AvH - Henriette-Herz - Murali

For this project, the aim is to study the environmental governance systems and underlying values, that foster coexistence.
The specific objectives are to:
1. Understand the values that are represented in institutions that have historically governed agriculture and pastures use in Kyrgyzstan, and the outcomes for the pastures.
While the state of the pastures is crucial, it is also important to look at agricultural institutions, as they can impact pasture use. Therefore, a landscape perspective is essential. For this objective, values and institutions will be identified through discourse analysis and archival research. Pasture state can be assessed through historical NDVI and remote sensing data, along with human land-use and biodiversity distribution surfaces developed from field data.
2. Study the present-day values for nature that different stakeholders hold, identify those that are implicitly or explicitly expressed in the present-day governance systems, and the biodiversity outcomes.
This objective offers potential for cross carnivore comparisons with ongoing projects in the lab. Snow leopards and other carnivores (jaguars, pumas, or Persian leopards) are used as one indicator of biodiversity as carnivores are flagship species and their presence is dependent on the overall health of the ecosystem. Data on governance institutions and values will be collected through interviews. Carnivore and prey population numbers will be accessed from long-term ecological datasets in the region.