Motives,opportunities, and risks for private sector investment in protected areas with international importance: evidence from German companies

What motives do companies have to make a voluntary contribution to the protection and conservation of ecosystems? Could an international market for protected area certificates (PACs)—issued for geographical areas managed in accordance with social and environmental best practices—boost private investment? What are the market opportunities and risks that influence private sector investment? These questions are evaluated based on semi-structured expert interviews conducted in 39 German companies. Triangulation is used for data analysis to combine the advantages of qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative interview results complemented with the exploratory factor analysis allow identifying five motives for private sector investment, of which three are key motives in the early stage of developing PACs: direct financial benefits; the social legitimacy of entrepreneurial business; and the corporate dependency on ecosystems. Opportunities for private companies arise from the high marketing potential of certificates, the international orientation of the PAC market, and the bundling of different ecosystem benefits. Identified risks include a lack of differentiation, additional costs, and green washing. Depending on the transparency of the certification scheme, companies are aware that PACs could both improve and damage their credibility and reputation.     

Biophysical suitability,economic pressure and land-cover change: a global probabilistic approach and insights for REDD+

There has been a concerted effort by the international scientific community to understand the multiple causes and patterns of land-cover change to support sustainable land management. Here, we examined biophysical suitability, and a novel integrated index of “Economic Pressure on Land” (EPL) to explain land cover in the year 2000, and estimated the likelihood of future land-cover change through 2050, including protected area effectiveness. Biophysical suitability and EPL explained almost half of the global pattern of land cover (R ² = 0.45), increasing to almost two-thirds in areas where a long-term equilibrium is likely to have been reached (e.g. R ² = 0.64 in Europe). We identify a high likelihood of future land-cover change in vast areas with relatively lower current and past deforestation (e.g. the Congo Basin). Further, we simulated emissions arising from a “business as usual” and two reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) scenarios by incorporating data on biomass carbon. As our model incorporates all biome types, it highlights a crucial aspect of the ongoing REDD + debate: if restricted to forests, “cross-biome leakage” would severely reduce REDD + effectiveness for climate change mitigation. If forests were protected from deforestation yet without measures to tackle the drivers of land-cover change, REDD + would only reduce 30 % of total emissions from land-cover change. Fifty-five percent of emissions reductions from forests would be compensated by increased emissions in other biomes. These results suggest that, although REDD + remains a very promising mitigation tool, implementation of complementary measures to reduce land demand is necessary to prevent this leakage.     

Effectiveness of protected areas in the Colombian Andes: deforestation, fire and land-use changes

Protected areas (PAs) are one of the most common conservation strategies to halt biodiversity loss. However, little is known about their current effectiveness and how they could behave under projected scenarios of change, especially in the mountain ecosystems of the Andean region. In this study, we assess the role of protected areas against deforestation and fire incidence in the Colombian Andes and how variables associated with biophysical and context drivers such as the size, year of creation and geographic location of the PAs affect their effectiveness. For the long-term, we have addressed the question of how effective these areas will be under three different scenarios of change for the period between 2020 and 2050, including a reference scenario and two scenarios of increasing pastureland and croplands. The results obtained indicated that both deforestation and fire levels were significantly lower inside protected areas than outside their borders. Concerning variables affecting deforestation and fire, only the type of ecosystem affected these processes in this study. The magnitude of forest loss was different between the analysed scenarios and depended on the location of the PAs. The PAs located in the Western Mountain Range presented the largest values of deforestation but the lowest number of fire incidences. This finding could be related to the presence of processes other than fire, such as illegal logging or selective extraction. The largest losses are expected in the PAs associated with the Eastern and Central mountain ranges, whereas the Western Mountain range will have the lowest loss. We conclude that although the Andes Mountains are a highly transformed and dynamic region, the current PAs have been effective barriers for deforestation and fire. However, the creation of new areas and the maintenance of the current PAs should take into account the interaction with the surrounding population, especially in those areas that are more sensitive to change.     

Role of remote sensing and community forestry to manage forests for the effective implementation of REDD+ mechanism: a case study on Cambodia

In this study, we have shown the importance of remote sensing applications and community forestry for forest management, discussed as a case study on Cambodian forest management. Curbing deforestation is necessary for the effective implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forests Degradation (REDD+) mechanism and management of forest resources to support sustainable forest management plans. The updated information of the forest cover and forest biomass using advanced remote sensing techniques can be useful for selecting the suitable sites for planned thinning, reforestation, community forestry, and concession land, which eventually will help in controlling the deforestation in Cambodia. To overcome the limitations of remote sensing, an integrated approach of remote sensing and community forestry to monitor forests from local to national level has also been discussed.     

Demand of the tourists visiting protected areas in small oceanic islands: the Azores case-study (Portugal)

In general, tourism plays a significant role in the economy of archipelagos and islands. The Autonomous Region of the Azores has a great potential for tourism, offering multiple attractions, both natural and cultural, creating a big challenge for a sustainable tourism policy since little attention has been paid to the archipelagos and their special needs. This work aims to understand the profile and type of ecotourist that visits the Azores. This knowledge is of great importance for a better management and development of nature-based tourism, and products tailored to the needs and expectations of visitors. The data were collected by means of exit surveys conducted at the Airport of São Miguel Island, the larger and most populated island of the archipelago, during the high tourist season—July–September 2009. The analysis of the visitor’s profile and preferences is crucial to draw adequate strategies of management for tourism, while it helps to adequate the offer to the demand. Results showed that 41.1 % of the tourists claimed to be attracted to the islands due to their “natural values” (e.g., landscape, biodiversity, and geodiversity). The most practiced activities were whale-watching (32.4 %) and mountaineering/hiking (31.6 %), followed by diving (7 %) and other sports (5.1 %). The tourists’ profile points to a mainstream, soft, and incidental type of ecotourist. This information helps to develop and support a strategic planning and management, both at local and regional levels, for sustainable tourism policies.     

Spatial effect of environmental regulation measures on industrial structure upgrading from the empirical analysis of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the spatial effect of environmental regulation measures on the upgrading of industrial structure in the integrated development strategy of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas. In order to reflect the effect of the environmental regulation and different regulation measures more truly, this paper constructs indices of the environmental regulation measures through the results of policy texts quantification. On the basis of the previous research, this paper divides environmental regulation into the following types: personnel and administrative measures of command and control; market-oriented fiscal, taxation, financial and other economic measures; guidance measures. Spatial panel regression results show that administrative measures of command control and market-oriented fiscal measures have a significant role in promoting regional industrial structure upgrading, but not conducive to the advancement of the industrial structure of adjacent areas. Their roles in promoting and inhibition are counteracted, which causes the total effect of industrial structure upgrading of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the surrounding areas are not significant. Personnel measures, financial measures, other economic measures and guidance measures do not have the short-term effect and spatial effect on the upgrading of industrial structure.     

Assessment of the state of vegetation and prognosis of its anthropogenic dynamics in specially protected nature areas on the basis of Phytoecological mapping

Methodological approaches to the construction of phytoecological maps are described regarding specially protected nature areas and their specific features. Such maps offer new possibilities for the assessment and analysis of current and predicted states of vegetation.     

Effects of climate change on species distribution, community structure, and conservation of birds in protected areas in Colombia

Climate change is expected to cause shifts in species distributions worldwide, threatening their viability due to range reductions and altering their representation in protected areas. Biodiversity hotspots might be particularly vulnerable to climate change because they hold large numbers of species with small ranges which could contract even further as species track their optimal habitat. In this study, we assessed the extent to which climate change could cause distribution shifts in threatened and range-restricted birds in Colombia, a megadiverse region that includes the Tropical Andes and Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena hotspots. To evaluate how climate change might influence species in this region, we developed species distribution models using MAXENT. Species are projected to lose on average between 33 and 43 % of their total range under future climate, and up to 18 species may lose their climatically suitable range completely. Species whose suitable climate is projected to disappear occur in mountainous regions, particularly isolated ranges such as the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Depending on the representation target considered, between 46 and 96 % of the species evaluated may be adequately represented in protected areas. In the future, the fraction of species potentially adequately represented is projected to decline to 30–95 %. Additional protected areas may help to retain representativeness of protected areas, but monitoring of species projected to have the largest potential declines in range size will be necessary to assess the need of implementing active management strategies to counteract the effects of climate change.     

Nest site fidelity and occupancy in birds of prey (Falconiformes) in specially protected and unprotected areas of eastern Ukraine

The level of fidelity to potential nest site in representatives of different bird of prey species (Falconiformes) has been studied as dependent on population density and land-use status of the nesting area (a specially protected natural area or unprotected forest area). Species with high and low parameters of nest site fidelity and occupancy have been distinguished. The former group includes the Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo), Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus), and White-tailed Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla): no less than 60% of observed pairs have not changed their nest sites and nests during 5 years. The latter group includes the Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), European Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus), and, at the nest level, Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentiles).     

沙化区生态移民的沙化感知、社会影响和适应性策略

生态移民工程是中国政府为保护生态环境和缩减贫困人口实施的重要举措,让生态移民对气候变化产生的土地沙化有感知并尽快采取适应性策略,对防止生态移民成为“生态难民”有重要意义。本文基于社会影响理论和风险-处理能力-社会评价-适应(RCSA)的分析框架,使用在内蒙古自治区鄂尔多斯市和巴彦淖尔市调查的506户生态移民在土地沙化感知、社会影响与采取的适应性策略方面的调查数据,并使用Heckman两阶段模型和多分类Logit模型回归研究,发现:①沙化区生态移民对土地沙化的感知是移民对土地沙化采取适应性策略的先决条件,但并非感知到了土地沙化的生态移民就一定会采取适应性的防治措施。②沙化区的生态移民在新安置区受到的社会影响对移民是否有能力采取应对土地沙化的适应性策略有显著性的影响。③体现移民家庭风险处理能力的部分资产变量对移民的土地沙化感知以及采取的适应性策略有显著的正向影响。为更好地帮助生态移民减少气候变化、土地沙化带来的不利影响,沙化安置区基层政府除了让新搬迁来的生态移民积极增强资产能力外,还要帮助他们积极融入新的社区,拓宽宣传气候变化知识的渠道,增加宣传内容的多样性,引导生态移民了解应对土地沙化的技巧和方法,帮助移民减少土地沙化带来的经济损失。     

REDD+项目中不确定性对森林碳减排量的影响研究

减少砍伐和退化所致排放(REDD+)项目旨在通过采取各种政策方法和积极的激励措施,以帮助发展中国家减少砍伐和森林退化,同时还包括森林保护、森林可持续经营以及增加森林碳信用。在REDD+项目实施过程中,对于碳减排量的准确监测与度量是一个非常重要的步骤,而不确定性问题的普遍存在将可能对碳减排量产生影响。本文通过建立一个包含REDD+项目开发商和代理人两个博弈者的动态博弈模型,通过对动态博弈模型的仿真研究,分析了不确定性对利益相关者收益以及森林碳减排量的影响。研究结果表明,不确定性会使得森林碳减排量增加,以弥补因不确定性所导致的低估量。同时,不确定性的增加也会导致碳排放量的补偿支付价格增长。由于不确定性只会对代理人补贴产生影响,而不会影响开发商补贴,因而向开发商提高补贴更能促进利益相关者的利润增加。并且不确定性越大效果越明显,因此在未来向开发商而非代理人提供补贴才是政策制定者的最佳选择。由于REDD+项目中除了能给开发商和代理人带来收益之外,还以可以增进全社会环境和生态福利水平,而这种外部收益在"森林碳信用"的市场价格中并未得到完全体现,因此需要政策制定者为REDD+项目提供经济激励以弥补这种外部收益。政策制定者选用补贴模式时应优先考虑基于开发商补贴建立公平有效的激励机制。同时,为保证资金被完全用于REDD+的项目之中,并被负责任地按照预期目标使用,因此需要建立能满足国际标准的良好财政治理机制以预防腐败和欺诈,促进REDD+项目的成功实施。     

Integrated approach of the entrepreneurial behaviour in the tourist sector from disadvantaged mountain areas from Romania

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The economic development of the tourism in disadvantaged mountain areas has the role of sustaining their development and economic growth. The premise...     

The energy consumption of Paris and its supply areas from the eighteenth century to the present

Since the eighteenth century and the industrial revolution, cities have experienced great changes in their metabolism, and particularly in their energy consumption: transitions from one energy source to another, growing per capita consumption, and total consumption to cite but a few. These changes also impact urban energy supply areas and supply distance. This paper estimates Paris??s energy demand in both final and primary terms since the eighteenth century and gives an illustration of long-term socio-ecological interactions in an interdisciplinary perspective, connecting energy flow analysis, and historical research. It gives an overview of energy supply areas and assesses the distance between supply sites and the city. Paris??s annual total energy requirement (TER) was about 19?GJ per capita at the beginning of the eighteenth century and reached 30?GJ per capita in 1800; the supply area remained nearly the same with an average supply distance (D_avg) of 200?km. During the nineteenth century, Paris??s population increased fivefold, and energy transitioned from biomass to fossil fuel. Per capita TER remained stable, whereas Paris??s supply area moved progressively toward coal basins, in connection with the tremendous change in transport systems. As a consequence, the D_avg grew to 270?km around 1870. During the twentieth century, and especially since the Interwar period, per capita TER increased considerably (to 26?GJ/cap/year in 1910, 47?GJ/cap/year in 1946 and 126?GJ/cap/year in 2006). The internationalization of the energy supply and the shift to petroleum and natural gas also increased the remoteness of the supply sites: the D_avg equaled 3850?km in 2006.     

Urban growth containment policies for the guidance and control of peri-urbanization: a review and proposed framework

The purpose of this study is a review of urban growth containment policies for the guidance and control of peri-urbanization. The review of selected resources illustrates two policies: "urban growth containment policies based on planning interventions (UGCPI)" and "urban growth containment policies based on financial interventions (UGCFI)". The analysis of these policies reveals their distinct effects inside and outside the metropolitan boundaries, which, despite the positive results, create various practical consequences and challenges. This highlights the necessity of a special framework of growth guidance and control of peri-urbanization in response to the consequences and challenges of previous policies. The proposed framework is based on the four fundamental components, including regular growth, continuous activity interactions, optimal performance, and institutional capacity building that integration between them can make it possible to guide changes during the time. Certainly, the consequence of such an approach is the regular functional and structural landscape of peri-urban areas in the twenty-first century.

     

Potential of existing policies of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for implementing adaptation to climate change

The impacts of climate change are apparent in various regions of the world. Even though climate change may have a positive effect, it is anticipated that there will be many severely negative effects on human and natural resources in the future. Therefore, in addition to the need for stronger promotion of mitigation policies, it is urgently necessary to study and implement adaptation policies over the longer term to prepare for the possible negative impact of climate change. To implement climate change adaptation measures rapidly in Japan, it would seem practical and effective to make good use of the various countermeasures already promoted by both the national and the local governments for many sectors such as disaster prevention, environmental management, food production, and protection of the nation’s health. These countermeasures are considered to have potential for effecting climate change adaptation. This study, focusing on adaptation to climate change negative impacts, investigates to what extent the existing policies of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government could contribute to climate change adaptation, based on a comprehensive examination of targeted fields and indicators for which adaptation policies could be pursued. The results showed many of the existing policies could be useful for adaptation to climate change in many sectors. Furthermore, less than half of these policies need to take future climate change into account in order to contribute to climate change adaptation. This study proposes three basic steps that consider future climate change and local governmental propositions for the rapid implementation of adaptation policies in Japan.     

Effective coordination and integration of energy and transport policies for CO2 mitigation in Thailand

Cross-cutting government policies that are designed to mitigate CO₂ emissions have caused an increased interdependence between government agencies. This leads to fragmentation in the public administration of climate change mitigation. The need for more coordination among government agencies involved in drafting and implementing energy and transportation policies is necessary to create collaborative strategies that can affect energy demand and reduce CO₂ emissions. The study aims to use Thailand as a case study to examine and discuss how effective coordination and integration of energy and transport policies and actions in the domain of GHG mitigation in Thailand can be successful. The authors applied a mixed-method information gathering approach combined with data from panel discussions. A thorough literature review guided the evidence, which was reinforced by the expert opinions of 35 industry professionals and governmental officers. Importance-performance analysis was applied as a policy assessment method. The study proposes applying a combination of several factors and conditions regarding institutional aspects of transport and energy sectors into a new greater strategies and actions toward CO₂ mitigation. In findings, a combination of instruments and autonomy of sectors is the greatest important and successful opportunity to enable effective coordination and integration of policies for CO₂ mitigation. Insightful discussions on integrated approach and recommendations would contribute to collaboratively administrative mechanism.     

城乡污染转移的利益悖论及对策研究

污染从城市向农村的转移加剧了农村生态环境问题,已经成为制约农村经济发展的主要瓶颈之一。城乡污染转移是城乡经济主体为实现自身利益相互博弈的结果,本质是一个政治经济学问题。本文利用政治经济学研究方法,分别剖析了城乡家庭、企业和政府的利益诉求及其在污染问题中的行为选择,解释了城乡污染转移的可能性和必然性,在此基础上进一步研究了污染转移所导致的利益悖论,并对悖论形成的深层原因进行挖掘,进而提出城乡污染协同治理的政策建议。研究表明,城乡污染转移表面上看是经济主体利益最大化的理性选择:农村家庭受经济发展水平、信息获取能力和政策影响能力的限制,更注重短期经济利益而忽略长期环境利益;乡镇企业和污染企业对经济利益的追逐加快了城乡污染转移;地方政府为实现当地区域利益所采取的重城市轻乡村战略和政府之间的利益冲突也为污染转移提供了助力。事实上,城乡污染转移违背了经济发展的一般规律,形成污染转移的利益悖论:转移到农村的污染危害农业生产、进而损害城乡人力资本,有悖于长期经济增长;加剧农村生态资源退化、扩大城乡差距,有悖于区域协调发展;污染转移是城市对农村、当代人对后代人环境容量的剥削,有悖于环境的公平。认为:经济主体长期利益和短期利益的矛盾、城乡区域利益和整体利益的冲突以及制度供给不足和制度监管缺位是造成污染转移悖论的深层原因。在此基础上,提出了化解污染转移悖论的对策建议:统筹规划,实现长期利益和短期利益的统一;整合城乡,促进区域利益和整体利益协同;强化制度创新,完善制度供给;完善制度监管,提高执行效率;促进技术创新,减少污染排放。     

Some results from the demonstration of indoor radon reduction measures in block basement houses

Active soil ventilation techniques have been tested in 26 block-wall basement houses in eastern Pennsylvania with significantly elevated indoor radon concentrations, generally above 740 Bq/m³, and the results indicate that radon levels can be reduced substantially often below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guideline of 148 Bq/m³, if effective suction can be drawn on the soil underneath the concrete slabs of these houses. Such effective suction appears achievable when either: 1) the house has a complete loop of drain tile around its footings for water drainage purposes, and suction is drawn on that loop; or 2) a sufficient number of suction pipes can be inserted at the proper locations into the crushed rock or the soil underneath the slab.     

Management of risks in the chemical and nuclear areas

A comparative overiew is provided of some major aspects concerning assessment and management of chemical and nuclear risks arising as a consequence of accidents. Statutory procedures for constructing and running nuclear and chemical plants in Italy are discussed in detail. Special attention is given to the major changes that are likely to occur after the adoption of the EEC Council Directive 82/501, designed to prevent major accidents which might result from certain industrial activities and to limit their consequences for humans and their environment. Present status and future trends of accident analysis and risk assessment are also been dealt with, and special emphasis is placed on aspects common to both nuclear and chemical plants. Lastly, managerial aspects of contingency planning for, and response to, emergencies and accidents involving toxic chemical and/or ionizing radiations are examined with the aim of identifying more critical steps.