Economic development and environmental management in the uplands of Southeast Asia: challenges for policy and institutional development

Using a Philippine case study site, the forces driving the recent evolution of economic behavior and institutional arrangements in upland and forest margin areas of Southeast Asia are considered. In early modern development, subsistence agriculture using long-phase forest-fallow rotations and regulated by customary law was replaced by more intensive, commercially oriented farming systems, a process heavily influenced by internal migration to the agricultural frontier. Traditional land and resource use institutions were quickly displaced during this shift-both "de facto", through the actions of colonists, and "de jure", through the state's assertion of ownership over forests and uplands and the introduction of private title to agricultural lands. Yet the effective implementation of natural resource use constraints lagged substantially behind the pace of agricultural development and forest exploitation, resulting in a period in which high demand for such resources coincided with virtually open access. These processes were noticeably subject to the influence of policies and reforms affecting markets, prices, and institutions. Copyright 2005 International Association of Agricultural Economics.

A Critical Analysis of Forest Policies of Pakistan: Implications for Sustainable Livelihoods

forest communities, forest management, forest policy, sustainable livelihoods,

Fishy business in Seattle: Salmon mislabeling fraud in sushi restaurants vs grocery stores.

Salmon is the most commonly consumed finfish in the United States of America (USA), and the mislabeling of salmon is a widespread problem. Washington State is a global supplier of wild-caught Pacific salmon and local salmon mislabeling results in substantial economic, ecological, and cultural impacts. Previous studies in Washington State identified high levels of mislabeled salmon in both markets and restaurants, resulting in local legislation being passed that requires proper labeling of salmon products, including identifying it as wild-caught or farm-raised. To investigate whether recent legislative efforts reduced salmon fraud rates, we acquired and genetically barcoded salmon samples from 67 grocery stores and 52 sushi restaurants in Seattle, Washington. DNA from each salmon sample was isolated and the cytochrome c oxidase gene was sequenced to identify the fish species. Our study, conducted from 2022-2023, revealed 18% of salmon samples from both grocery stores and sushi restaurants were mislabeled. While most samples were acquired during the fall months when wild salmon is in season, we still observed a high salmon mislabeling rate. Unlike grocery stores, Seattle sushi restaurants often sold farmed salmon mislabeled as wild salmon. Specifically, substitutions of vendor-claimed wild salmon with farmed salmon occurred in 32.3% of sushi restaurant samples compared to 0% of grocery store samples. Additionally, occurrences of wild salmon being substituted with another salmon species (wild or farmed) occurred in 38.7% of sushi restaurant samples compared to 11.1% of grocery store samples. All salmon substitutions in sushi restaurants harmed the customer financially as they were given a cheaper market-priced fish. In grocery stores, however, we did not detect significant economic loss to customers due to salmon mislabeling. Taken together, it is important to continue to develop and enforce legislation in Washington State that prevents salmon fraud and promotes ecologically sustainable fishing practices