Towards a climate change adaptation strategy for coffee communities and ecosystems in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, Mexico

The mountain chain of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas in southern Mexico is globally significant for its biodiversity and is one of the most important coffee production areas of Mexico. It provides water for several municipalities and its biosphere reserves are important tourist attractions. Much of the forest cover outside the core protected areas is in fact coffee grown under traditional forest shade. Unless this (agro)forest cover can be sustained, the biodiversity of the Sierra Madre and the environmental services it provides are at risk. We analyzed the threats to livelihoods and environment from climate change through crop suitability modeling based on downscaled climate scenarios for the period 2040 to 2069 (referred to as 2050s) and developed adaptation options through an expert workshop. Significant areas of forest and occasionally coffee are destroyed every year by wildfires, and this problem is bound to increase in a hotter and drier future climate. Widespread landslides and inundations, including on coffee farms, have recently been caused by hurricanes whose intensity is predicted to increase. A hotter climate with more irregular rainfall will be less favorable to the production of quality coffee and lower profitability may compel farmers to abandon shade coffee and expand other land uses of less biodiversity value, probably at the expense of forest. A comprehensive strategy to sustain the biodiversity, ecosystem services and livelihoods of the Sierra Madre in the face of climate change should include the promotion of biodiversity friendly coffee growing and processing practices including complex shade which can offer some hurricane protection and product diversification; payments for forest conservation and restoration from existing government programs complemented by private initiatives; diversification of income sources to mitigate risks associated with unstable environmental conditions and coffee markets; integrated fire management; development of markets that reward sustainable land use practices and forest conservation; crop insurance programs that are accessible to smallholders; and the strengthening of local capacity for adaptive resource management.     

Adaptive Capacity and Social-Environmental Change: Theoretical and Operational Modeling of Smallholder Coffee Systems Response in Mesoamerican Pacific Rim

Communities who rely directly on the natural environment for their survival typically have developed risk management strategies to enable them to avoid dangerous thresholds of change to their livelihoods. Development policy appropriate for natural resource-based communities requires an understanding of the primary drivers of social-ecological change, the ways in which affected households autonomously respond to such drivers, and the appropriate avenues for intervention to reduce vulnerability. Coffee has been, and still remains, one of the most important commodities of the Mesoamerican region, and hundreds of thousands of smallholder households in the region are dependent in some way on the coffee industry for their livelihood stability. We used the Analytical Network Process to synthesize expert knowledge on the primary drivers of livelihood change in the region as well as the most common household strategies and associated capacities necessary for effective response. The assessment identified both gradual systemic processes as well as specific environmental and market shocks as significant drivers of livelihood change across the region. Agronomic adjustments and new forms of social organization were among the more significant responses of farmers to these changes. The assessment indicates that public interventions in support of adaptation should focus on enhancing farmers’ access to market and technical information and finance, as well as on increasing the viability of farmers’ organizations and cooperatives.     

Land Use Change on Coffee Farms in Southern Guatemala and its Environmental Consequences

Changes in commodity prices, such as the fall in coffee prices from 2000 to 2004, affect land use decisions on farms, and the environmental services they provide. A survey of 50 farms showed a 35 % loss in the area under coffee between 2000 and 2004 below 700 m with the majority of this area (64 %) being coffee agroforest systems that included native forest species. Loss of coffee only occurred on large and medium-scale farms; there was no change in area on cooperatives. Coffee productivity declined below 1,100 m altitude for sun and Inga shade coffee, but only below 700 m altitude for agroforest coffee. Coffee productivity was 37–53 % lower under agroforests than other systems. Increases in rubber and pasture were related to low altitude large-scale farms, and bananas and timber plantations to mid-altitude farms. Average aboveground carbon stocks for coffee agroforests of 39 t C ha^?1 was similar to rubber plantations, but one-third to one half that of natural forest and timber plantations, respectively. Coffee agroforests had the highest native tree diversity of the productive systems (7–12 species ha^?1) but lower than natural forest (31 species ha^?1). Conversion of coffee agroforest to other land uses always led to a reduction in the quality of habitat for native biodiversity, especially avian, but was concentrated among certain farm types. Sustaining coffee agroforests for biodiversity conservation would require targeted interventions such as direct payments or market incentives specifically for biodiversity.     

Reinforcement of thermoplastic rejects in the production of manhole covers

Thermoplastic rejects are un-recyclable plastics that are either incinerated causing harmful emissions into the air or land-filled. A common problem associated with manhole covers is the theft of the cover made out of cast iron and then selling it on the black market leaving a large empty hole in the road causing many potential safety and health hazards. This paper investigates the reinforcement of un-recyclable thermoplastic rejects to be used in the application of a manhole cover. Foundry sand and steel were used with the thermoplastic rejects as reinforcement of the material. Foundry sand is a hazardous waste that may cause many potential health hazards. It was shown that with 10% foundry sand, 90% thermoplastic rejects, and a steel mesh of diameter size 12 mm reinforcement, the manhole cover could withstand an average load of 112 kN. This value exceeds Grades A, AA, AAA, and B of acclaimed standards BS EN 124 for manhole covers, which ultimately indicates that the manhole cover may be used in pedestrian precincts and areas with occasional vehicular access. This composite material is produced out of waste materials (foundry sand and un-recyclable thermoplastic rejects) thus not utilizing or depleting the earth's natural resources, and eliminating the safety hazards, health hazards, and pollution associated with these waste materials. Not only is this product a benefit to the environment, but also inexpensive due to the fact that the materials are un-recyclable waste materials, and thus do not attain any value or cost.     

Synthesis of high-quality graphene sheets via decomposition of non-condensable gases from pyrolysis of polypropylene waste using unsupported Fe,Co, and Fe–Co catalysts

Producing high-quality graphene sheets from plastic waste is regarded as a significant economic and environmental challenge. In the present study, unsupported Fe, Co, and Fe–Co oxide catalysts were prepared by the combustion method and examined for the production of graphene via a dual-stage process using polypropylene (PP) waste as a source of carbon. The prepared catalysts and the as-produced graphene sheets were fully characterized by several techniques, including XRD, H₂-TPR, FT-IR, FESEM, TEM, and Raman spectroscopy. XRD, TPR, and FT-IR analyses revealed the formation of high purity and crystallinity of Fe₂O₃ and Co₃O₄ nanoparticles as well as cobalt ferrite (CoFe₂O₄) species after calcining Fe, Co, and Fe–Co catalysts, respectively. The Fe–Co catalyst was completely changed into Fe–Co alloy after pre-reduction at 800 °C for 1 h. TEM and XRD results revealed the formation of multi-layered graphene sheets on the surface of all catalysts. Raman spectra of the as-deposited carbon showed the appearance of D, G, and 2D bands at 1350, 1580, and 2700 cm⁻¹, respectively, confirming the formation of graphene sheets. Fe, Co, and Fe–Co catalysts produced quasi-identical graphene yields of 2.8, 3.04, and 2.17 g_C/g_cat, respectively. The graphene yield in terms of mass PP was found to be 9.3, 10.1, and 7.2 g_C/100g_PP with the same order of catalysts. Monometallic Fe and Co catalysts produced a mix of small and large-area graphene nanosheets, whereas the bimetallic Fe–Co catalyst yielded exclusively large-area graphene sheets with remarkable quality. The higher stability of Fe–Co alloy and its carbide phase during the growth reaction compared to the Fe and Co catalysts was the primary reason for the generation of extra-large graphene sheets with relatively low yield. In contrast, the segregation of some metallic Fe or Co particles through the growth time was responsible for the growth small-area graphene sheets.