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The placing of plant protection products (PPPs) on the market in the European Union is governed by numerous regulations. These regulations are among the most stringent in the world, however they have been the subject of criticisms especially because of the decline in biodiversity. The objectives of this work were to review (1) the functioning and actors involved in the PPP framework processes, (2) the construction of the environmental risk assessment focused on biodiversity, and (3) the suggested ways to respond to the identified limits. Both literature from social sciences and ecotoxicology were examined. Despite the protective nature of the European regulation on PPPs, the very imperfect consideration of biodiversity in the evaluation process was underlined. The main limits are the multiplicity of applicable rules, the routinization of the evaluation procedures, the lack of consideration of social data, and the lack of independence of the evaluation. Strengths of the regulation are the decision to integrate a systemic approach in the evaluation of PPPs, the development of modeling tools, and the phytopharmacovigilance systems. The avenues for improvement concern the realism of the risk assessment (species used, cocktail effects...), a greater transparency and independence in the conduct of evaluations, and the opening of the evaluation and decision-making processes to actors such as beekeepers or NGOs. Truly interdisciplinary reflections crossing the functioning of the living world, its alteration by PPPs, and how these elements question the users of PPPs would allow to specify social actions, public policies, and their regulation to better protect biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Lower Mekong Basin, paddy fields often appear as mosaics, with soil mounds covered by trees or other plants in a spotty distribution. These soil mounds are commonly named termite 'lenticular mounds' because termite bioturbation is considered to be at their origin. Termite mounds host a large diversity of animals and plants, increasing landscape patchiness. Because the preservation of these islands of biodiversity is threatened by modern agricultural practices, the aim of this study was to quantify their abundance and the services they provide to the local population. The abundance of mounds and their use by the population were quantified in a catchment in Cambodia. We found that mounds density reached ~2 mounds ha−1. Interviews carried out within the catchment showed that most of the interviewees used mounds for increasing the fertility of their field and for the cultivation of rice and other plants (e.g. sponge gourd and pumpkin). In addition to their potential to increase plant productivity, the survey revealed that animals (rats and snakes), mushrooms and 13 plant species found on or in mounds were consumed by the population. In addition to potentially contributing to an increase in food diversity, mounds also impacted farmers' health by allowing access to 20 medicinal plant species and indirectly via a reduction in pesticide use. In conclusion, this study is the first attempt to quantify the large number of services provided by termite mounds in Cambodia. This increase in the knowledge of the diversity of environmental and socioeconomic services provided by termite mounds is likely to contribute to their preservation and provide a basis for the sustainable management of biodiversity in paddy fields in the Lower Mekong Basin region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on an ethnographic study of the Cambodian pharmaceutical system conducted in an urban and a rural setting between January 2015 and June 2016, we report on the complex dynamics surrounding the issue of self-medication in that country. We describe the history of the circulation of pharmaceuticals in Cambodia, and we discuss the contemporary relationship individuals have with these medicines and with those who distribute them. We illustrate the specific dynamics of the pharmaceuticalization of Cambodian society, where private drug vendors are playing a key role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participation of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) has become a new standard of good governance in HIV services worldwide, and most HIV organizations make reference to it. This standard has had a considerable impact in Cambodia, where hundreds of PLHA have been recruited by organizations to participate in the development of HIV services. However, participation is a vague concept with various interpretations and applications. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted between 2006 and 2008, this article first clarifies what promoters expect from patient participation in Cambodia and then examines its meanings and uses for one category of PLHA working in hospitals (hereafter "volunteers"). It shows that volunteers have played a valuable role in the scaling-up of access to care and treatment policy, and that although international organizations in Cambodia see patient participation as empowering PLHA, these volunteers face structural violence caused by inherent conflicts within Cambodia's strict health care hierarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]