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Seagrass ecosystems provide vital services but face increasing threats from human activities. Marine protected areas (MPAs) aim to mitigate these threats, but inadequate funding and management hinder effective conservation. Seagrass-associated tourism presents an opportunity to fund conservation efforts, enhance MPA implementation, and improve local livelihoods. This study explores stakeholder perceptions of seagrass benefits, tourism feasibility, and threats on Bintan Island, Indonesia, using quantitative (349 household surveys) and qualitative (focus group discussion with 15 participants) methods. Our findings show strong stakeholder support for seagrass-associated tourism, but challenges such as ongoing anthropogenic threats and governance shifts in MPA management remain to be addressed. For successful seagrass-based tourism and better conservation, ongoing engagement with local communities and stakeholders is crucial. This approach not only secures conservation funding but also fosters local ownership and stewardship. The study emphasizes understanding stakeholder perceptions to develop a sustainable tourism sector and ensure more effective, inclusive management strategies. • Local communities and key stakeholders support the implementation of seagrass-associated tourism in Bintan Island. • Seagrass ecosystems should not be the main focus as a tourism venture. • Anthropogenic pressures and shift in MPA governance could hindered this concept. • Engagement with local communities and key stakeholders in the development of seagrass-associated tourism is crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chelonian fauna of West Africa is relatively understudied and experiencing a multitude of threats. Moreover, the IUCN Red List status of several African species is both outdated and, we believe, underestimated. Herein, we cover projections for freshwater turtle and tortoise status trends in West Africa over the next decade. This geographic prioritization was chosen based on our current understanding of the greatest urgency for turtle conservation in Africa. Broadly, we recommend that priority projects focus on the following threats: bushmeat consumption (Trionychidae and Kinixys spp.); habitat degradation and potential shifts in habitat use (primarily Kinixys spp. in the rainforest belt of West Africa); effects of livestock overgrazing and climate change (specifically in regards to desertification impacting the Sahel region) on behaviors and species sex ratios (Centrochelys sulcata , Kinixys belliana and K. nogueyi). Possible efforts to mitigate these threats include; (1) enhanced capacity building, outreach, and training to promote turtle conservation to wildlife professionals, fisheries stakeholders, local communities, etc; (2) alternative livelihoods and sources of protein (provide locals with goats, sustainable farming options, aquaculture practices); (3) community engagement and citizen science; (4) connecting fragmented habitats (e.g. corridors); (5) enhancing community protected areas with local enforcement (local employment and benefits, eco-tourism potential); (6) youth and consumer/collector targeted education programs; and (7) reinforcement of international policy (CITES) for species negatively affected by the pet trade (K. homeana and K. erosa). Based on witnessed range-wide declines and exploitation, on a species level we suggest priority attention be aimed at A) Cyclanorbis elegans (assessment of population strongholds, if any, threats, and mitigation options) and B) Kinixys homeana and K. erosa (use in the illegal bushmeat trade, long-term population trends). Field studies on several under-studied Pelusios species (e.g., P. cupulatta, P. adansonii) are also warranted, along with increased sampling of the severely declined and elusive Trionyx triunguis in West Africa. Finally, we believe turtle and tortoise conservation in Africa would greatly benefit from collaboration and integration of research efforts with programs and scientists in Eastern and Southern Africa, for instance via a novel IUCN/SSC TFTSG continental symposium focused on red list status assessments/reassessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Chinese government designates 'tree crops' (jingjilin) as an important component of forest, potentially creating misleading pictures of forest expansion. • Amid recent rural depopulation in China, tree crops with low labor demands may offer a labor-extensive livelihood option for disadvantaged rural residents. • We construct an analytical framework to assess tree crop impacts on natural forests through both land use and alternative livelihood pathways, applying it to panel national forest inventory data for southern China. • Tree crops show a trade-off with natural forest cover and a possible synergy with natural forest density mediated by alternative livelihood processes. The Chinese government applies the term 'tree crops' (jingjilin) to a bundle of tree species with uses other than timber production, defining this category as a component of national forest statistics. Tree crops may displace either farmland or forestland, and can be a promising livelihood option for smallholders. The overall impact of this particular policy on natural forest growth remained unanswered. In the general expansion trend of tree cover in southern China, tree crops could compete for land with natural forests, their cultivation may pose environmental trade-offs with natural forest cover. However, in a context of large labor flows from countryside to cities, tree crops could provide promising opportunities for dealing with on-farm labor shortages and generating income for disadvantaged populations remaining in rural communities, then promoting remaining natural forest quality through alternative livelihoods process. There is a knowledge gap to thoroughly investigate tree crops' impact on natural forest change both conceptually and empirically, especially a mechanism verification of the alternative livelihood hypothesis. Thus, we construct a framework assessing land use competition and alternative livelihood effects together to assess overall impacts of tree crop cultivation on natural forests. Our dataset combines forest resource inventory data and provincial social-economic factors for a panel analysis of contributions to change in natural forest cover, density, and stock in China's biodiversity-rich southern provinces. Results show tree crop cover is negatively associated with natural forest extent, but positive associated with change in natural forest density, while the relationship with change in natural forest stock is insignificant. Further tests of mechanisms support the hypothesis that tree crops benefit disadvantaged rural populations, providing an alternative livelihood. Defining tree crops as forest in China obscures important patterns, particularly a trade-off between tree crops and natural forest cover and a possible synergy with natural forest density mediated by alternative livelihood processes. Policy makers should enact specific policies to incentivize natural forest recovery in the southern collective forest zone and reconsider the appropriateness of defining tree crops as forest. Concentration and intensification of tree crop production on suitable lands may have the potential to benefit both forests and impoverished populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of tourism has been considered to be a key strategy in reducing people's dependence on marine resources and for creating alternative livelihoods for the communities living in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). This paper studies the determinants for the decision of participation in tourism-related activities and examines whether tourism could be regarded as an alternative livelihood for the local people living in the MPAs. The propensity score matching approach is employed and a case study of Nha Trang Bay MPA is used for analysis with data from 140 locals. The results show that the tourism industry in the MPAs does not secure a better income for the local people if they stop their traditional livelihoods and enter the tourism industry. In other words, tourism should not be viewed in isolation with other existing income generating activities. Furthermore, low education, long distances between home and tourism destinations, and the pressure of supporting the whole family are the primary rationales preventing local people living in MPAs from participating in tourism industry. This paper discusses implications for the management of MPAs in developing countries, where tourism is used as the main strategy to diversify the local people out of traditional fishing or aquaculture. • MPAs are recognized as a conservation tool for high marine biodiversity. • Tourism livelihood is expected to replace traditional fishing and aquaculture in MPAs. • Tourism can act as a supplemental income rather than an alternative livelihood. • Low education, poor transportation, and financial pressure are the rationales for not participating in tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]