Pia Goodell

Megan Workman
ANTH 314
20 November 2023
Application Video Assignment

As we’ve learned throughout this course environmental anthropology provides the

research into the complex relationship between human culture and their environments.
Environmental anthropologists look through a variety of perspectives such as cultural ecology,
political ecology, sustainability, conservation, and an environmental justice lens. In the context of
the videos, we watched I saw many ways environmental anthropologists could help countries
restore over 350 million hectares of land to reach the goal by 2030. In parts of Africa, they
struggled with land degradation leading to poor soil and harvests which was attributed to
uncontrolled felling of trees and too many bush fires. The problem was that people relied on
natural resources to the point of overuse, in the video the lady says, “if he doesn’t cut down a
tree, how is he going to live?”. Their needed to be a change of agricultural practices that was
more sustainable and restorative, that’s where the environmental anthropologists came in. They
help with collaboration and bringing together all stakeholders to set realistic goals that keeps
everyone happy. As the video states they kept a “holistic” approach when getting all the
stakeholders connected through training and the ROAM (restoration opportunities assessment
methodology) implementation. Uzbekistan is another example of collaboration and getting as
many stakeholders involved in the decision-making process as possible. This country has the
goal to increase forest cover to 15% in the coming years so they are hoping to get partners, local
communities, and NGOs involved to create solutions that everyone can agree to. Their national
government has also set priorities to preventing land and biodiversity while trying to mitigate
climate change. Finally, the US exceeded its Bonn Challenge target by 5 million hectares,
employing a landscape-scale approach that involved collaboration across boundaries and
jurisdictions. They also only used sound scientific bases to monitor and observe any feedback or
improvements.
The other two videos incorporate the ideas of cultural ecology a little more as they
discuss the specific connections that people had with the nature. In Guatemala, between the years
1950-2000 they lost 20% of their forest canopy which has increased their vulnerability to climate
change, specifically floods and mudslides. To help restore the forests canopy the government has
attempted to support and implement regulations that connect them to policy and help them
become economically productive and benefit from their contributions to the country. This has
helped empower the indigenous community and given them the freedom to do their cultural
practices. Their role in restoring the land is understood by environmental anthropologists and as
the video puts it, they “are the ones who do the most to preserve and protect Guatemala’s
ecosystem and biodiversity”. For India and Pakistan, they work on understanding the impact of
people on the environmental and the systematic connection that humans have with the
environment. This cyclical thinking is the guiding light their forest management practices, this
considers the broader ecological, social, and cultural contexts. All these considerations are what
environmental anthropologists emphasize is important, especially when working on restoring
over 350 million hectares of land.