This project will trial a portfolio of three co-developed and heritage-sensitive forest conservation approaches to identify effective mechanisms that can help support the critical role of Indigenous peoples in climate change mitigation in the tropics. We will trial and evaluate the short-term impact of highland produce origin labels (reducing market pressures that prevent engagement with forests), behavioural tools to foster community forest stewardship (e.g. celebrating practices like fire break clearing and tree ordination), and the promotion of new heritage practices among Indigenous youths. Following a further round of community consultations, the pilots are expected to start in the second project quarter for approx. 6 months (between October and December). The project will also involve legal and policy work as well as public engagement activities.

The list below summarises all our project activities and their timeline (Project Quarter Q1-6):

Output 1) Pilot interventions implemented with four study communities

• Community-led consultations for implementation of three behaviourally-informed and heritage-sensitive conservation interventions (highland produce origin labels, behavioural tools to foster community forest stewardship, promotion of new heritage practices among Indigenous youths), involving four Hmong and Pgaz K’ Nyau communities in Thailand (Q1-2)
• Short-term trial of each of the three conservation interventions in northern Thailand (Q2-4)
• Jointly analyse and interpret trial data with Indigenous communities and using APEASE criteria to develop a conceptual and methodological framework of heritage-sensitive conservation policy design (Q5)

Output 2) Contribution to inclusive public discourse in Thailand (see below on “Engagement” and also section “Dissemination, Outreach, and Publications”)

• Production of creative outputs for dissemination, engagement activities, and to return to communities participating in co-production of content (Q3-5)
• Multimedia exhibition and social media campaigns (Q5-6)

Output 3) Contributions to national and international conservation policy (see below on “Engagement” and also section “Dissemination, Outreach, and Publications”)

• Bilateral local- and national-level stakeholder consultations prior to (Q1-2), during (Q2-4), and after pilot intervention (Q5-6), incl. sharing of evaluation findings.
• Legal research to formulate proposals that identify good practices and agendas for change for national and international conservation and development frameworks (Q3-5)
• Participation in international conservation and heritage-related fora such as the G20 Interfaith Forum, Think-tanks 20, and COP30 (Brazil) (Q4-6)

Output 4) Contributions to conservation scholarship (see section “Dissemination, Outreach, and Publications”)

• International academic conference participation (incl. Association of Critical Heritage Studies conference, Sustainability and Development Conference, UK Development Studies Association) (Q4-6)
• Interdisciplinary academic publications to advance conservation research with heritage-sensitive approaches (Forest Policy and Economics, Nature Ecology & Evolution, Global Environmental Change) (Q4-6)

Output 5) Project management (see section “Team members and other participants” and “Deposit of Datasets”)

• General project management: quarterly Management Committee and Advisory Board meeting; progress reporting, communication and coordination (Q1-6) (Note: Collaboration agreement, ethical approval, and kick-off in Q1)
• Capacity building: Mentoring, supervision, and bespoke training for junior project researchers; project writing retreats (open to selected students from project partners); in-house seminars (Q1-6)
• Data management (Q2-6) and preparation of shareable dataset for deposition with UK Data Service (Q6)