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Urban residents can benefit from spending time in outdoor spaces and engaging with nature-related activities. Such engagement can improve health and well-being, support community cohesion, and improve environmentally-friendly behaviours. However, engagement with nature may not be equal amongst different members of society. We investigated individual variation in engagement with nature in Singapore, a high-density city in tropical Southeast Asia. Through a survey of 1000 residents, we analysed relationships between demographic factors such as age, income, and sex, and the frequency of visitation to different ecosystem types, and the frequency of engagement with different nature-related activities. Parks and neighbourhood open spaces were among the most commonly-visited outdoor spaces, with nature reserves and other natural areas being visited less frequently. Common activities included sitting outdoors, art and photography, and running, while hiking and nature recreation were less frequent. In contrast with previous studies, we found relatively small differences among different groups of the population in their preferred types of outdoor activities. Older people, those with lower incomes, and without degrees were less likely to visit most types of outdoor space and engage with most types of nature-related activities. In the case of nature reserves, the distance from the visitor's home had a significantly negative influence on the frequency of visitation. These findings demonstrate that the benefits of engagement with nature are not equally enjoyed by all demographic groups, and that some groups lack engagement across the board. Strategies to increase nature engagement in tropical cities could include increasing the local availability and accessibility of different types of outdoor space, and education and public outreach programmes to encourage participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green spaces provide ecosystem services, including climate regulation, food, and opportunities for recreation. The quantity and structure of green space in a city may therefore have consequences for human well-being. Cities in Southeast Asia are rapidly changing as they must accommodate larger populations, and their residents are becoming wealthier. Such changes may have impacts on urban green spaces and the ecosystem services that they provide. To assess the potential impacts of future urbanisation in the region, we analysed existing relationships between city size, wealth, and population density, and (1) the percentage cover of green space, (2) the quantity of green space per capita, and (3) the aggregation of green space. We used remote sensing analysis of Landsat 7 data to classify green space in 111 urban areas in Southeast Asia. Cities with higher population densities had less green space and less green space per capita. Cities with higher GDP per capita had higher percentage coverage of green space. Larger cities had lower percentage coverage of green space and less green space per capita. Cities with higher percentage cover of green space had more aggregated green spaces. Authorities in developing cities should consider protecting ecological assets such as remnant forest patches and river corridors, as re-creating habitats at a later stage of development rarely provides comparable levels of ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mangrove forests of Southeast Asia are highly biodiverse and provide multiple ecosystem services upon which millions of people depend. Mangroves enhance fisheries and coastal protection, and store among the highest densities of carbon of any ecosystem globally.Mangrove forests have experienced extensive deforestation owing to global demand for commodities, and previous studies have identified the expansion of aquaculture as largely responsible. The proportional conversion of mangroves to different land use types has not been systematically quantified across Southeast Asia, however, particularly in recent years. In this study we apply a combined geographic information system and remote sensing method to quantify the key proximate drivers (i.e., replacement land uses) of mangrove deforestation in Southeast Asia between 2000 and 2012. Mangrove forests were lost at an average rate of 0.18% per year, which is lower than previously published estimates. In total, more than 100,000 ha of mangroves were removed during the study period, with aquaculture accounting for 30% of this total forest change. The rapid expansion of rice agriculture in Myanmar, and the sustained conversion of mangroves to oil palm plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia, are identified as additional increasing and under-recognized threats to mangrove ecosystems. Our study highlights frontiers of mangrove deforestation in the border states of Myanmar, on Borneo, and in Indonesian Papua. To implement policies that conserve mangrove forests across Southeast Asia, it is essential to consider the national and subnational variation in the land uses that follow deforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]