Non-material Benefits Research Articles

Perceptions of ecosystem services: A comparison between sacred and non-sacred forests in central Benin (West Africa)

Identification and assessment of the influence of socio-cultural beliefs in the perception of ecosystem services values are increasingly important for the management of forest resources. In this paper, we present a comparative study of local perceptions of the diversity of ecosystem services, values and priorities between communities living near sacred and non-sacred forests. This study revealed 21 ecosystem services related to sacred and non-sacred forests, grouped under four categories: provisioning (n = 6), regulating (n = 7), supporting (n = 2) and cultural (n = 6) services. Local populations living near the sacred forest (Kikélé Sacred Forest) identified the non-material benefits of ecosystem services such as spiritual inspiration and religious values as more important compared to populations living around the non-sacred forest (Pénessoulou Forest Reserve). In communities near the sacred forest, similar perceptions of spiritual values of the forest were observed among young and old, and between those with and without formal education, suggesting a strong transmission between socio-demographic strata of cultural values related to the forest. However, a greater importance was given by young and formally educated community members in the provisioning services of non-sacred forests. Forest management under traditional rules and harboring voodoo, a traditional religion in Benin, could explain forest ecosystem perceptions, with higher valuation of non-material ecosystem services in comparison to those of people living in the vicinity of forests without voodoo. Our study highlights the challenges of ecosystem service valuation at the sacred and non-sacred forest interface and shows the importance of integrating traditional beliefs in forest ecosystem management strategies.

A Model for the Economic Evaluation of Cultural Ecosystem Services: The Recreational Hunting Function in the Agroforestry Territories of Tuscany (Italy)

Cultural ecosystem services (CESs) are non-material benefits generated by natural and human ecosystems that substantially contribute to human wellbeing. Estimating the monetary value of CESs is challenging because there is no real market for these services and therefore there is no actual market price. This study seeks to define an economic evaluation method for these services, with special reference to a recreational CES that has so far received little discussion: hunting. We conducted an online survey in the province of Siena (Tuscany, Italy). The Consumer Surplus estimate of hunters was made using the travel-cost method with a detailed analysis of the annual expenditure on hunting activities, and a negative binomial statistical regression. The results reflect the nature of hunting activity and show the dynamics that have occurred over recent decades. In fact, whereas hunting used to be strongly connected to the rural world as it was an income supplement for local communities, nowadays it has turned into an elitist and almost exclusively recreational activity. In any case, knowing the economic value of ecosystem services constitutes an essential background for planning effective land management and development policies in the short and long term.

Climate change and the demand for recreational ecosystem services on public lands in the continental United States

Cultural ecosystem services represent nonmaterial benefits people derive from the environment; these benefits include outdoor recreation opportunities. Changes in climatic conditions are likely to shift the spatial and temporal demand for recreational ecosystem services. To date, little is known about the magnitude and spatial variability in these shifts across large geographic extents. We use 14 years of geotagged social media data to explore how the climatological mean of maximum temperature affects the demand for recreational ecosystem services by season across public lands in the continental United States. We also investigate how the demand for recreational ecosystem services on public lands may change by 2050 under two climate change scenarios, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. Across all public lands in the continental U.S., demand for recreational ecosystem services is expected to decrease 18% by 2050 under RCP 4.5 in the summer, but increase 12% in the winter and 5% in the spring, with no significant changes in the fall. There is substantial variation in the magnitude of projected changes by region. In the spring and fall, some regions are likely to see an increase in the demand for recreational ecosystem services (e.g., Arkansas-Rio Grande-Texas-Gulf), while others will see declines (e.g., South Atlantic Gulf, California Great Basin). Our findings suggest the total demand for recreational ecosystem services across the continental U.S. is expected to decline under warming temperatures. However, there is a large amount of variation in where, when, and by how much, demand will change. The peak season for visiting public lands is likely to lengthen in the continental U.S. as the climate continues to warm, with demand declining in the summer and growing in the off-season.

The role of soils in the regulation of hazards and extreme events.

The frequency and intensity of natural hazards and extreme events has increased throughout the last century, resulting in adverse socioeconomic and ecological impacts worldwide. Key factors driving this increase include climate change, the growing world population, anthropogenic activities and ecosystem degradation. One ecologically focused approach that has shown potential towards the mitigation of these hazard events is the concept of nature's contributions to people (or NCP), which focuses on enhancing the material and non-material benefits of an ecosystem to reduce hazard vulnerability and enhance overall human well-being. Soils, in particular, have been identified as a key ecosystem component that may offer critical hazard regulating functionality. Thus, this review investigates the modulating role of soils in the regulation of natural hazards and extreme events, with a focus on floods, droughts, landslides and sand/dust storms, within the context of NCP. This article is part of the theme issue 'The role of soils in delivering Nature's Contributions to People'.

The Preferences of Active Final Purchasers Regarding the Environment of Cooperation with Offerors and Benefits Achieved Thanks to Such Cooperation

The aim of this study was to identify the preferences of final purchasers regarding the environment of cooperation with offerors and the benefits of cooperation, as well as to identify dependencies between two groups of preferences, taking into account the age of purchasers. The results of an analysis of the global literature on the subject indicate that so far these issues have not been studied, either in relation to the energy market or other areas of the consumer market. Therefore, we can talk about a cognitive and research gap in this area. In order to reduce the gap, seven research hypotheses were formulated and primary research was carried out on 1196 adult representatives of final purchasers in Poland to verify the hypotheses. The collected data were subjected to quantitative analysis, the results of which made it possible to state that most respondents preferred the parallel use of the online and offline environments as a place of interaction with offerors. More than half of the respondents stated that a combination of material and non-material benefits achieved through cooperation with offerors effectively encourages purchasers to undertake this cooperation. Non-material benefits such as the possibility of gaining new knowledge, the possibility of gaining new skills, and the possibility of establishing relationships with new people turned out to be particularly important. Statistically significant dependencies were identified between the preferences regarding the environment of cooperation and preferences regarding the benefits of cooperation. Moreover, dependencies were identified between age and the general specificity of benefits of cooperation with offerors, and between age and twelve specific benefits of cooperation. Conclusions drawn from the results obtained have great cognitive and application value, enriching knowledge of the behavior of final purchasers and making it easier for offerors, including companies operating on the consumer energy market, to make effective decisions about encouraging recipients to cooperate in the process of creating a marketing offer.

Species abundance as a determinant of aesthetic values of flowering plant communities

Both the conservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of ecosystem services are important and fundamental goals in response to the current biodiversity crisis. Cultural ecosystem services – the non-material benefits people derive from their interactions with nature – are an important component of ecosystem services. However, determining the contributions of different components of biodiversity to these benefits has proven more challenging than for other ecosystem services. Here, we determine the relative contributions of diversity (measured as cultivar richness) and abundance (number of individuals) to the aesthetic value of flowering plant communities, using sunflowers as a model organism. We created grassland vegetation plots consisting of different numbers of sunflower cultivars and individuals, presented these treatments to people, and measured their aesthetic preferences (both self-reported and objective behavioural measures) towards them. We found that people’s aesthetic preferences were unrelated to differences in the cultivar richness of the plots but increased substantially with the number of individuals. More importantly, these preference patterns did not differ with a participants’ nature orientation, ecological knowledge, or gender, suggesting the generality of the results. Our findings indicate that the abundance of wildlife can play a crucial role in shaping the cultural services provided by ecosystems. Researchers and policy-makers should therefore pay more attention to the role of abundance in maintaining ecosystem services.

Mapping Cultural Ecosystem Services (CESs) and key urban landscape features: a pilot study for land use policy and planning review

ABSTRACT Cultural ecosystem services (CESs), despite providing multiple non-material benefits associated with human well-being, have been overlooked in urban planning. Using as a pilot study the municipality of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, we map and evaluate the inclusion of CESs into land use policy to better inform urban planning. We tested a framework for: (1) assessing the preferences of local inhabitants for CESs and landscape features; (2) evaluating land use policies; and (3) mapping CES hotspots in the city. We found sense of place and recreation to be the main CESs associated with parks, squares and cultural centres. No land use policy explicitly mentioned CESs, while the zoning plans do not reflect bundles of spatial non-material values and landscape features. This pilot study can play a vital role in developing more comprehensive insights to bridge urban planning and landscape preferences to help guiding land use policy review towards sustainable urbanisation.

#urbanforest: cultural ecosystem services of urban trees through the lens of Instagram

Purpose The non-material benefits which people derive from ecosystems, cultural ecosystem services (CES), can be difficult to measure and quantify. This study aims to demonstrate the usefulness of social media analysis. Design/methodology/approach The widespread use of social media applications has provided a novel methodology for obtaining crowd-sourced data, which can reveal patterns in how social media users interact with urban greenspace and participate in place-making activities. This study explores how urban trees are represented in images tagged with the city of Bolzano, Italy, and uploaded over the course of a year to the image-sharing application Instagram. Findings A third of all the images contained some elements of green nature, with 3.1% of the images portraying urban trees as the main subject and 11% with urban trees as background features. Seasonal preferences for winter and summer scenes emerged. Accompanying text, in the form of hashtags and image descriptions, was mostly positive and showed how enthusiastically people describe urban nature. An assessment of the images in terms of CES revealed that beyond aesthetic factors and the inspiration to take photographs of nature, a wide range of CES are represented, reflecting the recognition of the benefits of urban trees by Instagrammers. The collection of images provided a unique snapshot of the city of Bolzano. Practical implications This reinforces the importance of urban trees within planning policy for providing sense of place, recreation and stress relief for residents and tourists. Originality/value The study builds on recent advances in social media research, focussing on the important field of urban CES.

Manajemen Ekonomi Syariah dalam Fungsi-Fungsi Bisnis Islam

Abstract: In sharia business, management is used as a basic element that is attached to business processes that will be used as a reference by managers in carrying out activities to achieve goals. The management urgency in business is designed to cover four functions, namely production, personnel, marketing and finance. Business in Islam also aims to achieve four main things: targets results, material and non-material benefits, sustainability of growth, and blessings. This research is qualitative library research using sources from various references conducted descriptively and analytically. The findings suggest that in its application, business management cannot be separated from the beliefs and values underliying it, which must be in accordance with the view of life and Islam. Keywords: management; Islamic business; transactions

Landowners' Socio-Cultural Valuation of Ecosystem Services Provided by Trees in Costa Rican Agricultural Landscapes.

Over one-fourth of the world's land area is dedicated to agriculture, and these lands provide important ecosystem services (ES). Trees are a key component of agricultural ecosystems' ability to provide ES, especially in tropical regions. Agricultural landowners' evaluation of the ES provided by trees influences management decisions, impacting tree cover at large scales. Using a case study approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with four types of agricultural landowners in southern Costa Rica to better understand how they value ES provided by trees. We used a socio-cultural valuation method, which revealed that landowners highly valued regulating and provisioning ES provided by trees and that the number and type of ES identified was influenced by the principle economic activity. Those farmers with larger amounts of forests on their properties more often identified cultural ES. The socio-cultural valuation methods revealed that respondents valued trees as wildlife habitat, coupling supporting and cultural services with both material (e.g., tourism) and non-material benefits (e.g., beauty). Few farmers in the study benefited from payment for ecosystem services programs, but the high value farmers placed on trees indicates there are other opportunities to increase tree cover on farms, such as promotion of live fencing and expanded riparian corridors. Results from this work can help improve conservation outcomes by shifting the focus of ecosystem service valuation to the needs and concerns of small-scale farmers in the development of outreach programs, management plans, and policies aimed at increasing tree cover on private lands in agricultural landscapes.

DESA WISATA PENTINGSARI; UPAYA PEMBERDAYAAN MASYARAKAT DALAM PENGELOLAAN DESA WISATA

Efforts to empower people in managing Pentingsari tourism villages are described through aspects of access to natural resources that are managed as tourism objects and local wisdom, human resources that have the potential to become managers and establish cooperation with the tourism agency and the private sector (banking). The aspect of participation has been manifested in community participation in various village tourism activities (reception, attractions, companion activities and others). The Control Aspect has been carried out by the Sleman Regency Tourism Office through mentoring activities such as the Tourism Village festival competition which is held once a year, and the evaluation every two years on all Tourism Villages in Sleman Regency and the establishment of a communication forum between Tourism Villages. The benefit aspect for the community from the tourism village management is in the form of material (wages as a companion to the activity) and non-material benefits in the form of capacity building regarding the management of the tourism village, organizational management, financial management and improvement of group work

Spatial characterization of non-material values across multiple coastal production landscapes in the Indian Sundarban delta

The paper narrates an empirical study of participatory mapping and spatial characterization of six non-material landscape values across multiple coastal production landscapes in the Indian Sundarban delta. The methodology relies on an inexpensive rapid rural appraisal technique that integrates the conventional notion of place preference and participatory mapping. 168 respondents living in the study area were provided six georeferenced maps with 30 pre-identified landmarks, and were asked to mark and rank at least three preferred locations (with no upper limit) for each of the six non-material landscape values category (i.e. spiritual, recreational, heritage, aesthetic, educational, and negative values). A total of 65 locations, depicting all the six landscape values, were identified from the survey. Corresponding scores against these points were calculated by multiplying the frequency of occurrence and assigned preference weights. We thereafter conducted a series of statistical and spatial analysis to understand the demographic patterns in the observed intangible values and their spatial association with different production landscapes. Regression modeling revealed significant influence of the age and educational profile of the respondents on the number of points marked viz.-a-viz. appreciation for non-material landscape values. Also, the Spearman correlation revealed a strong positive pairwise association between recreational and aesthetic values, spiritual and heritage as well as educational and heritage values. Finally, we computed landscape-wise availability of non-material values using a recent land use map of the delta, and found that agriculture/cultivated areas, rural settlements, and mudflats/beaches were associated with high non-material values, while aquaculture was minimally attributed to non-material landscape values. As such, the study facilitates a comparative understanding of non-material benefits from multiple rural production landscapes/waterscapes, besides providing valuable spatial information for policy-planners and administrative officials.

Social networks influence farming practices and agrarian sustainability.

The social-ecological effects of agricultural intensification are complex. We explore farmers' perceptions about the impacts of their land management and the impact of social information flows on their management through a case study in a farming community in Navarra, Spain, that is undergoing agricultural intensification due to adoption of large scale irrigation. We found that modern technology adopters are aware that their management practices often have negative social-ecological implications; by contrast, more traditional farmers tend to recognize their positive impacts on non-material benefits such as those linked with traditions and traditional knowledge, and climate regulation. We found that farmers' awareness about nature contributions to people co-production and their land management decisions determine, in part, the structure of the social networks among the farming community. Since modern farmers are at the core of the social network, they are better able to control the information flow within the community. This has important implications, such as the fact that the traditional farmers, who are more aware of their impacts on the environment, rely on information controlled by more intensive modern farmers, potentially jeopardizing sustainable practices in this region. We suggest that this might be counteracted by helping traditional farmers obtain information tailored to their practices from outside the social network.

Exploring the multiple contributions of enset (Ensete ventricosum) for sustainable management of home garden agroforestry system in Ethiopia

Although keystone species in the home garden agroforestry system provide multiple contributions to people, they have not been thoroughly researched, particularly in indigenous crops. Enset (Ensete ventricosum) is a domesticated home garden perennial crop in large parts of southern Ethiopia. This study explores the diverse contributions of enset in the Gurage socio-ecological production landscape in Ethiopia through geospatial, field surveys, and biophysical measurements. Nature's contribution to people (NCP) assessment framework has been considered to explore the societal benefits of the enset crop, and more than 25 contributions are identified in the landscape. Every part of the crop is essential for the local people. The range of contributions extends from food for humans and feeds for livestock to climate regulations and soil enrichment. Enset is a cultural asset of the community and contributes to enhancing the aesthetic quality of the landscape. However, their diverse uses have been decreasing due to socioeconomic changes and the lack of technological innovations. This decline can result in the loss of the home garden system, which eventually puts the community's food security at risk and the regulating and nonmaterial benefits being degraded. This study integrated the diverse tools to overcome the limited approaches of NCP assessment and scanned solutions for the sustainability of the enset farming system and to transform the food security in the region. Exploring such types of keystone species' diverse roles has indispensable for a better understanding of the agroecosystem's contributions and to drive transformative strategies for environmental sustainability.

THE INTERNALIZING VALUE OF THE LEMPU' REFIEL THE BUSINESS BENEFITS OF MIXED TRADERS' PERSPECTIVE OF ISLAMIC BUSINESS ETHICS

This study aims to internalize the value of lempu' in uncovering the advantages of mixed traders with Islamic business ethics perspectives. The focus of this research is on the values of lempu' contained in the siri'na pacce culture and the principles of Islamic business ethics. Researchers used qualitative methods with normative ethnographic and theological approaches. Sources of data in this study are primary data obtained directly from the research site with interviews by mixed traders of Bugis-Makassar ethnicity through direct face-to-face. The results explain that the value of lempu' means honesty, truth, sincerity, kindness, and justice shape the character of most of the Bugis-Makassar traders to behave according to their culture. The value of lempu' in the Bugis-Makassar ethnic culture has the same meaning as the principles of Islamic business ethics, namely monotheism, balance, truth, and ihsan. The application of the value of lempu' and the principles of Islamic business ethics in trading yields not only material benefits, but nonmaterial benefits in the form of blessings for peace of mind and does not make it further away from God which brings to the welfare of the world and the hereafter.

Cultural Ecosystem Services in the Natura 2000 Network: Introducing Proxy Indicators and Conflict Risk in Greece

Within the ecosystem services framework, cultural ecosystem services (CES) have rarely been applied in state-wide surveys of protected area networks. Through a review of available data and online research, we present 22 potential proxy indicators of non-material benefits people may obtain from nature in Natura sites in Greece. Despite the limitations due to data scarcity, this first distance-based study screens a recently expanded protected area system (446 Natura sites) providing steps towards an initial CES capacity review, site prioritization and data gap screening. Results identify hot spot Natura sites for CES values and wider areas of importance for the supply of CES. Additionally, a risk analysis mapping exercise explores the potential risk of conflict in the Natura sites, due to proposed wind farm developments. Α number of sites that may suffer serious degradation of CES values due to the large number of proposed wind turbines within these protected areas is identified, with 26% of Greece’s Natura sites showing serious and high risk of degradation of their aesthetic values. Screening-level survey exercises such as these may play an important role in advancing conservation effectiveness by increasing the appreciation of the multiple benefits provided by Natura protected areas. Based on this review, we propose recommendations through an adaptive approach to CES inventory and research initiatives in the protected area network.

The importance of urban natural areas and urban ecosystem services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Urban, peri-urban forests and other natural areas provide a wide range of material and non-material benefits to people known as ecosystem services. Access to these areas has been linked to benefits for physical and mental health of local populations. In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic forced many governments to impose a set of restrictions including the closure of businesses, cancelation of public events and schooling, social distancing, limitations on the size of social gatherings, and travel restrictions. During this period of restrictions, we conducted a study assessing the importance of urban and peri-urban forests and other natural areas to people living in and around the city of Burlington, Vermont, USA. We evaluated the self-reported use and changes in personal importance related to these natural areas before and during the period of restrictions. We received over 400 responses to our field survey. The results show that 69.0% of the respondents had increased or greatly increased their visitation rate to our natural areas and urban forests, and 80.6% of respondents considered that the importance of these areas, and access to them, either increased or greatly increased. Moreover 25.8% of the sample had either never, or very rarely accessed their local natural areas before the pandemic, but 69.2% of the first time or infrequent visitors reported that having access to these areas during COVID-19 as ‘very important’. People reported that these areas were important for a wide range of activities from exercise to birding, but also reported values related to reducing stress in a time of global chaos. Our results indicate the increasing demand and value of such areas in times of crisis such as COVID-19. Experts in zoonotic disease predict the potential for more frequent pandemic events, thus predicating the importance for continued funding for, maintenance of, and improved access to, natural areas to our largely urban civilization.

Adolescent Cranial Volume as a Sensitive Marker of Parental Investment: The Role of Non-material Resources?

Growth of different body parts in humans is sensitive to different resource constraints that are mediated by parental investment. Parental investment can involve the expenditure of material, cognitive, and emotional resources on offspring. Cranial volume, an important predictor of cognitive ability, appears understudied in this context. We asked (1) whether there are associations between growth and family structure, self-reported estimates for resource availability, and sibling number; and (2) whether these constraints relate to head and body growth in a similar manner. We assessed the associations between parental investment, height, and cranial volume in a cross-sectional study of Estonian children (born 1980–87, aged 11–17). Height correlated negatively with the number of siblings but this association became negligible in a model controlling for birthweight, parental heights, and mother’s age at birth. Unlike height, cranial volume was unrelated to sibling number, but it was negatively associated with self-reported meat and general resource shortage. Cranial volume was related to family structure and paternal education. Children living with both birth-parents had larger heads than those living in families containing a step-parent. Since these family types did not differ with respect to meat or general resource shortage, our findings suggest that families including both genetic parents provide non-material benefits that stimulate predominantly cranial growth. For the studied developmental period, cranial volume appeared a more sensitive marker of growth constraints than height. The potential of using cranial volume for quantifying physical impact of non-material parental investment deserves further attention.

What Visitors Want From Urban Parks: Diversity, Utility, Serendipity

Urban parks may provide a range of ecosystem services, but community perspectives can influence the conservation of parks and their biodiversity. Cultural ecosystem services, or the non-material benefits that people receive from nature, can prompt a park’s use and motivate a management response from local government. Our study aimed to explore why people visit urban parks, whether the tacit biodiversity of a park influenced visitation, and understand what park visitors notice, and how being in an urban park makes them feel. Combining both human and more-than-human aspects, we carried out park surveys that comprised an ecological survey and short, three-question interview with park visitors. The park surveys were carried out in six parks each in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, and Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand. While the biodiversity of species in parks differed significantly within and between cities, we found no consistent relationships between park biodiversity and the numbers of people in parks nor how being in the parks made participants feel. Some park visitors did say that their reason for being in the park was to engage with nature, but other reasons were also listed, such as to meet friends or use specific park facilities, such as gym equipment or playgrounds. Park visitors valued a diverse range of services and natural utilities, such as shade, from their visit. Many interactions were also serendipitous for visitors due to the proximity of urban parks near residential areas, businesses and transport hubs, or as extensions of their homes. We conclude that although the use of parks was not directly tied to biodiversity per se, visitors considered them to be places where they can interact with nature in a range of ways.

Understanding cultural ecosystem services related to farmlands: Expert survey in Europe

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are nonmaterial benefits that people obtain from ecosystems. The CES subcategories cover a wide range of domains (e.g. recreation, conservation of cultural heritage, human-nature relations). The CES concept has been proposed to acknowledge the nonmaterial values linking people and nature in social-ecological systems. Agricultural landscapes are outstanding examples of complex social-ecological systems where synergies and trade-offs between production and conservation determine the CES values. Europe is still rich in such landscapes/systems with outstanding cultural and natural values that deliver a multitude of CES. In this paper, we address the knowledge and perceptions of identified experts on the role of CES in the management of European agricultural landscapes. To achieve this goal, we developed a questionnaire on CES which was answered by experts working with various issues of European agricultural landscapes, including sustainable agriculture, landscape ecology, grassland management, nature conservation, cultural heritage conservation, environmental policy, sustainability research and rural development. The results show a wide knowledge and acceptance of the CES concept within such expert communities. Especially the aesthetic, cultural heritage, educational and recreational values were considered the most relevant CES subcategories. Interdisciplinary approaches, landscape planning and integrative science-policy approaches were perceived as the most promising methodologies to improve the CES approach for policy and management. Our results also show that according to experts the CES concept is still far from practical implementation in policies that target agricultural landscapes. In order to sustain such systems, we suggest the better implementation of inter- and transdisciplinary research for the development of CES-integrative policy and decision-making.