Biodiversity dilemmas in ordinary places (BIOrdinary)

BIOrdinary expands the current biodiversity agenda, moving away from protected hotspots to explore how people in ordinary places address everyday biodiversity dilemmas driven by species influxes and climate change. It goes about this in three ways.

Firstly, by writing environmental histories that uncover the entangled social and cultural processes underlying species mobility and shifts in biodiversity.

Secondly, by examining vernacular understandings and adaptation practices among local communities and other stakeholders at the frontline of biodiversity dilemmas, as opposed to previous research’s focus on suffering, loss, and crisis. Thirdly, it contributes to the formulation of a more just, democratic and inclusive biodiversity agenda.

The program sets out to explore biodiversity in ordinary places across five ethnographic case-studies where recent biodiversity shifts can be attributed to a combination of climate change and shipping route infrastructure.

Thus, the BIOrdinary spans current marine species transformation in the Mediterranean following dredging of the Suez Canal; the arrival of mosquitos to Singapore from Africa and the resultant public health threats; Kenyan plantations struggling with biodiversity loss following the introduction of the Assam tea plant; the Pacific Oyster overtaking Sweden’s West Coast; and released, escaped and invasive minks threatening ground nesting birds in Stockholm’s archipelago.