Awareness of environmental legislation as a deterrent for wildlife crime: A case with Masaai pastoralists,poison use and the Kenya Wildlife Act

Illegal wildlife crime is a global phenomenon, accelerating the ongoing biodiversity crisis. In the Old World, and particularly in Africa, illegal use of poisons to eliminate carnivores is the main driver of the continental vulture crisis. Knowledge about the underlying source and drivers of this threat is lacking for most areas, including Kenya, a global vulture and biodiversity hotspot. An extensive questionnaire survey of over 1300 respondents was run, using a specialized questioning technique and quantitative analytical approaches. Results show that, while pastoralists have a positive attitude towards vultures, over 20% of them use poisons to eliminate predators. Poisoning was largely driven by livestock losses to predators, and by negative attitude towards predators. Poisoning was less prevalent among respondents aware of the Kenya Wildlife Act. Overall, we suggest that a combination of top-down, e.g. legislation, and bottom-up (such as corrals or compensation) along with awareness campaigns may help reduce poisoning on the ground.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01695-8.     

华北高产农区公众对农业面源污染的环境保护意识及支付意愿调查

应用假设市场价值评估法(CVM)调查了华北高产农业区桓台县公众对防治农业面源污染地下水所需费用的支付意愿;评价了公众对技术、经济、政策等解决手段的期望和行为选择。调查表明,有60%以上的公众表现出能够为后代人着想而保护农业环境的可持续发展意识,有76%的人对污染现状的改善和治理持积极态度,人均支付意愿为22.8元·a-1,但公众对农业面源污染的环境保护意识不足。影响农民公众支付意愿的因素主要有家庭收入、受教育程度和职业。经推算,该县公众1a总支付意愿大约是1114.8～1320.2万元。可采取的环境保护技术措施以改良耕作习惯、控制化肥施用量为主,法制化的环保手段需要与公众环保意识相适应。     

Property-performance relationship of core-shell structured black TiO2 photocatalyst for environmental remediation

● Properties and performance relationship of CSBT photocatalyst were investigated. ● Properties of CSBT were controlled by simply manipulating glycerol content. ● Performance was linked to semiconducting and physicochemical properties. ● CSBT (W:G ratio 9:1) had better performance with lower energy consumption. ● Phenols were reduced by 48.30% at a cost of $2.4127 per unit volume of effluent. Understanding the relationship between the properties and performance of black titanium dioxide with core-shell structure (CSBT) for environmental remediation is crucial for improving its prospects in practical applications. In this study, CSBT was synthesized using a glycerol-assisted sol-gel approach. The effect of different water-to-glycerol ratios (W:G = 1:0, 9:1, 2:1, and 1:1) on the semiconducting and physicochemical properties of CSBT was investigated. The effectiveness of CSBT in removing phenolic compounds (PHCs) from real agro-industrial wastewater was studied. The CSBT synthesized with a W:G ratio of 9:1 has optimized properties for enhanced removal of PHCs. It has a distinct core-shell structure and an appropriate amount of Ti³⁺ cations (11.18%), which play a crucial role in enhancing the performance of CSBT. When exposed to visible light, the CSBT performed better: 48.30% of PHCs were removed after 180 min, compared to only 21.95% for TiO₂ without core-shell structure. The CSBT consumed only 45.5235 kWh/m³ of electrical energy per order of magnitude and cost $2.4127 per unit volume of treated agro-industrial wastewater. Under the conditions tested, the CSBT demonstrated exceptional stability and reusability. The CSBT showed promising results in the treatment of phenols-containing agro-industrial wastewater.     

Heterogeneous water phase catalysis as an environmental application: a review

Catalytic water phase processes as an environmental application is a relatively novel subject with tremendous potential in the near future. This review of 120 references presents the wide scale of heterogeneous water phase applications studied mainly within past five years. Both oxidation and hydrogenation processes are included as well as TiO₂ assisted photocatalysis. According to the references, heterogeneous catalysis is developing rapidly. New bimetallic catalysts and supports with higher surface area have improved catalytic efficiency in both oxidation and hydrogenation processes. It also seems that study on use of some waste materials such as red mud as catalyst is a very progressive field. On the whole, the chemical aspects are pretty well known, but the catalyst durability, and in many cases activity as well, has to be improved.     

加强环境监测质量管理人员队伍建设的思考

简述了环境监测质量管理人员队伍存在的问题。指出建立优良的质量管理人员队伍是规范环境监测质量管理工作、强化环境监测质量管理能力、提高环境监测质量管理水平的坚实基础。提出了建立完善环境监测质量管理人员队伍的设想,应梳理总结,建立质量管理理论体系;明确职责,完善质量管理人员队伍体系;分清层次,建立有效的培训机制。     

我国污染场地含水层监测现状与技术研发趋势

通过分析我国污染场地含水层监测现状和污染场地环境管理需求,指出我国污染场地含水层监测的不足之处并探讨了我国污染场地含水层监测技术研发趋势.当前,我国污染场地含水层监测主要以地下水监测为主,且监测仪器设备简陋陈旧、技术手段落后,不能满足数量日益增长的污染场地环境管理需求,急需发展一批新型、高效、经济、实用的监测技术和监测...     

区域开发建设环境污染防治措施的探讨

区域开发具有较大的不确定性,并且占地面积大、开发的内容广、性质复杂、建设周期长,通常的区域开发都有可能涉及到工业、城建、商业、人居、市政等多个领域的开发活动,所以区域开发必须结合区域开发的特征,准确识别其可能对区域内及其周边的空气环境、地下水质量、地表水水质及水文条件、声环境、土壤、植被、地形地貌等自然环境和人口、交通、经济结构等社会环境等产生的影响,并采取发展循环经济,减少污染生成的源头控制措施;科学规划产业结构,合理布局的预防性措施;源内达标、区域集中控制的污染治理措施;实施清洁生产、总量控制,推进区域环境与经济的持续发展。     

表面处理清洁生产线的研发

介绍了中国电器科学研究院近期研制开发的电镀、氧化等金属表面处理新型生产线。对生产线各相关系统进行研究,通过改进与创新,达到清洁、节能、智能化等目的。     

Analyzing the Impacts of Dams on Riparian Ecosystems: A Review of Research Strategies and Their Relevance to the Snake River Through Hells Canyon

River damming provides a dominant human impact on river environments worldwide, and while local impacts of reservoir flooding are immediate, subsequent ecological impacts downstream can be extensive. In this article, we assess seven research strategies for analyzing the impacts of dams and river flow regulation on riparian ecosystems. These include spatial comparisons of (1) upstream versus downstream reaches, (2) progressive downstream patterns, or (3) the dammed river versus an adjacent free-flowing or differently regulated river(s). Temporal comparisons consider (4) pre- versus post-dam, or (5) sequential post-dam conditions. However, spatial comparisons are complicated by the fact that dams are not randomly located, and temporal comparisons are commonly limited by sparse historic information. As a result, comparative approaches are often correlative and vulnerable to confounding factors. To complement these analyses, (6) flow or sediment modifications can be implemented to test causal associations. Finally, (7) process-based modeling represents a predictive approach incorporating hydrogeomorphic processes and their biological consequences. In a case study of Hells Canyon, the upstream versus downstream comparison is confounded by a dramatic geomorphic transition. Comparison of the multiple reaches below the dams should be useful, and the comparison of Snake River with the adjacent free-flowing Salmon River may provide the strongest spatial comparison. A pre- versus post-dam comparison would provide the most direct study approach, but pre-dam information is limited to historic reports and archival photographs. We conclude that multiple study approaches are essential to provide confident interpretations of ecological impacts downstream from dams, and propose a comprehensive study for Hells Canyon that integrates multiple research strategies.     

The Influence of Proximity to a National Forest on Emotions and Fire-Management Decisions

Because American national forests are managed for all citizens, it is important that researchers explore the differences and similarities between citizens living both near and far from publicly managed land. We surveyed residents living at various distances from nationally managed land to collect resident perceptions of different forest fire-management techniques, to determine public preferences for these techniques, and to examine the motivations behind these preferences. Participants both close to and far away from national forests tended to favor a multipronged approach to fire management by preferring the use of a combination of two or more fire-management techniques. There were no significant differences by proximity in participants’ self-rated emotions, types of fire-management techniques preferred, or the reasons and rationales for their preferred fire-management technique(s), indicating that the proximity variable may not be as significant as previously thought.