Understanding the Relationship between Lands Managed by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities and Ecosystem Goods and Services
Research Location:
Headquartered: Washington DC; Implemented: Worldwide
Partners:
Conservation International and the W&M Center for Geospatial Analysis
Student Researcher
Christina Sabochick ’22, Major: Biology, Minor: Environmental Science
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Robert RoseProject Description
Effective ecosystem conservation and management to both safeguard biodiversity and support the continued provision of ecosystem goods and services (ES) requires an understanding of how ecosystems are governed globally. Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) manage a large portion of the world’s most critical and ecologically important ecosystems, however, there are few studies that have explored the globally the role of IPLC-stewarded lands in generating and protecting the ES that humanity needs to thrive. As part of Conservation International’s (CI’s) effort to better understand the role of IPLCs in global conservation for biodiversity and ES, Christina conducted a geospatial analysis exploring the relationship between lands and waters stewarded by IPLCs and the places that are highest-performing for ES provision.
Christina worked with CI and a W&M faculty mentor to collect relevant data and explore spatial patterns in coverage, performance, thresholds, etc., needed to better understand the needs and conditions on the ground. The report from Christina's work is informing CI’s efforts to support IPLCs in the sustainable management of globally important ecosystems for sovereignty, biodiversity, and ES.
