07/05/2025
Biodiversity in the crossfire by Husain et al., 2024โour paper led by Bona Abigail Husain and Prof. Krizler C. Tanalgo launched a conversation. Critics call it โstatistical noise, but we argue that there's no one-size-fits-all answer to war and wildlife. Have a good read.
๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ โ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐, ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐
In 2024, the Eco/Con Lab published an analysis and discussion led by Assistant Professor Bona Abigail Hilario-Husain, aiming to shed light on biodiversity knowledge shortfalls and its link to past and ongoing sociopolitical conflict in Mindanao, using publicly available data. Our study emphasised that sociopolitical conflict has significant, yet often overlooked, impacts on biodiversity, particularly in understudied and inaccessible areas of Mindanao. (see paper here: https://bit.ly/42Y3EQn)
Our study sparked meaningful discussion, including a Matters Arising response by Pitogo and colleagues, a commentary format developed by Nature Publishing. We welcome their engagement and are open to critical dialogue. The broad interest our paper received, with contributions and reactions from authors across institutions in the Philippines, China, Taiwan, and the United States, underscores both the timeliness and relevance of this issue. Pitogo and colleagues raised thoughtful concerns regarding our dataset choices and analytical methods, suggesting that some of our conclusions may be premature. (see Arising Matter here: https://bit.ly/4k4f4ce)
In our formal response, we reaffirmed the key findings of our original work and directly addressed the Matters Arising raised by Pitogo and colleagues. We also conducted additional fine-scale analyses that strengthened our initial conclusions. Both studies, despite differing perspectives, highlighted a crucial signal amid the noise: that sociopolitical conflict can impede biodiversity research efforts. (see Our Response here: https://bit.ly/4iOt2xQ)
Importantly, we stressed the need for careful contextualisation to avoid misinterpretation by the public and policymakers. From Pitogo and colleaguesโ own findings, an important question emerges: Why does species richness drop as you move farther from conflict zones? To strengthen their argument and contribute to a more informed dialogue, we encourage them to offer plausible explanations for this pattern and to consider alternative conflict datasets. Such steps would enhance the discourse and help conservation biologists and decision-makers craft more effective, evidence-based responses to the challenges at the intersection of conflict and biodiversity. ๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ-๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฃ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ.
Finally, we reassure Pitogo and colleagues that our study was never intended as a panacea. Rather, it represents a first step, a way to open the door to much-needed dialogue on an issue that has long flown under the radar. We fully acknowledge that our analysis does not offer a silver bullet solution to the multifaceted socioecological challenges at hand. Instead, we hope it sparks continued research and collaboration that will peel back the layers of complexity surrounding sociopolitical conflict and biodiversity loss in the Philippines.
