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Protected areas and Indigenous diets in Southeast Asia: Does proximity and level of protection matter?

Lilly Zeitler,Heather Randell,Bronwen Powell

Published 2025 in People and Nature

ABSTRACT

Protected areas often overlap with Indigenous areas; yet the relationships between protected areas and Indigenous diets are not fully understood. This study investigates the relationships between rural children's dietary diversity, distance from protected areas, the level of protection (IUCN category) and Indigeneity in Myanmar and Cambodia, using three secondary datasets: the World Database of Protected Areas, the World Language Mapping System and the Demographic Health Survey in a novel way. A new dataset of Indigenous population areas in Myanmar and Cambodia was developed using the World Language Mapping dataset and a screening protocol. The relationship between children's dietary diversity and distance from protected areas was assessed using a negative binomial model. A logistic regression model was used for specific food groups. The relationship between dietary diversity and distance from protected areas was non‐linear. Relationships between children's vitamin A‐rich fruit and vegetable consumption and distance from protected areas differed between Indigenous and non‐Indigenous population areas. In Indigenous population areas, the predicted odds of consuming vitamin A‐rich fruits and vegetables increased from 4% in protected areas to 30% at 80 km distance before declining to slightly more than 0% at 200 km from protected areas, whereas children's odds of consuming vitamin A‐rich fruits and vegetables did not appear to be associated with protected area proximity in non‐Indigenous areas. Relationships between distance from protected areas and children's consumption of vitamin A‐rich fruits and vegetables were evident in Myanmar but not Cambodia. Policy implications. Distance from protected areas may be associated with children's diets in Indigenous population areas more than in non‐Indigenous population areas with country‐level differences. Understanding the role of differentiated relationships between diverse land uses and different social groups in different contexts and at varying scales can guide conservation and land use policies that promote equitable health outcomes.

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