Scholarly Works - Public Policy
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Item Open Access Nickel mining reduced forest cover in Indonesia but had mixed outcomes for well-being(Elsevier, 2024-10-21) Lo, Michaela J.Y; Morgans, Courtney L. ; Truly Santika; Sonny Mumbunan; Nurul Winarni; Jatna Supriatna; Voigt, Maria; Davies, Zoe G.; Struebig, Matthew J.Soaring demand for nickel to support the low-carbon transition is driving extensive mining in mineral-rich countries, but the environmental and social impacts of nickel mining remain underexplored. Here, we use a counterfactual approach to examine nickel-mining outcomes on forests and the well-being of nearby communities in Sulawesi, Indonesia—a region renowned for its biodiverse tropical forests and now a global center of nickel production. By examining changes across 7,721 villages between 2011 and 2018, we show that deforestation in nickel-mining villages nearly doubled. During the early stages of mining, environmental wellbeing, living standards, and education outcomes declined, but improvements were observed in health, infrastructure, and social relations. Environmental well-being continued to substantially deteriorate in the later stages of mining production, especially in villages with already high poverty. These findings highlight the environmental and social consequences of nickel mining, underscoring the need for greater accountability of local outcomes if the sector is to support a just and sustainable low-carbon transition.Item Open Access A systematic map of evidence on the relationship between agricultural production and biodiversity in tropical rainforest areas(Springer Nature, 2024-06-02) Via Apriyani; Mukhlish JM Holle; Sonny MumbunanBackground The tropical rainforest biome plays a significant role in providing habitats for terrestrial biodiversity and delivering ecosystem service values, contributing to agricultural production. However, the increasing demand for tropical commodities with high economic value threatens this humid ecosystem and its biodiversity. To our knowledge, no studies have systematically mapped the relationship between the impacts of agricultural production on biodiversity and the effects of biodiversity on agricultural production in tropical rainforest areas. Methods Since we were interested in systematically mapping the evidence measuring the impact of tropical agriculture on biodiversity (Map 1), and the vice versa relations, the influence of biodiversity on tropical agriculture production (Map 2), we developed a respective set of search strings, eligibility criteria, and subsequently performed independent searching, screening, and data coding processes. We searched articles from six peer-reviewed databases and 22 gray literature sources. Articles were screened based on the inclusion criteria at the title, abstract, and fulltext levels. Individual articles that passed full-text screening were coded and synthesized to create heatmaps. Selected information of interest was also extracted and visualized in the graphics which were clustered based on the year of publication, geographical distribution, type of rainforest, exposure, outcome, farm commodity, and study comparators. Review findings Two heatmaps were generated from a contrasting number of references, with heatmap 1 extracted from 222 studies and heatmap 2 derived from 10 times fewer references (n=20). In heatmap 1, impacts of land conversion to aboveground biodiversity and wild species and ecosystem functions in natural ecosystems were the most common relationships examined, with 115 articles and 62 articles, respectively. Conversely, heatmap 2 showed evidence that focused predominantly on the examination of the links between the impacts of genetic resource diversity on environmental factors and soil management in tropical agricultural production, with four articles each exploring these relations. Conclusions These systematic maps reveal that while studies investigating the impacts of tropical agricultural production on biodiversity were abundant, studies examining the impacts of biodiversity on tropical agricultural production were lacking despite both systematic maps experiencing an increasing trend of publication during 2000– 2020. Map 1 emphasized the examination of the effects of land conversion on aboveground biodiversity, and on wild species and ecosystem functions. Map 2 highlighted the influence of crop genetic resources on environmental factors, and on soil management as the most frequently studied. The evidence cluster identified here can be the starting point for further systematic review study (to assess, for example, their cause–effect significance).