Modeling the social drivers of environmental sustainability among Amazonian indigenous lands using Bayesian networks.

Amazonia is an invaluable global asset for all its ecological and cultural significance. Indigenous peoples and their lands are pivotal in safeguarding this unique biodiversity and mitigating global climate change. Understanding the causal structure behind variation in the degree of environmental co...

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Main Authors: Robert S Walker, Jonathan Paige
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2024-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0297501&type=printable
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author Robert S Walker
Jonathan Paige
author_facet Robert S Walker
Jonathan Paige
author_sort Robert S Walker
collection DOAJ
description Amazonia is an invaluable global asset for all its ecological and cultural significance. Indigenous peoples and their lands are pivotal in safeguarding this unique biodiversity and mitigating global climate change. Understanding the causal structure behind variation in the degree of environmental conservation across different indigenous lands-each with varying institutional, legal, and socioenvironmental conditions-is an essential source of information in the struggle for long-term sustainable management of Amazonian ecosystems. Here, we use data from the Instituto Socioambiental for 361 indigenous lands in the Brazilian Amazon coded for environmental integrity, territorial integrity, legal stability, indigenous governance, and threats due to infrastructure projects. Using Bayesian networks to learn the causal structure amongst these variables reveals two causal pathways leading to environmental integrity. One causal pathway starts with territorial integrity and is mediated by infrastructure projects, while the other is directly from legal stability. Hence, safeguarding indigenous lands from exploitation is best accomplished via legal land rights and stricter enforcement instead of placing the onus on indigenous governance, which is also a direct outcome of legal stability.
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spelling doaj-art-5960c715b3304808a4118e71ba6830cb2025-08-20T02:10:50ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01191e029750110.1371/journal.pone.0297501Modeling the social drivers of environmental sustainability among Amazonian indigenous lands using Bayesian networks.Robert S WalkerJonathan PaigeAmazonia is an invaluable global asset for all its ecological and cultural significance. Indigenous peoples and their lands are pivotal in safeguarding this unique biodiversity and mitigating global climate change. Understanding the causal structure behind variation in the degree of environmental conservation across different indigenous lands-each with varying institutional, legal, and socioenvironmental conditions-is an essential source of information in the struggle for long-term sustainable management of Amazonian ecosystems. Here, we use data from the Instituto Socioambiental for 361 indigenous lands in the Brazilian Amazon coded for environmental integrity, territorial integrity, legal stability, indigenous governance, and threats due to infrastructure projects. Using Bayesian networks to learn the causal structure amongst these variables reveals two causal pathways leading to environmental integrity. One causal pathway starts with territorial integrity and is mediated by infrastructure projects, while the other is directly from legal stability. Hence, safeguarding indigenous lands from exploitation is best accomplished via legal land rights and stricter enforcement instead of placing the onus on indigenous governance, which is also a direct outcome of legal stability.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0297501&type=printable
spellingShingle Robert S Walker
Jonathan Paige
Modeling the social drivers of environmental sustainability among Amazonian indigenous lands using Bayesian networks.
PLoS ONE
title Modeling the social drivers of environmental sustainability among Amazonian indigenous lands using Bayesian networks.
title_full Modeling the social drivers of environmental sustainability among Amazonian indigenous lands using Bayesian networks.
title_fullStr Modeling the social drivers of environmental sustainability among Amazonian indigenous lands using Bayesian networks.
title_full_unstemmed Modeling the social drivers of environmental sustainability among Amazonian indigenous lands using Bayesian networks.
title_short Modeling the social drivers of environmental sustainability among Amazonian indigenous lands using Bayesian networks.
title_sort modeling the social drivers of environmental sustainability among amazonian indigenous lands using bayesian networks
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0297501&type=printable
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AT jonathanpaige modelingthesocialdriversofenvironmentalsustainabilityamongamazonianindigenouslandsusingbayesiannetworks