Environmental reporting requirements under the EU: eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS)

The fifth Action Programme on the Environment: Towards Sustainability, defines European Union (EU) environmental policy until the year 2000 and emphasises the need for greater disclosure of environmental information. This paper discusses the Eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS), and EU market based instrument designed to bring more industrial environmental performance data into the public domain. The paper discusses the purpose of the Regulation's environmental statement identifying the potential audiences and their requirements. Using six corporate environmental reports, the paper analyzes how these meet the Regulation's reporting requirements and what modifications would be needed in current reporting trends. The paper concludes that existing reporting requirements will need to change to satisfy EMAS requirements and the increasing public demands for industrial environmental performance information.Ruth Hillary successfully completed a MSc in Environmental Technology at Imperial College, University of London, and is currently undertaking a doctorate to continue her research into the fields of environmental auditing and environmental management. She was placed at the European Commission's Industry and Environment Division of DG XI where she worked on the draft Eco-management and audit Regulation during its progress towards adoption and application. She is the Series Editor for the Business and the Environment Practitioner Series, a series of practical business reports addressing current and emerging environmental topics of importance to companies, and has recently published a reportThe Eco-management and audit Scheme-A Practical Guide. She has also published many papers on the subjects of environmental auditing and the EU Eco-management and audit scheme.     

Towards mitigation of greenhouse gases by small changes in farming practices: understanding local barriers in Spain

Small changes in agricultural practices have a large potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the implementation of such practices at the local level is often limited by a range of barriers. Understanding the barriers is essential for defining effective measures, the actual mitigation potential of the measures, and the policy needs to ensure implementation. Here we evaluate behavioural, cultural, and policy barriers for implementation of mitigation practices at the local level that imply small changes to farmers. The choice of potential mitigation practices relevant to the case study is based on a literature review of previous empirical studies. Two methods that include the stakeholders’ involvement (experts and farmers) are undertaken for the prioritization of these potential practices: (a) Multi-criteria analysis (MCA) of the choices of an expert panel and (b) Analysis of barriers to implementation based on a survey of farmers. The MCA considers two future climate scenarios – current climate and a drier and warmer climate scenario. Results suggest that all potential selected practices are suitable for mitigation considering multiple criteria in both scenarios. Nevertheless, if all the barriers for implementation had the same influence, the preferred mitigation practices in the case study would be changes in fertilization management and use of cover crops. The identification of barriers for the implementation of the practices is based on the econometric analysis of surveys given to farmers. Results show that farmers’ environmental concerns, financial incentives and access to technical advice are the main factors that define their barriers to implementation. These results may contribute to develop effective mitigation policy to be included in the 2020 review of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy.     

Effect of field margins on moths depends on species mobility: Field-based evidence for landscape-scale conservation

Agri-environment schemes (AES) are widely used policy instruments intended to combat widespread biodiversity declines across agricultural landscapes. Here, using a light trapping and mark-release-recapture study at a field-scale on nine common and widespread larger moth species, we investigate the effect of wide field margins (a popular current scheme option) and the presence of hedgerow trees (a potential scheme option in England) on moth abundance. Of these, we show that wide field margins positively affected abundances, although species did not all respond in the same way. We demonstrate that this variation can be attributed to species-specific mobility characteristics. Those species for which the effect of wide margins was strongest covered shorter distances, and were more frequently recaptured at their site of first capture. This demonstrates that the standard, field-scale uptake of AES may be effective only for less mobile species. We discuss that a landscape-scale approach, in contrast, could deliver significant biodiversity gains, as our results indicate that such an approach (perhaps delivered through targeting farmers to join AES) would be effective for the majority of wider countryside species, irrespective of their mobility level.     

Herbivory reduces plant interactions with above- and belowground antagonists and mutualists

Herbivores affect plants through direct effects, such as tissue damage, and through indirect effects that alter species interactions. Interactions may be positive or negative, so indirect effects have the potential to enhance or lessen the net impacts of herbivores. Despite the ubiquity of these interactions, the indirect pathways are considerably less understood than the direct effects of herbivores, and multiple indirect pathways are rarely studied simultaneously. We placed herbivore effects in a comprehensive community context by studying how herbivory influences plant interactions with antagonists and mutualists both aboveground and belowground. We manipulated early-season aboveground herbivore damage to Cucumis sativus (cucumber, Cucurbitaceae) and measured interactions with subsequent aboveground herbivores, root-feeding herbivores, pollinators, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). We quantified plant growth and reproduction and used an enhanced pollination treatment to determine if plants were pollen limited. Increased herbivory reduced interactions with both antagonists and mutualists. Plants with high levels of early herbivory were significantly less likely to suffer leaf damage later in the summer and tended to be less attacked by root herbivores. Herbivory also reduced pollinator visitation, likely due to fewer and smaller flowers, and reduced AMF colonization. The net effect of herbivory on plant growth and reproduction was strongly negative, but lower fruit and seed production were not due to reduced pollinator visits, because reproduction was not pollen limited. Although herbivores influenced interactions between plants and other organisms, these effects appear to be weaker than the direct negative effects of early-season tissue loss.     

Participatory scenario planning to facilitate human–wildlife coexistence

Fostering human–wildlife coexistence requires transdisciplinary approaches that integrate multiple sectors, account for complexity and uncertainty, and ensure stakeholder participation. One such approach is participatory scenario planning, but to date, this approach has not been used in human–wildlife contexts. We devised a template for how participatory scenario planning can be applied to identify potential avenues for improving human–wildlife coexistence. We drew on 3 conceptual building blocks, namely the SEEDS framework, the notion of critical uncertainties, and the three-horizons technique. To illustrate the application of the proposed template, we conducted a case study in the Zambezi region of Namibia. We held 5 multistakeholder workshops that involved local people as well as numerous nongovernment and government stakeholders. We identified 14 important wildlife species that generated multiple services and disservices. The subsequent benefits and burdens, in turn, were inequitably distributed among stakeholders. Government actors played particularly influential roles in shaping social-ecological outcomes. We identified 2 critical uncertainties for the future: the nature of governance (fragmented vs. collaborative) and the type of wildlife economy (hunting vs. photography based). Considering these uncertainties resulted in 4 plausible scenarios describing future human–wildlife coexistence. Stakeholders did not agree on a single preferred scenario, but nevertheless agreed on several high-priority strategies. Bridging the remaining gaps among actors will require ongoing deliberation among stakeholders. Navigating the complex challenges posed by living with wildlife requires moving beyond disciplinary approaches. To that end, our template could prove useful in many landscapes around the world.     

Water rights and legal pluralism: four contexts for negotiation

Increasing water scarcity is increasing pressure on water management institutions, particularly in the area of water rights. A common response is to formalise water tenure, one of several options for securing access and resolving conflicts concerning water allocation. This article looks at four contexts where negotiation, self-governance and concepts of legal pluralism may help improve water resource management. Existing users and potential new users need to negotiate before water resources are developed. Users can participate in forums with authority to solve basin management problems through self-governance. Negotiated water transfers offer an alternative to water acquisition by expropriation.     

The interplay of career involvement and goal conflicts: An eight-wave study with STEM professionals

Based on a “whole-life”-perspective and integrating theories of self-identity and resource management, the present longitudinal study examines the dynamic relationship between career involvement and conflicts between work and nonwork goals in a sample of 3095 German-speaking doctoral students and doctorate holders (37.0% women) from various STEM fields. We expected increases in goal conflicts to decrease career involvement, and simultaneously tested reciprocal relationships, that is, from involvement on conflicts. The random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) was used to analyze within-person associations across eight measurement occasions (6-month time intervals) while controlling for between-person effects. At the between-person level, career involvement and goal conflicts were negatively correlated. At the within-person level, results showed negative cross-lagged effects from goal conflicts to career involvement as well as negative cross-lagged effects from career involvement to goal conflicts. This indicates that the interplay of goal conflicts and career involvement can result in either an upward or a downward spiral. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Changes in the dry tropical forests in Central India with human use

Understanding changes in forest composition and structure is important to help formulate effective policies that promote future ability of forests to provide local livelihood needs, habitat and ecosystem services. This is particularly important in dry tropical forests that are ecologically different from other forests and are heavily used by local, forest-dependent residents. In this study, we identify biophysical, demographic and use factors associated with differences in species diversity, vegetation structure (abundance at different size classes), biomass and relative abundance of species across the Kanha–Pench landscape in Central India. We sampled vegetation in twenty transects across different human and livestock population densities and frequencies of use. We found that biomass, species diversity and vegetation (abundance at different size classes) are negatively associated with increasing population density, and species composition at different size classes is significantly different at higher frequencies of use at low population densities. Lack of difference in species composition at high population densities may be due to colonization and growth of individuals at some of these sites due to creation of new ecological niches and gaps at high human use. Relative abundance of species at different size classes also varies with frequency of use and population density. Results suggest that human use is altering relative abundance of species, which may change long-term forest composition and thus alter biomass and vegetation structure of the forest. We conclude that human use is an agent in altering long-term composition that can alter availability of tree species for local use and other ecosystem services.     

Quantifying fluctuations in winter productive cropped area in the Central Indian Highlands

The Central Indian Highland landscape (CIHL) represents a complex, diverse, and highly human-modified system. Nearly half the landscape is cropland, yet it hosts 21 protected areas surrounded and connected by forests. Changing farming practices with increasing access to irrigation might alter this intensifying landscape in the near future particularly in light of weather variability. We analyzed a decade of remote sensing data for cropping patterns and climatic factors combined with census data for irrigation and demographic factors to understand winter cropping trajectories in the CIHL. We quantified ‘productive cropped area’ (PCA), defined as the area with planted crop that is green at the peak of the winter growing season. We find three primary trajectories in PCA—increasing, fluctuating, and decreasing. The most dominant trend is fluctuating PCA in two-thirds of the districts, ranging from ~2.11 million to ~3.73 million ha between 2001 and 2013, which is associated with village-level access to irrigation and local labor dynamics. In 58 % of all districts, clay soils were associated with winter cropping (p < 0.05). Increasing irrigation is associated with increased winter PCA in most (94 %) districts (p < 0.00001). We find strong negative association between PCA and land surface temperature (LST) in most (66 %) districts (p < 0.01). LST closely corresponds to daytime mean air temperature (p < 0.001) for available meteorological stations. Fine-scale meteorological and socioeconomic data, however, are needed to further disentangle impacts of these factors on PCA in this landscape.     

Erratum to: Addressing future trade-offs between biodiversity and cropland expansion to improve food security

Potential trade-offs between providing sufficient food for a growing human population in the future and sustaining ecosystems and their services are driven by various biophysical and socio-economic parameters at different scales. In this study, we investigate these trade-offs by using a three-step interdisciplinary approach. We examine (1) how the expected global cropland expansion might affect food security in terms of agricultural production and prices, (2) where natural conditions are suitable for cropland expansion under changing climate conditions, and (3) whether this potential conversion to cropland would affect areas of high biodiversity value or conservation importance. Our results show that on the one hand, allowing the expansion of cropland generally results in an improved food security not only in regions where crop production rises, but also in net importing countries such as India and China. On the other hand, the estimated cropland expansion could take place in many highly biodiverse regions, pointing out the need for spatially detailed and context-specific assessments to understand the possible outcomes of different food security strategies. Our multidisciplinary approach is relevant with respect to the Sustainable Development Goals for implementing and enforcing sustainable pathways for increasing agricultural production, and ensuring food security while conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services.