A minority group's response to a severe climatic event: a case study of rural Indo-Fijians after Tropical Cyclone Winston in 2016

This paper investigates the impacts of Tropical Cyclone Winston (2016) on rural Indo-Fijians and their response to the devastation. Studies have previously examined how rural communities in Pacific Island countries respond to severe climatic events, arguing that traditional knowledge of the climate, together with indigenous techniques, contribute substantially to recovery from a disaster. Strong communal bonds have also been identified as an influencing factor. Disaster risk reduction frameworks often assume the availability of such knowledge and capital. Yet, little research has been done on how minority groups with limited access to such knowledge and capital cope with disaster-related damage. The current study shows that rural Indo-Fijians responded to the consequences of Tropical Cyclone Winston differently to indigenous Fijians, owing to relatively limited access to traditional awareness of the climate, communal labour sharing, and intra- and/or inter-community networks. The findings point to the necessity to implement a more inclusive disaster risk reduction framework.     

Mechanical properties of shotcrete with addition of sugarcane bagasse fiber and ash

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Shotcrete is a sprayed concrete placed on steep slopes that have been widely used because it can prevent surface weathering and erosion, and in...     

The Monitoring of Insects to Maintain Biodiversity in Ogawa Fores Reserve

The results of a biodiversity monitoring program conducted in the Ogawa Forest Reserve and its vicinity, situated in a cool temperate region of Japan, identified three different patterns for species richness. Forests of the region are characterized by a mosaic of secondary deciduous stands of various ages scattered among plantations of conifers. The three different types of change in species richness observed in response to the stand age are as follows: Type I (butterflies, tube-renting bees and wasps, hoverflies, fruit flies, and longicorn beetles), the species diversity was highest in open areas, just after clear-cutting, decreasing with the stand age; Type II (mushrooms and mites associated with them), older stands showed greater diversity than younger stands; and, Type III (moths, oribatid mites, collembolas, carabid beetles, and ants), the number of species did not change greatly with the stand age, though ordination analysis revealed that there was variation in species compositions. These results indicate that combinations of stands of different ages, or heterogeneously arranged stands, can contribute to the maintenance of insect biodiversity at the landscape level.     

日本公司的环境报告

日本是亚洲太平洋地区进行法人报告的首创者.本文回顾了过去的十年中日本环境报告举措的发展.也描述了对日本公司进行的环境报告的调查反应.在日本正在开始注重确保环境报告可靠性的方法.环境上先进公司的环境报告正在朝可持续发展性报告的方向转移.     

Simplified life cycle sustainability assessment of mangrove management: a case of plantation on wastelands in Thailand

Sustainable mangrove management needs to consider trade-offs between multiple benefits provided by mangrove ecosystems and to balance the conflicting objectives of various stakeholders. The aim of the present study is to assess the sustainability of mangrove management based on the life cycle approach. We examine two mangrove management systems in Thailand, namely, the strict preservation and charcoal production systems. The results show that the strict preservation system has an advantage over the charcoal production system from the environmental perspective (the net amount of CO₂ absorbed by mangroves) while the charcoal production is a more favorable system than strict preservation from the social perspective (the amount of employment created in local communities). On the other hand, it is difficult to say that both systems are sustainable from an economic aspect. The charcoal production system needs to develop improved management regimes for commercial charcoal production and requires financial assistance in the period when its net cash flows are negative. As solutions for these problems, the introduction of community forest management and the utilization of a fund for REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries) can be proposed.     

Noncatalytic liquefaction of tar with low-temperature hydrothermal treatment

Water at hydrothermal and supercritical conditions is considered a promising solvent for the degradation of hazardous waste into harmless compounds. Tar liquefaction experiments were conducted using a batch-type reactor at temperatures between 623 K and 673 K and at pressures between 25 and 40 MPa. A reaction mechanism for tar liquefaction is proposed. Moreover, on the basis of the experimental results, this method could become an efficient method for tar liquefaction, producing high yields of valuable chemical intermediates.