and indices due to differences in knowledge of the ecosystem, scales of the ecosystem being assessed, perceptions of what is ‘healthy’, or because of differences in the way people use or benefit from ecosystems. This can result in misunderstandings which can undermine effective actions to protect and restore functioning ecosystems. Here, we use a case study of a mangrove fishing community in coastal Thailand to examine how local people assess and define mangrove ecosystem health. Through participatory workshops, we show that local people use at least 27 indicators to define mangrove ecosystem health, including biological, physical, and human indices. Mangrove ecosystem health is defined by both direct material benefits derived from the ecosystem, non-material aspects, and the relational value experienced through ‘bundles’ of benefits linked to people's livelihood activities. Our findings suggest that ecosystem health frameworks would be more useful if they incorporated social components and metrics, recognising both the interdependencies between ecosystems and human societies, and that ecosystems possess intrinsic value. Local communities that interact most closely with ecosystems can contribute to improving and operationalising frameworks for ecosystem health

Characterizing shrimp-farm production intensity in Thailand: beyond technical indices

This study examines shrimp farmer behaviour in relation to production intensity along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Thailand, and its embeddedness in the wider socio-economic context of shrimp farming households. The integrative agent-centred (IAC) framework was used as a basis for designing a structured survey to collect semi-quantitative data for a range of explanatory variables that potentially drive shrimp farmer behaviour. The results show that shrimp farming intensity is associated with a combination of technical (e.g. farm area, pond size, stocking density and production), economic (shrimp selling price, production costs and farm revenue), social (e.g. farm operating years, the use of family labour, engagement in shrimp farming and with other shrimp farmers), and ecological factors (e.g. farmer reliance on natural pond productivity, and constraints brought about by environmental change and fluctuations in productive areas). In addition, the results indicate that a number of external and internal socio-economic factors are related to the decision to adopt a certain level of production intensity, including training received on farming practices, access to technical equipment, proportion of total income from shrimp farming, season-specific changes in production, risk perception, and subjective culture (social norms and roles). This study therefore illustrates that levels of shrimp farming intensity are in fact an indicator of a diversity of socio-economic conditions and behavioural choices, which need to be targeted by sustainability policies differentially and beyond the technical sphere. In showing this, we conclude that national standards aimed at achieving aquaculture sustainability should be designed to reflect the diversity needed to support such a diverse sector, and should be adjustable to better represent different socio-economic contexts

Commercial trade of wild animals: examining the use of the IUCN Red List and CITES Appendices as the basis for corporate trade policies

Wildlife exploitation is considered a predominant factor driving global biodiversity loss and zoonotic disease transmission, in addition to a range of concerns for animal welfare and ecosystem health. One of the ways in which wild animals are exploited is for commercial trade as exotic pets, fashion products, luxury foods, traditional medicine, entertainment, ornaments and more. While the trade in some wildlife species is restricted or prohibited under various domestic and international laws, many species are not bound by legal protection and are traded in largely unmonitored numbers with the potential for severe consequences. Companies, particularly large e-commerce platforms, are increasingly adopting policies to restrict the legal trade in wild animals. Due to the absence of clear guidelines for corporate services of wildlife trade, these policies commonly adopt pre-determined species lists, such as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendices, as the basis for ‘negative lists’ to guide which species to restrict trade in. However, these databases were not intended for this application and there has been no assessment of their use for this purpose. Here, we summarise and compare the scale and scope of species listed on the IUCN Red List and the CITES Appendices, to discuss how much additional protection these lists provide wild animals if used as policy instruments to guide corporate wildlife trade restrictions beyond the relevant legal bounds. Based on our results, we discuss why that using one list or another would likely omit taxa of conservation concern from protection, and using both lists in conjunction would still not comprehensively reflect all species vulnerable to extinction as a result of exploitation. Further, neither list can mitigate the animal welfare and public health concerns inherently associated with all commercial wildlife trade. We recommend that companies looking to develop policies relating to commercial wildlife trade consider going beyond the scope of predetermined species lists to help mitigate the harmful effects of commercial wildlife exploitation via trade for all wild animals

Going over the wall: insights into the illegal production of jaguar products in a Bolivian prison

As the largest felid in the Americas, the jaguar Panthera onca has both ecological and cultural significance in Bolivia. Yet jaguar populations are declining because of multiple pervasive anthropogenic pressures, including domestic and international demand for their body parts. Since 2013, Bolivia has become a centre of the illegal trade of jaguar body parts, driven by demand from Chinese markets. From 2021, there have been anecdotal reports of jaguar body parts being sold to prisons in north-western Bolivia, where inmates use them to make crafts to be sold at local markets. Here we provide further insights into this illegal wildlife trade activity. Specifically, we show that inmates at Mocovi prison in Trinidad purchase skins of jaguars and other wild animals directly from hunters and from vendors at local markets. Goods (wallets, hats and purses) produced from the skins are sold back to vendors by the inmates to provide income for their daily sustenance. Testimony from an inmate also stated that large bulk orders for wildlife products had been received from a non-Bolivian client base. The San Borja municipality in Beni was indicated as a key location where jaguars are being targeted for their skins to supply the illegal production of wildlife products in Mocovi prison. Further studies are required to determine the extent of this illegal activity in Mocovi prison and other prisons in Bolivia, and in other Latin American countries

Wildlife trade at Belén and Modelo market, Peru: defining a baseline for conservation monitoring

Introduction: Domestic wildlife markets have important nutritional, medicinal, cultural, and financial significance for local communities, but the scale and diversity of wildlife trade that passes through them is also associated with negative impacts on biodiversity, poor animal welfare, and potential human health risk. To design, and monitor the effectiveness of, interventions to ameliorate such impacts, an understanding of the species sold at the markets and their purpose is required, together with a robust (and potentially flexible) baseline. Here we focus on Belén (the largest open wildlife market in the Peruvian Amazon) and Modelo market, in Iquitos, Peru. Methods: We surveyed wildlife products for sale at both markets approximately weekly over a year, using two different survey methods (open and discreet). To provide a baseline to support future conservation monitoring, we estimated a number of different market metrics (including indices of product availability, volume (observed per survey), and price), for the most frequently observed species ‘groups’, and compared indices of trade volume with daily river water levels. To provide a complete understanding of the range of species involved, we also described all threatened species recorded at the markets, the products sold, and their uses, including those that were only observed occasionally. Results: Both markets sold predominantly wild meat, and some pets; at Belén Market >30% observations were of decorative, spiritual, or medicinal products. At least 71 unique species (including mammals, reptiles, birds, and invertebrates) were observed in total. The most frequently observed species ‘groups’ were: lowland paca, peccaries, caiman, river turtles, boas, yellow footed tortoise, parrots, and brocket deer. 27.7% of species were threatened or Near Threatened globally or nationally but there was no evidence that discreet surveys increased their detection. Daily river water levels were positively correlated with indices of trade volume for lowland paca, caiman, and yellow-footed tortoise, and negatively correlated with indices of trade volume for parrots and river turtle eggs. Discussion: Beyond providing a comparative dataset, and insights regarding the apparent availability and value of a diversity of products (including food items, live pets, and other decorative, spiritual, and medicinal items), we suggest that simulations using these data could be used to optimize future monitoring efforts. Finally, our observations of correlations of per survey trade volumes of some species with daily river water levels in Iquitos may inform optimal time of year for species- specific surveys

How is mangrove ecosystem health defined? A local community perspective from coastal Thailand

Mangroves, intertidal forests, are increasingly considered a high-priority ecosystem for international conservation efforts. Setting targets for future mangrove conservation and restoration requires understanding of the health of the ecosystem. However, the way ‘ecosystem health’ is defined varies across locations, users, and indices due to differences in knowledge of the ecosystem, scales of the ecosystem being assessed, perceptions of what is ‘healthy’, or because of differences in the way people use or benefit from ecosystems. This can result in misunderstandings which can undermine effective actions to protect and restore functioning ecosystems. Here, we use a case study of a mangrove fishing community in coastal Thailand to examine how local people assess and define mangrove ecosystem health. Through participatory workshops, we show that local people use at least 27 indicators to define mangrove ecosystem health, including biological, physical, and human indices. Mangrove ecosystem health is defined by both direct material benefits derived from the ecosystem, non-material aspects, and the relational value experienced through ‘bundles’ of benefits linked to people's livelihood activities. Our findings suggest that ecosystem health frameworks would be more useful if they incorporated social components and metrics, recognising both the interdependencies between ecosystems and human societies, and that ecosystems possess intrinsic value. Local communities that interact most closely with ecosystems can contribute to improving and operationalising frameworks for ecosystem health