Revealing distal drivers in coral reef social-ecological systems : Mapping land grabbing and human migration at a global scale

Sammanfattning: It is well recognized that coral reefs are suffering from a multitude of anthropogenic stressors which are threatening their integrity and existence. This includes stressors such as overharvesting, reduced water quality and habitat fragmentation. However, these stressors (proximate drivers) are surrounded and influenced by distal socioeconomic dynamics that are increasingly steered by global socioeconomic processes (distal drivers). Despite the fact that large-scale socioeconomic processes are receiving increasing attention, research on these aspects is still limited. This thesis scrutinizes, for the first time, how the two distal drivers land acquisition (or “land grabbing”) and human migration play out globally in countries that encompass coral reefs. Results show that land grabbing occurs in coastal areas adjacent to coral reefs, both at a domestic, but mainly at an international scale. The land grabbings are, however, unevenly distributed among the different coral reef regions. For human migration, it can be concluded that some coral reef regions have lost more people than they have gained in their coral reef adjacent coastal zones. However, it can also be concluded that the net migration to and within these areas, at a global scale, has been positive from 1970-2000. Consequently, this suggests that coral reefs are facing increased anthropogenic pressure from a broad variety of distal actors and drivers. The study also suggests a new, more inclusive, approach of how to view actors of coral reef management, as well as suggests an alternative way of how to estimate anthropogenic pressure in terms of migration.