Updates and Outreach November 2020

As we all know, 2020 has been a pretty unusual year and online has become the new 'offline'. Academia has embraced this new reality, and the global academic community has moving into this virtual world with gusto. Over the last few months, several things have moved online, work has been shared via email and meeting have been arranged on Teams and Zoom. Here I provide a short update of some of the work that I have been completing in this virtual arena. 

Rights Lab Policy Briefing on Trees Loss and Modern Slavery 

Following on from our work published in both Conservation Science and Practice, and Energy Research & Social Science earlier this year, this policy briefing has been released by the Rights Lab. The briefing explores the findings made in both the paper linking the co-occurrence of tree loss and modern slavery globally, as well as the possible policy impacts that can be achieved by linking antislavery tools with conservation organisations and those that implement payment for conservation and payment for ecosystem services (with a focus in this example on REDD+). 

A link to the policy briefing can be found here.  

Fish-processing and Modern Slavery in the Sundarbans Reserve Forest (SRF), Bangladesh 

Co-written with my colleagues Doreen Boyd, Chris Ives, Jess Sparks, Giles Foody, Stuart Marsh, and Kevin Bales, this was the first piece of research we undertook to understand the possible application of remote sensing as a method of investigating modern slavery. Over the years the paper evolved and was published in the Autumn open access in Maritime Studies (MAST). The paper now encompasses my work around the modern slavery-environment nexus in relation to the mangrove forest. 

The paper is title and abstract are available below: 

Remote sensing of fish-processing in the Sundarbans Reserve Forest, Bangladesh: An insight into the modern slavery-environment nexus in the coastal fringe. 

Abstract: Land-based fish-processing activities in coastal fringe areas and their social-ecological impacts have often been overlooked by marine scientists and antislavery groups. Using remote sensing methods, the location and impacts of fish-processing activities were assessed within a case study of Bangladesh’s Sundarbans mangrove forests. Ten fish-processing camps were identified, with some occurring in locations where human activity is banned. Environmental degradation included the removal of mangroves, erosion, and the destruction of protected areas. Previous studies have identified cases of labour exploitation and modern slavery occurring within the Sundarbans, and remote sensing was used to triangulate these claims by providing spatial and temporal analysis to increase the understanding of the operational trends at these locations. These findings were linked to the cyclical relationship between modern slavery and environmental degradation, whereby environmental damage is both a driver and result of workers subjected to modern slavery. Remote sensing can be used as an additional methodological tool to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provide evidence to support the promotion of the “freedom dividend” which would have far-reaching economic, social, cultural, and environmental benefits. Satellite remote sensing is likely to play an important role going forward for understanding these issues but should be augmented with ground-based data collection methods.

You can access a copy of the paper here. 

Human Trafficking and Migration Initiative Virtual Summit 2020 - University of Nebraska-Lincoln Presentation 

Throughout October 2020, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln put on a series of talks by those addressing modern slavery as part of their Human Trafficking and Migration Initiative Virtual Summit 2020. I recorded a talk for the Summit entitled 'Technology and Trafficking' which explored the role that satellite Earth Observation (EO) has been used in our work at the Rights Lab to investigate not only the measurement of modern slavery as part of the Data and Measurement Programme, but also to understand the linkages between modern slavery and environmental degradation as part of the Ecosystems and the Environment Programme. 

A description of the talk and the video is accessible below, or can be access via the summit site here. 

Technology is increasingly being utilized by the antislavery sector to address issues of modern slavery in remote, often inaccessible locations. This talk will cover the work being undertaken at the Rights Lab in which we apply remotely sensed satellite data to map the locations of sectors known to subject workers to modern slavery, determine their scope and scale, and provide insights into the changing temporal patterns of sectors such as brick-making and fish-processing. The connection to the modern slavery-environment nexus will also be addressed, demonstrating the intersectional approach to research into modern slavery impacts which can be undertaken utilizing data that can be collected from space.