Abstract Community‐led restoration operates at the intersection of ecological feasibility and social acceptability. In the marine realm, restoration is challenging due to gaps in ecological knowledge on how and where to restore lost ecosystems and limited public engagement that provides social licence for restoration. The restoration of lost oyster reefs provides a prime example because these ecosystems have been degraded to functional extinction on many coastlines, resulting in limited knowledge on their restoration potential and generational amnesia among communities that these ecosystems ever existed. To generate an evidence‐base and social licence for future restoration work, we engaged high school students and coastal residents in research on where to restore lost oyster reefs in South Australia's iconic Coffin Bay. Using a mixed methods approach, we aimed to understand (1) the motivation of high school students to participate in restoration research, (2) to quantify ecological responses to habitat provision (oyster and biodiversity recruitment) to identify appropriate restoration sites, and (3) to assess the response of local residents' to the ecological outcomes, including their willingness to support future restoration efforts. The high school students anticipated benefits that were personal (e.g. new experiences, career development), environmental (e.g. nature connection) and benefited local community (e.g. recreational activities). Students received SCUBA diving certification that enabled them to deploy 28 restoration units (shell baskets) at eight sites throughout Coffin Bay. This experiment was retrieved after 3 months to reveal high density recruitment of oysters and biodiversity at all sites; key environmental indicators for identifying suitable sites for restoration. Most residents engaged with the results expressed surprise in the ecological outcomes (the density of native oyster recruitment and associated diversity of marine life) and were very supportive of more oyster restoration occurring (91% of respondents). This study demonstrates that ecological feasibility and social licence are not sequential hurdles to be overcome independently, but mutually reinforcing processes that can be co‐generated through community‐based research. These results show that when restoration is designed as a socio‐ecological learning system, rather than a technical intervention alone, it can unlock local stewardship, political momentum and generate restoration‐ready knowledge. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Abstract Senses of place scholarship have rarely addressed the epistemic dimension that influences how people perceive, interpret and interact with places through their knowledges. This limits our understanding of subjective stances and possible contestations within ecosystem governance. We develop the concept of epistemic bonding and conceptualise it as the subjective connection to a place that is created through (perceived) knowledge and the process of knowing about a place. We explore its relationship to the established five dimensions of place attachment by using survey data from 306 residents of the High Coast/Kvarken Archipelago UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site in Sweden and Finland. We also assess the relationship between epistemic bonding and views on management practices in each country. The results show that epistemic bonding is strongly correlated with place dependence and identity and is consistently associated with long‐term residency and having family history in the area. Higher epistemic bonding indicated a more negative stance towards official nature protection in Finland. By foregrounding epistemic bonding, we emphasise the role of knowledge in forming place bonds. Epistemic bonding can be a useful lens for understanding how individuals respond to environmental decision‐making. Focusing on epistemic bonds highlights crucial questions about whose knowledge is recognised and shapes the management of places, as well as how diverse ways of knowing and relating to place influence the perceived inclusivity of ecosystem governance. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Abstract Understanding how hydropower migrants perceive nature's contributions to people (NCP) and how these perceptions relate to their subjective well‐being (SWB) is essential for informing resettlement policies that promote a good quality of life. How hydropower migrants' perceived NCP affects SWB remains poorly understood. To fill this gap, this study conducted an empirical investigation of migrants relocated by the Wudongde and Baihetan hydropower stations in Southwestern China, collecting a total of 682 survey responses capturing migrants' perceived NCP and SWB before and after resettlement. The results indicate that perceived material NCP declined by over 50% across all migrants, whereas perceived regulating and non‐material NCP decreased moderately, with larger reductions observed among ethnic minority migrants. Resettlement enhanced migrants' SWB in terms of basic materials but reduced social relations. Furthermore, the association between perceived regulating NCP and SWB strengthened after resettlement, particularly among younger migrants, while perceived non‐material NCP remained consistently linked to SWB before and after resettlement. The findings demonstrate that perceived regulating and non‐material NCP play a key role in migrants' SWB after resettlement, underscoring the significance of nature's relational values. This calls for resettlement policies that transcend material compensation and integrate migrants' perceptions and relationships with nature into decision‐making, recognizing the plural and culturally grounded ways in which people value and connect with nature, thus enhancing migrants' well‐being and fostering sustainable and equitable human–nature relationships. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Abstract This study examines sustainable development from the cosmovisions of Indigenous Peoples and other Traditional Communities (IoTCs) in western Bahia, a region in the Brazilian savanna of the Cerrado. It adopts a feminist decolonial and post‐development approach to address issues of epistemic violence. Employing participatory arts‐based research, this study incorporates poetic and thematic co‐analysis using participant‐voiced poetry. This approach centres on community voices and contextual narratives of co‐production, as well as the presentation of findings. Our analysis shows that their understanding of sustainability is deeply rooted in cultural identity, spirituality and traditional practices such as family farming and artisanal fishing. These practices highlight their relational and community‐oriented ways of living, deeply entangled with nature. While the communities recognised the strategic value of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) for communicating their practices to a global audience, they found the framework insufficient in capturing the relational and context‐specific dimensions central to their understanding of sustainability. This suggests the need for a reinterpretation of the SDGs. This study introduces a new use of decolonial analyses to highlight the limitations of applying global, linear development models to diverse local contexts, using the case of the SDGs. It advocates for policies that recognise the pluriversal nature of sustainability, actively include marginalised perspectives and critically challenge epistemic hegemony. By advocating for a re‐inhabitation of the SDGs, this research highlights the importance of integrating relational and context‐specific understandings of sustainability, ensuring that global frameworks respect and embrace diverse cosmovisions and practices. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Abstract Climate change profoundly affects well‐being in complex and interconnected ways. However, the relationship between climate change and well‐being has been explored in only a handful of settings, most of which are industrialized. Here, we investigate the association between perceived climate change impacts, their severity and subjective well‐being (measured as life satisfaction) using cross‐culturally comparable first‐hand reports from 2488 participants across 14 nature‐dependent communities. We find a negative association between site‐aggregated life satisfaction and different metrics of climate change: perceptions of local impacts, reported severity and instrumental measurements. Within sites, individual‐level associations between perceived severity of climate change impacts and life satisfaction are weak or absent. Further analysis suggests that site‐level characteristics play a crucial role in shaping these patterns. This could indicate that it is the overall vulnerability and exposure of a community to climate change impacts, rather than individual experiences that matters most. Our findings offer a nuanced understanding of how climate change impacts relate to well‐being, emphasizing the multidimensional character of climate change impacts and underscoring the importance of local context in shaping these relationships. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Abstract The trade in exotic pets is a significant contributor to the unsustainable and sustainable trade of wildlife. The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) aims to regulate sustainable wildlife trade. A reverse listing (RL) has previously been proposed, which bans trade of all species until trade is proven to be sustainable, when they are added to a positive list permitting trade. Since the 1980s, this concept's effectiveness has been debated. We identified zoonoses, invasive alien species (IAS), welfare, livelihoods, sustainable harvest and legal trade as six important themes in exotic pet trade literature. We used an adapted investigate, discuss, explain, aggregate (IDEA) protocol to collect expert estimates on the effects of a CITES RL on the identified socioecological themes and determined areas of uncertainty to guide future research. We find that experts differ in estimates on zoonoses, IAS, livelihoods, welfare, sustainable harvest and legal trade. Responses indicate that how RL would be implemented and what it would include generated the most uncertainty in effect estimates. Experts were particularly concerned with the effect of RL on the amount of legal trade and sustainable harvest. There was concern that the frequency of legal trade in exotic pets would decrease as species would be illegally trafficked to circumnavigate new restrictions causing a decrease in harvest sustainability. This shift was predicted to negatively affect livelihoods for those dependent on the legal trade of exotic pets. The results show that greater clarity on what the aims of a RL are, what would be included in the listing criteria and what would be expected by the signatories would improve the quality of research on RL. This would support more evidence‐based decision‐making for the future trajectory of CITES and the regulation of sustainable trade. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Abstract The Industrial Revolution triggered rural abandonment in Europe and had a profound impact on land configuration and ecosystem dynamics, mainly the growth of forests at the expense of open agricultural habitats. However, rural abandonment has been asynchronous in space and time, depending on regional socio‐economic dynamics. In Mediterranean islands, abandonment occurred at a very fast pace, and it started much later when the tourist industry substituted for the Industrial Revolution. Here, we analysed historical (1956) and recent (2019) aerial images in the Tramuntana range (Mallorca Island, western Mediterranean) to quantify changes in major land covers (woodlands, shrublands and agricultural areas) with insights into the mechanisms of change gained through semi‐structured interviews documenting the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of elderly residents regarding past land‐use practices. The results confirm a transition from agricultural landscapes, which lost 40% of their area, to forests, which doubled their surface. This transition was similar in all study regions, although wildfires in the drier region delayed the expansion of forests. The forest transition was faster in patches that received greater legal protection. We also found a significant transformation in landscape structure due to reduced complexity from the reconnection of forest patches. The results of TEK showed a decrease and extinction of many traditional agricultural practices, mainly extensive livestock grazing and charcoal production from oak trees. TEK should be preserved due to its rapidly fading presence in the Mediterranean islands. Forest transition and the end of cultural fire practices have likely increased the number and magnitude of wildfires in the last decades. The study concludes that the forest transition on this Mediterranean island is a clear consequence of intertwined socio‐economic changes and the abandonment of traditional practices, with multifaceted ecological impacts. It highlights the value of integrating quantitative analysis based on historical data and local knowledge for understanding and managing landscape changes, emphasising the need for balanced approaches to address issues like wildfires and hydrological changes in these evolving socio‐ecological systems. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Abstract Compared to monocultures, agroforestry can promote biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and climate resilience, whilst maintaining or enhancing production and profits. Despite this, uptake in temperate regions remains low. Knowledge gaps amongst land managers are a primary barrier to uptake, but little is known about which aspects of agroforestry management are hindering uptake specifically, or how to address them. We use a mixed‐method approach to identify knowledge barriers to agroforestry adoption in the UK and co‐design solutions to them. To identify barriers, we interviewed 27 farmers in 2023–2024. We used a perception matrix to quantitatively assess their perceptions of 12 agroforestry knowledge elements (e.g. tree species, inputs, markets) against eight perceptions (e.g. information is important, available or trustworthy). To identify solutions, we used the interview results to direct focus group discussions at a multi‐actor workshop with 48 participants, including farmers, policymakers, NGOs and other stakeholders. We then conducted a framework analysis to identify shared solutions and create an evidence‐based educational agenda. We found that the perceived knowledge gaps were greater for the business elements (e.g. financial or legal impacts) than the ecological elements (e.g. understory management) and that the relative importance of the learning barriers differed between elements. Averaging across elements, the largest barriers were time constraints and a shortage of trusted information. The proposed solutions to the knowledge gaps included (for example) designs for open‐access online tools for independent learning, innovative mechanisms to fund farmer‐to‐farmer mentoring, agroforestry accreditation to enhance trust in advice and policy reforms to education. Creating living labs or demonstration farms could provide multiple benefits in parallel. We consolidated the solutions into a 10‐step educational agenda. This evidence‐based agenda for agroforestry education reflects the views of UK stakeholders across the agricultural supply chain. It is directly relevant to policymakers, agricultural advisors and educators, and researchers and their funders. Many of the solutions are straightforward to implement and could promote agroforestry uptake quickly, whereas others are systemic and require multi‐organisational collaboration. Equipping farmers with the knowledge needed to adopt agroforestry and manage it effectively will help us to build a more climate‐resilient and sustainable future. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Abstract The consequences of climate change are becoming more severe and widespread, highlighting the growing need to understand and address the emotional dimensions of the climate crisis. Although research on climate emotions has grown substantially over the past decade, empirical work on how people are coping with climate emotions is very limited. Research oriented to lived experiences is needed. The objective of the study was to explore and describe how people living in remote, rural and small communities across Canada are coping with climate emotions. Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews ( N = 27) and asynchronous letter writing ( N = 23) and analysed using thematic network analysis. Five organizing themes emerged that illustrate the diverse and dynamic ways people cope with climate emotions and related consequences: (1) coping through distance and avoidance; (2) coping through feeling and talking about emotions; (3) coping through relationships and care; (4) coping through learning about and taking action; and (5) coping through resistance of despair and disempowerment. The findings underscore that coping is complex, dynamic and diverse. The findings also underscore the particularly important role of coping through caring relationships with people and nature. In the discussion section, key contributions relevant to the literature on coping with climate emotions broadly are outlined. Subsequently, the concept of connected coping is proposed and three insights relevant to supporting connected coping in remote, rural and small communities are discussed. First, the importance of coping through connection and care for the natural world is particularly important. Second, there is a growing need for community‐based and relationship‐focused processes that offer and create safe and accessible spaces for sharing experiences of climate emotions. These interventions must address the social silencing around climate change and related emotions that are particularly problematic in this context. Third, collective action in response to climate change and collective action aimed at protecting and caring for the natural world is an important pathway for supporting connected coping. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.