I am a Senior Lecturer in the Lancaster Environment Centre at Lancaster University. I was an ESRC Future Research Leader from 2014-2017, in parallel with a Lecturer position. I am interested in identifying pathways towards sustainable urbanization in tropical forest regions, particularly the Amazon. I have a PhD in inter-disciplinary environmental science from the University of East Anglia. My passion for Amazonia spans its people and places, slow boat journeys and governmental census data. I am currently working on new tools to predict the impacts of Amazonian droughts and floods on urban food insecurity. Phone: +44 (0)1524 510289 Address: Lancaster Environment Centre
Lancaster University
Lancaster, UK
LA1 4YQ
Decentralized governance can facilitate the participation of non-government actors in natural res... more Decentralized governance can facilitate the participation of non-government actors in natural resource management. Yet efforts to increase participation can also enhance the power of existing elites. Here, we analyse the role of landowning elites in developing and operating a hybrid governance arrangement in response to the decentralization of anti-deforestation policy in the Brazilian Amazon. We employ a framework that permits examination of the role played by different actors, the rationale that promoted collaboration in the first place, and the distribution of power that shapes the still evolving governance arrangement. By engaging state and non-state actors in a hybrid governance partnership, the local landowning elite in Paragominas, a municipality in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon, successfully achieved the specific goals set by federal policies to be removed from a high deforestation 'Red List'. Yet the local governors, together with the rural elite, transformed the crisis generated by inclusion in the Red List into an opportunity to shift the rural economy on a path towards more legalized large-scale agriculture. By aligning production and conservation objectives, the project attracted medium and large landowners, but also failed to prevent À or potentially exacerbated À the further mar-ginalization of smallholders. Rural elites can effectively mobilize hybrid government arrangements in pursuit of their own interests while also producing wider benefits such as a more stimulated urban economy and strengthened environmental compliance. However, inclusion of more marginalized populations in this process remains a severe and largely unaddressed challenge.
New evidence of commercialization and consumption of wild meat in Amazonian cities has exposed an... more New evidence of commercialization and consumption of wild meat in Amazonian cities has exposed an alarming yet poorly understood threat to Neotropical biodiversity. In response to the limitations of field sampling for large-scale surveys, we sought to develop a method of rapidly assessing wildlife harvest and trade in multiple areas using expert knowledge. Using caiman as a model taxon, we surveyed experts across the Brazilian Amazon. Expert responses to a Likert-style questionnaire suggest that caiman hunting, generally considered a localized rural activity, is in fact common and geographically widespread. Contrary to previous assumptions we found evidence that urban demand is partly driving the harvest, including via interstate trafficking. We highlight the need for further field validation of wild-meat trade and urban consumption patterns in Amazonia. We conclude that expert elicitation is a simple, cost-effective technique that can be a valuable precursor to inform and direct applied conservation research, especially where there are significant knowledge gaps and at large spatial scales.
Understanding the multiple ways people value forests is important, as individual values regarding... more Understanding the multiple ways people value forests is important, as individual values regarding nature have been shown to partly determine willingness to participate in conservation initiatives. As individual values are influenced by past experiences, the way people value forests may be related to the ecosystem services they use and receive. We here aim to investigate if people value forests because of material and non-material benefits forest provide (material and non-material values), and if these values are defined by previous experiences associated with using forest resources and having frequent contact with forests. By interviewing 363 residents across 20 landscapes varying in forest cover in a post-frontier region in Amazonia, we evaluated: (1) if the use of forest resources—especially bushmeat, important for sustenance and cash income in virtually all tropical forests—is associated with attributing higher material value to forests; (2) whether the contact with forest (estimated by local forest cover and visits to forests) is associated with attributing higher non-material value to forests. As expected, respondents from households where hunting occurs and bushmeat consumption is more frequent attributed higher material value to forests , and those living in more deforested landscapes and that visited forests less often attributed lower non-material value to forests. The importance of bushmeat in shaping the way people value forests suggests that encouraging the sustainable use of this product will encourage forest conservation. Results also point to a potential dangerous reinforcing cycle: low forest cover and the loss of contact with forests may erode forest values and facilitate further deforestation. Engaging rural communities in forest conservation initiatives is challenging yet urgent in degraded landscapes, although harnessing appreciation for bush-meat could offer a starting point.
Fires in humid tropical forests are increasingly
frequent due to severe dry seasons, forest degr... more Fires in humid tropical forests are increasingly
frequent due to severe dry seasons, forest degradation and
agricultural expansion. One agent implicated in current discourse
surrounding tropical forest fires is the small-scale
farming peasantry who rely on fire in swidden (shifting cultivation,
slash-and-burn) agriculture. The environmental degradation
associated with fire has led to government responses
at multiple scales (international, national, state, regional) via
policies aimed mainly at managing ignition sources.
However, continued increase in forest fires suggests that these
policies may be having limited impact and a fresh evaluation
of current policy approaches to fire management is needed.
We review fire policy measures with insights of caboclo
farming practices and perspectives from Eastern Amazonia
and examine the congruence between policy and practice.We
demonstrate a significant disparity between policy requirements
such as firebreaks and actual fire management practices,
in which measures rarely meet requirements outlined in
legislation. We explore the origins and the impacts of these
disparities, focussing on smallholder farm-level management
measures and local capacity. Incomplete knowledge coupled
with marginal awareness of legal requirements served to propagate
widespread erroneous beliefs in what these are. This
analysis at multiple scales (international, national, state, regional)
will contribute to developing greater congruence between
fire policies and smallholder farming practices.
Decentralized governance can facilitate the participation of non-government actors in natural res... more Decentralized governance can facilitate the participation of non-government actors in natural resource management. Yet efforts to increase participation can also enhance the power of existing elites. Here, we analyse the role of landowning elites in developing and operating a hybrid governance arrangement in response to the decentralization of anti-deforestation policy in the Brazilian Amazon. We employ a framework that permits examination of the role played by different actors, the rationale that promoted collaboration in the first place, and the distribution of power that shapes the still evolving governance arrangement. By engaging state and non-state actors in a hybrid governance partnership, the local landowning elite in Paragominas, a municipality in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon, successfully achieved the specific goals set by federal policies to be removed from a high deforestation 'Red List'. Yet the local governors, together with the rural elite, transformed the crisis generated by inclusion in the Red List into an opportunity to shift the rural economy on a path towards more legalized large-scale agriculture. By aligning production and conservation objectives, the project attracted medium and large landowners, but also failed to prevent À or potentially exacerbated À the further mar-ginalization of smallholders. Rural elites can effectively mobilize hybrid government arrangements in pursuit of their own interests while also producing wider benefits such as a more stimulated urban economy and strengthened environmental compliance. However, inclusion of more marginalized populations in this process remains a severe and largely unaddressed challenge.
New evidence of commercialization and consumption of wild meat in Amazonian cities has exposed an... more New evidence of commercialization and consumption of wild meat in Amazonian cities has exposed an alarming yet poorly understood threat to Neotropical biodiversity. In response to the limitations of field sampling for large-scale surveys, we sought to develop a method of rapidly assessing wildlife harvest and trade in multiple areas using expert knowledge. Using caiman as a model taxon, we surveyed experts across the Brazilian Amazon. Expert responses to a Likert-style questionnaire suggest that caiman hunting, generally considered a localized rural activity, is in fact common and geographically widespread. Contrary to previous assumptions we found evidence that urban demand is partly driving the harvest, including via interstate trafficking. We highlight the need for further field validation of wild-meat trade and urban consumption patterns in Amazonia. We conclude that expert elicitation is a simple, cost-effective technique that can be a valuable precursor to inform and direct applied conservation research, especially where there are significant knowledge gaps and at large spatial scales.
Understanding the multiple ways people value forests is important, as individual values regarding... more Understanding the multiple ways people value forests is important, as individual values regarding nature have been shown to partly determine willingness to participate in conservation initiatives. As individual values are influenced by past experiences, the way people value forests may be related to the ecosystem services they use and receive. We here aim to investigate if people value forests because of material and non-material benefits forest provide (material and non-material values), and if these values are defined by previous experiences associated with using forest resources and having frequent contact with forests. By interviewing 363 residents across 20 landscapes varying in forest cover in a post-frontier region in Amazonia, we evaluated: (1) if the use of forest resources—especially bushmeat, important for sustenance and cash income in virtually all tropical forests—is associated with attributing higher material value to forests; (2) whether the contact with forest (estimated by local forest cover and visits to forests) is associated with attributing higher non-material value to forests. As expected, respondents from households where hunting occurs and bushmeat consumption is more frequent attributed higher material value to forests , and those living in more deforested landscapes and that visited forests less often attributed lower non-material value to forests. The importance of bushmeat in shaping the way people value forests suggests that encouraging the sustainable use of this product will encourage forest conservation. Results also point to a potential dangerous reinforcing cycle: low forest cover and the loss of contact with forests may erode forest values and facilitate further deforestation. Engaging rural communities in forest conservation initiatives is challenging yet urgent in degraded landscapes, although harnessing appreciation for bush-meat could offer a starting point.
Fires in humid tropical forests are increasingly
frequent due to severe dry seasons, forest degr... more Fires in humid tropical forests are increasingly
frequent due to severe dry seasons, forest degradation and
agricultural expansion. One agent implicated in current discourse
surrounding tropical forest fires is the small-scale
farming peasantry who rely on fire in swidden (shifting cultivation,
slash-and-burn) agriculture. The environmental degradation
associated with fire has led to government responses
at multiple scales (international, national, state, regional) via
policies aimed mainly at managing ignition sources.
However, continued increase in forest fires suggests that these
policies may be having limited impact and a fresh evaluation
of current policy approaches to fire management is needed.
We review fire policy measures with insights of caboclo
farming practices and perspectives from Eastern Amazonia
and examine the congruence between policy and practice.We
demonstrate a significant disparity between policy requirements
such as firebreaks and actual fire management practices,
in which measures rarely meet requirements outlined in
legislation. We explore the origins and the impacts of these
disparities, focussing on smallholder farm-level management
measures and local capacity. Incomplete knowledge coupled
with marginal awareness of legal requirements served to propagate
widespread erroneous beliefs in what these are. This
analysis at multiple scales (international, national, state, regional)
will contribute to developing greater congruence between
fire policies and smallholder farming practices.
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Papers by Luke Parry
frequent due to severe dry seasons, forest degradation and
agricultural expansion. One agent implicated in current discourse
surrounding tropical forest fires is the small-scale
farming peasantry who rely on fire in swidden (shifting cultivation,
slash-and-burn) agriculture. The environmental degradation
associated with fire has led to government responses
at multiple scales (international, national, state, regional) via
policies aimed mainly at managing ignition sources.
However, continued increase in forest fires suggests that these
policies may be having limited impact and a fresh evaluation
of current policy approaches to fire management is needed.
We review fire policy measures with insights of caboclo
farming practices and perspectives from Eastern Amazonia
and examine the congruence between policy and practice.We
demonstrate a significant disparity between policy requirements
such as firebreaks and actual fire management practices,
in which measures rarely meet requirements outlined in
legislation. We explore the origins and the impacts of these
disparities, focussing on smallholder farm-level management
measures and local capacity. Incomplete knowledge coupled
with marginal awareness of legal requirements served to propagate
widespread erroneous beliefs in what these are. This
analysis at multiple scales (international, national, state, regional)
will contribute to developing greater congruence between
fire policies and smallholder farming practices.
frequent due to severe dry seasons, forest degradation and
agricultural expansion. One agent implicated in current discourse
surrounding tropical forest fires is the small-scale
farming peasantry who rely on fire in swidden (shifting cultivation,
slash-and-burn) agriculture. The environmental degradation
associated with fire has led to government responses
at multiple scales (international, national, state, regional) via
policies aimed mainly at managing ignition sources.
However, continued increase in forest fires suggests that these
policies may be having limited impact and a fresh evaluation
of current policy approaches to fire management is needed.
We review fire policy measures with insights of caboclo
farming practices and perspectives from Eastern Amazonia
and examine the congruence between policy and practice.We
demonstrate a significant disparity between policy requirements
such as firebreaks and actual fire management practices,
in which measures rarely meet requirements outlined in
legislation. We explore the origins and the impacts of these
disparities, focussing on smallholder farm-level management
measures and local capacity. Incomplete knowledge coupled
with marginal awareness of legal requirements served to propagate
widespread erroneous beliefs in what these are. This
analysis at multiple scales (international, national, state, regional)
will contribute to developing greater congruence between
fire policies and smallholder farming practices.