Degradation of ecosystems can occur when certain ecological thresholds are passed below which ecosystem responses remain within ‘safe ecological limits’. Ecosystems such as drylands are sensitive to both aridification and grazing, but the combined effects of such factors on the emergence of ecological thresholds beyond which ecosystem degradation occurs has yet to be quantitatively evaluated. This limits our understanding on ‘safe operating spaces’ for grazing, the main land use in drylands worldwide. Here we assessed how 20 structural and functional ecosystem attributes respond to joint changes in aridity and grazing pressure across China´s drylands. Gradual increases in aridity resulted in abrupt decreases in productivity, soil fertility and plant richness. Rising grazing pressures lowered such aridity thresholds for most ecosystem variables, thus showing how ecological thresholds can be amplified by the joint effects of these two factors. We found that 44.4% of China’s drylands are unsuitable for grazing due to climate change-induced aridification, a percentage that may increase to 50.8% by 2100. Of current dryland grazing areas, 8.9% exceeded their maximum allowable grazing pressure. Our findings provide important insights into the relationship between aridity and optimal grazing pressure and identify safe operating spaces for grazing across China’s drylands.

The delineation of conservation priority areas may involve both trade-offs and synergies with sustainable development goals, but region-specific and integrative assessments that simultaneously consider habitat, biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human well-being remain limited in high-altitude regions such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Taking habitat, biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being as management objectives, this paper focuses on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and develops an indicator system that integrates these considerations. The paper: a) uses the zonation model to identify conservation priority areas under both single-objective and multi-objective conditions, b) evaluates the conservation gaps in existing protected areas and c) assesses the synergies and trade-offs among the different objectives by employing various scenarios. Results reveal a northwest-to-southeast zonal shift in dominant conservation priorities, transitioning from ecosystem services to biodiversity and habitat and returning to ecosystem services. High-threat regions include mining zones, Qinghai-Gansu borders, and central Tibet. Integrated multi-objective analysis shows conservation importance and viability priorities increasing southeastward, with the largest priority area (2.85 × 105 km2, 11 % of QTP) concentrated in eastern Tibet and western Sichuan's alpine valleys. Over 57 % of priority zones remain unprotected. Synergies emerge between habitat and biodiversity conservation, while both show significant trade-offs with ecosystem service provision. Threat-focused scenario conflicts sharply with balanced multi-objective scenario, demonstrating irreconcilable divergences in conservation prioritization. Spatial optimization reveals objective-specific priority zones requiring differentiated management. The findings propose differentiated conservation strategies for each eco-geographical region, advocating IUCN Class Ia and Ib for habitat/biodiversity priority zones and IUCN Class II-VI for ecosystem service priority zones.

The transition to renewable energy exacerbates direct land occupation by infrastructure, leading to habitat degradation and biodiversity loss. However, biodiversity loss driven by the production and consumption of different renewable energy deployment scenarios remains largely unquantified. Quantifying biodiversity loss associated with land occupation of renewable energy infrastructure is essential for a sustainable energy transition. Here, we developed a novel data set to evaluate renewable energy-related biodiversity loss by considering the current infrastructure setting and future development pathways. We found that the land occupation of renewable energy infrastructure resulted in global biodiversity loss equivalent amounting to 19 x 10-4 global pdf in 2015. Severe biodiversity loss was concentrated primarily in densely populated and economically advanced countries, such as China, the United States, Brazil, India, Australia, Russia, and countries across Western Europe. International trade accounted for 14% of the biodiversity loss. Future renewable energy transition scenarios will lead to a global cumulative biodiversity loss of 1.2 x 10-2-2.2 x 10-2 global pdf during 2015-2060. By 2060, ambitious energy transition policies are projected to increase the biodiversity loss by 1.7-1.8 times. The results underscore that while renewable energy could tackle climate change, its deployment should avoid encroaching on biodiversity hotspots.

Land has a vital role in sustaining human communities, nurturing diverse ecosystems and regulating the climate of our planet. As such, current rates of land degradation pose a major environmental and socioeconomic threat, driving climate change, biodiversity loss and social crises. Preventing and reversing land degradation are key objectives of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and are also fundamental for the other two Rio Conventions: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Here we argue that the targets of these conventions can only be met by 'bending the curve' of land degradation and that transforming food systems is fundamental for doing so. We showcase multiple actions for tackling land degradation that also yield climate and biodiversity benefits while fostering sustainable food systems that contribute to avoiding the risk of a global food crisis. We also propose ambitious 2050 targets for the three Rio Conventions related to land and food systems. Finally, we urge collective action to acknowledge the pivotal role of land in achieving the goals of the Rio Conventions and to embed food systems within intergovernmental agreements, enabling decisive progress on the complex and interconnected global crises that we face.

The Brazilian Amazon is severely impacted by extreme climate events, with 1.8 million people (6.4% of the Brazilian Amazon's population) affected by climate-related disasters each year between 2018 and 2022. Yet, how climate disasters specifically affect human populations in different municipalities in the Amazon is underexplored. We target this gap, presenting a region-wide spatiotemporal assessment of climate-related disasters and social vulnerability across the Brazilian Amazon over the period 2000-2022, considering floods, droughts, heatwaves, fires, and landslides, and using a compound risk lens. Analysis of secondary data shows disaster frequency surged, with wet events rising fivefold, fires tenfold, and droughts and heatwaves tripling. Economic losses rose 370% reaching USD 634.2 million annually, with wet events most damaging. Farming sustained over 60% of total losses, followed by infrastructure, housing, and health services. Smaller municipalities, which host 61% of the region's Indigenous population, experienced the highest relative impacts, including a 9.58% loss in economic growth and lower Social Progress Index scores. Data on non-economic losses and damages were lacking, but further exacerbated the impacts in these vulnerable areas. Findings underscore that climate change is a poverty multiplier, and highlight the urgent need for adaptation policy interventions to be justice-centered.

Abstract Growing recognition of Indigenous Peoples and traditional local communities as stewards of biodiversity has brought to the fore the issues of knowledge and value pluralism in conservation policy and practice. Given their basis in practical and multi‐generational experience, Indigenous and local knowledges are highly relevant to managing human–wildlife interactions, especially species that are challenging to live with. Yet, these situated forms of knowledge remain overlooked and marginalised, especially ‘local knowledge’, as it is unclear what or whom is encompassed within the term. We explore local knowledge in the context of pastoral areas in Europe, where populations of large carnivores such as wolves are currently expanding. We ask: who is ‘local’, what constitutes ‘local knowledge’ and what can this knowledge contribute to carnivore management? We show that continuous exchanges between long‐settled residents, newcomers and transient people in pastoral areas mean that ‘localness’ cannot be approached as a dualist position. Similarly, local knowledge is dynamic and continuously evolving in the face of ongoing and emerging change, which makes efforts of categorisation and preservation complex. We argue that current approaches to incorporating local knowledge often fail to account for this complexity, producing unjust and ineffective policies and strategies. To advance understanding, we offer an approach that situates local knowledge and those who hold it on a spectrum of knowledge characteristics. We then describe the challenges of braiding knowledge that are particularly relevant for carnivore management, illustrated by examples from our own research and the broader literature. To tackle the challenges, we propose ‘spacing’ conservation planning by investing in networks of emplaced practitioners, tasked with coordinating the mobilisation and braiding of relevant knowledges and producing locally adapted strategies for coexistence. Policy implications. Pluralism in carnivore management goes beyond incorporating the technical know‐how of local communities. It requires a better recognition and braiding of different kinds of knowledge and skills, at all scales, to produce better outcomes for people and nature. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Growing concerns about the accelerating global changes in drylands have intensified interest in understanding the impacts of diverse environmental factors on various soil carbon components, particularly their potential threshold effects, which may lead to abrupt nonlinear changes in both the quantity and composition of soil carbon. However, most research has predominantly focused on identifying key environmental drivers of either organic or inorganic carbon separately, often neglecting the presence and range of multiple critical thresholds. This study addresses this gap by analyzing extensive field data, including soil carbon measurements and ecosystem variables, collected across a ~4000 km transect in China's drylands. Utilizing a gradient forest model combined with threshold analyses, we assess the impacts of key drivers, including sand content, total nitrogen, aridity, and cation exchange capacity, on soil carbon pools. Our findings indicate that nitrogen content is the most influential factor for soil organic carbon, which was sensitive to low levels of nitrogen (0.07%-0.08%), with a slower response observed at higher levels. Aridity significantly affects both organic and inorganic carbon pools, with identified threshold zones for organic carbon at aridity levels of 0.48-0.52 and 0.75-0.85, and for inorganic carbon at 0.82-0.88. Threshold zones of sand content for total carbon are identified at lower levels and a wider range (51.4%-64.1% and 87.3%-88.1%), due to its negative effects on both organic and inorganic carbon, impacting 20% of the dryland area. Spatial variations in threshold effects revealed a trade-off between nitrogen and pH in regulating soil total carbon. The combined threshold effects of climate warming and aridification may pose a greater threat to soil organic carbon in high-latitude regions. This research enhances understanding of soil carbon dynamics in arid environments and offers novel approaches and insights for identifying thresholds in ecosystems that are increasingly at risk of reaching tipping points.

The rapid losses of Protected Areas (PAs) and forest reserves has led to negative environmental, social, and economic impacts globally. This study examines land use and land cover change (LULCC) in Nasarawa State, North Central Nigeria, focusing on the timing and patterns of change in three gazetted forest reserves since 1966. Systematic and purposive techniques were used to select three forest reserves for the study, one in each of the state's geopolitical zones. Polygon maps of the three reserves from 1966 provided a baseline, against which a temporal sequence of Landsat remote sensing imagery was used to analyse historical trends of LULCC from 1986 to 2020. The analysis showed substantial degradation across all the reserves. Risha Forest Reserve experienced the highest loss, with 88 % of its forest cleared, largely due to cropland expansion (87 %). Doma Forest Reserve lost 83 % of its forest, with cropland covering 65 % of the area. Odu Forest Reserve had the lowest loss (55 %) and maintained 45 % forest cover by 2020. These significant losses pose severe threats to local biodiversity, increase greenhouse gas emissions, and exacerbate climate change impacts in the region. This study recommends the urgent assessment of current tree cover in gazetted forest areas, especially due to shifting agriculture. The government and forest communities should take steps for immediate and long-term sustainable forest management, monitoring reserves to preserve what remains and maintain conservation potential. Implementation of the 2020 National Forest Policy is needed to reduce rapid deforestation in north-central Nigeria so the development potential of managed reserves can be realised. Overall, the findings contribute to the understanding of deforestation trends in protected areas in Nigeria and West Africa more broadly, providing a valuable baseline for future research and policy development.

ABSTRACT Ecosystem services (ESs) are a pivotal interface between ecological and societal systems. Comprehending the balance between what nature offers and society demands is indispensable for fostering human prosperity. This study seeks to fill the gaps in existing knowledge, including inconsistencies in terminology, limited exploration of driving mechanisms, and the lack of a comprehensive management strategy framework in ES supply and demand research. The article comprehensively reviews the conceptual connotations and assessment methods related to ES supply and demand. The paper delves into the specific traits of studies examining the interplay between supply and demand, focusing on relationship identification, driving mechanisms, threshold effects and management strategies. And the review articulates a theoretical framework to examine the interplay of ES supply and demand as well as emphasises directions for further research. The results show that: (1) a unified definition for ES supply and demand has yet to be agreed upon. The critical part played by humans in ES supply is often neglected, and there is a corresponding scarcity of demand evaluations for such services. (2) Previous research has identified trade‐offs and synergies, analysed underlying forces and threshold effects, and proposed management strategies for the dynamics between ES supply and demand based on quantitative assessment. (3) Prospectively, the beneficiaries need to be considered more. Additional research is required to explore in‐depth the underlying processes of multi‐scale ES supply and demand. Adaptive management provides opportunities for ecosystem management.

This study aims to identify and rank policy options to inform development of an enabling environment for food waste-based biogas production for energy generation in Malaysia, taking into account stakeholder perspectives. The analysis focuses on stakeholders from Malaysia whose responses are analysed using the analytic hierarchy process. Literature searches identified sixteen challenges and twenty-eight solutions, which were analysed under environmental, institutional and legal, economic and resourcing, technical and social and cultural categories. Findings rank the economic and resourcing category highest (28.6 %), followed by the institutional and legal category (26.1 %), social and cultural (21.6 %), technical (12.9 %) and then environmental categories (10.9 %). Identifying a good balance between the scale of plant, food waste distribution and collection with a weight of 46.4 % dominates the solutions, followed by constant socialisation with the community to emphasise the importance of shifting from landfilling or incineration to biogas (44.6 %). Implement nationwide operational management standards, optimise operational parameters of the biogas digester, and target major waste producers (i.e., catering enterprises) and enforce waste segregation at source were solutions positioned respectively in third, fourth and fifth position with weights of 22.2 %, 19.9 % and 17.4 %. Substituting fossil fuels with renewable resources such as biogas where possible will reduce climate change alongside other environmentally damaging impacts, and supports progress towards climate action (SDG 13). The output of this study can inform policy development for food waste-based biogas production for energy generation in both Malaysia and globally.

Understanding forest-cover change and its drivers is vital for global forest management and policy development. This study analyzed perceptions of historical drivers behind land-use/land-cover change (LULCC) and forest change in gazetted forests from 1966 to 2022 to evaluate the impact of human activities around the gazetted forest reserves, comparing three forests in Nasarawa State, North Central Nigeria. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions. Three gazetted forests (Doma, Risha, and Odu) were sampled to represent the three geopolitical zones of the state. SPSS IBM version 29, NVivo 1.7, and Python 3 were used for data analyses to generate statistics and identify coherent themes across the forests. Results show that changes were perceived to be triggered by sixteen drivers (direct and indirect) related to social, economic, environmental, policy/institutional, and technological elements. Agricultural expansion, lumbering, and charcoal production were the most reported direct drivers, while population growth, poverty, and government policies were the most perceived indirect drivers. The results showed variations in human activities across forest sites. For example, agricultural expansion, lumbering, and grazing were more widespread, while construction and settlement activities differed between forests. The Risha forest community saw agriculture expansion ahead of other drivers, Doma forest people saw population growth above other drivers, and the Odu forest community saw lumbering aiding other drivers that led to change. Implementation of policies focusing on these key drivers must match local perceptions and priorities to engage people in forest conservation. These efforts could ensure effective forest protection that is vital for achieving global biodiversity and climate targets and safeguarding local livelihoods. The specific drivers of changes in each forest need to be targeted in conservation efforts.

How ecosystem services are produced remains a critical research gap that must be addressed if services are to persist under on-going and future environmental change. Interest in this area is coalescing under the term ‘co-production’, which recognises that services are generated through interactions between social and ecological processes. Here we conduct a critical review of academic research into the co-production of ecosystem services, aiming to understand the foundations of this emergent field. Despite its recent origins, we identify four different framings as to how ecosystem services are co-produced and discuss their different epistemological bases and applications. The four framings are: input focused, which identifies and measures the inputs underpinning co-production; actor focused, understanding who is involved in co-production; context focused that situates co-production in social relations and place; and a more disparate disciplines focused approach, which highlights alternative conceptualisations of co-production based on diverse disciplinary and conceptual perspectives. There is overlap and dialogue between the four approaches, and we identify examples of how and where to operationalise these framings together to achieve a more holistic understanding of co-production processes. Nevertheless, behind these different framings are differences over what is or is not considered co-produced, and thus what is considered a valid field of inquiry within co-production research. This indicates ontological differences on the social construction of ecosystem services and the role of people therein. We argue that diversity in co-production research is important for representing the complexity of human-environment interactions, but that a more explicit acknowledgement of the ontological assumptions underpinning co-production is crucial if this area of research is to be analytically useful for the management of current and future ecosystem services.

Global policy actions to reduce the environmental and social impacts of natural gas flaring are primarily derived from voluntary arrangements. This paper evaluates stakeholder preferences amongst competing policies and regulatory options, optimizing environmental governance to eliminate routine gas flaring by 2030 and achieve net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050, whilst addressing questions of justice and fair implementation. Using a mixed-methods social scientific approach, incorporating literature and document review, interviews, expert surveys, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (G-TOPSIS), we derive two competing perspectives on gas flaring policy strategy, with differences revealed through the AHP ranking process of individual criteria. All identified criteria and sub-criteria were integral to achieving the flaring and emissions targets, with “policy and targets” and “enabling framework” being the most important individual criteria. The “background and the role of reductions in meeting environmental and economic objectives” and ‘’nonmonetary penalties” were the key emergent sub-criteria. G-TOPSIS showed that fully implementing gas flaring policies and regulatory framework criteria to limit warming to 1.5 °C is the most effective policy alternative. Globally coordinated, uniform, and reciprocal legally binding agreements between countries to supplement national initiatives are imperative for improving the effectiveness of country-specific gas flaring policy strategies.

The need for ethical guidelines that support and empower researchers who aim to enhance the societal impact of research has become critical. Recognizing the growing emphasis on research impact by governments and funding bodies worldwide, this article investigates the often overlooked ethical dimensions of generating and evaluating research impact. We focus on ethical issues and practices that are specific to the process of intentionally working to develop societal impacts from research. We highlight the complexities and ethical dilemmas encountered when researchers engage with non-academic groups, such as policymakers, industries, and local communities. Through a combination of literature review and insights from participatory workshops, the article identifies key issues and offers a new ethical framework for responsible research impact. This framework aims to guide researchers and institutions through the process of limiting potential harm while delivering societal benefits in a way that is realistic and balanced. The aim is to establish ethical practices for engagement and impact, without making the process so onerous that researchers are less likely to undertake such activities. The article concludes with actionable recommendations for policymakers, research funders, research performing organizations, institutional review boards and/or ethics committees, and individual researchers. Making use of such recommendations can foster an ethically responsible approach to research impact across academic disciplines.

Development interventions often yield co-benefits and trade-offs across multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, current approaches typically assess progress towards specific SDG targets, such as increasing access to clean energy or improving health outcomes, rather than evaluating the co-benefits and trade-offs of the solutions used to achieve these targets. This study introduces a solutions-oriented methodology to assess the impacts of development solutions, applied to the case of wood fuel cooking-related challenges in Nigeria. Using a rapid evidence assessment and stakeholder workshop, we identify co-benefits, trade-offs, and barriers associated with 13 wood fuel-related solutions, classified into three types: enhancing fuelwood availability, adopting alternative technologies, and implementing external interventions. We find solutions that increase wood fuel availability can address environmental and social issues, but not health challenges, while alternative fuels/technologies face affordability, market, and cultural acceptance barriers. We highlight data limitations and propose an iterative process to comprehensively evaluate solutions’ impacts. This process facilitates context-specific, cross-sectoral planning but underscores that no universal solution exists. Successful interventions require multi-sector collaboration, public education, and strengthened governance to balance competing priorities and ensure equitable outcomes. By advancing solutions-based approaches, this study contributes to integrating SDG interactions into practical, evidence-informed policy and programming.

Drylands are important carbon pools and are highly vulnerable to climate change, particularly in the context of increasing aridity. However, there has been limited research on the effects of aridification on soil total carbon including soil organic carbon and soil inorganic carbon, which hinders comprehensive understanding and projection of soil carbon dynamics in drylands. To determine the response of soil total carbon to aridification, and to understand how aridification drives soil total carbon variation along the aridity gradient through different ecosystem attributes, we measured soil organic carbon, inorganic carbon and total carbon across a ~4000 km aridity gradient in the drylands of northern China. Distribution patterns of organic carbon, inorganic carbon, and total carbon at different sites along the aridity gradient were analyzed. Results showed that soil organic carbon and inorganic carbon had a complementary relationship, that is, an increase in soil inorganic carbon positively compensated for the decrease in organic carbon in semiarid to hyperarid regions. Soil total carbon exhibited a nonlinear change with increasing aridity, and the effect of aridity on total carbon shifted from negative to positive at an aridity level of 0.71. In less arid regions, aridification leads to a decrease in total carbon, mainly through a decrease in organic carbon, whereas in more arid regions, aridification promotes an increase in inorganic carbon and thus an increase in total carbon. Our study highlights the importance of soil inorganic carbon to total carbon and the different effects of aridity on soil carbon pools in drylands. Soil total carbon needs to be considered when developing measures to conserve the terrestrial carbon sink.

The Amazon, a global biodiversity hotspot and home to ~30 million inhabitants, including numerous Indigenous ethnies, is increasingly vulnerable to climate impacts. Despite global evidence of climate-related disasters, the Brazilian Amazon's exposure remains underexplored. This study elucidates the spatiotemporal dynamics of socioeconomic vulnerabilities to climate disasters, including floods, droughts, heatwaves, fires, and landslides. From 2006 to 2010, an annual average of 540,000 people was affected by climate disasters in the Brazilian Amazon; by 2018-2022, this number surged to 1.78 million annually, a 229% increase. Financial losses rose 377%, from $132.8 million per year (2006-2010) to $634.2 million per year (2018-2022). Smaller municipalities with populations under 50,000, home to 61% of the Amazon’s Indigenous people, experienced an average economic growth loss of 9.58% from 2002 to 2020, along with lower Social Progress Index scores. Our findings highlight compound risks, revealing the urgent need for justice in adaptation for risk reduction. Addressing these vulnerabilities with justice and equity at the forefront is essential to mitigate further social and cultural losses in the Amazon.

AbstractChina has one of the largest dryland areas worldwide, covering 6.6 million km2 and supporting approximately 580 million people. Conflicting findings showing a drier China’s drylands with increasing aridity and observed greenness indicate the complexity of environmental processes, highlighting a pressing research need to improve understanding of how active dryland processes, ecosystem structure and functioning will alter. This chapter synthesizes the changes, impacts, and their drivers in China’s dryland ecosystems. Results from analyses covering the period 2000–2015 showed that 58.69% of the vegetated area exhibited an increase in vegetation greenness, cover, and productivity, while 4.29% of those showed a decrease in all three aspects. However, 37.02% of the vegetated area showed inconsistent trends in vegetation greenness, cover, and productivity, suggesting high uncertainty in estimations of vegetation dynamics in drylands. China’s drylands are nevertheless at risk of expansion and could pass an irreversible tipping point with increasing aridity, particularly in the country’s semi-arid regions. Nitrogen enrichment and overgrazing generally reduce plant species diversity. Wind erosion, water erosion, salinization, and freeze–thaw erosion are typical processes of desertification in China’s drylands. Large-scale ecological restoration projects enhance greening and ecosystem services of China’s drylands, but also impose substantial pressure on these water-limited environments. Future research is needed to examine interactions among different drivers of environmental change (e.g., the relationships between CO2 fertilization and increased aridity). Such research could usefully include complex systems approaches to link patterns and processes across spatial and time scales, and long-term experiments on physical‐chemical‐biological process interactions.

Rising gold prices have led artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) operations to proliferate in sub-Saharan Africa, extending into agricultural areas. Little is known about the interactions between agriculture and mining in these new frontiers. This study aimed to investigate the impacts of ASGM on natural and physical livelihood capitals, ASGM's interactions with agriculture at household, community and institutional levels and the drivers underpinning those interactions, and the policy implications for the co-existence of sustainable agriculture and ASGM. Alongside literature review, field-work took place in Atiwa West District and Koforidua, Ghana using environmental field surveys, questionnaires, focus group discussions and interviews. Questionnaire and field survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics, with thematic analysis of interviews and focus group data. Findings revealed that most miners were unregulated, mined irresponsibly and degraded land, waterways, and farm roads. Over one-third of farmers (38%) suffered land degradation, and 79% of affected farmers' lands were not reclaimed. Farmers diversified into ASGM, and mining proceeds boosted farming. Young farmers (18-40 years) shifted into ASGM full-time because it is more lucrative. Yet, ASGM is not replacing agriculture: cocoa farming remains a vital economic activity. Informal ASGM generates short-term income at household level for some but imposes long-term costs at community level, linked to cumulative loss of agricultural land and degradation of forest areas and water bodies, creating tensions, and increasing vulnerability. Financial hardships faced by farmers, landowners' desire to benefit directly from gold and lack of law enforcement drive informal ASGM. There are no institutional linkages between the agricultural and mining sectors. More joined up governance across agriculture and mining is needed and between formal and informal (traditional) institutions. ASGM should be incorporated into broader rural development policy reforms that support farmers, incentivise miners to operate legally and responsibly and ensure effective stakeholder engagement.