Why bees are critical for achieving sustainable development

Reductions in global bee populations are threatening the pollination benefits to both the planet and people. Whilst the contribution of bee pollination in promoting sustainable development goals through food security and biodiversity is widely acknowledged, a range of other benefits provided by bees has yet to be fully recognised. We explore the contributions of bees towards achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our insights suggest that bees potentially contribute towards 15 of the 17 SDGs and a minimum of 30 SDG targets. We identify common themes in which bees play an essential role, and suggest that improved understanding of bee contributions to sustainable development is crucial for ensuring viable bee systems.     

Water Transactions for Streamflow Restoration,Water Supply Reliability,and Rural Economic Vitality in the Western United States

Across the western United States, environmental water transaction programs (EWTPs) restore environmental flows by acquiring water rights and incentivizing changes in water management. These programs have evolved over several decades, expanding from relatively simple two‐party transactions to multiobjective deals that simultaneously benefit the environment and multiple water‐using sectors. Such programs now represent an important water management tool and provide an impetus for collaboration among stakeholders; yet, most evaluations of their effectiveness focus exclusively on environmental outcomes, without adequate attention to impacts on other water users or local economies. To understand how these programs affect stakeholders, a systematic, multiobjective evaluation framework is needed. To meet this need, we developed a suite of environmental and socioeconomic indicators that can guide the design and track the implementation of water transaction portfolios, and we applied them to existing EWTPs in Oregon and Nevada. Application of the indicators quantifies impacts and helps practitioners design water transaction portfolios that avoid unintended consequences and generate mutually beneficial outcomes among environmental, agricultural, and municipal interests.     

Enhanced photocatalytic activity of electrospun TiO2/polyacrylonitrile membranes in a crossflow reactor using dual lights

Photocatalytic membranes reactors have become one of the most efficient technologies to treat polluted waters. However, a major drawback is the unilateral irradiation of the membrane, where only one side of the membrane is exploited. To overcome this issue, we developed a reactor where the membrane can be irradiated on both sides. Polyacrylonitrile membranes containing different amounts of TiO₂ nanoparticles up to 60% were first prepared by electrospinning. These membranes were used in a 3D-printed crossflow photocatalytic membrane reactor for the degradation of methylene blue under different combinations of lights. The use of both sides of the photocatalytic membrane significantly enhanced the photocatalytic activity for the decolorization of methylene blue in water. The prepared membranes showed the best decolorization rate for a loading of 60% of TiO₂ and the use of dual ultraviolet lights, where the methylene blue solution was completely discolored after 90 min. This is the first report of a such system configuration, and this new irradiation concept is promising for photocatalytic membrane reactions and water cleaning.

     

Toward Environmental Management Systems in Australian Agriculture to Achieve Better Environmental Outcomes at the Catchment Scale

Environmental Management Systems (EMS) are being trialed for Australian agricultural industries as society becomes more concerned about agricultures environmental performance. EMS is a structured approach used by farm businesses to assess, monitor, and improve environmental performance. Use of EMS in conjunction with other policy tools (such as financial incentives and regulation) in agriculture could enhance management of both on-farm and off-farm environmental issues. Based on the international standard ISO14001, EMS was designed to be applied at the individual business level. However, governments in Australia are exploring its potential to be applied at a catchment scale, among other things, for the purpose of linking farm-level actions to catchment targets. In Australia, governments and catchment management bodies are using Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) as the framework to try to achieve environmental targets set out in catchment plans. In this article, we compare aspects of the EMS and ICM frameworks and comment on the potential of using EMS to achieve catchment-scale environmental outcomes. We conclude that EMS could be a useful policy tool to improve farm management and to contribute, in part, to better off-site outcomes at the catchment/landscape scale. Recommendations on the use of EMS at the catchment scale are discussed. These include using an educational approach for EMS delivery, linking the EMS process to catchment targets, and ensuring catchment targets are realistic and achievable.     

Drug markets during the Katrina disaster

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of poor drug users and sellers who remained in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to identify their special needs and the unique challenges they present to disaster management. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with 119 poor, predominantly African-American, drug users and sellers. Their stories in their own words provide a mosaic of drug-related experiences from the period immediately preceding the storm through evacuation and reveal the motivations behind their behaviors. FINDINGS: Many drug users placed partying, maintaining their habits, and making money ahead of personal safety and evacuation. Drug use and sales led many not to evacuate before the storm, to use drugs in congregate shelters, to avoid shelters, to roam through flooded debris-strewn streets, to loot stores and homes of drug dealers, and to use violence or the threat of violence to achieve their drug-related aims. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: During a disaster, many poor drug users place risks on themselves, their families, their communities and ultimately on rescue workers. The conclusion presents pragmatic and humanitarian guidelines for successfully addressing this additional challenge. The recommendations are consistent with other suggestions concerning the special needs of indigent populations.