A social-ecological approach to identify and quantify biodiversity tipping points in South America’s seasonal dry ecosystems

ropical dry forests and savannas harbour unique biodiversity and provide critical ES, yet they are under severe pressure globally. We need to improve our understanding of how and when this pressure provokes tipping points in biodiversity and the associated social-ecological systems. We propose an approach to investigate how drivers leading to natural vegetation decline trigger biodiversity tipping and illustrate it using the example of the Dry Diagonal in South America, an understudied deforestation frontier. The Dry Diagonal represents the largest continuous area of dry forests and savannas in South America, extending over three million km² across Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. Natural vegetation in the Dry Diagonal has been undergoing large-scale transformations for the past 30 years due to massive agricultural expansion and intensification. Many signs indicate that natural vegetation decline has reached critical levels. Major research gaps prevail, however, in our understanding of how these transformations affect the unique and rich biodiversity of the Dry Diagonal, and how this affects the ecological integrity and the provisioning of ES that are critical both for local livelihoods and commercial agriculture.Fil: Thonicke, Kirsten. Institute for Climate Impact Research ; AlemaniaFil: Langerwisch, Fanny. Institute for Climate Impact Research ; Alemania. Czech University of Life Sciences Prague; República ChecaFil: Baumann, Matthias. Humboldt Universität zu Berlin; Alemania. Technische Universitat Carolo Wilhelmina Zu Braunschweig.; AlemaniaFil: Leitão, Pedro J.. Humboldt Universität zu Berlin; Alemania. Technische Universitat Carolo Wilhelmina Zu Braunschweig.; AlemaniaFil: Václavík, Tomáš. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research; Alemania. Palacký University Olomouc; República ChecaFil: Alencar, Anne. Ministerio da Agricultura Pecuaria e Abastecimento de Brasil. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria; BrasilFil: Simões, Margareth. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA); BrasilFil: Scheiter, Simon. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA); Brasil. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Langan, Liam. Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre; AlemaniaFil: Bustamante, Mercedes. Universidade do Brasília; BrasilFil: Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán; ArgentinaFil: Hirota, Marina. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; Brasil. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Börner, Jan. Universitat Bonn; AlemaniaFil: Rajao, Raoni. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Soares Filho, Britaldo. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Yanosky, Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología; ParaguayFil: Ochoa Quinteiro, José Manuel. Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt; ColombiaFil: Seghezzo, Lucas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; ArgentinaFil: Conti, Georgina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: de la Vega Leiner, Anne Cristina. Universität Greifswald; Alemani

Objects, boundaries and joint work : the role of geographic information systems in the formulation and enforcement of deforestation control policies in Amazonia

Over the last decade, the use of geographic information system (GIS) technology has been increasingly depicted by scholars and policy-makers as being able to reduce or even stop deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Simultaneously, this technology was introduced into a growing number of governmental and non-governmental organizations as a policy-making and law enforcement tool. However, despite the growing importance of GIS the literature lacks studies that empirically examine the actual role of this technology in the region. In the light of the above omissions, the aim of this thesis is to explore the role of GIS in facilitating or hindering the joint work practices of the different groups which are involved in the formulation and enforcement of the deforestation control policy in the Amazon. From that this study intends also to contribute to debates concerning the 'dynamics behind the establishment and implications of boundary objects. This study was conducted through a yearlong fieldwork in Brazil during which time historical documents were collected, and interviews as well as work observations with scientists, politicians, senior officials, local managers, bureaucrats and forest rangers (among other groups) were made. The empirical material was mainly analyzed through the concepts of objectification and boundary objects. Specifically, GIS has been conceptualized as a boundary object which, in particular circumstances, is able to offer common ground to facilitate different forms of joint work (i.e. coordination, cooperation and collaboration) across occupational, spatial and political boundaries. From this analysis, three major conclusions emerged. Firstly, the establishment of GIS as a boundary object over the last decades can be explained by considering three interrelated dynamics: a) the political flexibility that enabled GIS to be tailored to suit political and work needs - which varied across historical and organizational contexts; b) the process of negotiation surrounding GIS that allowed different groups to reach compromises and build trust in the technology; and c) the epistemological affinity between the modernist values embedded in GIS and the historical roots of the Brazilian government. Secondly, the use of GIS as a boundary object has been central for the emergence of new forms of joint work across boundaries. Specifically, the process of objectification related to the functioning of GIS as a boundary object facilitated coordination and cooperation in three ways: a) the creation of objectifications on different scales (e.g. from broad policy documents to specific fines) while keeping a single identity allowed different groups to overcome occupational boundaries when coordinating each other's work; b) the objectification of location references into absolute geographic coordinates enabled the outcome of the work of different groups to travel long distances while still being decipherable, thereby overcoming the spatial boundaries involved in coordination and cooperation; and c) the objectification promoted by GIS allowed rangers and bureaucrats to erase the traces of the subjectivity of their own work and thereby to create legal documents that are deemed sufficiently trustworthy to transcend political boundaries. Thirdly, the over-reliance of GIS and the process of objectification also had long-term negative effects and contributed to 'boundary-blinding', namely, the inability of certain groups to understand the social reality and the work done across boundaries. In particular, GIS contributed to: a) the blinding of practices by preventing senior officials and scientists from appreciating the complex challenges involved in enforcing the law on the ground; b) the blinding of the outcomes of the practices and policies relating to the environmental protection of the Amazon, so that senior officials cannot understand the implications of abstract indicators and deforestation rates; and c) the blinding of the motives behind the use of GIS so that the introduction of this technology is believed to always reduce deforestation regardless of the political agenda of those using this technology. As a result of this, boundary-blinding is creating tensions and contradictions within the government that could ultimately undermine the very environmental protection practices that GIS was supposed to support. These three points taken together suggest that the Brazilian government should embrace more engaged forms of joint work. In particular, the government should attempt to move from instrumental forms of coordination and cooperation to forms of collaboration involving knowledge sharing and learning. In this way, the government would be able to deal with the boundary-blinding related to the use of GIS while benefiting from the ability of this technology to overcome spatial, occupational and political boundaries.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Co-operation or co-optation? NGOs' roles in Norway's international climate and forest initiative

This paper investigates non-governmental organisation (NGO) involvement in policy processes related to Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) comparing four countries: Norway, Brazil, Indonesia, and Tanzania. Based on documents and interviews, NGO involvement is mapped using a conceptual framework to categorise and compare different roles and modes of engagement. NGOs have co-operated with government in policy design and implementation, albeit to varying degrees, in all four countries, but expressed relatively little public criticism. Funding seems to have an influence on NGOs’ choices regarding whether, what, when, and how to criticise. However, limited public criticism does not necessarily mean that the NGOs are co-opted. They are reflexive regarding their possible operating space, and act strategically and pragmatically to pursue their goals in an entrepreneurial manner. The interests of NGOs and NICFI are to a large extent congruent. Instead of publicly criticising a global initiative that they largely support, and thus put the initiative as a whole at risk, NGOs may use other, more informal, channels to voice points of disagreement. While NGOs do indeed run the risk of being co-opted, their opportunity to resist this fate is probably greater in this instance than is usually the case because NICFI are so reliant on their services

Brazil’s sugarcane embitters the EU-Mercosur trade talks

The Brazilian government’s decision to open the Amazon biome to sugarcane expansion reignited EU concerns regarding the sustainability of Brazil’s sugar sector, hindering the ratification of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. Meanwhile, in the EU, certain conventional biofuels face stricter controls, whilst uncertainty surrounding the commercialisation of more sustainable advanced-biofuels renders bioethanol as a short- to medium-term fix. This paper examines Brazil’s land-use changes and associated greenhouse gas emissions arising from an EU driven ethanol import policy and projections for other 13 biocommodities. Results suggest that Brazil’s sugarcane could satisfy growing ethanol demand and comply with EU environmental criteria, since almost all sugarcane expansion is expected to occur on long-established pasturelands in the South and Midwest. However, expansion of sugarcane is also driven by competition for viable lands with other relevant commodities, mainly soy and beef. As a result, deforestation trends in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes linked to soy and beef production could jeopardize Brazil’s contribution to the Paris agreement with an additional 1 ± 0.3 billion CO2eq tonnes above its First NDC target by 2030. Trade talks with a narrow focus on a single commodity could thus risk unsustainable outcomes, calling for systemic sustainability benchmarks, should the deal be ratified.Publishe