La disparition et la fragmentation d’habitat sont considérées comme des causes majeures de l’érosion de la biodiversité.Les forêts sont parmi les plus riches écosystèmes terrestres de la planète. La simplification structurelle et la disparition d’éléments d’habitats clés qui résultent de leur exploitation mettent en péril la biodiversité qu’elles abritent.Grâce à l’analyse de différents jeux de données mutualisés entre plusieurs laboratoires et de deux jeux de donnéesoriginaux générés par mes travaux, l’objectif de cette thèse est d’évaluer le rôle joué par plusieurs éléments de la Trame de Très Vieux Bois pour la diversité des coléoptères saproxyliques aux échelles locale et paysagère. L’effet des caractéristiques du milieu et la biodiversité associée aux ilots de vieillissement, réserves forestières et arbres isolés extra-forestiers ont été évalués.En parallèle, nous avons conduit des explorations méthodologiques concernant la principale technique d’échantillonnagede notre modèle biologique. Nous avons mis en évidence les effets (i) forts de la réplication spatiale ou temporelle des dispositifs d’échantillonnage sur les données obtenues, mais (ii) négligeables de l’exclusion d’une famille couteuse en temps d’identification sur les résultats.Nos résultats écologiques indiquent l’effet de l’arrêt d’exploitation sur la reconstitution des compartiments bois mort etdendromicrohabitats et des assemblages de coléoptères saproxyliques associés, au contraire de l’extension de rotationreprésentée par les ilots de vieillissement. D’importantes densités de réserves forestières dans le paysage (plus de 20%) semblent nécessaires pour une conservation efficace de la faune saproxylique. De plus, nous avons mis en évidence qu’une part importante des espèces saproxyliques est préférentiellement retrouvée sur des arbres solitaires, non-forestiers. La totalité de la faune saproxylique n’est donc pas abritée par la forêt. Ces structures non forestières représentent des éléments primordiaux à prendre en compte pour la sauvegarde de la biodiversité saproxylique. / Habitat loss and fragmentation are considered as major threats to biodiversity in forests, one of the species-richest terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. The structural simplification and the loss of key habitat elements resulting from forest harvesting threaten forest biodiversity. Through the analysis of datasets shared between laboratories and two original datasets created during this thesis, I intended to evaluate the role for associated beetle diversity of several components of the saproxylic habitat network at local and landscape scales. The effect of local environmental variables has been evaluated and the biodiversity associated with ageing stands, forest reserves and isolated non-forest trees were explored. In parallel, we have analyzed the main technique used to sample our study group. We highlighted (i) strong effects of spatial or temporal replication of sampling on data, but (ii) negligible effects of data simplification by excluding a time-expensive family on results. We demonstrated significant effects of forest setting aside on the restoration, mainly of dead wood and tree microhabitats, but also on associated saproxylic beetle assemblages. Extended rotations in ageing stands did not provide such positive effects. Besides, we evidenced that a high density of forest reserves in the landscape (over 20%) seems necessary to efficiently favor the saproxylic fauna. In addition, we observed that a significant proportion of saproxylic species prefer non-forest solitary tree habitats. The whole saproxylic fauna is therefore not hosted by forests. These non-forest saproxylic structures have to be included in conservation strategies dedicated saproxylic biodiversity.

La pollution lumineuse, induite par l’utilisation massive d’éclairage artificiel la nuit, est un changement global qui affecte une partie importante des écosystèmes terrestres et marins, et qui soulève de nombreuses inquiétudes quant à son influence sur la biodiversité et le fonctionnement des écosystèmes. En effet, la pollution lumineuse induit de nombreux impacts sur les rythmes circadiens et saisonniers des organismes, et affecte leurs mouvements et leurs distributions spatiales. L’accumulation de ces impacts dans le temps et dans l’espace sur les différentes espèces peut ainsi entrainer des perturbations en cascade sur les dynamiques spatiotemporelles des communautés et sur les écosystèmes.Dans ce contexte, l’objectif de cette thèse est de caractériser les impacts de l’éclairage artificiel sur les activités de chauves-souris (ordre: chiroptère) à de multiples échelles spatiales afin d’élaborer des mesures de gestion de l’éclairage public qui limitent ses impacts négatifs sur la biodiversité. Nous avons utilisé les chauves-souris comme modèle d’étude car elles sont nocturnes et directement exposées à la pollution lumineuse, et sont considérées comme des espèces bio indicatrices de la réponse des espèces aux pressions anthropiques.Dans un premier temps, nous avons caractérisé l’impact relatif de la pollution lumineuse à l’échelle du paysage par rapport aux autres pressions de changements d’usage des sols en utilisant une base de données nationale de sciences participatives. Nous avons trouvé que la pollution lumineuse avait un impact négatif sur l’activité et la probabilité de présence des espèces de chiroptères les plus communes en France, et que cet impact était significativement plus fort que celui de l’artificialisation des sols, mais moins important que celui de l’agriculture intensive. Ces résultats confirment l’importance de prendre en compte l’éclairage public dans les stratégies d’aménagement du territoire pour restaurer efficacement de l’obscurité dans les paysages anthropisés.Ainsi, nous avons élaboré une expérience in situ pour déterminer si i) restaurer de l’obscurité dans le temps en éteignant les lampadaires pour une partie de la nuit (extinction nocturne), ou ii) limiter l’étendue spatiale de l’éclairage à proximité d’éléments naturels pouvaient être des mesures efficaces pour créer des zones corridors et des zones de refuges obscurs dans les paysages anthropisés. Nos résultats ont montré que les mesures actuelles d’extinction ne limitaient pas efficacement l’impact de l’éclairage sur les espèces de chiroptères sensibles à la lumière. Par contre, nous avons déterminé que les lampadaires devraient être séparés d’au moins 50 m des corridors écologiques, et que l’intrusion de lumière dans la végétation autour des zones éclairées ne devrait pas dépasser 0.1 lux pour permettre l’utilisation de ces espaces par les espèces sensibles à la lumière.En conclusion, cette thèse a mis en lumière l’importance de traiter la question de la pollution lumineuse à de multiples échelles spatiales pour bien caractériser ses impacts sur la biodiversité. Elle a par ailleurs permis de souligner l’importance de la prise en compte de cette pollution dans l’aménagement du territoire, et de proposer des critères écologiques qui pourraient être intégrés dans les futur normes et standards européens pour l’éclairage public. / Light pollution induced by the widespread use of nighttime artificial lighting is a global change affecting substantial part of terrestrial and marine ecosystems. As a result, major concerns have been raised about its hidden impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Light pollution has major impacts on the circadian and seasonal cycles of organisms, and on their movements and spatial distributions. As a whole, light pollution likely disrupts the spatiotemporal dynamics of biological communities and ecosystems. In this context, the aim of this PhD was to characterize the impacts of nighttime artificial lighting on bat activity (order: chiroptera) at multiple spatial scales in order to propose reduction measures that can effectively limit the adverse impacts of light pollution on biodiversity. We used bats as model species as they are nocturnal and directly exposed to light pollution and they are considered to be good indicators of the response of biodiversity to anthropogenic pressure.We first intended to characterize the extent of effect of light pollution at a landscape scale relative to major land-use pressures that are threatening biodiversity worldwide. Using a French national-scale citizen science database, we found that landscape-scale level of light pollution negatively affected common bat species, and that this effect was significantly stronger than the effect of impervious surfaces but weaker than the effect of intensive agriculture. This highlighted the crucial need to account for outdoor lighting in land-use planning in order to restore darkness in human-inhabited landscapes.Thus, through an in situ experiment, we investigated whether i) restoring darkness in a landscape for a part of the night through part-night lighting schemes, or ii) restraining the spatial extent of lighting at the vicinity of natural elements were effective options to enhance dark ecological corridors in human-inhabited landscapes. We found that part-night lighting schemes were unlikely to effectively mitigate the impacts of artificial lighting on light-sensitive species. However, we revealed that streetlights should be separated from ecological corridors by at least 50 m, and that the light trespass should be lower than 0.1 lux to allow their effective use by light-sensitive species.Overall, this PhD thesis revealed the major importance of addressing light pollution issues at multiple spatial scales to characterize its impacts on biodiversity. It also exposed the crucial importance of integrating outdoor lighting in land-use planning strategies and proposed to implement ecological criteria in future European standards for outdoor lighting.

Forests in developing countries have the potential to contribute to global efforts to mitigate climate change, promote biodiversity and support the livelihoods of rural, local people. Approximately one-fourth of such forests are under the control of local communities, which primarily manage forests for subsistence and to meet their livelihood needs. The trend of bottom-up community control is increasing through the adoption of decentralization reforms over the last 40 years. In contrast, the United Nations has introduced the top-down program, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) for the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon and the sustainable management of forest in developing countries. REDD+ incentivizes forest-managing communities to sequester carbon and reduce emissions. REDD+ has created hope for managing forests to mitigate climate change and has created fear that the new initiative may not be effective and may not ensure continuing forest-managing community benefits. However, little research has been conducted to answer these concerns. By taking nationally representative data from Nepalese community-managed forests (“forest commons"), I bring insights into whether and how these forests can contribute to REDD+ initiatives, particularly as they relate to carbon sequestration, biodiversity, equity in benefit sharing and collective action. My results indicated the highly variable carbon and biodiversity in the forest plots across the country, depicting the availability of space for additional growth in carbon storage and biodiversity conservation. My results also reflect the complex and varied relationships of carbon with different indices of biodiversity at the national level, across geographic and topographic regions, and in forests with varying canopy covers. Weak positive relationships between carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation indicate the possibility of synergies between carbon-forestry and biodiversity conservation. I also found that the formal community forestry program (CFP) has clearly positive impacts on biodiversity conservation and household-level equity in benefit sharing and a negative impact on carbon sequestration at the national level. However, disaggregated results of impacts of CFP on biodiversity, carbon and equity across geography, topography, forest quality and social groups display mixed results i.e., either positive or negative or neutral. I also identified that different drivers of collective action have different (i.e., positive, neutral, and negative) associations with carbon sequestration, which either supports or challenges established knowledge. In aggregate, my research indicates the potential of contribution by forest commons, and specially the CFP, to global environmental initiatives such as REDD+. It suggests that targeted, dedicated policies and programs to increase carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation and foster equity and collective actions are critical. In addition, my results also contribute to the growing literature on socio-ecological implications of forest commons that demonstrated the need of interdisciplinary research to understand human-nature relationships in the changing context.

This study aimed to analyse the potential and challenges for ecotourism development and how it can be applied as an integrated tool to provide economic incentives and better opportunities for community development, while improving natural resource management and conservation in Isimangaliso. The capital assets, the context of vulnerability of the local communities along with other significant attributes of the supply side were investigated in-depth. In addition, the potentials and challenges for ecotourism development in the selected Isimangaliso, Khula Village were studied. The impacts of ecotourism on local livelihood improvement, biodiversity resources and natural environment, and management and conservation of the area were also explored through sustainability concepts. However, the focus of the study was not only on ecotourism potentials and opportunities but was also on the development of sound guiding principles for planning and management of ecotourism development in Isimangaliso in a sustainable manner. It was found that community‟s willingness to participate in local development and natural resource management remains a questionable issue to be achieved. This is because local communities are strongly influenced by vertical network of the state administration. The study reveals that there is a strong interaction and interdependency between local livelihoods or poverty and the status and effectiveness of natural resource management in Isimangaliso. The study indicates that the area has plenty of potential natural and cultural resources. These resources signify three fundamental elements for ecotourism destination: quantity, quality, and fascination. The natural attractions consist of vital and sensitive biological and scenic values of the destination area.

This thesis deals with the selected issues regarding tropical rainforests in modern civilization. It explains what the tropical rainforest is and where it is located. The thesis points at the importance of the tropical rain forestry, and warns of increasing threats primarily due to deforestation. The thesis also shows possible approaches to deal with the issue and presents a practical example of a functional project in real life.

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In rural areas of least developed countries, the preparation of meals remains the predominant energy consuming activity. Cooking is mostly performed with firewood – using the ancient “technology” of the 3-stone fire. This practice results in numerous challenges that hinder the transformation envisioned by the Millennium Development Goals and it therefore contributes towards slowing the development of rural areas. Activities focussing on amending this status-quo can be termed insufficient in scope- and sustainability. The main deficiencies of most projects are that the prime focus of the mainstream of these endeavours has been on demand side management, mainly performed by disseminating cookstoves, and that there has been little innovation in respect to raising stove adoption rates. As the strict efficiency focus obviously only captures one side of the problem – merely focussing on treating symptoms rather than providing an effective solution, this thesis stresses the need for a paradigm shift towards more holistic interventions. This work very much focuses on the topic of stove adoption. This is a complex topic - very much linked to attaining behavioural change. Deliberations concluded that the identification of enabling factors for adoption, which can be termed a prerequisite for developing sustainable methods for stove projects, requires a mix of instruments. To suffice the required data demand the initial literature review was complemented by a thorough assessment of the kitchen environment and the cooking behaviour of stove owners. The fieldwork concentrated on 210 beneficiaries of an efficient cookstove project. The applied methods included interviews, observations and pictorial documentation. As a remedy to the challenges and current shortcomings identified during field work and literature review, the author herein develops a novel and more holistic implementation strategy for stove projects – the so- called 3-Step approach. This is based on the simultaneous implementation of availing cookstoves, building capacity in respect to kitchen management, as well as performing small-scale household level tree planting. The research, which further encompassed the piloting of the 3-Step approach, led to the overall conclusion that the proposed increase in project scope holds a multitude of opportunities for improving the livelihoods of the rural target groups. The main impact of this innovative strategy lies in a decrease of average transaction costs as well as in a considerable increase in project sustainability. As will be extensively elaborated, the former is achieved by a more effective utilisation of the extensive infrastructure of trained artisans. The latter refers to the expected income increase on household level, as well as to improvements in environmental- and human health. In combination these enable rural communities to better adapt to climate change.

There has been an increasing need for methods to define priority areas for biodiversity conservation since the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation in protected areas planning depends on available resources (human resources and funds) for the conservation. The identification of priority areas requires the integration of biodiversity data together with social data on human pressures and responses. However, the deficit of comprehensive data and reliable methods are key challenges in zoning where the demand for conservation is most urgent and where the outcomes of conservation strategies can be maximized. In order to fill this gap, the environmental model Pressure–State–Response (PSR) was applied to suggest a set of criteria to identify priority areas for biodiversity conservation. The empirical data have been compiled from 185 respondents, categorizing into three main groups: Governmental Administration, Research Institutions, and Protected Areas in Vietnam, by using a well-designed questionnaire. Then, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) theory was used to identify the weight of all criteria. These results show that three main factors could identify the priority level for biodiversity conservation: Pressure, State, and Response, with weights of 41%, 26%, and 33%, respectively. Based on the three factors, seven criteria and 17 sub-criteria were developed to determine priority areas for biodiversity conservation. In addition, this study also indicates that the groups of Governmental Administration and Protected Areas put a focus on the “Pressure” factor while the group of Research Institutions emphasized the importance of the “Response” factor in the evaluation process. Then these suggested criteria were applied by integrating with Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) to define priority areas for biodiversity conservation in a particular conservation area (Pu Luong-Cuc Phuong area) in Vietnam. The results also reveal the proportion of very high and high priority areas, accounting for 84.9%, 96%, and 65.9% for Cuc Phuong National Park, Pu Luong Nature Reserve, and Ngoc Son Ngo Luong Nature Reserve, respectively. Based on these results, recommendations were provided to apply the developed criteria for identifying priority areas for biodiversity conservation in Vietnam.:Acknowledgement I Abstract III Table of contents IV List of figures VI List of tables X Acronyms and Abbreviations XII Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1. Problem statement and motivation 1 1.2. Research objectives and questions 2 1.3. Study contribution 3 1.4. Thesis structure 6 Chapter 2. Literature review 8 2.1. Background information on Vietnam 8 2.2. Environmental Pressure-State-Response model 11 2.3. Defining criteria for biodiversity conservation 13 2.4. Application of GIS and RS for biodiversity conservation 16 Chapter 3. Research methodology 19 3.1. Study areas 19 3.2. Data collection 23 3.3. Analytic Hierarchy Process 25 3.4. Remote Sensing 27 3.5. Geography Information System 35 3.6. Climate change scenarios 40 Chapter 4. Establishment of criteria 42 4.1. Summary of responses 44 4.2. Statistic of pairwise comparison 46 4.3. Weights of criteria based on all respondents 48 4.4. Weights of criteria based on groups 60 Chapter 5. Application of Criteria 64 5.1. Mapping criteria 64 5.2. Synthesis of multiple criteria 144 Chapter 6. Conclusions and recommendations 158 6.1. Establishment of criteria 158 6.2. Application of criteria 161 6.3. Recommendations 165 References 167 Appendix I. Questionnaire 197 Appendix II. Establishment of criteria 207 Appendix III. Application of criteria 234

When designing financial incentives for voluntary conservation of threatened habitats and ecosystems, we are faced with the problem that there is no single indicator for "biodiversity value". The value of a habitat depends on multiple factors such as habitat type, area, and spatial and temporal connectivity. Moreover, not only are there local trade-offs between these indicators, but land use changes at one location may also change the value of sites in the vicinity. This doctoral thesis analyzes the consequences of including trade-offs and interactions between sites in market-based conservation schemes. We ask the following questions: How can trade-offs between the survival of different species be quantified? How can spatial processes and temporal processes be included in market-based conservation, in particular the value of spatial and temporal connectivity? And how do underlying economic dynamics relate to the spatio-temporal allocation of conservation measures in market-based conservation schemes?

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