Making a case for the consideration of trust,justice, and power in conservation relationships

In conservation, trust and justice are increasingly recognized as both intrinsically valuable and critical for successful socioecological outcomes. However, the interdependence between these concepts has not been explored. The conservation trust literature provides examples of efforts to build trust between conservationists and local actors; yet, these interventions are often conceived to incentivize local cooperation within dominant paradigms. We argue that when trust building is promoted as a technical fix that does not plan in advance to address power asymmetries in conservation practice, inequities may inadvertently be re-embedded. Therefore, we conceptualized a framework that joins trust, justice, and power so that critical analyses of conservation partnerships can be more effectively undertaken. We drew on environmental justice theory to better calibrate the trust literature for the historical-political settings of conservation, especially in the Global South. Justice and trust share strong theoretical links where perceptions of justice shape a willingness to trust, and, equally, trust is a precondition for justice to be perceived. Different forms of trust connect to varied domains of justice and power in different ways, which mediates the outcomes of interventions. We applied our framework to case studies to explore how these interdependences play out in practice. Failure of agencies to attend to issues of maldistribution, misrecognition of cultural values and knowledge, and exclusion from participation strongly compromised trust. Moreover, the ways in which nature-dependent communities and marginalized conservation workers are trusted, or the conditions under which they give trust, can lead to partnerships being perceived as just or unjust. Focusing on trust and justice can help identify power dynamics so they can be addressed more readily and create space for alternative understandings of partnerships.     

Methods to alleviate the inhibition of sludge anaerobic digestion by emerging contaminants: a review

The rising occurrence of emerging contaminants in sludges both inhibits the anaerobic digestion of sludges and induces health issues when sludges are recycled in agriculture, calling for methods to remove contaminants. Here we review emerging pollutants in wastewater treatment plants, before and after anaerobic digestion. We present their inhibitory effects and remediation methods to alleviate inhibition. Pharmaceuticals have been detected in about 50% of the sludge samples. Sewage sludge contaminants include 19% of diuretics, 16–21% of lipid-modifying agents, hydrochlorothiazide, diclofenac, furosemide, clarithromycin, atorvastatin, and carbamazepine. Levels of antibiotics, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, and estrone range from 500 to 600 ng/g in sludges from wastewater treatment plants. Remediation methods comprise electrooxidation, ultrasonication, thermal hydrolysis, ozonation, and bioaugmentation. Fermenting the sludges with acidogenic bacteria reduces the level of emerging pollutants in the supernatant. Nonetheless, liquid digestates still contains emerging pollutants such as sunscreen octocrylene at 147 ug/L and acetaminophen at 58.6 ug/L. As a result, pretreatment of sludge containing emerging pollutants is required.

     

Socioeconomic development and ecological traits as predictors of human–bird conflicts

Because of the significant impacts on both human interests and bird conservation, it is imperative to identify patterns and anticipate drivers of human–bird conflicts (HBCs) worldwide. Through a global systematic review, following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, we analyzed the socioeconomic factors and bird ecological traits driving the degree of knowledge and extent of HBCs. We included 166 articles published from 1971 to 2020 in our analyses through which we built a profile of the socioeconomic conditions of 52 countries with reported conflicts and the ecological traits of the 161 bird species involved in HBCs. Although HBC expanded worldwide, it had the greatest impact in less-developed countries (estimate 0. 66 [SE 0.13], p< 0.05), where agriculture is critical for rural livelihoods. Species with a relatively greater conflict extent had a relatively broader diet (estimate 0.80 [SE 0.22], p<0.05) and an increasing population trend (estimate 0.58 [SE 0.15], p<0.05) and affected human interests, such as agriculture and livestock raising. In countries with greater biodiversity, HBCs caused greater socioeconomic impacts than in more developed countries. Our results highlight the importance of understanding and addressing HBCs from multiple perspectives (ecological, sociocultural, and political) to effectively protect both biodiversity and local livelihoods.     

Cultivation of microalgae on liquid anaerobic digestate for depollution,biofuels and cosmetics: a review

Solid wastes from domestic, industrial and agricultural sectors cause acute economic and environmental problems. These issues can be partly solved by anaerobic digestion of wastes, yet this process is incomplete and generates abundant byproducts as digestate. Therefore, cultivating mixotrophic algae on anaerobic digestate appears as a promising solution for nutrient recovery, pollutant removal and biofuel production. Here we review mixotrophic algal cultivation on anaerobic waste digestate with focus on digestate types and characterization, issues of recycling digestate in agriculture, removal of contaminants, and production of biofuels such as biogas, bioethanol, biodiesel and dihydrogen. We also discuss applications in cosmetics and economical aspects. Mixotrophic algal cultivation completely removes ammonium, phosphorus, 17β-estradiol from diluted digestate, and removes 62% of zinc, 84% of manganese, 74% of cadmium and 99% of copper.

     

Hydrogen production from wastewater,storage, economy,governance and applications: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - In the context of climate change, most of the actual dihydrogen production is not sustainable with about 96% of the 60 million tons of dihydrogen produced annually...     

Review of cooling techniques used to enhance the efficiency of photovoltaic power systems

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Photovoltaic (PV) panels are one of the most important solar energy sources used to convert the sun’s radiation falling on them into electrical...     

Correction to: Effect of gervital in attenuating hepatotoxicity caused by methotrexate or azathioprine in adult albino rats

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -     

The COVID-19 pandemic as a starting point to accelerate improvements in health in our cities through better urban and transport planning

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -     

An Overview on Starch-Based Sustainable Hydrogels: Potential Applications and Aspects

Hydrogels are a kind of three dimensional polymeric network system which has a significant amount of water imbibing capacity despite being soluble in it. Because of the potential applications of hydrogels in different fields such as biomedical, pharmaceutical, personal care products, biosensors, and cosmetics, it has become a very popular area of research in recent decades. Hydrogels, prepared from synthetic polymers and petrochemicals are not ecofriendly. For preparing biodegradable hydrogels, most available plant polysaccharides like starch are utilized. In its structure, starch has a large number of hydroxyl groups that aid in hydrogel networking. For their easy availability and applications, starch-based hydrogels (SHs) have gained huge attention. Moreover, SHs are non-toxic, biocompatible, and cheap. For these reasons, SHs can be an alternative to synthetic hydrogels. The main focus of this review is to provide a comprehensive summary of the structure and characteristics of starch, preparation, and characterization of SHs. This review also addresses several potential multidimensional applications of SHs and shows some future aspects in accordance.

Graphic abstract