Protection Of Natural Environment Research Articles

Assessment of economic efficiency indicators of environmental protection measures during the construction of hydraulic engineering structures

In order to ensure the integral management of water and land resources during the implementation of environmental protection engineering measures, as well as to solve ecological problems, a macroeconomic approach directed at the final results is necessary. The traditional "narrow" economics of nature use is viewed as a single cycle of water and land resources and production waste and pollution, with insufficient attention paid to the economy itself ("black box"). For purposeful use of macroeconomics, it is necessary to build a vertical of natural productivity of each natural resource (chain), which will connect the primary natural factors with the production of final products. An effective concept of the rationalization of nature use and environmental protection against debris-flow phenomena and the matching economic mechanism of nature use in sectors and complexes can be developed and realized only after the development of the concept of development of the sector complexes and the whole economy. Regional features of the formation of the economic mechanism of nature use are important. The assessment of economic efficiency indicators of environmental protection measures during the construction of hydraulic engineering structures is discussed. The value of efficiency obtained by environmental activities is considered by the criteria for evaluating the efficiency of the investment project, where this criterion is called net discounted income, net discounted value, or modern net income. Functional-value analysis of environmental impact during the construction of hydraulic engineering structures, including the construction of high dams, for the realization of the analytical stage, a functional model is built based on the orography of the social-ecological-economic system. Based on theoretical and field scientific studies, the economic efficiency of the innovative debris-flow control structure has been established, the numerical value of which is equal to 16.15 USD per 1 longitudinal meter of the structure.

Energy vulnerability and pathway towards sustainable energy systems in the Arab region

Abstract Energy vulnerability in the Arab region is linked to various environmental challenges, including water shortage and desertification, as well as accelerating demand for energy which remains largely unchecked, among others. The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 addresses these cross-cutting issues by setting targets for ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. This article aims to show that progress towards achieving this goal’s targets within the Arab region is currently offtrack, due to a variety of challenges. These include lack of energy demand management needed to decouple energy consumption from economic growth; much required structural and economic reforms, including diversification; lack of long-term planning and technological awareness; and insufficient access to financing. To overcome these problems and address energy vulnerability, Arab countries should integrate sustainable energy as a fundamental element of national development strategies and embrace circular carbon economy principles within the context of SDG 7. Integrated approaches to energy sector management are required, and topics such as natural resources governance and environmental protection should be elevated within domestic policy agendas.

SUSTAINABLE TERRITORIAL AND SPATIAL PLANNING IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RECOVERY OF UKRAINE - DEFINITIONS, PRINCIPLES, CRITERIA AND TASKS

The article is devoted to the issue of verification of the conceptual and categorical base of sustainable territorial and spatial planning in Ukraine in accordance with the European practice of long-term, systemic and perspective planning of the living space of society. The justified inevitability of the final integration of Ukraine into the Euro-Atlantic space after the repulsion of Russian aggression and the objective necessity of transition to European standards. The main problems of spatial development in Ukraine and directions for improvement of national territorial planning, formed on the eve of Russian aggression in February 2022, are listed. The formulated problem of the uncertainty of the conceptual and categorical apparatus of spatial planning in Ukraine, which consists in the fact that the concepts of «territorial planning», «territory planning», «regional planning», «district planning», «city planning», etc. are often intertwined, duplicate or replace one another one that is not quite correct. In some cases, they are used as synonyms, in others, on the contrary, in incompatible meanings that cannot be combined into a single system. There is a well-founded need to develop theoretical-methodological and methodical principles of territory planning, which requires, first of all, certain conceptual-terminological and conceptual certainty. The condition for its achievement is the balanced consideration, on the one hand, of not only European standards, but also European experience in the field of spatial planning, and on the other, general and regional spatial specifics of Ukraine. The main principles of long-term territorial and spatial planning developed in European practice are defined. The proposed concepts and terms are fixed in the official documents of the European Union and reflect the current aspects of sustainable spatial planning. Particular attention is paid to the parameters of sustainable spatial planning, which should be guided by the planning of the living space of a European-style society. The fundamental goals of sustainable spatial planning are given, which include: balanced socio-economic development of regions; improving the quality of life; responsible management of natural resources and environmental protection; rational land use. The conclusions substantiate the possibility of transforming the destructive consequences of Russian aggression into the possibility of comprehensive modernization of Ukraine's living space based on European principles of sustainable spatial planning, which, in turn, will facilitate and accelerate Ukraine's integration into the European Community.

STATE AND TRENDS OF URBANIZATION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE FORMATION OF A SMART ECONOMY

The article is devoted to the diagnosis of the state of urbanism and urbanization trends in the world, in its individual regions and in Ukraine. The etymology of the term "smart" and the peculiarities of modern scientific approaches to its interpretation have been established. The relationship and difference between the concepts of "urbanism" and "urbanization" are studied: urbanization is considered as a process of spatial evolution of society due to the growth of urban and reduction of rural population and the process of transition from rural to urban lifestyle; urbanism is defined as the achieved level of the development of cities and urban environment as a whole, which reflects the impact of the state of urban environment on people's lives and the relationship between people and urban territories. The terms "urbanism" and "urbanization" are used to denote the parameters characterizing, respectively, the state of the research object at a certain point in time and the change in its state over time. The level of urbanism and the trends of urbanization in the world, in individual countries and regions of the world, in Ukraine and its regions is diagnosed by the indicator of the share of urban population in the total population of the territories and by the results of the analysis of trends in its dynamics. It is concluded that the processes of the formation of a smart economy and a smart society are related to the processes of urbanization, since cities are important centers of concentration of resources, technologies, innovations and infrastructure; at the same time, urbanization should be considered in the context of sustainable development, which involves the preservation of natural resources and environmental protection, in order to ensure balanced socio-economic development of urban areas.

Indicators of environmental behavior of the population

Ecological behavior of the population in everyday life is considered as one of the main characteristics of human potential. Therefore, were identified indicators separating the use of natural resources and environmental protection in production and in everyday life. The condition for selection of indicators was the possibility of their statistical support. As a result, the indicators of solid household waste generation and household water consumption per capita were selected to formalize the ecological behavior of the population. The issues of waste management, which have recently been raised to the forefront in environmental issues, are mainly studied in technical, technological, organizational, and economic aspects. At the same time, much less attention is paid to the process of formation and volume of household waste among the population. A strong differentiation of solid household waste generation per person by Russian regions is shown. Another indicator of the ecological behavior of the population considered in the article is the volume of water consumption in everyday life per capita. A number of indicators have been found reflecting the volume of water consumption in everyday life, which vary greatly in quantity, since they have different contents and are calculated according to different methods. The choice of the indicator of the use of fresh water for household needs per person is based on the availability of information about it in statistical collections by Russian regions. Multiple discrepancies in the values of this indicator are found out not only in the regions of different Federal districts, but also often in neighboring regions of the same district.

Exploration and Analysis of Natural Resources Utilization and Ecological Environment Protection

Exploration and Analysis of Natural Resources Utilization and Ecological Environment Protection

Managing abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear (Derelict Gear) in Eastern Caribbean small-scale fisheries: An assessment of legislative, regulatory and policy gaps

The issue of abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is a complex global challenge that affects not only industrial fleets but small-scale fisheries as well. Having been described as perhaps the most dangerous form of marine litter, it is important to not only understand the scale and nature of the problem globally but whether existing management regimes can respond to this complex issue.For the islands of the Eastern Caribbean, as in several other regions of the world, research has shown that there are significant knowledge gaps in our understanding of ALDFG and its management. This research has focused on discerning the legislative, regulatory and policy gaps associated with the management of ALDFG in small-scale fisheries of several Eastern Caribbean States (Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines). Through an examination of national fisheries, pollution, solid waste and environmental protection laws as well as policies related to marine litter and/or fisheries a number of weaknesses have been identified in the legal, regulatory and policy landscape for these islands as it relates to the management of ALDFG. These weaknesses have been borne out in outdated and missing fisheries laws, ineffective marine pollution instruments that lack provisions focused on marine-sources of waste, as well as the complexities related to the multi-gear nature of the sub-region’s fisheries. Improvements to the legal, regulatory and policy framework for the management of ALDFG in the Eastern Caribbean will aid in curbing the proliferation and adverse impacts of ALDFG in the region. However this must be accompanied by targeted research to understand not only the scale of the challenge but the drivers of loss. This will assist in the defining of purpose-fit solutions to a complex challenge.

THE METAL IONS CONCENTRATION DETERMINING IN THE SOLUTIONS USING VOLTAMMETRIC ANALYZER

Ion exchange materials are successfully used for solution of a number of practical problems, such as production processes waste-free technology creation, industrial wastewater treatment, rational natural resources and environmental protection use. The Physicochemical and sorption characteristics study is needed for the determination of ion exchangers application promising areas, however chemical research methods are laborious, and atomic absorption spectroscopy is not always available. The purpose of this work is to find and use available methods, which do not require complex technological equipment for metal ions concentration determining in the solutions. Methodology. Stripping voltammetric determination of metal ions by addition method has been used to determine the equilibrium concentrations of metal ions in the solutions. Results and discussion. The non-ferrous metal ions concentration determining methods have been developed and used on the voltammetric analyzer «Ecotest BA», which is a real economical alternative to expensive methods of analysis. Stripping voltammograms of samples, which contain cadmium and copper, zinc, lead cations; vanadate ion, molybdate ion were constructed. The ions concentrations in the equilibrium solutions after sorption are calculated. Conclusion. The stripping voltammetric method is convenient for studying the sorption and ion-exchange materials complexing properties; it and also allows to determine several metals without their preliminary separation resorting.

The Construction and Analysis of Natural Environmental Protection System Based on the Concept of Ecological Balance

The Construction and Analysis of Natural Environmental Protection System Based on the Concept of Ecological Balance

The Power of the Imperial Envoy: The Impact of Central Government Onsite Environmental Supervision Policy on Corporate Green Innovation

Focusing on a new policy which features onsite environmental monitoring conducted by central government, we investigate the impact of the National Environmental Protection Supervision (NEPS) policy on Chinese listed firms’ substantive versus symbolic green innovation. The results indicate that substantive green innovations are significantly promoted after the NEPS implementation, while the effect for symbolic ones is not observed. Moreover, the positive impact on substantive green innovation is stronger for firms with low financial constraints and those located in developed regions. Our findings highlight the effectiveness of the process-monitoring environmental policy, providing practical references for environmental policymaking and corporate sustainable development.

Arsenic in groundwater from Southwest Bangladesh: Sources, water quality, and potential health concern

Arsenic (As) poisoning in groundwater has become one of the greatest environmental concerns around the world. In this study, As concentration in the groundwater samples (depth: 52–70 m) of southwestern Bangladesh was evaluated using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) to know the current status, possible source(s), and probable health risk of As. In addition, the other relevant water quality parameters (pH, temperature, EC, TDS, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, HCO3−, Fe, and Mn) were also measured using various instruments such as portable bench meter, Flame photometer, AAS, and Ion Chromatograph to evaluate the suitability of the water for drinking and irrigation purposes. Arsenic concentration (μg L−1) ranged from 13.10 to 292 (mean ± SD: 156.9 ± 100.31), which is alarmingly, and 15 times higher than the WHO recommended value for drinking water. pH values of collected groundwater samples ranged from 7.17 to 8.09, which exhibits a lightly alkaline nature. The average abundance of major cation follows the order of Ca2+ > Mg2+ > Na+ > K+, and the average abundance of major anions follows the order of HCO3− > Cl− > NO3− > SO42−, with Ca2+and HCO3− being the dominant cation and anion, respectively. Based on water quality assessments utilizing the water quality index and entropy water quality index, the groundwater in the region of interest was not suitable for drinking or irrigation purposes. The Piper tri-linear diagram suggests the dominant water type in the study area was the Ca-HCO3 type, where Ca and HCO3− are the principal cations and anions, respectively. A bivariate analysis of different hydro-chemical parameters revealed that silicate weathering controls the hydrogeochemical processes in groundwater. Principal component and hierarchical cluster analysis indicate As in groundwater are geogenic in origin under reductive dissolution processes. The moderate correlation between As, Fe, and Mn indicate reductive dissolution of FeOOH and MnOOH plays a vital role in releasing As from sediment to groundwater. Probable cancer risk assessment for both adults and children revealed a higher value than the recommended value of 10−6 according to United Nations Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), suggesting that people in the area of interest were at high carcinogenic risk.

Аnalysis of the functioning of the regional system of nature management and environmental protection

Аnalysis of the functioning of the regional system of nature management and environmental protection

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the Low-Carbon Economy: A Prospective Study on the Long-Term Rental Housing Market in Guangxi, China

In recent years, the tourism economy of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (hereinafter referred to as “Guangxi”), China, has been caught in the contradiction between infrastructure construction and natural environmental protection. By combing Guangxi’s tourism economy with its development path of smart long-term rental housing, this paper finds that the long-term rental market in Guangxi based on artificial intelligence (AI) technology can solve the development contradiction through accurate construction planning to improve efficiency. The long-term rental housing market in Guangxi has entered a low-carbon economy period since pilot programs were launched for the policy of managing public rental housing with AI and information technologies. From the perspective of AI, facts have proved that AI has the ability to re-adjust the competition order of an industry, which not only realizes the low-carbon development of the rental market, but also promotes the industrial upgrading of the tourist industry.

National Defense and Environmental Protection: On the Czech Armed Forces´ Approach to the Development of Environmental Legislation in the Czech, EU and NATO Context

The aim of this study was to create an overview of the Czech Armed Forces' development in approach to environmental protection from 1989 to 2022. Using the methods of analysis, synthesis and comparison of the Czech, EU´s and NATO´s environmental legislation, we created a comprehensive and previously unpublished overview of environmental protection within the Czech Armed Forces. Found outputs were set into illustrations depicting the activities in the environmental field with internal links between civil legislation, EU's requirements, and NATO's policy in chronological order. We conclude that the year 2000 represents a key milestone from which the approach to environmental protection have stagnated. Among the reasons for the stagnation, we identify commanders' concerns about "green approach" to troop training and the lack environmental education within defence department.

LANDSCAPE DIVERSITY OF THE TERRITORY OF THE TOBOL RIVER BASIN WITHIN THE KOSTANAY REGION

The relevance of the study of landscape diversity has become one of the current directions of modern geographical research, allowing to obtain new scientific and practical results in the field of nature management and environmental protection. A comprehensive study and assessment of the diversity of the landscapes of the region is due to the increasing anthropogenic impact on its natural environment. The transformation of natural landscapes in the study area is associated with the raw materials orientation of its economy. As a consequence of the development, we have a wide variety of degrees and types of modifications of natural geosystems. The main results of the assessment of the landscape diversity of the territory of the Tobol river basin within the Kostanay region, performed using GIS, are presented. Landscape diversity evaluation performed using series of landscape diversity indices: uniqueness, relative wealth, landscape mosaic, landscape complexity, landscape fragmentation and the entropy measure of the complexity of landscape drawing (The Shannon index). The factors that determine the landscape diversity of the study region are considered. The results of cartographic analysis of the landscape diversity of the region are presented. A map of the landscape diversity of the territory of the Tobol River basin within the Kostanay region according to the Shannon diversity index has been compiled.

Comparison of common classification strategies for large-scale vegetation mapping over the Google Earth Engine platform

• We assessed the effect of various sample properties on classification performance. • The use of pixel time series from fusion data achieved optimal results. • Target class proportions and sample time frames affected accuracy. • Suboptimal methods had a larger impact on the accuracy of minority classes. • The combined use of Sentinel MSI and SAR data provided accurate vegetation maps. Vegetation resources have an essential role in sustainable development due to their close relationship with natural resource management and environmental protection. The monitoring of land use and cover is key for a more sustainable management of these resources, and Earth Observation satellites have provided an increasingly powerful platform for performing this task. To date, numerous classification algorithms have been developed for vegetation mapping, but a comparative evaluation of the strategies commonly used in large-scale applications (50000 km 2 and above) is lacking. We developed a classification framework based on random forests and Sentinel data within the Google Earth Engine platform to assess the performance of various strategies over a complex landscape with a wide range of vegetation classes, plot configurations, and agricultural practices. These strategies differed in key aspects related to the characteristics of the classifier and the sample, and were evaluated by class-specific and general accuracy metrics. We found that the use of pixel time series features from fusion data, class-balanced labels, and multi-season time frames enhanced overall performance by 1.3%–14.1% over alternative approaches, but in some cases also generated tradeoffs of 1.6%–8.5% between recall and precision. In general, suboptimal strategies were particularly ineffective for the detection of infrequent classes. Finally, the different parameter values used in the random forests did not have a significant influence over the results. Our results demonstrate the importance of algorithm design in the effective classification of multiple vegetation classes, corroborate the usefulness of Sentinel data to generate mapping products of high resolution and accuracy, and highlight the importance of cloud computing tools for the development of vegetation mapping tools in large-scale applications. These findings provide general guidelines for the design of future classification frameworks, which are necessary for facilitating a sustainable management of natural resources worldwide.

Green Campus Audit Procedures and Implementation to Educational Institutions and Industries

Nature provides a free lunch, but only if we control our appetites. As we are in the twenty-first century, modernization and industrialization are the two important outputs that have made human life more luxurious and comfortable. Simultaneously, they are responsible for several uses of exploitation of forests, natural resources, and wildlife, polluting the scarce, producing massive solid waste and sacred water resources, and finally making our planet Earth ugly and inhospitable. Today, people are getting more familiar with global issues like global warming, the greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, climate change, etc. Now, it is considered a final call by Mother Earth to walk on the path of sustainable development. The time has come to wake up, unite and combat together for a sustainable environment. The present study focuses on the concept of green audit and its importance with respect to the conservation of nature for future generations. Every organization should have its own green campus and environment policy with respect to nature conservation and environmental protection and should maintain a sizable amount of green cover area after building construction along with natural and planted vegetation. A maximum number of more oxygen-producing and carbon-di-oxide-absorbing plants should be maintained to provide a pure atmosphere to the stakeholders. The installation of a rainwater harvesting system, percolation, ponds, check dam, and drip irrigation system to conserve rainwater and groundwater should be noteworthy on the campus.

Innovative Application Study Of Label-free Concept In Packaging Design

The lack of an objective evaluation system and monitoring system for product design has led to an endless stream of "formalism" in product engineering, exacerbating the current situation of excessive and disproportionate product design, and even creating an economic and social hazard. This paper focuses on the important role of the "label-free" concept in the design of beverage packaging products, based on three aspects: national environmental protection, product differentiation, and international market trends, while conducting experimental research through data collection and project studies. The aim is to solve the problem of resource waste and environmental pollution caused by beverage packaging through this new design trend.

Farmers' cognition of the COVID-19 outbreak, risk perception and willingness of green production

Existing literature reports that COVID-19 outbreak may affect people's risk perceptions, with disturbances ranging from mild negative emotional reactions to overall mental health. At the same time, the pneumonia pandemic reveals all the vulnerabilities and weaknesses of our ecosystem and makes people reflect on traditional ecologically harmful production practices. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to review the existing scientific literature on these variables, through a survey and empirical analysis, in order to present and comment on the effects and mechanisms of influence between them. The results showed that: (1) Increasing farmers'cognition of COVID-19 outbreak could significantly enhance the green production willingness. Specifically, the probability of “Very willing”to participate in green production increased by 29.9% for each unit of increase in cognition. (2) Farmers'cognition of COVID-19 outbreak can significantly enhance the level of risk perception and thus enhance their green production willingness, that is, risk perception is an important transmission medium of this effect. (3)The analysis of inter-generational difference showed that the impact of cognition of COVID-19 outbreak on green production willingness was significant for both the new generation and the old generation. On the basis of this, some policy suggestions are put forward, such as strengthening the propaganda and education of natural ecological environment protection, establishing the propaganda mechanism of green agricultural products market in the later period of epidemic situation, raising farmers'risk perception level through multi-channels and so on.

Low carbon dispatch of electricity-gas-thermal-storage integrated energy system based on stepped carbon trading

In the construction of the energy Internet and the environment of national environmental protection, China has proposed the establishment of carbon trading markets, such as policy mechanisms, and energy conservation and emission reduction have also become the most popular topic. To this end, the article proposes a low-carbon operation mode of an integrated energy system. First, build a combined electricity-gas-heat-storage structure based on energy conversion and storage devices; then, introduce a stepped carbon trading mechanism and establish a hierarchical calculation model, that is, calculate carbon trading costs based on the carbon emission range; then, Establish a low-carbon scheduling model, in which the goal is to minimize the sum of power generation costs and CO2 emissions transaction costs, and take into account safety constraints. Finally, a case study will be conducted to test the effectiveness of the proposed model.