Across Southeast Asia, forest landscapes are changing under the pressures of climate change, harmful tourism and gender inequality. Understanding how forest-dependent communities navigate these pressures is critical to building just and sustainable forest governance.
Supported by RECOFTC’s Explore programme, researchers are helping uncover how gender, power and policy intersect in people’s daily lives.
In Taman Kili-Kili, Indonesia, one research examines how women’s activism can reshape forest policy and promote ecological justice. In Viet Nam’s Bach Ma National Park, findings reveal that local support for nature-based tourism increases when communities are directly involved in planning, engaged in implementation and share in the benefits. A regional study – covering Viet Nam, Lao PDR and Cambodia – shows how COVID-19 deepened rural communities’ dependence on forests, especially among ethnic minorities and women, underscoring the need for inclusive safety nets and equitable access. An intersectional analysis of forest-dependent communities in Viet Nam underscores the importance of equitable access for improved livelihood resilience.
Published over the course of 2024, these studies provide critical insights to inform more inclusive and sustainable forest landscape management in the region.
- Support of local residents for nature-based tourism development: Evidence from Bach Ma National Park, Vietnam
An, L. T., Hung, P. X., & Hung, V. V. (2024)
- Essential Ecosystem Area Policies as a means to promote participatory and inclusive conservation in forest landscape governance: Centering perspectives of marginalized women in Taman Kili-Kili, Indonesia
Hendrastiti, T. K., Setiahadi, R., Kusujiarti, S., Pratiwi, D., & Safrudi, H. I. (2024)
- Understanding the safeguarding role of forest resources and its determinants during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia
Kien, N. D., Dinh, N. C., & An, L. T. (2024)
- Climate change, livelihood resilience, and gender: An intersectional analysis of Vietnam’s forest-dependent communities
Phuong, H. T., Tan, N. Q., Quynh Nga, P. T., Vuong, L. Q., Minh Chau, D. T., Chan, N., Win, K., & Swe, K. N. (2024)
As the world’s only research network dedicated to forest landscape governance, Explore is working to ensure intersectional analysis and gender-responsive policy to improve forest governance and ensure community resilience.
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About Explore
Explore is a research network and community of practice dedicated to expanding and applying knowledge on forest landscape governance in Southeast Asia. The network is funded by the government of Sweden. It is hosted by RECOFTC, in partnership with the CIFOR-ICRAF, in collaboration with universities, research institutes, governments, civil society organizations, local communities and the private sector in Southeast Asia.
For more information about Explore, contact [email protected] or visit here.