Natural Resource Administration Research Articles

El costo ambiental de los textiles

Textiles are important for human life, they protect us from the weather, textiles can be used as a means of expres-sion, and foster economic development. However, their manufacture and use cause environmental, social, and economic costs, for instance, the depletion of natural resources, climate change, water pollution, and generation of waste, nano, and microplastics. Technological advances and management systems have reduced these impacts, but the joint partici-pation of government, industry, and society in the administration of natural resources and waste is essentia

SERVICE QUALITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE WADI RUM PROTECTED AREA EMPLOYEES' JOB SATISFACTION

This study aims to examine the impact of service quality and organizational excellence on employees’ job satisfaction at Wadi Rum Protected Areas located in Jordan. A total of 270 questionnaires containing 40 items are used to collect information from the respondents. Multiple regression analyses are conducted to test the research hypotheses. The results clearly demonstrate a significant positive relationship between service quality and organizational excellence and the job satisfaction of employees. The findings of the study assured that the common philosophy that forms an essential part of the values and culture of a Wadi Rum Protected Area is the dissemination of an organizational excellence culture on service quality to achieve employee satisfaction. Attaining organizational excellence in Wadi Rum Protected Areas in Jordan is crucial not only for the efficient administration of natural resources and tourist experiences but also for improving workers' job satisfaction and well-being. By allocating resources to enhance leadership skills, fostering employee involvement, offering educational and growth prospects, acknowledging and incentivizing accomplishments, and facilitating a harmonious work-life equilibrium, Wadi Rum Protected Areas can establish an environment of exceptional quality that empowers staff members to flourish and make valuable contributions to the organization's prosperity, all the while safeguarding the region's natural splendor and cultural legacy for posterity. This is one of the few studies that covers the impact of service quality and organizational excellence on the job satisfaction of Wadi Rum Protected Area employees and is the first to test the framework in a developing country, Jordan.

CONSTRUYENDO LA SOSTENIBILIDAD: APORTACIÓN MULTIDISCIPLINAR DESDE LA UNIVERSIDAD

The university, due to its work in the generation and dissemination of knowledge, is a very relevant part of the development of the SDGs. The Civil Engineering and Fundamentals of Architecture degrees play a key role in contributing to sustainability through the development of skills aimed at proper environmental management and administration of natural resources in accordance with them. This article shows the development and application of an initiative to increase the mastery of competences related to sustainability in different subjects of their study plan. The approach includes a framework with actions carried out both in regular subjects and in end-of-degree projects. Didactic activities have been designed using different methodologies and students have been involved in their learning process, bringing them closer to the real world from an environmental and sustainable perspective. Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Project-Based Learning, competence-based approach, university.

Design of engineering work for the sustainable management of water resource in the department of Tolima

The Autonomous Regional Corporation of Tolima - CORTOLIMA, as the highest environmental authority of the Department, is in charge of the environment and renewable natural resources administration, with water sources being one of the resources monitored and regulated through management processes that guarantee the efficient use of this resource. The water concessions are the mechanism designed to exercise control over the users who take advantage of the water resource in the different uses allowed by law through environmental monitoring that verifies the processes from its capture, conduction, storage, management, and water disposal. Although Tolima has concessioned water users, most do not comply with the construction of the catchment and control works due to their high implementation costs. This document presents a design alternative based on the submerged orifice formula, aimed at small users, which allows them to guarantee only the concessioned flow and minimize the negative impacts on water sources. The design of the control identifies that the outlet orifice diameters in 3/8”, 1/2", 3/4 ", 1”, and 1 1/4”, with heights ranging from 0.01 m up to 0.49 m, are ideal for flows between 0.02 and 1 L/s. This is represented through a calibration curve, the environmental authority's primary input for the review and control of the flow captured.

The Design and Implementation of Geospatial Information Verification Middle Platform for Natural Resources Government Affairs

Geospatial Information Verification Mid-End Platform for Natural Resource Administration is designed in response to issues such as repeated development, low scalability, and inconsistent verification rules in existing approval and supervision application systems. We first discussed the architecture of the middle platform and micro-services and also examined the business requirements. Secondly, we presented the architecture of the spatial information verification platform. Finally, the application method in the construction land approval business is introduced. Practical applications proved that the spatial information verification platform is highly scalable and maintainable, with reusable business components and data services for a variety of government affairs application systems.

National Environmental Policy 2013 Adaptation Strategies for Sustainability of Samburu Pastoral Community in Samburu Central Sub-County Kenya

The purpose of this paper is to underscore the importance of environmental policy implementation for sustainable development among the Samburu pastoralist community of Kenya. The need to manage environment in order to reduce loss of biodiversity and the adverse effects of climate variability is the preoccupation of many governments. Adaptation strategies have been suggested by global institutions to protect the rural vulnerable communities, to adapt to climate variability, resourced based conflicts and environmental degradation. Kenyan National Government enacted The National Environmental Policy 2013 to address the management of the ecosystem and sustainable use of natural resources to foster sustainability of especially the vulnerable pastoral and nomadic communities like the Samburu. Existing literature on the implementation of the Government environmental policy 2013 suggests that little has been achieved to find out traditional knowledge of the Samburu people on adaptation strategies on the administration of environment and natural resources for their own sustainability. The study was guided by the following questions: What are the adaptation strategies to loss of bio-diversity among the Samburu pastoral community in Samburu Central Sub-County? How do the Samburu pastoral community manage pasture and water resources for their sustainability? What are the strategies the Samburu people use to enhance food security? The study employed hermeneutic phenomenology qualitative research design. Ecosystem theory was used to guide the study. Both primary and secondary data were used by the study. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionares, in-depth interviews, written field notes, Focused Group Discussions and recording of the interviews to collect invaluable information from 20 participants composed of Samburu elders (lpayani), morans (Lmuran), women (ntomonok) in Samburu Central Sub-County, Samburu County. Secondary data was collected by reviewing literature from google scholar, jystor, mendeley desktop, online libraries, National and County Government websites to access academic journal articles, books and reports. Purposive sampling technique was used to identify key informers from the Samburu community who participated and have valuable knowledge in the environmental administration and sustainable use of natural resources among the Samburu pastoral community. Ethical consideration was adhered to while conducting research at every stage. Data collected from the field was filtered into themes, coded, interpreted and reported as the main findings. The study found out that the success of the adaptation strategies advocated by the Environmental policy 2013 for sustainability of the Samburu pastoralist community of Kenya depends on how the National and County Government is able to incorporate traditional knowledge of the Samburu people on environmental administration and sustainable use of pasture and water. The fact that the Samburu people have been able to adopt to adverse of loss of bio-diversity, harsh climatic conditions that complicated the management of pasture and water, and diversification of livelihoods to address food insecurity points to the need to integrate traditional knowledge with scientific knowledge. Keywords: Environmental management, National Environmental Policy 2013, Adaptation Strategies, Samburu pastoralist, Sustainability

Provision of eucalyptus wood farming potential map in Iran: An application of land cover, ecological, climatic, hydrologic, and edaphic analysis in a GIS-based fuzzy AHP framework

Iran is a low-forest cover country (<10% of country area is forested) and has problems with deforestation and increasing demands for wood products. This wood scarcity has prompted the country to curtail industrial logging to meet other demands for wood. The costs of importing wood are rising, so farming wood industrially with fast-growing species may help with this problem. Eucalyptus is a fast-growing species that can be used for industrial production and has been proven adaptable to the environments of southern Iran. This study identifies the most suitable locations for eucalyptus wood-farming in Khuzestan Province. Twenty-two factors and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) were used to identify the best locations for eucalyptus wood-farming in this Province in southern Iran. The independent variables used reflect four components of the environment: soil, water, climate, and land cover. Maps of twenty-two factors were prepared from satellite data, ground sampling, and other geospatial data sources. Eucalyptus plantations in Khuzestan Province were mapped by combining GPS-located ground surveys with data from the Khuzestan Natural Resources Administration. The ecological needs of E. camaldulensis were determined from a review of eucalyptus adaptation studies conducted in southern Iran. The factor maps were classified based on their suitability for eucalyptus farming and these classes served as within-layer weights. The weights of effective factors were calculated using FAHP and Chang's fuzzy-extent analysis (outside-of-layer weights). The accuracies of the fuzzy weights of effective factors were assessed by consistency ratio. A eucalyptus wood-farming potential map was created by overlaying the weighted sub-factor maps. This map was validated with real data (the map of current eucalyptus plantations), overall accuracy assessment, and the kappa index. The results showed that among the primary factors, water (weight: 0.34) and land cover (weight: 0.32) were the most influential determinants of the best locations for eucalyptus farming. The accuracy assessment revealed that the FAHP method produced an overall accuracy of 82% and kappa index of 0.71. This is acceptably strong for the identification of the best eucalyptus farm locations in Khuzestan Province. The wood-farming potential map developed from this research, can be used as a foundation to plan eucalyptus farming in southern Iran to meet the demand for wood in Iran.

Piekrastes pārvaldības attīstība apvienotām pašvaldībām: municipālais monitorings un sadarbība

With an increasing focus on the sustainable governance of natural resources while meeting societal needs and promoting the economic growth of territories, in the European Union, especially since the Strategy of the Year 2000, an integrated approach to coastal territorial management has been developed. Also in Latvia, relatedly, it was necessary to update the principles of integrated management in the context of coastal development and its planning practices. As the Latvian coastline stretches for almost 500 km, it is important to promote the development of an integrated approach not only in the coastal cities, which usually have some previous experience and more capacity in comparison to the rural coastal municipalities. In Latvia, in 2019, the administrative territorial reform was pursued in order to promote the development of the country, and as a result, it is planned to merge several local municipalities by June 2021, reducing their number from 119 to 42, thus creating a new administrative territorial divisions. It also means combining coastal municipalities with non-coastal ones, including the case of merging of four municipalities around the town Talsi: a non-coastal town-centred municipality is merged together with three coastal rural municipalities – Dundaga, Roja and Mērsrags. As a result of the administrative territorial reform, the newly established Talsi county municipality will be facing a number of challenges, including how to rationally manage the approximately 90 km long coastal area, emphasizing the sustainable management and administration of natural resources that is so relevant today, while meeting the growing socio-economic and cultural needs of the local society.

Ecological Restoration in “Liquid Societies”

This article tells the story of possibly the first ecological restoration project in the postsocialist world (1994), which is an example of a broader set of ecological restorations carried out in Eastern Europe. By exploring the two intertwined processes of the ecological restoration of an island in the Danube Delta and the advancement of neoliberal economic ideas through land reform, decollectivization, and land privatization, we contribute to the understanding of ecological restoration in societies in turmoil. We engage a social sciences perspective in order to show the entanglement between ecological restoration processes and institutions, political arrangements, and various forms of land tenure. This theoretical perspective also shows a model all too often present in ecological restoration projects: a proclivity for adopting a neoliberal approach toward administrating natural resources at the expense of local ecological knowledge and the local administration of natural resources.

Ecological Restoration in “Liquid Societies”

This article tells the story of possibly the first ecological restoration project in the postsocialist world (1994), which is an example of a broader set of ecological restorations carried out in Eastern Europe. By exploring the two intertwined processes of the ecological restoration of an island in the Danube Delta and the advancement of neoliberal economic ideas through land reform, decollectivization, and land privatization, we contribute to the understanding of ecological restoration in societies in turmoil. We engage a social sciences perspective in order to show the entanglement between ecological restoration processes and institutions, political arrangements, and various forms of land tenure. This theoretical perspective also shows a model all too often present in ecological restoration projects: a proclivity for adopting a neoliberal approach toward administrating natural resources at the expense of local ecological knowledge and the local administration of natural resources.

The temporal and spatial relationships between climatic parameters and fire occurrence in northeastern Iran

Fire is a natural disturbance in a wide range of ecosystem types around the world. Although the majority of fires are caused by anthropogenic ignitions, climate and weather are known to influence the risk of fire spread, regardless of ignition source. However, the specific relationships among these factors remain under-studied for many regions of the world. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of climatic variables on forest and rangeland fire regimes in the Golestan Province of Iran in three recent decades. Specifically, we sought to determine: (a) the quantitative temporal relationships between climatic variables and fire occurrence; and (b) the spatial relationships between climatic variables and fire occurrence. To assess quantitative temporal relationships, we used correlation and regression analyses to identify and describe statistically significant relationships between climatic data (mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, mean annual relative humidity, and mean annual wind velocity) and fire data (number of fire and area burned), using climatic data from the Golestan Meteorological Administration and fire statistics from the Golestan Natural Resources Administration (GNRA). To determine the spatial relationships between climatic variables and fire occurrence, we combined geospatial data on climatic variables (mean annual temperature, mean annual rainfall, wind effect, and topographic wetness index (TWI)) obtained from ASTER-GDEM and active fires derived from MODIS fire products in a random forest (RF) model approach to construct a map of fire susceptibility at 30 m spatial resolution. Our results showed that there was a significant temporal relationship between the number of fires and mean annual temperature, mean annual relative humidity, and mean annual wind velocity. There were also significant temporal relationships between area burned and mean annual relative humidity and mean annual wind velocity. Based on the RF model, the mean annual rainfall had the highest relative importance in fire spatial occurrence. Validation of the fire susceptibility map using area under the curve (AUC) indicated that the RF model created an accurate fire susceptibility map (AUC: 0.823), suggesting that the map can be used as a spatio-temporal climatic alarm system for fire occurrence in the different climatic conditions of the Golestan Province. The results from this study will be important for helping perform climate-change analyses for investigating future temporal and spatial patterns of wildfire in the Golestan Province.

Devolution and the politics of communal tenure reform in Kenya

Abstract Increased legal access and the devolution of natural resource administration are generally seen as sources of power for local communities and their institutions. However, beyond this widely held expectation, the politics of land reform suggest that legal recognition of rights and devolution is not the only issue with implications for communal tenure reforms. Misconceptions about communal tenure, which are rooted in history, and their appropriation by local elites in the processes of communal tenure reform are characteristic of both colonial and post-colonial governments in Kenya. Although typically articulated and promulgated to enhance political representation and to devolve control over resources to the local level, unresolved issues in the reform process have worked to undermine the legitimacy of communal land rights in contemporary Kenyan society. A case study of the post-2010 community land legislation process demonstrates the continuing relevance of historically conditioned political and ideological representations of communal tenure built during the colonial period and reproduced in policy in independent Kenya. This paper offers reflections on the centrality of sustained communal tenure misconceptions, fetishization of formal governance institutions, and the institutional and power configurations that primarily benefit powerful stakeholders as sources of the current breakdown in the implementation of community land law.

Empty spaces that are full of cultural history: an innovative proposal for the management of a protected area of Chimborazo volcano (Ecuador)

This study positions itself in the current sociopolitical landscape of the Quichuaspeaking communities in Chimborazo Province, in the central highlands of Ecuador. These communities are striving to revitalize their local identities as peasant communities living near Chimborazo volcano. The article presents a proposal for assessing the heritage value of at least three archaeological sites identified by the author using prospection and excavation techniques between 2012 and 2016. It also seeks to further the dissemination of the results of archaeological work at the sites, both among the indigenous people living nearby and among local government entities, the Catholic church and tourism operators (from now on referred to as stakeholders). The study aims to identify the most efficient, socially inclusive, long-term sustainable mechanisms to guarantee the protection, care and management of the cultural heritage of the archaeological sites discovered near Chimborazo volcano. It also proposes that the category cultural landscape should be applied to Chimborazo volcano in order to create a new framework for natural and cultural resources administration.

LADM-Based Model for Natural Resource Administration in China

China’s rapid urbanization and industrialization have continually placed massive pressure on the country’s natural resources. The fragmented departmental administration of natural resources also intensifies the problem of sustainable use. Accordingly, China’s central government has launched natural resource administration reform from decentralization to unification. This study systematically analyzes the reform requirements from legal, organizational, and technical aspects. The right structure of China’s natural resource assets for fulfilling such requirements is examined in this work through a review of relevant legal text, and such a right structure is converted into a draft national technical standard of China’s natural resource administration on the basis of the land administration domain model (LADM). Results show that China’s natural resource administration covers lands, buildings, structures, forests, grasslands, waters, beaches, sea areas, minerals, and other fields. The types of private rights over natural resources include ownerships, land-contracted management rights (cultivated land, forest land, grassland, and water area), rights to use construction land (state-owned and collective-owned), rights to use agricultural land, rights to use homestead land, breeding rights on water areas and beaches, rights to use sea areas, rights to use uninhabited islands, and mining rights. The types of public rights over natural resources include comprehensive land use, urban and rural, sea use, and territory space planning. Furthermore, various types of these property rights can be converted into corresponding classes in LADM on the basis of the analysis of the property subject, object, and rights.

Fisheries’ collapse and the making of a global event, 1950s–1970s

AbstractThis article analyses three fisheries crises in the post-war world – the Far East Asian Kamchatka salmon in the late 1950s, the north Atlantic Atlanto-Scandian herring of the late 1960s, and the Peruvian anchoveta of the early 1970s – to understand how each instance came to be understood as a ‘collapse’ in widely differing contexts and institutional settings, and how these crises led to changes in practices of natural resource administration and in politico-economic structures of the fishing industry. Fishery collapses were broadly understood as state failures and, in response, individual states increasingly claimed sovereignty over fish stocks and the responsibility to administer their exploitation. Collapses thus became events critical in the remaking of management regimes. Furthermore, the concept of a fisheries collapse was reconfigured in the 1970s into a global issue, representing the possible future threat of depletion of the oceans on a planetary scale.

An Analysis of the Effects of Saffron Cultivation on the Quality of Life of Rural Households (Case Study: Rostaq Dehestan in Khalilabad County)

Purpose- This study aimed to analyze the effects of saffron cultivation on the quality of life of rural households in Rostaq Dehestan in Khalilabad county. Design/methodology/approach- This is an applied study based on a descriptive-analytical method used to examine the understudy parameters. The data were collected from 337 sample households based on field studies and by the Cochran sampling method. Then, the data were also collected based on selected indicators and using a household questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was evaluated by the university professors of geography and rural planning and agricultural promotion and training. The validity coefficient of the questionnaire was obtained using the SPSS software of 0.85. Kendall's statistical tests and one-way variance analysis was used in SPSS software to analyze the collected data. Findings- The research findings show that Neghab village with a similarity index of 0.48 has the greatest impact of saffron cultivation on the quality of life of the households among the villages of Rostaq Dehestan. On the other hand, the results of the Kendall test confirmed the relationship between saffron cultivation and quality of life with 99% confidence. Moreover, the results of one-way ANOVA showed that the economic dimension among other effective dimensions of the saffron cultivation on the quality of rural households is more pronounced. Research limitations/implications- The lack of access to statistical information when visiting the Agricultural Jihad of Khalilabad, Khalilabad Governorship, the Natural Resources Administration of Khalilabad, as well as completing the questionnaire depending on the issue at the village level are some of the challenges of the present study. Practical implications- According to the research findings, solutions to promote and train the ways for production and productivity of households in this village are recommended for the cultivation of this supra-strategic product (Saffron). Originality/value- The present study is important since it focuses on the impact of saffron cultivation for improving the quality of life of rural households with respect to the income generation process of this product.

Northern Puna Plateau-scale survey of Li brine-type deposits in the Andes of NW Argentina

Salars of the Andean Plateau in the Central Andes are the largest lithium deposits on Earth. The most notorious are the Chilean Salar de Atacama, and Uyuni in the Bolivian Altiplano. Despite the relevance of the region concerning the lithium resources, there is still scarce scientific literature on the hydrochemistry of lithium deposits in the Argentine portion of the Andean Plateau. In this article we present new hydrochemical data from the first regional-scale reconnaissance exploration of the four major salars in the northernmost Argentine Andes. Data revealed that brines in the studied salars are characterized by mean Li concentrations ranging between 82 and 1014 mg L−1, and mean Li:Mg ratios from 0.92 to 0.54. The size of the study salars becomes a potential limitation for the whole Li resources in comparison with the giant Atacama and Uyuni. Nonetheless, when considering the Li grade and the Li:Mg ratio of brines, the Northern Puna salars turn out to be very remarkable lithium prospects. Data emerged from this survey represent a valuable tool for: 1) private investment projects by defining Li mining targets, 2) for the administration of natural resources and the definition of the State's politics, and 3) for scientific purposes, especially in investigations meant to better understand the processes involved in the formation of Li brine deposits, salars, and endorheic basins.

Regulated hunting re-shapes the life history of brown bears.

Management of large carnivores is among the most controversial topics in natural resource administration. Regulated hunting is a centrepiece of many carnivore management programmes and, although a number of hunting effects on population dynamics, body-size distributions and life history in other wildlife have been observed, its effects on life history and demography of large carnivores remain poorly documented. We report results from a 30-year study of brown bears (Ursus arctos) analysed using an integrated hierarchical approach. Our study revealed that regulated hunting has severely disrupted the interplay between age-specific survival and environmental factors, altered the consequences of reproductive strategies, and changed reproductive values and life expectancy in a population of the world's largest terrestrial carnivore. Protection and sustainable management have led to numerical recovery of several populations of large carnivores, but managers and policymakers should be aware of the extent to which regulated hunting may be influencing vital rates, thereby reshaping the life history of apex predators.

Application of a CA-based model to predict the fire front in Hyrcanian forests of Iran

Forest fire is one of the most important source of land degradation that lead to deforestation and desertification processes. Thus, prediction of forest fire front is necessary to control it. In this study, Alexandridis model based on Cellular Automata (CA) rules was applied to predict the fire front in a part of Hyrcanian forests of Iran. The data of effective factors on fire front in the model (including vegetation type and density, wind speed and direction, and ground elevation) were provided from Mazandaran Natural Resources Administration (MNRA), Mazandaran Meteorological Administration (MMA), and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of ASTER sensor. The model was used to simulate the front of a wildfire that burned a part of District Three of Neka-Zalemroud forests (DTNZ) on December of 2010. The required data of actual fire for simulation of fire front (including actual fire map, fire area, fire start point, etc.) were provided from MNRA. All effective factors maps for actual fire confine were organized in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The simulation environment was provided based on the ASCII files of altitude, vegetation density, and vegetation type matrices, together with a matrix containing the burned area. The fire front model was programmed and it was implemented by uploading of all digital layers (coding ASCII matrices) of effective variables and considering of the certain wind speed and direction in fire confine. Fire front simulation was run by considering of fire start point coordination and the fire front simulation was depicted. Finally, the number of burned and unburned cells in fire confine matrix was obtained. Results of model implementation including fire front direction and shape were compared with the actual fire confine to evaluate the accuracy of the used model qualitatively. Thus, the fire front polygon was overlaid on the actual fire polygon and the high similarity was observed between them. In addition, total accuracy and Kappa index were used to evaluate the accuracy of the used model quantitatively. The total accuracy and Kappa index were obtained 0.88 and 0.74, respectively. These results can show the accuracy of CA-based model to predict the fire front in Hyrcanian forests of Iran in current research.

Protecting Indigenous Peoples through Right to Natural Resources: Lesson from the Existence of Navajo Tribe in the United States

From the perspective of international law, indigenous peoples have the rights to own, use, and control their natural resources within their territories. In the United States, the Navajo Tribe has enjoyed those rights. In terms of law making process, this tribe can enact some acts to preserve a control over their natural resources. Specifically, the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Solid Waste Act. Concerning law implementation and enforcement, Navajo Tribe has a right to equitable benefit sharing in natural resources and fair court proceeding for breach. As a result, the existence of rights for natural resources requires the U.S federal government to ensure fair administration of natural resources in order to mitigate an economic exploitation of natural resources in indigenous land.