The political ecology of spatial development initiatives, Indonesia

Indonesia is a socially and environmentally diverse nation where people make difficult decisions affecting the sustainability and inclusivity of their development. It contains the world's fourth largest and still rapidly growing population, who are vigorously pursuing increased economic well-being. Indonesia also contains, arguably, the worlds' most biodiverse ecosystems. Institutional complexity is high. Rapidly changing legislation and shifting hierarchies of control have beset the stewardship of natural, economic, and social assets with difficulties. Indonesia's development threats and opportunities, alongside its rich but degrading natural resources present governance challenges, the lessons of which have relevance and implications far beyond Indonesia's borders. My thesis explores the lessons learned from landscapes in Indonesia, where the difficult decisions over resource-use allocations unfold. Using place-based, sustainability science, and a transdisciplinary research approach, I diagnose the social, economic, environmental, and political change underway in landscapes on four islands. These islands span Indonesia's comparatively less developed east, to the more developed west. Landscapes are the unit of analysis due to evidence that they are the most manageable scale to understand and 'enter' systems. The landscapes examined in thesis are recipients of large investments into extractive industries, agriculture, and other spatial development initiatives. I examine these drivers of change in different contexts, including estate crops, gold-mines, infrastructure, and decentralized governance. The thesis addresses three overarching questions, (1) what are leverage points in landscapes for interventions that lead to long-term sustainable development outcomes? (2) What are the impacts of spatial development initiatives on livelihoods and the environment within a landscape? (3) How might research better support co-learning to improve processes and outcomes of landscape change. I collaboratively frame the issues and potential solutions with local people affecting and affected by decisions over resource use and allocation. I experiment with a range of participatory qualitative and quantitative methods including Q Methodology, visualization techniques, theory of change, interviews, and actor network analysis. My results show that governance is the main constraint to sustainable and inclusive development in landscapes. Narratives that shape governance in landscapes emerge from politically diverse vantage points. Science to enhance sustainability and inclusivity must understand these political vantage points and begin to co-generate narratives with the full range of decision-makers in landscapes. Landscape-level network analysis can help identify where knowledge co-generation and integration is opportune and can be more influential. Clear and agreed theories of change should emphasize the need to shift institutional arrangements so that they are more conducive to inclusive and sustainable development. The key lesson from this research is that local governance arrangements evolve to meet the expectations of people in their own contexts, which may be counter-intuitive to external researchers who have preconceptions of what constitutes good, sustainable, and inclusive development. But Indonesia's governance systems face the same adaptation challenges observed globally, where economic and infrastructural developments outpace social adaption rates. Organizations that wish to improve decision-making processes toward enhanced sustainability and inclusivity should seek opportunities to more strategically leverage change. Efforts should be made to bridge gaps between traditional and State management systems. This requires diagnosing the entire social-political-economic-ecological system. To assist, scientists and academia must put more emphasis on the cogeneration and integration of knowledge across disciplinary boundaries, into the pre-existing actor-networks that shape landscapes. Lessons from Indonesia contribute insights for broader global sustainable development solutions

Science embedded in local forest landscape management improves benefit flows to society

There is a global shift of forest management to local levels to better reconcile local livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. We argue that achieving such outcomes will require embedding science in landscape-scale management systems. We show that science can contribute to local learning and adaptation within landscape contexts. Complexity and power relations have hampered scientists' efforts to engage with the people who use and influence the use of resources at landscape scales. Landscape approaches present an opportunity for science to help steer local management to address local contexts. We have conducted research at the interface of policy and management at landscape scales. More effort must go toward transdisciplinary approaches to co-generate knowledge and create “Communities of Commitment” for continual learning and adaptation amongst landscape-scale actors. Embedded science incorporating local knowledge and contexts and engaged in landscape scale development processes is necessary for improving decision and policy-making

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.Comment: 5th version as accepted to PASP; 31 pages, 18 figures; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/acb29

The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies

Modelled sensitivity of avian collision rate at wind turbines varies with number of hours of flight activity input data

Collision risk modelling of birds at wind turbines typi-cally requires vantage point (VP) data to quantify birdflight activity. The number of VP observation hoursrequired to provide such data, and the associated error inpredicted collision rate, have not been formally assessed.Using the Band model and a randomization procedure,we examine the sensitivity of collision rate predictions forthe White-tailed EagleHaliaeetus albicillato varyinghours of input data on flight activity. Variability in colli-sion rate decreased with increasing number of observationhours. However, at the asymptote in variability (about 62observation hours) there was still considerable variabilityin predicted collision rate. VP watches are likely to beinherently variable, and collision rate predictions shouldassess the potential error associated with such results.acceptedVersio

Incorporating governance into forest transition frameworks to understand and influence Cambodia's forest landscapes

Academic inquiry into forest transitions has produced a rich body of literature examining the shift from net deforestation to net reforestation at multiple land use scales. However, researchers, practitioners, and policy analysts question the utility of current forest transition theory. Does it accurately describe and provide insight into strategies to influence patterns of forest change in countries where forest cover continues to decline? Forest transition theory has provided important insights into the 'necessary but not sufficient' conditions for countries shifting from net deforestation to net reforestation. To advance forest transition theory, scholars should recognize forests as complex and dynamic social-ecological systems and use analytical methods that accommodate that complexity. Transdisciplinary research that incorporates a broader range of qualitative and quantitative methods and tools is required. We analyzed the historical, social, and political factors influencing forest transition pathways in Cambodia. Cambodia exhibits similar economic pre-conditions to its neighbors, which have passed through a forest transition, yet deforestation rates remain high with no indication of slowing. We found that complex governance arrangements at multiple scales negatively influences Cambodia's forest cover and development trajectory. Attempts to nurture Cambodia's forest transition will require strengthening governance and institutions across all of the natural resource sectors. Further research that incorporates governance into forest transition frameworks is required to improve policy responses for post-transition forest outcomes

An island in transition: governing conservation and development in Seram, Indonesia

Seram is Indonesia's 8th largest island. It is central to the historic spice islands, once a hotbed for international trade of profitable tree-products, primarily clove and nutmeg. Recent increased rates of social and ecological change, including costly conflicts, present Seram with new challenges and opportunities for conservation and development. Using place-based transdisciplinary research methods, we diagnose the problems emerging in Seram. Engaging with actors across multiple scales and sectors, we explore drivers of change, social-ecological impacts, and institutional arrangements that might achieve improved inclusive and sustainable development outcomes. Traditional and formal governance arrangements require harmonizing to optimize the benefits and costs from large-scale investments arriving in Seram. Organizations wishing to achieve positive impact can more strategically engage with the broad range of actors to harmonize divergent visions for the future and confront the reality of incoming investments and infrastructure

Identifying Forest Degradation and Restoration Opportunities in the Lancang-Mekong Region: A Tool to Determine Criteria and Indicators

Forest restoration is increasingly becoming a priority at international and national levels. Identifying forest degradation, however, is challenging because its drivers are underlying and site-specific. Existing frameworks and principles for identifying forest degradation are useful at larger scales, however, a framework that includes iterative input from local knowledge-holders would be useful at smaller scales. Here, we present a new mechanism; a framework for developing criteria and indicators that enables an approach for the identification of forest degradation and opportunities for restoration in landscapes that is free from failures that are often inherent to project cycles. The Degradation and Restoration Assessment Mechanism (DReAM) uses an iterative process that is based on local expertise and established regional knowledge to inform what is forest degradation and how to monitor restoration. We tested the mechanism’s utility at several sites in the Lancang-Mekong Region (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam). The application of this mechanism rendered a suite of appropriate criteria and indicators for use in identifying degraded forests which can help inform detailed guidelines to develop rehabilitation approaches. The mechanism is designed to be utilized by any individual or group that is interested in degradation identification and/or rehabilitation assessment.Forestry, Faculty ofNon UBCReviewedFacultyResearche

Examining trajectories of change for prosperous forest landscapes in Cambodia

Tropical forest landscapes are undergoing rapid transition. Rural development aspirations are rising, and land use change is contributing to deforestation, degradation, and biodiversity loss, which threaten the future of tropical forests. Conservation initiatives must deal with complex social, political, and ecological decisions involving trade-offs between the extent of protected areas and quality of conservation. In Cambodia, smallholders and industrial economic land concessions drive deforestation and forest degradation. Rural economic benefits have not kept pace with development aspirations and smallholders are gradually expanding agriculture into protected forests. We examine the drivers and effects of rural forest landscape transitions in Cambodia to identify trade-offs between conservation and development. Using historical trends analysis and information gathered through key informant interviews, we describe how local communities perceive social and ecological changes, and examine the implications of local development aspirations for conservation. We explore three scenarios for the future of conservation in Cambodia, each with different conservation and community development outcomes. We contend that conservation efforts should focus on strengthening governance to meet social and environmental requirements for sustainable forest landscapes. We suggest potential entry points for governance improvements, including working with local decision-makers and fostering collaboration between stakeholders. There is a need for realistic priority setting in contested tropical forest landscapes. Prosperous rural economies are a necessary but not sufficient condition for conservation