Illegal Collection Research Articles

Toward Safe Treatment of Municipal Solid Wastes in China’s Urban Areas

M solid waste management (MSWM) in China warrants particular attention as China has become the largest municipal solid waste (MSW) generator in the world. Until the end of 2010, total amount of MSW reached 221 million tons in Chinese urban areas, in which 63.5% had been safely treated and disposed. Urbanization, population growth, and industrialization are three key reasons behind the large magnitude of China’s increase in total waste generation. In order to achieve sustainable MSWM, the Chinese government released a national plan within its 12th five-year plan (2011− 2015) on April 19th 2012, targeting safe treatment of MSW in Chinese urban areas. The main objective of this plan is to construct necessary infrastructure for safe treatment of MSW. Several missions will be completed during 2011−2015. First of all, many new waste treatment and final disposal facilities will be constructed (with a budget of 173 billion RMB), particularly incinerators and landfills, so that the increased daily treatment capacity can reach 0.58 million tons. Due to different geographical and economic situations, while incinerators will be encouraged in the more populated east China, landfills will be encouraged in the less populated west China. Second, MSW transfer systems (with a budget of 35.1 billion RMB) will be constructed in all urban areas (urban population more than 30 000) with an increased daily capacity of 0.457 million tons. All the MSW will be delivered and transferred by using trucks with closed containers and compressors so that secondary pollution can be avoided. Advanced technologies on Internet of things will be developed in order to optimize the route of MSW deliveries. Third, existing MSW facilities will be updated (with a budget of 21.1 billion RMB for 1882 projects), such as constructing new leachate treatment facilities in existing landfills, recovering methane from existing landfills for power generation, and safely closing those landfills that have reached their designed life cycles. For those areas where land values are higher or incinerators are available, local governments are encouraged to redevelop the existing landfills so that metals can be collected and reused/recycled, wastes with higher caloric values can be burned and composting matters from organic wastes can be used for landscape purpose. Fourth, source separation for all the MSWs will be fully promoted (with a budget of 21 billion RMB). Each province should select at least one city within its territory to initiate source separation project so that related experiences can be shared by other cities. Based upon community waste collection stations, a regional waste collection network and waste market should be established so that those valuable wastes can be collected and traded, rather than flowing into landfills or incinerators. Related facilities will be constructed, such as preparing different garbage bags, trash bins, garbage separation centers, and garbage trucks for different wastes. Capacity building programs will also be promoted so that best practices can be implemented by the general public. In addition, special hazardous and toxic waste (HTW) treatment facilities will be constructed so that those HTWs can be safely handled, such as used batteries, discarded fluorescent tubes, mercury-based thermometers, and paints. Fifth, kitchen wastes will be asked to be separated from other wastes in all units (including households) at source sites and then be delivered to special sites by specially designed trucks for resourcification (with a budget of 10.9 billion RMB). All the collected kitchen wastes are required to be registered by local governments in order to avoid illegal collection and treatment. Resourcification options include composting, making biofuels, recovering methane, and mixed treatment with other degradable organic wastes. Finally, monitoring system for MSW will be established (with a budget of 2.5 billion RMB), such as online monitoring facilities in all the incinerators and landfills so as to avoid illegal emissions. In order to realize these missions, both policies and evaluation indicators have been prepared. While preferable policies are raised to encourage the successful implementation of this plan, such as improved MSWM regulations, the

Orchid seed stores for sustainable use: a model for future seed-banking activities

Los Almacenes de Semillas de Orquídeas para Uso Sostenible (Orchid Seed Stores for Sustainable Use – oSSSu Por sus siglas en inglés) es una iniciativa de tres años del proyecto Iniciativa Darwin del Reino Unido, con el principal objetivo de establecer una red global de bancos de semillas de orquídeas, enfocándose inicialmente en aquellos “puntos calientes” de biodiversidad en Asia y América Latina. Al momento de escribir este documento, hay 20 instituciones participantes en 16 países. A más largo plazo, nuestro objetivo es el de incluir un mayor número de instituciones de todo el mundo, y especialmente de países africanos. Tenemos la confianza de que una semilla seca de orquídea de buena calidad tiene el potencial sobrevivir durante muchas décadas bajo condiciones de temperatura de un banco de semillas convencional de alrededor de -20 C. Las instituciones participantes han recibido tubos para el almacenamiento de semillas, junto con los fondos para adquirir una congeladora de baúl específicamente dedicada así como algunos de los suministros consumibles necesarios. Se ha acordado una serie de protocolos, que por primera vez permitirán la comparación de la germinación de semillas de más de 250 especies de orquídeas de países tropicales y templados que cubren una amplia gama de tipos de hábitat en un solo medio de germinación (Knudson C) y compararlas con su viabilidad de largo plazo. El rol de la OSSSU tanto en conservación ex situ e in situ queda ilustrado con el caso de Cattleya quadricolor, una endémica colombiana. La historia de C. quadricolor es algo muy familiar: pérdida de hábitat combinada con la ilegal recolección de esta especie tan hermosa debido a intereses comerciales. Sin embargo, aquí tenemos un proyecto en el cual todas las piezas del rompecabezas de la conservación de orquídeas calzan en forma exacta: una Lista Roja actualizada para las orquídeas de Colombia que sería de gran ayuda para apuntar a las especies raras y amenazadas, un Plan Nacional de Acción para las especies de Cattleya, la participación en OSSSU, un grupo de cultivadores amateur y profesionales con los conocimientos necesarios para germinar las semillas para el proyecto y estar en capacidad de producir plántulas, un cultivador comercial comprometido que esté dispuesto a proporcionar plantas para polinización y realizar la cosecha de semillas, y un jardín botánico que está dispuesto a actuar como punto focal para re-introducir plantas de C. quadricolor cultivadas por el proyecto a un número de sitios que ofrezcan seguridad.

Efficiency, enforcement and revenue tradeoffs in participatory forest management: an example from Tanzania

AbstractWhere joint forest management has been introduced into Tanzania, ‘volunteer’ patrollers take responsibility for enforcing restrictions over the harvesting of forest resources, often receiving as an incentive a share of the collected fine revenue. Using an optimal enforcement model, we explore how that share, and whether villagers have alternative sources of forest products, determines the effort patrollers put into enforcement and whether they choose to take a bribe rather than honestly reporting the illegal collection of forest resources. Without funds for paying and monitoring patrollers, policy makers face tradeoffs over illegal extraction, forest protection and revenue generation through fine collection.

Breaking the law? Illegal livelihoods from a Protected Area in Uganda

Forests are important to local livelihoods and regulating access to forests will have consequences to those livelihoods and may promote illegal harvesting. This study analyses how local people make a living, focusing on the illegal collection of a forest's resources following its declaration as a Protected Area (PA). A household survey was conducted between October and December 2005, combining semi-structured individual household interviews and village level focus group discussions. Six sub-counties bordering the Rwenzori Mountain National Park in Uganda were chosen at random and two sample villages randomly selected from each. Through a participatory wealth ranking exercise, all the individual households in each sample village were assigned to one of three categories: rich, medium or poor. From this stratified list five individual households were randomly selected from each category for semi-structured interviews. Household livelihood outcomes were assessed and a fractional logit regression was used to estimate factors influencing dependency on forest income. Households with less access to assets exhibited greater dependence on forest resources. The average household was poor with a per adult equivalent unit income of 0.5 USD/day, with 18.6% of their income being derived from environmental resources. Based on income per adult equivalent unit, households were divided into poor and less poor. Both categories reported illegal collection of forest products. The poor households derived 32% of their environmental income and 12% of their total income from the park compared to the less poor at 18% and 4.5% respectively. The park resources reduced income inequality, as well as the incidence and depth of poverty by 2.8, 3.0, and 5.0 percentage points, respectively. Small reductions in the incidence of poverty suggest that forest resources may not be reliable as a pathway out of poverty, but the poverty depth measure shows that forest resources have a significant impact on helping to make the poor less poor. Under such circumstances, our observation is that increased law enforcement alone is unlikely to protect the park. Interventions that allow managed access to these resources in the short term, whilst creating operational opportunities outside the areas to cater for local peoples' rights and needs in the longer term may be more suitable.

Distribution, abundance and demography of green pythons (Morelia viridis) in Cape York Peninsula, Australia

The green python (Morelia viridis) is an iconic snake species highly sought after in the pet trade and is the target of illegal collection. Despite their popularity, some important ecological attributes of green pythons remain unknown, making their effective conservation management difficult. Detection-only surveys were conducted throughout the potential range of the green python in Australia, and intensive mark–recapture surveys were conducted in the areas where there have been previous records. In total, 298 green pythons were located in the Iron, McIlwraith and Kawadji–Ngaachi ranges of Cape York, distributed over an estimated area of 2289 km2, where they frequented rainforest habitats and adjacent vine thickets. They were not found in the Lockerbie Scrub or Jardine River Catchment, despite anecdotal records. Green python density was estimated to be 540 km–2 in the Iron Range and 200 km–2 in the McIlwraith Range, where the percentages of adults captured were 56% and 83%, respectively. The differences between abundance and population demographics in the Iron and McIlwraith ranges may be due to differences in prey abundance and the impacts of collection. The results of this study provide baseline data to conservation managers and policy makers for the future conservation management of this species in Australia.

Mineração e geoconservação: o sítio paleontológico de Santa Rosa de Viterbo, SP

Os depósitos fossilíferos são bens da União e cabe ao Departamento Nacional de Produção Mineral - DNPM fiscalizar sua extração em território nacional, assim como garantir medidas de proteção do patrimônio paleontológico e o combate à extração ilegal de fósseis. Cabe também ao órgão mediar conflitos entre a produção legalizada de bens minerais e a proteção de depósitos fossíliferos de relevante valor científico ou cultural. Com este objetivo, a Diretoria de Fiscalização do DNPM implantou um programa de fiscalização no Estado de São Paulo com o intuito de diagnosticar áreas de mineração em situação de conflito com a preservação de depósitos fossilíferos já conhecidos pela comunidade geocientífica. Este diagnóstico priorizou a fiscalização de minerações de calcário do interior do estado com aproveitamento de rochas permianas do Subgrupo Irati (Bacia do Paraná), devido à ocorrência de fósseis de mesossauros, invertebrados e icnofósseis. Não foram identificados conflitos significativos nas áreas vistoriadas, exceto em uma mina de Santa Rosa de Viterbo, devido à ocorrência de estromatólitos dômicos de dimensões métricas cujo depósito é diretamente lavrado pela empresa mineradora para a produção de corretivo de solo. Os depósitos estromatolíticos do Subgrupo Irati que afloram nesta mina correspondem às únicas ocorrências conhecidas da Bacia do Paraná e também são raros em relação aos depósitos calcários do Fanerozóico em geral. Diante da necessidade de garantir medidas efetivas de conservação de sítio fossilífero tão raro, o DNPM/SP providenciou a interdição de uma área de 680 m², localizada em uma porção inoperante da área de concessão, onde foram garantidas exposições representativas do depósito, segurança em relação às operações de lavra e facilidade de acesso. Esta iniciativa demonstra que é viável implantar medidas de geoconservação dentro de áreas de mineração e que se deve buscar a articulação entre o poder público, o segmento produtivo e a comunidade geocientífica.

Analysis of the minimal privacy disclosure for web services collaborations with role mechanisms

Web services collaborations are challenging as research and practical tasks. They are highly automatic, dynamic, heterogeneous, and lack protection against corruption of processes. High risks are imposed on the services (including the consumers and providers) in collaboration. Hence, avoiding illegal collection of private data disclosed in services collaboration is becoming increasingly important. This paper studies how to realize the minimal privacy disclosure while achieving the functional objectives through role mechanisms. Initially, it proposes a revised role-based framework for privacy-aware services collaborations, which considers the impact on the reputation degree of the historic experiences of services in playing roles. Next, it models the privacy behaviors of services by extending the interface automata to support privacy semantics. Furthermore, it quantitatively analyzes the minimal privacy authorization; and presents the minimal privacy delegation algorithm, which allows us to automatically derive optimal privacy policies for an cross-organizational services collaborations system. Finally, it verifies the correctness and efficiency of this role-based approach through a case study.

Eco-development in Orissa's protected areas: a participatory approach to conserving forest biodiversity and alleviating poverty piloted in Satkosia

Orissa State in East India has a wealth of natural forests that range from coastal mangroves in the Bay of Bengal to dry and moist types of tropical deciduous forests in the Eastern Ghats. Approximately 37% of the State is classified as forest, including a well-planned network of protected areas (PAs) that comprises 2 national parks and 18 sanctuaries. Much of the remaining forest is under huge pressure from forest fires, livestock grazing, slash-and-burn agriculture, wildlife poaching, and illegal or unregulated collection of fuel wood, timber and other forest products. Major initiatives are underway in Orissa to conserve its natural forest biodiversity. The Orissa Forestry Sector Development Project (OFSDP), beginning in 2006, started to focus on providing inclusive support to local communities living within and around PAs by promoting and enhancing alternative livelihoods through community participation to reduce dependence on forest resources. The participatory processes that were piloted and upscaled in Satkosia Tiger Reserve have helped park managers and policy makers, for the first time in Orissa, to understand and value ‘Village Eco-development’ as an essential tool in PA management. The experience and lessons learnt have been formulated into guidelines and field manuals for use throughout the State's network of PAs, paving the way for meaningful participatory eco-development. This paper describes the participatory process and mechanisms evolved and upscaled to engage with local communities in eco-development partnerships; defines the principles and mechanisms that underpin such partnerships; and demonstrates how management interventions can be effectively and equitably prioritised towards those members of a community most dependent on forest resources in order to maximise biodiversity conservation. Lessons learned include the importance of developing a shared vision at the outset, joint government-community collaboration in building capacities, independent expert facilitation and long-term nurturing of participatory processes, provision of well-defined livelihood enhancement opportunities and experiential learning among all stakeholders.

Addressing illegal road blockage by law enforcement agents and its attendant road deaths

Present positionNigerian roads are well known to have claimed so many preventable lives due to road blockage mounted by law enforcement officers especially policemen. Despite the existing ban on checkpoints...

Exploitation of Encephalartos transvenosus outside and inside Mphaphuli Cycads Nature Reserve, Limpopo Province, South Africa

AbstractThis study has investigated the use and threats of Encephalartos transvenosus outside and inside Mphaphuli Cycads Nature Reserve, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Data were collected from 2005 to 2006 through social and ecological surveys. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with a total of 40 people per household, sampled from four selected villages around the reserve. E. transvenosus is used for medicinal purposes, decorations, cultural activities and as food. Youth and adult persons harvest E. transvenosus for income generation, while children and aged people mainly use it for subsistence purposes. The survival of E. transvenosus in the wild is uncertain due to various threats, such as illegal collection, habitat destruction, fire and grazing. Some conservation measures are also discussed.

Adaptation of endemic mediterranean Sternbergia candida Mathew Et T. Baytop in the continental climate of central anatolia

Sternbergia candida is an important endemic bulbous plant with beautiful white flowers. It grows on the rock slopes of Baba mountains under Lebanon Cedars in the Mugla province of Turkey with Mediterranean climate. The plant is vulnerable and endangered due to illegal collection for local and foreign flower industry. Fast developing tourism industry and rapid urbanization has also shown negative implications on its population. The study reports three years successful adaptation results of S. candida in the continental climate of Ankara in the Central Anatolia. Four groups of bulbs based on diameter (>2.45, 2.15–2.44, 1.85–2.14 and <1.84 cm) were collected from its natural habitat during March, April and May 1998 and were evaluated for frequency (%) of emergence, mean number of leaves per plant, mean plant height, frequency (%) of flowering, frequency (%) of fruit setting. mean number of bulbs per plant, and mean diameter (cm) of regenerated bulbs. All categories of bulbs could be multiplied and adapted successfully with variable frequency of fruit setting. However, the highest fruit set was recorded from 2.15–2.44 cm April collected bulbs. This indicated that the bulb diameter and collection time had clear implications on multiplication, propagation and adaptation of the plant.

Preserving Madagascar's Natural Heritage: The Importance of Keeping the Island's Vertebrate Fossils in the Public Domain

The origin of Madagascar’s highly endemic vertebrate fauna remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of natural history. From what landmasses did the basal stocks of this unique and imbalanced fauna come? When and how did the ancestral populations arrive on the island? How rapidly did they diversify, and why? The most direct means of addressing these questions, and other enigmas concerning the evolutionary and biogeographic history of Madagascar’s vertebrate fauna, is through discovery of fossils from a sequence of well-dated geological horizons. Many fossils relevant to these queries have been discovered by paleontologists in recent years ... but many more are being lost to commercial enterprises, both foreign and domestic, that have little or no regard for the scientific significance of fossils. The objectives of this essay are to 1) provide an overview of Madagascar’s vertebrate fossil record and its importance, 2) raise awareness concerning the illegal collection, exportation, and sale of vertebrate fossils, and 3) stress the importance of keeping vertebrate fossils from the island in the public domain. In light of these issues, we underscore the necessity for development of adequate repositories and support infrastructure in Madagascar to safeguard and display the country’s vertebrate fossil collections; doing so would ensure the preservation and appreciation of Madagascar’s rich natural heritage for future generations of scientists and Malagasy citizens alike.

Sustainable Rural Livelihoods under Joint Forest Management (JFM) Programme: Some Evidence from West Bengal, India

The objectives of this article are to assess linkages and impact of participatory JFM Programme on Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (SRL) across socio-economic group of forest fringe communities. The study is based four sample FPCs – one female FPC and three joint FPCs - under Midnapore and Bankura districts in West Bengal. The results from this study suggest that the JFM Programme under the sample FPCs/Villages in West Bengal is participatory. With regard to the SRL framework, strong sustainability criteria meet for very poor and poor households, which live below poverty line and are dependent on forest resource for their livelihood security. The study suggests that force or law cannot effectively control illegal collection of TFPs for the households living below poverty line, until a considerable increase in the collection of legal forest products – NTFPs, fuelwood etc. – and wage income from forest provide for their minimum livelihood security.

Estimating the population of the Endangered flat-tailed tortoise Pyxis planicauda in the deciduous, dry forest of western Madagascar: a monitoring baseline

The Madagascar flat-tailed tortoise Pyxis planicauda is threatened with extinction through loss of its deciduous, dry forest habitat and illegal collection for the pet trade. Little is known of the population status of this species as no systematic survey across its range has previously been conducted. Surveying P. planicauda is problematic as it has cryptic colouration, is only active during the wet season, and spends periods of time hidden under leaf litter. In this study we designed a line transect survey, which incorporated an approximation of the amount of time tortoises were available for sampling, to produce an unbiased estimate of population size. We estimated density of P. planicauda in the main forest block in central Menabe, which represents the majority of its range, to be 0.40 ha-1 with a total population size of nearly 28,000 individuals (95% confidence interval 16,323-47,669). This estimate is substantially higher than previous predictions of &lt;10,000 individuals. Nevertheless, the species faces ongoing threats from deforestation and probably from illegal collection, although the recent designation of the Menabe forest as a protected area will probably help reduce these threats. This study provides a baseline density estimate of P. planicauda and a survey protocol for monitoring future population trends.

Conservation of plant diversity in Korea

Korea is a land of contrasts. The mountainous Korean peninsula arches north and northwest towards the Russian and Chinese borders, where the last areas of old growth coniferous forest and the land formed five forest types. Plant and habitat diversity in Korea has been largely damaged by various kinds of human activities. The plant diversity of Korea is severely threatened due to the high population density and rapid industrialization since the 1960s, as well as the illegal collection of wild plants for ornamental, medicinal, and food purposes. Natural areas have been greatly fragmented and survive only as ecological islands surrounded by modified cultivated and industrial lands. For instance, more than 60 industrial parks are located along the coast, and these have contributed to the rapid destruction of plant diversity in the coastal areas of the peninsula. The modern concept of plant conservation in Korea is still in an infant stage. The cooperation of plant conservation bodies with disciplinary approaches based on conservation biology are essential strategies to pursue plant conservation. The capacity building for plant conservation in Korea has different management regimes by the relevant ministries. Since the late 1990s, the plant conservation body Korean Plant Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) has been closely linked with international conservation bodies for in situ and ex situ conservation management. Under the umbrella of the national plant conservation strategies, the different strategies and working agencies can be fully integrated. Furthermore, the systematic approaches for the recovery of threatened species, as well as habitat monitoring over the long-term basis, will need to be supported by a stable budget policy. Also, protocol for the conservation of rare and endangered plant species, including recovery works in Korea, is strongly needed.

Assessing the Conservation Status and Threats to Priority Plants: A Case Study in South-east Queensland, Australia

During the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) process in south - east Queensland, the conservation status of, and threats to, priority vascular plant taxa in the region was assessed. Characteristics of biology, demography and distribution were used to assess the species' intrinsic risk of extinction. In contrast, the threats to the taxa (their extrinsic risk of extinction) were assessed using a decision-support protocol for setting conservation targets for taxa lacking population viability analyses and habitat modelling data. Disturbance processes known or suspected to be adversely affecting the taxa were evaluated for their intensity, extent and time-scale. Expert opinion was used to provide much of the data and to assess the recommended protection areas. Five categories of intrinsic risk of extinction were recognised for the 105 priority taxa: critically endangered (43 taxa); endangered (29); vulnerable (21); rare (10); and presumed extinct (2). Only 6 of the 103 extant taxa were found to be adequately reserved and the majority were considered inadequately protected to survive the current regimes of threatening processes affecting them. Data were insufficient to calculate a protection target for one extant taxon. Over half of the taxa require all populations to be conserved as well as active management to alleviate threatening processes. The most common threats to particular taxa were competition from weeds or native species, nappropriate fire regimes, agricultural clearing, forestry, grazing by native or feral species, drought, urban development, illegal collection of plants, and altered hydrology. Apart from drought and competition from native species, these disturbances are largely influenced or initiated by human actions. Therefore, as well as increased protection of most of the taxa, active management interventions are necessary to reduce the effects of threatening processes and to enable the persistence of the taxa.

Biogeography of Neurergus strauchii barani Öz, 1994 and N. s. strauchii (Steindachner, 1887) (Amphibia: Salamandridae) assessed using morphological and molecular data

AbstractFive new locations of N. strauchii are reported from Turkey, closing the gap between the two subspecies N. s. barani and N. s. strauchii. A molecular analysis based on 829 base pairs from two mitochondrial ribosomal genes (12S and 16S rRNA), together with geographical data from the area concerned, indicate all new populations found are very closely related to the mitochondrial sequences from specimens of N. s. strauchii from its type locality and suggest the river Euphrates might have acted as a natural barrier separating the only populations of N. s. barani known to date from all other populations of N. s. strauchii. A morphological analysis of all N. strauchii populations sampled for this study indicates that belly patterns are not a good diagnostic character to differentiate between N. s. barani and N. s. strauchii, suggesting the only reliable morphological taxonomic character that allows their identification is the different number of yellow spots in adult specimens, which is significantly higher in N. s. strauchii. The analyses also indicate that the number of spots is similar between sub-adult and adult N. s. barani but significantly different between sub-adult and adult specimens of N. s. strauchii, suggesting there is also a difference between both subspecies in increase in the number of spots during maturation.Listed by IUCN as vulnerable and protected by the Bern Convention (1979), our findings indicate N. s. strauchii is more widely distributed than previously thought, while N. s. barani would be restricted to just a few localities. Disturbance of its prime habitat, mountain brooks, and uncontrolled illegal collection, especially of N. s. barani, are still the main threats to the Anatolia newt throughout its known distribution range.

Assessing the Conservation Status and Threats to Priority Plants: A Case Study in South-east Queensland, Australia

During the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) process in south-east Queensland, the conservation status of, and threats to, priority vascular plant taxa in the region was assessed. Characteristics of biology, demography and distribution were used to assess the species' intrinsic risk of extinction. In contrast, the threats to the taxa (their extrinsic risk of extinction) were assessed using a decision-support protocol for setting conservation targets for taxa lacking population viability analyses and habitat modelling data. Disturbance processes known or suspected to be adversely affecting the taxa were evaluated for their intensity, extent and time-scale. Expert opinion was used to provide much of the data and to assess the recommended protection areas. Five categories of intrinsic risk of extinction were recognised for the 105 priority taxa: critically endangered (43 taxa); endangered (29); vulnerable (21); rare (10); and presumed extinct (2). Only 6 of the 103 extant taxa were found to be adequately reserved and the majority were considered inadequately protected to survive the current regimes of threatening processes affecting them. Data were insufficient to calculate a protection target for one extant taxon. Over half of the taxa require all populations to be conserved as well as active management to alleviate threatening processes. The most common threats to particular taxa were competition from weeds or native species, inappropriate fire regimes, agricultural clearing, forestry, grazing by native or feral species, drought, urban development, illegal collection of plants, and altered hydrology. Apart from drought and competition from native species, these disturbances are largely influenced or initiated by human actions. Therefore, as well as increased protection of most of the taxa, active management interventions are necessary to reduce the effects of threatening processes and to enable the persistence of the taxa.

Solid waste collection and recycling in Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia: a case study

The implementation of a suitable solid waste management programme with appropriate methods of recycling as an inherent element is vital to the alleviation of the problems associated with solid waste generation, handling and disposal, environmental conservation, public hygiene, etc. The present work is a case study on solid waste collection and recycling practices in Nibong Tebal town, Penang, Malaysia. The amount and types of domestic waste generated, household participation in recycling, identification of existing problems related to the implementation of the recycling programme, etc. formed the basis of this study. Surveys (interviews/questionnaires) and on-site observations were conducted to gather information on the solid waste collection and recycling practice of the residents. A focus group of 60 individuals was selected and their response to a questionnaire, prepared according to a Likert scale, was obtained and analysed. The majority of the respondents expressed concerns about recycling and wanted more to be done in this regard. Illegal collection, aesthetically displeasing sites and a lack of public awareness were problems of major concern. Issues related to inadequate funding and manpower as well as end market are also addressed and suggestions made.

Evaluation of the conservation status of Morangaya pensilis (Cactaceae), a little known endemic monotypic genus of southern Baja California, Mexico

Morangaya pensilis is an endemic monotypic cactus genus from the southern part of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. Previously known only as scattered individuals occurring at a very low density in the highest areas of Sierra de La Laguna, the occurrence of a relatively more dense population (4–7 plants per 250 m2) is reported on Sierra Cacachilas, c. 40 km to the north. Disturbance to the species' habitat includes fragmentation, illegal collection and trade, and land use changes, especially to farming and cattle ranching. Seeds collected from Sierra Cacachilas had a relatively high viability (92%) but recruitment (of 2-month old seedlings) in the area was relatively low, despite above average rainfall in the year of measurement. M. pensilis is eligible for inclusion in Mexico's list of threatened species and fulfils the requirements for categorization as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Management activities that are already taking place in this area include restrictions on cattle and goat grazing and consideration of areas suitable for translocation of the species.