Incentivizing Monitoring and Compliance in Trophy Hunting

Conservation scientists are increasingly focusing on the drivers of human behavior and on the implications of various sources of uncertainty for management decision making. Trophy hunting has been suggested as a conservation tool because it gives economic value to wildlife, but recent examples show that overharvesting is a substantial problem and that data limitations are rife. We use a case study of trophy hunting of an endangered antelope, the mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni), to explore how uncertainties generated by population monitoring and poaching interact with decision making by 2 key stakeholders: the safari companies and the government. We built a management strategy evaluation model that encompasses the population dynamics of mountain nyala, a monitoring model, and a company decision making model. We investigated scenarios of investment into antipoaching and monitoring by governments and safari companies. Harvest strategy was robust to the uncertainty in the population estimates obtained from monitoring, but poaching had a much stronger effect on quota and sustainability. Hence, reducing poaching is in the interests of companies wishing to increase the profitability of their enterprises, for example by engaging community members as game scouts. There is a threshold level of uncertainty in the population estimates beyond which the year‐to‐year variation in the trophy quota prevented planning by the safari companies. This suggests a role for government in ensuring that a baseline level of population monitoring is carried out such that this level is not exceeded. Our results illustrate the importance of considering the incentives of multiple stakeholders when designing frameworks for resource use and when designing management frameworks to address the particular sources of uncertainty that affect system sustainability most heavily. Incentivando el Monitoreo y el Cumplimiento en la Caza de Trofeos     

旅游者对旅游风景区的环境感知研究——以五泉山风景区为例

通过对旅游者旅游资源环境感知调查、态度分析,能了解旅游者对风景区的满意度,对于促进当地旅游业的可持续发展具有极其重要的作用和意义。以五泉山风景区为例,结合实地问卷调查与访谈的方法,研究旅游者对五泉山风景区的环境感知,结果显示:旅游者对五泉山风景区旅游环境总体环境感知一般;对五泉山风景区的自然环境呈正面、积极感知,但是对饮食服务水平、旅游从业者服务态度、文化特色、环境设施等持保留态度;旅游者对在风景区内的环保责任和行为都表现出了积极的态度;旅游者对景区的忠诚度一般;地方政府在环境保护和旅游规划方面应当更有所作为。     

Rethinking the management of transboundary freshwater resources: a critical examination of modern international law and practice

Available freshwater stocks are being depleted and impaired on a widespread basis, with acute shortages an increasingly frequent condition in arid climates. In transboundary basins, water scarcity and pollution compound interstate tension and contribute to human suffering and ecological damage. This article provides theoretical perspectives on shared freshwater disputes and on the evolution of the international law of shared water resources. It argues that the UN Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (ratified by some countries, but not yet in force) is inadequate as a framework convention in terms of providing general obligations on the future parties or an institutional framework for future action. The paper suggests that three critical concepts be considered in future management of shared water resources: (1) the unitary character of watersheds (where the absence of extra-basin diversions allows); (2) joint or "communitarian" watershed management; and (3) the relevance of international trade to alleviating regional food stress, resulting from local water scarcity. Finally, it proposes the establishment of an international advisory body on shared water disputes, modelled after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose role is codified in the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.     

文化视角下旅游节庆产品系统开发研究——以宁德太姥山文化旅游节为例

文化是旅游节庆产品的灵魂和内核。在文化视角下进行旅游节庆产品系统开发不仅可以增强旅游节庆产品的吸引力,更重要的是可以提高其核心竞争力。福建省宁德市拥有丰富的文化旅游资源,太姥山文化旅游节是其中之一,但是其节庆产品却存在一定程度的文化缺失问题,在阐述旅游节庆产品系统开发的基本理论的基础上,探讨如何对其旅游节庆产品进行系统开发。     

Water policy implementation in the state of São Paulo,Brazil: Key challenges and opportunities

Challenges in implementing water planning and management are common, and the effective implementation of integrated water policies is yet to occur. In Brazil, the state of São Paulo enacted a Water Act in 1991 to ensure water availability for current and future generations based on the principles of decentralization, participation and integration. This research addresses water policy implementation issues by conducting an exploratory case study in the state of São Paulo. Factors affecting the water policy implementation process were analyzed, together with some water resources management practices. The findings indicate four dimensions of key challenges: institutional and governance, political, financial and technical. The stakeholders believe the political and the institutional and governance challenges are more important than the technical and financial ones. Additionally, the results show different levels of involvement in the areas of water policy strategy, the planning and decision-making process, and implementation by the different stakeholders groups. Stakeholders external to the water sector and from local government were considered to be less involved in water-related issues, when compared with stakeholders from the water sector. The study recommends a change in current institutional and governance arrangements in order to influence decisions and investments in different levels and sectors.     

Tracking changes in the global impacts of metal concentrate acquisition for the metals industry in Finland

This article considers the environmental impacts and the governance framework of the domestic and international supply of iron, zinc, copper and nickel concentrates smelted and refined in Finland. The metals industry in the country is heavily dependent on imported concentrates, and the research is thus focused on defining the level of impacts related to mining and mineral processing abroad, and the change in the impacts between 2000 and 2010. The estimations of environmental impacts are based on waste minerals and CO_2eq emissions, and the quality of governance in the set of indicators measuring different aspects of governance. The total amount of waste minerals and CO_2eq emissions related to metal concentrates decreased over the ten-year period. At the same time, the quality of governance improved in all concentrate groups except nickel. Ore grade, mine type and transportation distance appear to be the most influential factors on environmental impacts. The results suggest that the country of origin can have a noticeable effect on the environmental impacts and the quality of governance of the mining and processing of metal concentrates.     

BENEFITS OF ITERATIVE WATER SUPPLY FORECASTING IN THE WASHINGTON,D.C., METROPOLITAN AREA1

The three largest water utilities in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area (WMA) rely on the Potomac River and its reservoirs for water supply. These utilities have committed to a periodic review of the system's adequacy to meet future demands. In 1990, 1995, 2000, and again in 2004 (for publication in 2005) the utilities requested that the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB) conduct a 20‐year water demand and resource adequacy study to fulfill this need. The selection of the five‐year interval provides multiple benefits. It allows regular updates and incorporation of recent demographic forecasts, and it increases visibility and understanding of the adequacy of the region's water resources. It also provides adequate time to conduct research on the physical system and to incorporate modifications based on this research into subsequent studies. The studies and lessons learned are presented in this case study of the WMA. The work has been a natural outgrowth of a long history of cooperative water supply planning and management among the main WMA water utilities and ICPRB.     

论可持续发展的物质体系

可持续发展的物质体系包括资源、环境和生态。可持续发展的终极基础是资源物质变换，可持续发展的生存依托是环境，可持续发展的动态载体是生态平衡网络。本文通过分析资源、环境和生态之间的关系与相互作用，提出了可持续发展的基础是物质体系的观点。     

浅析松花湖渔业资源保护

通过多年实地调研,认为拦网养殖、湖滩地种植、过度捕捞、沿湖城镇生活污水污染等是渔业资源不断减少主要原因,并根据实际情况提出防治对策。     

Faith-based climate action in Christian congregations: mobilisation and spiritual resources

This article seeks to explain how and why church congregations mobilise on environmental issues and what – if anything – is distinctive about that mobilisation. Building on and adapting Resource Mobilisation Theory (RMT), we develop the idea of “spiritual resources” to help explain how a collection of spiritual identities, values, symbols and narratives can facilitate distinctive collective action on environmental issues. Our analysis draws on data derived from an in-depth case study of climate active groups in Scotland. It includes content analysis of websites, news stories as well as ethnographic observation of selected church and secular groups engaged in climate activity. We find church groups do enjoy a distinct set of resources – comprising tradition, rituals and symbols shaped by theology and doctrine – which are not wholly captured by other explanations of climate mobilisation. While these spiritual resources do not directly translate into specific environmental or climate action they can, especially when combined with other resources, lead to environmental activities distinctly motivated, and distinctly practised at the individual and community level.