Session 1. 4.

This paper takes the case of Calcutta in India to problematize the current conceptualization of postcolonial cities in south and southeast Asia as pure aftermaths of colonial drivers of spatial change. Instead, it posits that conflicts and compromises in a colonized setting led to the development of water-based ecosystem services in amphibious cities which influenced postcolonial urban development. Amphibious cities like Calcutta continue the colonial legacy of dominance over natural resources by treating waterscapes as dry land and filling them up. By acknowledging the key roles played by the water resources in Calcutta, the proposed model highlights the transition of the eastern wetlands from saltwater marshes to sewage-fed fisheries and the evolving role of canals in water management, navigation, and as a support system for the fisheries. Adopting the Commons perspective allows us to recognize the spatial patterns and practices historically shaped by the water resources and communities as providers of ecosystem services. Relying on archival materials including planning reports, official correspondence, maps, and newspaper articles, this paper presents an alternative model of the postcolonial city, moving away from its typical identity as an extension of the port and the central business district. This model adds value to these fringes as corridors and hubs of provision of ecosystem services like water management, wastewater treatment, navigation, and food generation, and identifies these zones as postcolonial urban commons.

In this paper, we explore the role of the Slovenian common lands managed by agrarian communities in providing ecosystem services. Our study focuses on the Triglav National Park (TNP) area with a high prevalence of common lands. We assessed the ecosystem service carbon sequestration, using MODIS Net Primary Production (NPP) as a proxy, downscaled to a spatial resolution of 10 m per pixel. Despite the moderate overall carbon sequestration capacity of common lands, their forest commons, covering 21% of TNP, play an important role due to their higher potential. As Slovenia’s forests have experienced a decline in sequestration capacity since 2014, improved management by private owners, including agrarian communities, supported by national and EU funds, is key to strengthening this vital ecosystem service.

The expansion of coffee production in western Honduras in recent decades has profoundly transformed this mountainous landscape, the historical prevalence of communal use rights, and provision of ecosystem services. At the same time, certain Indigenous traditions and local concerns to protect valued natural resources and mitigate climate change have created counterpoints to ongoing environmental degradation. Drawing on 30 years of ethnographic research and collaborations, this paper explores the nexus of opportunities and challenges for conserving ecosystem services and commons, as the predominately agricultural population struggles to attain a secure livelihood and maintain critical ecosystem services. Toward this end, small scale coffee producers and their cooperatives are leading efforts that include carbon sequestration projects, water management and watershed protection programs, environmental quality and biodiversity conservation certifications (Rainforest Alliance, Smithsonian Bird Friendly), reforestation, alternative energy adoption (biogas, solar), and waste reduction/recycling initiatives. In the process, certain communities, cooperatives and organizations are mobilizing to maintain patches of communal forests, pastures, and water sources, and local water committees are providing a locus for collective action to defend watersheds. Even so, these efforts occur in contexts of severe weather events, unprecedented outmigration, increasing costs (for labor, basic necessities and agricultural inputs), volatile market prices, and political economic crises. The analysis will consider how producers evaluate their circumstances, and possibilities for a more sustainable future.