The Philippines’ southern region of Mindanao has a history of war and armed conflict going back more than 400 years. The contemporary conflict’s origin in this region of 26.3 million people is complex, stemming from decades-long disputes between military forces and Moro separatist groups. More recently, clashes have erupted anew due in part to longstanding issues over land and resource control, complicated by political rivalries and clan feuds. The warfare in Mindanao has resulted in the deaths and displacement of thousands of people. However, the extent to which this sociopolitical turmoil affects the region’s biodiversity has long been unclear. A recent study now shows that conflict has resulted in both reduced biodiversity and in gaps in knowledge about this ecologically rich region. This poses challenges for conservation efforts, particularly in Mindanao’s 30 key biodiversity areas, which are globally significant for their high concentration of endemic and threatened species, such as the critically endangered Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), the country’s national bird. In a paper published in npj Biodiversity, researchers from the University of Southern Mindanao found that “areas with higher conflict levels exhibited lower species richness, fewer occurrence records, and reduced forest cover.” The study used geospatial and statistical techniques to analyze biodiversity data from the MOBIOS+ database of Mindanao’s terrestrial biodiversity, and conflict-related information for the Philippines from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs spanning 2000 to 2021. Overall, the study recorded 2,174 conflicts in Mindanao from 2000 to 2021, with approximately 6% occurring within protected…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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