Local Environmental Resources Research Articles

Proximity analysis of inefficient practices and socio-spatial negligence: Evidence, evaluations and recommendations drawn from the construction of Chotiari reservoir in Pakistan

In this study, we have used qualitative data from land-use conflicts for a development-related infrastructure project based on the case of Chotiari reservoir in Pakistan. Our results primarily highlight the networks of stakeholders involved in making the decisions for this project and their opposition to the desires of the local population, leading to significant tensions and conflicts due to the superposition of land-use expectations in the project area. Through this research, we have identified the key groups of actors and their logics, links and behaviors in terms of multi-level governance (from community level to international level) and territorial governance, thus revealing the positions of stakeholders and their relative social power. We show how public authorities have disregarded international rules and laws in undertaking a development project, and caused great damage to local populations and environmental resources. This article aims to provide useful information and insights for recommendations to help prevent and resolve land-use conflicts, principally on the basis of an analysis of proximity relations.

Suggestions for Improving Ugandan Higher Education to Produce Productive Graduates

Every country invests in formal education to develop and empower itscitizens with the capacity needed to practically work and transform theirsurrounding environmental resources into productive employment aftergraduation. The high and growing rate of graduate unemployment in Uganda suggests however, that most of the formal education graduates are not practical enough to turn their local environmental resources into gainful work and effective contribution to national development. It is argued in this paper that the failure of most graduates to be practical would not have occurred had the management of Uganda’s formal education made effective use of the activity-based informal training when preparing students.Keywords: Relevance; Curriculum reform; Graduate unemployment.

The Race for Space: Tracking Land-Cover Transformation in a Socio-ecological Landscape, South Africa

Biosphere Reserves attempt to align existing biodiversity conservation with sustainable resource use, specifically for improving socio-economic circumstances of resident communities. Typically, the Biosphere Reserve model is applied to an established landscape mosaic of existing land uses; these are often socio-ecological systems where strict environmental protection and community livelihoods are in conflict, and environmental degradation frequently accompanies "use". This raises challenges for successful implementation of the model, as the reality of the existing land-use mosaic undermines the theoretical aspirations of the Biosphere concept. This study focuses on the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Reserve (K2C), South Africa; a socio-ecological landscape where formal conservation is juxtaposed against extensive impoverished rural communities. We focus on land-cover changes of the existing land-use mosaic (1993-2006), specifically selected land-cover classes identified as important for biodiversity conservation and local-level resource utilization. We discuss the implications of transformation for conservation, sustainable resource-use, and K2C's functioning as a "Biosphere Reserve". Spatially, changes radiated outward from the settlement expanse, with little regard for the theoretical land-use zonation of the Biosphere Reserve. Settlement growth tracked transport routes, transforming cohesive areas of communal-use rangelands. Given the interdependencies between the settlement population and local environmental resources, the Impacted Vegetation class expanded accordingly, fragmenting the Intact Vegetation class, and merging rangelands. This has serious implications for sustainability of communal harvesting areas, and further transformation of intact habitat. The distribution and magnitude of Intact Vegetation losses raise concerns around connectivity and edge effects, with long-term consequences for ecological integrity of remnant habitat, and K2C's existing network of protected areas.

Forest Fragmentation and Selective Logging Have Inconsistent Effects on Multiple Animal-Mediated Ecosystem Processes in a Tropical Forest

Forest fragmentation and selective logging are two main drivers of global environmental change and modify biodiversity and environmental conditions in many tropical forests. The consequences of these changes for the functioning of tropical forest ecosystems have rarely been explored in a comprehensive approach. In a Kenyan rainforest, we studied six animal-mediated ecosystem processes and recorded species richness and community composition of all animal taxa involved in these processes. We used linear models and a formal meta-analysis to test whether forest fragmentation and selective logging affected ecosystem processes and biodiversity and used structural equation models to disentangle direct from biodiversity-related indirect effects of human disturbance on multiple ecosystem processes. Fragmentation increased decomposition and reduced antbird predation, while selective logging consistently increased pollination, seed dispersal and army-ant raiding. Fragmentation modified species richness or community composition of five taxa, whereas selective logging did not affect any component of biodiversity. Changes in the abundance of functionally important species were related to lower predation by antbirds and higher decomposition rates in small forest fragments. The positive effects of selective logging on bee pollination, bird seed dispersal and army-ant raiding were direct, i.e. not related to changes in biodiversity, and were probably due to behavioural changes of these highly mobile animal taxa. We conclude that animal-mediated ecosystem processes respond in distinct ways to different types of human disturbance in Kakamega Forest. Our findings suggest that forest fragmentation affects ecosystem processes indirectly by changes in biodiversity, whereas selective logging influences processes directly by modifying local environmental conditions and resource distributions. The positive to neutral effects of selective logging on ecosystem processes show that the functionality of tropical forests can be maintained in moderately disturbed forest fragments. Conservation concepts for tropical forests should thus include not only remaining pristine forests but also functionally viable forest remnants.

지역 환경 자원을 활용한 환경체험 프로그램의 개발

The purpose of this study is to find out effects of environmental expression programs using environmental resources of the areas in which students live so that it verified the effects by developing environmental expression programs using local environmental resources and then teaching the programs to local students. The findings are as follows. First, environmental experience programs using local environmental resources help elementary school students Environmental Literacy. Second, the programs have a positive effect on changes in the students' Pro-environmental Attitude.

Regional variation in the efficacy of Entry Level Stewardship in England

The Entry Level Stewardship scheme, introduced in 2005, is the first non-competitive, broad-uptake scheme designed to deliver simple but effective environmental management on farms throughout England. While previous analysis suggests that the benefits of the scheme at the national scale may be limited thus far, efficacy may vary on a regional basis because of spatial differences in the uptake of individual options, in local environmental resource gaps or in the population status of key species. We assessed the influence of Entry Level Stewardship on regional population changes between 2005 and 2008 of farmland bird species. Trends were derived from standardised surveys carried out across eight geographical regions in England in more than 2000 lowland farmland 1 km squares. Birds showed apparent region-specific population trends and responses to Stewardship options. Boundary management had a positive association with the population trends of several species in both Yorkshire and the North West. Neither grass field margins nor the provision of winter foraging resources appeared to have any substantial benefits across any regions. An important influence of regional context was suggested by contrasting effect of management on some species, such as linnet, across regions. This study suggests that there are regional differences in the efficacy of options and responses of bird populations, although the number of tests conducted means that some of the apparent results may represent statistical artefacts. Nevertheless, this study suggests that agri-environment schemes like Entry Level Stewardship would be improved by greater consideration of regionality in biodiversity responses and efficacy than is currently common in standard schemes.

Embedding Local Places in Global Spaces: Geographical Indications as a Territorial Development Strategy

Geographical indications (GIs) are place-based names that convey the geographical origin, as well as the cultural and historical identity, of agricultural products. GIs are unique, in that they provide a means of ensuring that control over production and sales of a product stays within a local area, but at the same time they make use of extralocal markets. Although control over GIs largely rests with local actors, GIs are nested in wider regional, national, and international networks; and the passage from local to extralocal markets introduces new costs and benefits and new relations of power into the supply chain. The degree to which GI protection spurs development and protects local environmental and cultural resources depends on the structure of the GI legislation and on the territorial context in which protection is embedded. Using a commodity-chains approach, I compare two GI production systems, tequila in Mexico and Comte cheese in France, in order to develop a theory of the factors that contribute to more sustainable, equitable GI production systems. I argue that three key differences in the design of the GI schemes help to explain the varying effects of the two cases: (1) the manner in which supply-chain actors define quality, (2) the way that the GI valorizes the terroir of the region, and (3) the strength and cohesion that the collective organizing body exhibits. Moreover, the institutional and political context in which GI supply chains “touch down” plays a critical role. Contrary to a conceptualization of GIs as compatible with a purely market-oriented model, my comparison of these two cases indicates that some level of state involvement, in order to level the playing field and empower small farmers, is a necessary, although not sufficient, precondition for successful and sustainable GIs.

Book Review: Localist Movements in a Global Economy: Sustainability, Justice, and Urban Development in the United States

Book Review: Localist Movements in a Global Economy: Sustainability, Justice, and Urban Development in the United States

On the Pollution Content of China’s Trade: Clearing the Air?

This study compares alternative measures of the potential and actual pollution content of China’s trade using an environmental I-O methodology. Using the conventional, potential measure adopted by other researchers, we find that China ‘saves’ on local environmental resources by exporting goods that on average embody less pollution content than imports would if they were produced locally in China. A less positive, assessment of the environmental impact of China’s trade emerges, however, if the assumption of a common technology for producing exports and imports is dropped. Using an actual pollution content methodology for measuring the pollutants embodied in the production of both exports and imports, we find that China is actually a net exporter of embodied pollutants.

The salt architecture in Siwa oasis – Egypt (XII–XX centuries)

The research concerns the peculiar and unknown building technique utilised in the construction of Shali, ancient fortress built in the XII century in Siwa, an oasis of the western Egyptian desert. The architecture is characterised by the use of salt blocks, taken from the nearby salty lakes. The blocks are utilised in the masonry with an abundant mud mortar very rich in salt. Such technique still lives in our time, utilised by old masons for some new buildings. A so peculiar technique is the result of the capability and skill of man to take advantage of the local environmental resources and at the same time made it possible to realise particularly comfortable buildings in the severe climatic conditions of Siwa. In order to understand the building technique, the behaviour and the decay phenomena observed in the masonries, building materials from old and new masonry, have been characterised from the compositional and mechanical point of view.

Burn Survival in Mass-Casualty Situation Planning, Preparation, Response: What is the Key?

When facing a situation involving mass casualties, we must consider the choices we have as individuals and as communities. The range of opportunity and privilege across the world is vast. Set against the background of natural and manmade disasters, how do we provide the right care at the right time for those in need? How can we share our collaborative knowledge?.The recognition of the dignity of those in need is the first step.Relationship building in the time of non-disaster leads to mutual understanding, facilitating care. Medicine brings science and experience into the art of clinical problem-solving. Disaster situations require rapid solutions based on prior planning, communicated with the understanding that optimal outcomes depend upon relationships based on respect, sharing knowledge of the local environmental resources, coupled with clinical care.

Endoreversible terrestrial solar energy conversion

The analysis of reversible radiation conversion is insightful in process optimization and provides the upper limit to performance of any conceptual device. However, in practice, irreversibilities are unavoidable and play an important role in performance optimization. The finite absorption of a radiative source flux, and the simultaneous emission of radiation, is an inherently irreversible process. Likewise, heat rejection from the conversion device is unavoidable and dependent on local environmental conditions and resources. The endoreversible model treats these irreversibilities as inherent but external to the conversion process. In this paper, the effect of these irreversibilities on performance is investigated for a model with irreversible radiative absorption combined with irreversible conductive or convective heat rejection. Previous models either do not include the magnitude of entropy rejection required by the second law or do not otherwise accurately represent terrestrial solar conversion. Analysis of the model provides a guide for optimal operating conditions. For relatively poor heat rejection, as can occur in arid climates, analysis of the model reveals regions of operating parameters that will result in zero or low theoretical work output, and/or high operating temperatures and increased risk of failure. This is of particular concern for photovoltaic systems with low maximum temperature limits. Analytical expressions for maximum ideal work are provided, given the specific radiative source flux and heat rejection conditions. A fair evaluation of system performance is thereby obtained by comparing actual work production to the ideal, given the specific external operating conditions or restrictions.

``Locusts are now our beef'': Adult mortality and household dietary use of local environmental resources in rural South Africa1

There is currently a lack of research on the association between demographic dynamics and household use of natural resources in rural Africa. Such work is important because in rural Africa natural resources buffer households against shocks, offering both sustenance and income-generating potential. The article focuses on adult mortality as a household shock, examining use of local environmental resources as related to household dietary needs. The authors analyze two sources of data collected during May-December 2004 in the MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt) in rural South Africa. Quantitative analyses use survey data from 240 households, stratified by adult mortality experience. Qualitative data are based on 31 interviews with members of households having recently experienced adult mortality. The interviews provide insight into a variety of household-level mortality impacts and also suggest the importance of proximate resources in the maintenance of food security following the loss of an adult household member. Quantitatively, there are significant differences, both in patterns of usage of the natural environment and in levels of food security, between households that have lost an adult and those that have not. The association between mortality and household use of local environmental resources is further shaped by the gender of the deceased and the time elapsed since the death. Adult mortality, particularly the death of a male wage-earner, affects household food security. Time allocation is affected as resource collection responsibilities shift, and wild foods may substitute for previously purchased goods.

PLANNING BY NEGOTIATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: A TALE OF TWO HABITATS

In the December 2005 issue of Economic Affairs, a collection of authors considered alternative institutions for planning and managing urban affairs. Following up the idea of ‘planning by contract’, this paper reflects on the role of negotiation in securing gains from trade over contested local environmental resources. The idea of an obstructive classical planning game is contrasted with the concept of creative negotiation by reference to two case studies.

Sustainability of wastewater treatment with microalgae in cold climate, evaluated with emergy and socio-ecological principles

The sustainability of a microalgae wastewater treatment plant model (ALGA), assumed serving a small Swedish town with 10,000 inhabitants at latitude 60°N, was tested by comparing it to a conventional three-step treatment plant (WWTP), and a mechanical and chemical treatment plant (TP) complemented with a constructed wetland (TP + CW). Using two assessment methods—the socio-ecological principles method and emergy analysis—the ALGA model considered to have a better position for sustainable development, than the other two. In emergy terms the ALGA model had about half the resource use of the other two alternatives, and used most local free environmental resources, four times the TP + CW, and 100 times the WWTP. The violations against the second and third socio-ecological principles were considered equal for the three alternatives, the fourth was estimated to be in favor of the ALGA model, and the first principle was calculated to be in favor of the ALGA model with about eight times lower indicator value sum. Recirculation of nutrients back to society or production of economically viable products from the treatment by-products would strongly influence the sustainability. The ALGA model has a potential advantage due to interesting biochemical contents in the microalgae biomass, depending on what species will become dominating.

Prenatal smoke exposure alters growth in limb proportions and head shape in the midgestation human fetus.

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of smoke exposure on the growth patterns of the head, limbs, and torso of the midgestation human fetus. Four hundred maternal/fetal pairs contributed to this analysis: 366 individuals were assessed cross-sectionally (87 smokers and 279 nonsmokers) at approximately 20 and 32 weeks, and 34 individuals were followed longitudinally at 23, 27, and 32 weeks (10 smokers, 24 nonsmokers). Ten body parameters were measured by fetal ultrasound. In both samples, controlling for day of measurement, smoke exposure was significantly associated with early growth acceleration in head and abdominal diameters at 20-27 weeks (P < 0.05). This was followed by altered head shape (a significantly smaller biparietal to occipital frontal diameter ratio at 32 weeks, P < 0.01), and a proximal/distal growth gradient as proportionately long arms (P < 0.05 at 27 and 32 weeks) and short legs were apparent by 32 weeks, with a significant reduction in the tibia/femur ratio (P = 0.04). These fetal body growth patterns, expressed in terms of size and proportionality, are consistent with the presence of chronic hypoxia associated with maternal smoking. The growth pattern differences identify that prenatal smoking is not merely an insult resulting in consistent size and growth rate reduction across developmental ages. Instead, smoke exposure alters the growth rate of individual body segments at variable developmental stages as the fetus experiences selective growth restriction and augmentation. We hypothesize that the growth patterns observed here reflect the unique pattern of fetal blood flow favoring upper body oxygen distribution and extraction, together with genetically based adaptive strategies that permit the fetus to adjust the timing and magnitude of its growth to local environmental resources. It is possible that dolichocephaly is a previously unappreciated marker of fetal hypoxia. Reduced tibial growth may be a good marker for shortfall and a useful proxy for the adequacy of circulating resources more generally.

The Mobile Street Food Service Practice in the Urban Economy of Kumba, Cameroon

The mobile food service practice is one of multiple survival strategies adopted by poor urban households in Cameroon to maintain and expand the base of subsistence incomes, especially in the current surge of economic crisis. Though a fast‐growing informal sector enterprise, it is still at an artisanal stage in urban Cameroon, creating an urgent need for a supportive policy environment that could have measurable positive impacts on improving the productivity, welfare and income levels of the micro‐entrepreneurs. This study looks at the mobile food service practice in Kumba, Cameroon, in terms of its basic characteristics, the locational factors influencing its socio‐spatial distribution, the critical success factors (CSFs) determining customer choices, and its impacts on the local environmental resources and quality of urban life. The mobile food service practice creates employment, generates income, and acts as a food energy‐support instrument to the urban poor and local economic activities operating in Kumba. The vendors, who are mostly women, can make incomes that are 405 per cent of the national minimum wage and, thus, contribute financially towards the education, health and survival of their families. The paper provides some recommendations on ways to improve the efficiency of this sector so as to achieve sustainable economic and social development and to enhance empowerment thereof.

Stable carbon and nitrogen ratios in the sand smelt from a Mediterranean coastal area: feeding habits and effect of season and size

Enriched δ13C values (annual average – 11.2‰) suggest that in the study site (Stagnone di Marsala, Italy) the sand smelt Atherina boyeri exploited benthic prey throughout the year. In particular, Mysidacea and Isopoda seemed to dominate the diet. Stomach content data from the literature was in partial agreement with the present isotopic analysis suggesting that, while Mysidacea and Isopoda are exploited by A. boyeri, Copepoda Harpacticoida and Amphipoda are the dominant food items of the sand smelt diet. Several hypotheses are proposed to explain such partially different results from the two techniques. Both season and size influenced the δ13C and δ15N values of A. boyeri. Although throughout the sampling year, A. boyeri showed very enriched δ13C and δ15N values consistent with a diet based on benthic resources, it showed significant seasonal differences in both nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios. Such a finding suggests that the food preferences of A. boyeri undergo small seasonal differences, probably as a consequence of prey availability. Size also affected the isotopic composition of the sand‐smelt indicating that this species shows ontogenetic diet shifts in the study site. Compared with other Mediterranean trophic data of the sand smelt these results substantiate the great adaptability of A. boyeri to the local environmental resources and its trophic plasticity.

Quality and Congestion in Environmental Goods: The Road to the Wangapeka

An increasing complaint heard among New Zealand residents is that their enjoyment of local environmental resources is being diminished by increased congestion from foreign visitors. This paper considers a model of vertical differentiation in which foreign high-value and domestic low-value consumers incur congestion costs in using a common resource. We demonstrate that reducing quality in the face of increased foreign demand is optimal absent discriminatory prices (but not otherwise). We also consider the provision of multiple environmental goods and demonstrate that providing differential qualities may be optimal even if domestic consumers do not use the high-quality resources at all.

Conflicting environmental imaginaries and the politics of nature in Central Appalachia

Political ecology has become useful for contextualizing concerns of discourse, nature, society, and development within specific regional settings. Recent attempts to develop an environment-development approach within political ecology have produced a myriad of research topics that are linked to a diversity of theoretical literatures. Increased importance is being placed on conflicting environmental imaginaries, and doing contextual environmental histories within political ecology. This stems from the need to incorporate agency within the broader context of human–nature interaction in order to better assess material struggles over the natural environment. This paper examines the political ecology of environmental struggle in Central Appalachia. Of particular concern is how Central Appalachian environmental histories and natural resource struggles produce conflicting environmental imaginaries. Recently, conflict has flared between local land owners who view natural resources as a means for social reproduction and cultural survival, and government and environmentalist `outsiders' who view local environmental resources in the context of recreational consumption and resource conservation. It is concluded that natural resource struggles have internally transformed the social, environmental, and economic make-up of Central Appalachia, and in turn impacted the ways in which local residents use and understand the natural environment. This research also suggests that local social movements associated with the ownership, access, and use of natural resources are not necessarily progressive, as is often suggested in the Appalachian literature.