Traditional Conservation Research Articles

Nature Conservation in Communities of Rural India through Perspective of UN SDGs

The global community is divided on economic status. The conditions of the poor communities are critical, especially in developing and underdeveloped nations. Most of these nations belong to the Asian, African, and South American continents. The nations from these continents owe rich natural heritage and cultural diversity. The eco-cultural ethos embedded in the indigenous customs and traditions of these nations has global relevance in the modern age of information. It is fact that the solution to any environmental challenge exists in the cultural roots of the nation. India is one of such nations which inhabit diverse eco-culture. The purpose of this paper is to understand the natural heritage of rural India and the local conservation practices prevalent in the rural communities to achieve the targets of UN SDGs. Undoubtedly, nature conservation and environment protection involve social dimensions connected to the local ecological setup. The eco-centric approach of the Indian culture lies in the concepts of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutubkam’ (Earth is one family), ‘Aranya Sanskriti’ (Forest Culture), and the ‘Prakriti Purush’ (Natural Human) which are deeply embedded in the traditions and the customs of the Indian society. Based on traditional conservation practices, the community manages the local natural heritage. The diversity of customs and traditions results in the vividness of the conservation practices. Thus, the socio-ecological systems could be used for site-specific conservation programs and policies.

Local working collections as the foundation for an integrated conservation of Theobroma cacao L. in Latin America

The intraspecific diversity of cacao has traditionally been preserved in genebanks. However, these establishments face various challenges, notably insufficient funding, accession redundancy, misidentification and lack of wild cacao population samples. In natural environments, it is expected that unknown varieties of cacao may still be found, but wild populations of cacao are increasingly threatened by climate change, deforestation, habitat loss, land use changes and poor knowledge. Farmers also retain diversity, but on-farm conservation is affected by geopolitical, economic, management and cultural issues, that are influenced at multiple scales, from the household to the international market. Taking separately, ex situ, in situ and on-farm conservation have not achieved adequate conservation fostering the inclusion of all stakeholders and the broad use of cacao diversity. We analyze the use of the traditional conservation strategies (ex situ, in situ and on-farm) and propose an integrated approach based on local working collections to secure cacao diversity in the long term. We argue that national conservation networks should be implemented in countries of origin to simultaneously maximize alpha (diversity held in any given working collection), beta (the change in diversity between working collections in different regions) and gamma diversity (overall diversity in a country).

Hazony, Traditional Conservatism, and the Problem of History

Yoram Hazony’s recent book, Conservatism: A Rediscovery, is the closest one gets to a political theory of national conservatism. Hazony recognizes many of the same political goods that traditional conservatives and Catholic thinkers do. However, Hazony’s particular understanding of nationalism undermines these goods by advocating for a centralized state at the expense of healthy regionalism. Hazony overlooks the contribution made by the Catholic Church to restraining modern executive power.

Cognitive artifacts and human enhancement

Human improvement is epistemologically challenging and has awakened a wide range of academic and public debates, especially considering the possible ethical and political consequences of its regulation. This article focuses on a selection of conceptual questions about cognitive enhancement and defends, through the discussion, the role of cognitive artifacts and the insufficiency of a strictly materialistic vision of enhancement techniques. The article approaches 3 specific questions: first, that the concept of enhancement should not be linked only with biotechnological artifacts; second, that the most potent technologies of the near future will be those that offer user integration and transformation with machines without the need for implants or surgery; and third, that cognitive artifacts, i.e. non-biological material devices coupled to cognitive system functions, are responsible for the course of human enhancement throughout history. Thus, we do not need a moral compass to evaluate all dimensions and risks that human enhancement can elicit, since traditional conservatism about enhancement limits itself to the idea that the growth of our powers would make our values unsustainable and put the current way of human life at risk.

A Study on Traditional Villages and Towns in Lintan County, Gannan Prefecture

The human history of Lintan County in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture can be traced back to 4000 years ago. It has undergone the historical erosion of the Neolithic Age, Xia and Zhou, Tang, Northern Song, and Ming dynasties, and is also a fusion zone of Tuyuhun King, Tubo King, and Han ethnic culture, forming a traditional culture with local characteristics. In Gannan Prefecture, there is a relatively special type of culture mainly composed of Han, Hui, and Tibetan culture. Through field research, the author visited the traditional conservation villages and towns in Lintan County, and preliminarily constructed the characteristics of the area from its characteristics (site selection, layout, form, etc.) and the characteristics of traditional building construction (courtyard composition, residential functions). The reasons for its formation, including military defense, agricultural natural resources, and watershed traffic arteries and other factors, were analyzed.

Where, When, What, and Which? Using Characteristics of Migratory Species to Inform Conservation Policy Questions

Although many migratory species are of conservation concern, traditional conservation policies and economic analysis rarely address the unique characteristics of migratory species, limiting their impact. After a brief description of key attributes of migratory species, this paper explores how those features alter approaches to answering critical conservation policy questions: where, when, with what tools, and which migratory species to conserve? Because migratory species make movement decisions across space and time, migratory species conservation also considers the joint question of when and where to conserve. Policy analysis that considers the spatial–temporal actions of migratory species throughout their annual habitat and incorporates the use of near real-time information is of particular importance for migratory species conservation. Regression analysis of increasingly available spatial–temporal data about species movements could generate important insights about species responses to human-managed landscapes and provide inputs that simplify and empirically ground spatial–dynamic conservation policy analysis.

Traditional egg-harvesting policies for the endemic Moluccan ScrubfowlEulipoa wallaceion Haruku Island, Indonesia, and its conservation implications

SummaryTraditional policies on using wild species are critical in developing scenarios for community engagement in conserving wild species populations. As such, this study examines the traditional practice of harvesting eggs from Moluccan ScrubfowlEulipoa wallaceion Haruku Island, Indonesia, and its implications for bird population conservation. Using a closed-ended questionnaire, we surveyed 200 respondents in the productive age group (aged 15–65 years). It was found that most of the community supported adopting the traditional policies due to the high demand for eggs, which required daily harvesting. According to the community, egg harvesting has no adverse effect on bird populations, but hunting and habitat destruction does reduce the number of eggs available for harvesting. The community concluded that traditional conservation policies prioritise the conservation of adult birds and their habitats, not bird eggs. Particular attention should be paid to egg conservation efforts by establishing a quota for egg harvesting and limiting egg-harvesting time. Conservation efforts must also take into account the growing community awareness of the importance of conserving Moluccan Scrubfowl eggs.

Research on the Conservation of Historical Buildings Based on Digital 3D Reconstruction

As a cultural carrier, historical buildings embody the humanistic atmosphere of different periods and regions, and contain a profound cultural heritage, being the crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese nation for thousands of years. At present, when repairing and protecting existing historic buildings, without complete construction information to maintain the "authenticity" they contain, any conservation action may cause irreversible secondary damage, making the restoration of historic buildings particularly difficult. Compared to traditional conservation methods, digital conservation has the advantages of efficiency, accuracy, three-dimensionality, realistic reproduction and preventable simulation, and the application of digital technology can improve the overall level of conservation of historic buildings. Therefore, for the better conservation of historic buildings, this paper summarises a feasible and realistic approach to the digital conservation of historical buildings by collecting information on Building A, using software to numerically simulate the 3D model for virtual restoration, and using digital technology for virtual restoration research.

Conservation at a crossroads: governing by global targets, innovative financing, and techno-optimism or radical reform?

Biodiversity conservation is at a crossroads. A number of trends are converging with the potential to transform our understanding of nature and how we conserve it. First, conservation policy makers are advocating increasingly ambitious global biodiversity targets, such as the agreement to protect 30% of terrestrial, inland water, and of coast and marine areas by 2030 made at the December 2022 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Second, recognizing that governments do not have sufficient resources to reach these ambitious targets, they are turning to private finance and innovative financing mechanisms for help. Third, technological advances are enabling new ways of surveilling people, species, and ecosystems, measuring conservation outcomes, and targeting funding. Finally, long-standing concerns over the alienation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities from land and resources, and the colonial legacy of conservation, have been amplified by widespread contemporary awareness of racism more generally. Nascent critiques of conservation are incorporating but also moving beyond calls for participatory or rights-based approaches to conservation to push for the complete decolonization of conservation, alternatives to capitalist approaches to conservation, and other radical reforms. Collectively, these shifts are both reinforcing traditional conservation practice and power relationships and opening up space to expand understandings of collaborative management, environmental caretaking, and sustainable livelihoods and dramatically reform conservation. In this article, we draw on decades of research studying conservation governance in sites that range from villages to international meetings in order to examine this critical historical moment in conservation politics. We argue that conservation is at an ontological and epistemic moment during which the meaning of biodiversity, how to know it, how to conserve it, and who should conserve it is being fundamentally transformed. As transnational movements seek to transform our political economic system and to decolonize conservation, the consolidation of elite power among actors in finance, technology, governments, and big nongovernmental organizations abstracts conservation from localized contexts, drawing attention away from ensuring effective conservation on the ground and failing to challenge the root causes of biodiversity loss. Thus, continued vigilance is needed to keep equity, rights, justice, and livelihoods at the forefront of conservation.

Burke y De Maistre: dos respuestas conservadoras a la Revolución francesa

The French Revolution profoundly altered European life, and its influence quickly reached America. Positions that opposed its ideological and political postulates arose very soon against it. Two of these positions attract attention: that of Edmund Burke and Joseph de Maistre. Both reactions severely question the Revolution from a conservative perspective but took different paths. The former will give rise to a possibilistic and procedural conservatism, compatible with liberalism; while the latter will initiate a counterrevolutionary and maximalist conservative tradition that will drift towards integralism.

Local People's perception of forest ecosystem services, traditional conservation, and management approaches in North Wollo, Ethiopia

For their livelihoods, many people rely on the services offered by forest ecosystems. Nevertheless, forests are being lost and degraded on a global scale, endangering the delivery of important services. This is the situation in Ethiopia, a nation where land degradation and deforestation pose a threat to the majority of forest ecosystems. Studies in North Wollo are very scarce and limited despite the present growth in evidence bases measuring environmental services and risks across the globe. The traditional knowledge and attitudes of the locals concerning trends in forest management, conservation, and ecosystem services were investigated in this study. We used many approaches for gathering data. The quantitative data were analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, multiple linear regression, and general linear regression models. The main threats to forest ecosystems in North Wollo included deforestation for the production of firewood and charcoal, increased population growth and agricultural needs, environmental pollution, the allelopathic influence of exotic species, and loss of soil fertility. These dangers cause instability and a decline in the range of ecological services provided by forests. Regarding this, the customary rules, social exclusion, and indigenous beliefs were utilized as a conservation technique to maintain and protect the remaining natural resources. In addition, the community uses terracing, gully prevention, and hillside planting with native trees to restore the ecology that has been damaged. As a result, efforts should be made to solve the current difficulties and dangers since local people, the government and non-governmental organizations have an interest in preserving forest ecosystems. In general, encouraging the direct involvement of locals in decision-making and equitable distribution of the benefits resulting from the ecosystems could aid in addressing the difficulties and risks to the ecosystems.

Kelangsungan Pendidikan Agama Islam di Negara Sekuler: Madrasah di Singapura

This paper explores how Islamic madrasahs changed the minds of their students by teaching both religious and academic subjects. This comes alongside examining how these schools created racial and religious cohesiveness outside the boundaries of traditional conservatism and extremism. This research is qualitative, meaning it uses a variety of methods to gather its findings. This paper examines the negative effects of Madrasas on economic development in Singapore. It looks at historical methods for gathering data and literature from its research. Some specific data analyzed and presented in the paper includes relevant literature and information gathered by these methods. Before 2001, the Singaporean government pushed to close traditional or conservative schools of religious learning. They considered traditional madrasas a source of religious and racial strife that impeded cohesion among the races and religions in their country. Islamic education in Singapore can be observed through three phases. The first is the colonial phase where a secular system was adopted. After the country was no longer colonized, a traditional system was implemented. Currently, the third phase has begun where an integrated curriculum is in use.

Influencing Factors of Traditional Village Protection and Development from the Perspective of Resilience Theory

In the process of urbanization in China, traditional villages are facing many challenges and impacts which impose certain constraints on their sustainable development. Based on the perspective of resilience theory, this paper uses fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to construct a complex causal model of traditional village conservation and development, conducts an empirical study on 28 national traditional villages in Liandu District and Qingyuan County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, and analyzes four high-level history paths by using fsQCA3.0 software (Developed by the American scholar Charles Ragin et al.), based on which four traditional conservation and development models are proposed and concretized into different conservation and development strategies for different village types. The research analysis shows that (1) resilience theory is applicable to the study of traditional village conservation and development, and has certain relevance and can effectively improve the response ability of traditional villages to uncertainty risks; (2) The framework of traditional village protection and development is based on landscape environmental protection, guaranteed by village industry development, and supported by other influencing factors (natural disaster response, social organization, and cultural heritage); (3) under the perspective of resilience theory, there are four models of traditional village conservation and development (JSC model, Z&C model, J&W model, and S&C model), which have good explanatory power and coverage and can address the real problems of different village types in a targeted manner.

"My Church": Nostalgia, Tradition, and the Rise of the Secular Praise and Worship Anthem

Maren Morris’s song, “My Church,” is hardly controversial, with harmonies, form, and lyrics that give reverential honor to country music’s conservative and sacred traditions. “My Church” fits well within this conservative tradition, yet evangelical websites were replete with warnings of the dangerous threat planted by Morris’s secular restructuring of the traditional church and included strategies for how to thwart such threats. This article analyzes Morris’s song and music video, searching for musical, lyrical, and cultural reasons for that negative response and explores the meaning of religion through the reaction to the song.

Multidimensional Analysis of Knowledge-Linking within the Concept of Energy in Student Essays

In Germany there is a very conservative tradition to teach science in separated subjects during the secondary level of education. Considering the importance of knowledge-linking in all relevant learning theories of the 20th century, cross-curricular core concepts, like the concept of energy, found their way into German educational standards for biology, chemistry, and physics in 2005 (KMK, 2005a-c). The aim was to foster both more vertical (i.e. intra-subject) and more horizontal (i.e. inter-subject) linkage in subject-differentiated science education. Existing structural models or approaches to analysing and describing knowledge-linking focus exclusively either on the aspect of vertical or horizontal linkage. Based on existing models and approaches, we developed a theory-based model (MAVerBE) that allows a general analysis of the linking performance in essays. In this study, we investigate to what extent we can identify vertical and horizontal linkage structures in student essays on the cross-curricular core concept of energy in grade 9. Our results presented here give an empirical insight into students’ knowledge-linking in the sense of a normative survey. This survey should permit future comparative studies both on a national and international level to prove the popular assumption of the superiority of integrated-science teaching concerning knowledge-linking.

Introducing Interdisciplinary Curricula Into Conservation Biology: Exploring Changes in Students’ Perceived Proenvironmental Attitudes and Behaviors

Today, conserving the natural environment is paramount. Educators have been striving to develop pedagogical approaches that facilitate greater engagement in conservation behaviors. However, many of these reforms have been targeted at an institutional level, without necessarily testing whether changes in proenvironmental perceptions, attitudes, or behaviors occur for students. This step seems important when developing conservation biology courses that provide well-rounded education that may better prepare students for future challenges in biodiverse conservation contexts. Our objective was to assess the proenvironmental attitudes and conservation values of undergraduate students enrolled in an undergraduate conservation biology course before and after instruction to determine whether a multidisciplinary curriculum, in conjunction with traditional conservation biology content, would alter their perceptions. Students in both the control and intervention groups felt relatively neutral about a range of environmental and conservation topics. No statistical significance between curricula and impact on student perception was revealed. However, in the experimental course, shifts were found concerning students’ understanding of the complexity of conservation. Results also highlight long-standing issues related to conservation education, such as a bias toward mammal conservation, and suggest that guest lectures are insufficient to bring about attitude change related to sustainability. Further research on incorporating cross-disciplinary pedagogy into STEM courses is recommended.

Carbon Stocks Assessment in a Disturbed and Undisturbed Mangrove Forest in Ghana

Mangroves and other blue carbon ecosystems have long been recognised for their carbon sink function, yet the organic carbon stocks of mangroves in many countries in Africa remain to be assessed. This study evaluates the impact of traditional forest conservation on long-term carbon sequestration in a non-degraded (Amanzule) and a degraded (Kakum) mangrove forest system in Ghana (West Africa). The amount of carbon stored in mangrove trees was estimated from diameter-based allometric equations. Tree (above- and below-ground) carbon was ~34-fold higher in the Amanzule forest (mean = 0.89 ± 0.10 t/ha) than in the Kakum forest (mean = 0.026 ± 0.019 t/ha). Soil carbon density was estimated as organic carbon and bulk density at specific depths in both forests. Soil organic carbon density was ~5-fold higher in the Amanzule forest (mean = 2935.79 ± 266 t/ha) than the Kakum forest (mean = 554.01 ± 83 t/ha). The variation in the vertical distribution of soil carbon was not significant in either forest (F = 0.57; p > 0.05). These findings underscore the role of traditional conservation on mangrove carbon stocks and the need to consider the governance of coastal ecosystems when estimating blue carbon.

Mosque as a multi-functional public space destination: potential breathing space in dense urban fabrics of Hail City, Saudi Arabia

PurposeThe general concept of public space in Saudi Arabia is relatively recent; it is the result of an attempt to modernize several conservative traditions and norms, as well as the ambitious vision of 2030, which reprioritized Saudi cities' public spaces by implementing a quality-of-life improvement program. This study aims to investigate the relationship between mosque location and surrounding urban context as a significant urban design issue in order to comprehend the potential for transforming such an element into a multifunctional public space destination in a dense urban fabric.Design/methodology/approachThe study's objectives are divided into two areas: a spatial configuration analysis to examine the urban context and an urban analysis of the mosque site with a study area boundary of a 400-m buffer zone. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were utilized; in addition, a user feedback survey was conducted in which several key insights were compiled, such as the importance of safety urban element factors, aesthetic elements and green areas in the built environment in making mosques places that are active public spaces.FindingsThe study’s main finding encourages governmental institutions to change their mindset from “open space around the mosque” to “the mosque as an element within public space,” which will have a significant impact on how the authors approach, improve and redevelop existing mosque locations. Several concepts were presented that should be reconsidered and redeveloped in order to align with the most recent sustainable urban design tools; the mosque to be overlooked as a community gathering place rather than just a place for religious rituals.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited to sacred mosque sites primarily found in Islamic countries; it focuses on Saudi Arabian urban and planning practices in relation to sociocultural norms. The authors believe that increasing the number of study samples or broadening the scope of the study to include other Saudi regions or other Middle Eastern countries could yield new findings and insights.Originality/valueThe study offers a conceptual design model based on survey results and qualitative analysis and recommending strategies that planners, designers and policymakers can use to design successful mosque places and pedestrian-oriented developments.

Staying connected: assessing the capacity of landscapes to retain biodiversity in a changing climate

ContextManagement for positive biodiversity outcomes under a changing climate requires a shift of perspective relative to traditional conservation. Here we develop a repeatable indicator for measuring the capacity of landscapes to retain biodiversity under a range of plausible climate futures, as a function of the condition and spatial configuration of native habitat.MethodsThe Spatial Resilience Index extends an existing approach to assessing the potential for biodiversity associated with any location in a region to access suitable habitat in the surrounding landscape under climate change, incorporating multiple dispersal rates integrated over time and an optimised spatial structure. Derivation of the indicator is demonstrated for an Australian case study, covering the entire State of New South Wales, drawing on existing spatial datasets and models.ResultsMapping of the Spatial Resilience Index across New South Wales suggests that different regions, and locations within these regions, vary markedly in their expected capacity to retain biodiversity, depending on the direct rate of climate change, the degree of climatic buffering (or reduction of climate velocity) afforded by landscape heterogeneity, and the degree of anthropogenic impacts on the connectedness of habitat in the landscape. The developed approach accounts for the interplay between these processes by treating them within a unified framework.ConclusionsThe index highlights areas which can potentially benefit from adaptive management (e.g. habitat restoration) to enhance capacity to retain biodiversity under climate change, and offers an objective means of monitoring any resulting change in this capacity over time.

The rich tradition of jaguar research and conservation in Venezuela and its impact on human-jaguar coexistence throughout the species' range

The rich tradition of jaguar research and conservation in Venezuela and its impact on human-jaguar coexistence throughout the species' range