📍 First comprehensive ES mapping for Savannakhet Province.

🔗 Open access: doi.org/10.1016/j.ec...

Grateful to all who made this possible and for the strong collaboration between @cdeunibe.bsky.social and @wyssacademy.bsky.social @unibe.ch!

🛠 Why it matters:

#Multifunctional landscapes — those that integrate forest conservation with diverse livelihoods — are key to balancing production, conservation & well-being.
This study offers spatial insights to guide inclusive land use planning in Savannakhet Province. (Photo: © Amy Scott/ IUCN)

🌱 What did we find?

- ES supply is highest in forested/shifting cultivation areas
- Food supply peaks in lowland monocultures — but at a cost
- Demand is widespread, especially for pollination, water & cultural values
- Trade-offs between food & species are real

We combined InVEST modelling with household surveys in 22 villages to assess 6 key ecosystem services:

🥗 Food
💧 Water
🌊 Water Quality
🐝 Pollination
🦉 Species
🏞️ Tourism

#InVESTmodel #Fieldwork #Savannakhet #LandscapeEcology

🧠 Authored by an amazing interdisciplinary team from across the globe with excellent intellectual leadership by Rachel Carmenta 🌏
📚 Carmenta et al. (2025). Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability
📖 Read the full paper: bit.ly/3ZqNvlC
@cdeunibe.bsky.social @wyssacademy.bsky.social

To bend the curve on biodiversity loss, we must bend the narrative.
Let’s stop blaming poverty — and start addressing inequality, consumption, and colonial legacies.
True conservation is just, inclusive, and transformative. 🌍🌺 #Transformation #Equity #SystemChange

3️⃣ We propose Connected Conservation — a model that:
🔁 Connects local stewardship with systemic drivers
💬 Embraces plural values & worldviews
💪 Shifts power to Indigenous Peoples & local communities
📉 Targets distant wealth-based drivers of biodiversity loss
#ConnectedConservation

📊 Here's our conceptual model:
It shows how hegemonic values, disciplinary lock-in, and governance inertia reinforce PBLA-informed conservation — and how Connected Conservation can counteract this by embracing plural values and systemic change.

2️⃣ Why does the PBLA persist, despite overwhelming counter-evidence?
We identify 3 key forces:
🔹 Hegemonic values
🔹 Disciplinary dominance
🔹 Convenient governance
Together, they obscure the role of wealth and power in biodiversity decline. 🏦🌿 #EnvironmentalJustice

1️⃣ The poverty-biodiversity loss association (PBLA) — the idea that poor communities degrade ecosystems — still shapes many conservation interventions.
But: this assumption is flawed, colonial in origin, and ignores deeper drivers of biodiversity loss. #PBLA

7/ It was a huge pleasure to work on our second paper as a research collective. We honor the collective aspect of the work by attributing the first author position to a pseudonym, Dr. Care.

And thank you, Wyss Academy for Nature and @cdeunibe.bsky.social, who enabled me to conduct this work!

6/ By aligning with values like care, inclusivity, and reflexivity, researchers can strengthen collaboration, deepen impact, and better contribute to systemic change. 💡
Curious to learn more? Dive into our paper for the full story! bit.ly/3OfOQFO

5/ The takeaway? 🌟 Researchers striving for sustainability transformations must reflect on their own values—not just those of stakeholders.
To create meaningful change, we need to embody the principles we advocate.

4/ In our paper, we present two cases from #Madagascar and #Tajikistan where centering values helped reshape collaboration and impact. These show how researchers can:
✅ Embrace reflexivity to challenge assumptions
✅ Foster inclusivity to broaden participation
✅ Build collective care into their work

3/ While much research focuses on stakeholder values in food system transformations, we shifted the lens inward. What about the values researchers bring to the table? 🤷‍♀️
Turns out, aligning researcher values with the transformations we study is critical.

2/ Our collective, The Careoperative, tackled this challenge head-on. Through a visioning process, we established four core values to guide our collaboration:
✨ Care
🤔 Reflexivity
🌍 Inclusivity
🤝 Collectivity
Here’s how a values-centered approach transformed our research on food systems. 👇

Thank you to all contributing authors for coming together in this collaborative Synthesis, the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and @PaN_BES­ for hosting the Special Feature! @cdeunibe.bsky.social 7/7

III: Conservation and development research is vital for achieving transformative change and environmental justice. Implementing the methods identified can drive more just and sustainable decisions by activating key leverage points for deep transformative changes. 6/7