Tracking Chinese newspaper coverage of elephant ivory through topic modeling

Mass media worldwide has contributed to increasing awareness of the illegal wildlife trade and its significant impact on wildlife conservation. We used mass media coverage as a proxy for macro-level public opinion to analyze the media framing of elephant ivory in 6394 Chinese newspaper articles published from 2000 to 2021 and thus determine the effects of wildlife policies on public opinion. We focused on 2 events: the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) approval of China as a trading partner in the purchase and import of ivory stockpiles from Africa in July 2008 and the Chinese government's announcement of a domestic ivory ban in December 2016. Using latent Dirichlet allocation topic modeling, we identified 8 topics about elephant ivory and grouped them into 3 frames: ivory arts and culture, ivory crimes, and elephant conservation. Over the last 2 decades, topics related to ivory crimes remained the most prevalent in news articles. Topics about ivory arts and culture showed a significant shift in media salience before and after the 2 events (from 0.44 to 0.19 and from 0.08 to 0.15, respectively, p < 0.05), whereas the other 2 frames did not change significantly. Contrary to popular belief, our results indicated that Chinese macro-level public opinion on ivory had become more negative following the CITES approval of ivory importation and less negative after the ivory ban announcement, at least for certain periods. The relationship between mass media, public opinion, and wildlife trade policies is complex and requires further examination of the sociopolitical dynamics that influence media narratives. Our results showed the value of topic modeling in monitoring and assessing media representations of wildlife issues in the era of big data. Conservationists should remain vigilant of mass media coverage and collaborate with media practitioners to produce comprehensive narratives on wildlife issues if resources permit.     

Opportunities and challenges for Common Agricultural Policy reform to support the European Green Deal

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the European Union's main instrument for agricultural planning, with a new reform approved for 2023–2027. The CAP intends to align with the European Green Deal (EGD), a set of policy initiatives underpinning sustainable development and climate neutrality in the European Union (EU), but several flaws cast doubts about the compatibility of the objectives of these 2 policies. We reviewed recent literature on the potential of CAP environmental objectives for integration with the EGD: protection of biodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable management of natural resources. The CAP lacks appropriate planning measures, furthering instead risks to biodiversity and ecosystem services driven by landscape and biotic homogenization. Funding allocation mechanisms are not tailored to mitigate agricultural emissions, decreasing the efficiency of climate mitigation actions. The legislation subsidies farmers making extensive use of synthetic inputs without adequately supporting organic production, hindering the transition toward sustainable practices. We recommend proper control mechanisms be introduced in CAP Strategic Plans from each member state to ensure the EU is set on a sustainable production and consumption path. These include proportional assignment of funds to each CAP objective, quantitative targets to set goals and evidence-based interventions, and relevant indicators to facilitate effective monitoring of environmental performance. Both the CAP and the EGD should maintain ambitious environmental commitments in the face of crisis to avoid further degradation of the natural resources on which production systems stand.     

Evaluating the conservation impact of Antarctica's protected areas

Antarctic specially protected areas (ASPAs) are a key regulatory mechanism for protecting Antarctic environmental values. Previous evaluations of the effectiveness of the ASPA system focused on its representativeness and design characteristics, presenting a compelling rationale for its systematic revision. Upgrading the system could increase the representation of values within ASPAs, but representation alone does not guarantee the avoided loss or improvement of those values. Identifying factors that influence the effectiveness of ASPAs would inform the design and management of an ASPA system with the greatest capacity to deliver its intended conservation outcomes. To facilitate evaluations of ASPA effectiveness, we devised a research and policy agenda that includes articulating a theory of change for what outcomes ASPAs generate and how; building evaluation principles into ASPA design and designation processes; employing complementary approaches to evaluate multiple dimensions of effectiveness; and extending evaluation findings to identify and exploit drivers of positive conservation impact. Implementing these approaches will enhance the efficacy of ASPAs as a management tool, potentially leading to improved outcomes for Antarctic natural values in an era of rapid global change. Evaluación del impacto de conservación de las áreas protegidas de la Antártida     

地下水漏斗区农户冬小麦休耕意愿的影响因素及其生态补偿标准研究——以河北衡水为例

近年来,国家大力提倡耕地休养生息,推行土地休耕制度,以提高地力,保障农业可持续发展。由于水资源短缺已经成为制约我国华北地区经济社会发展的重要因素。华北地下水漏斗区作为土地休耕的三个试点之一,主要目标是退耕高耗水的冬小麦,实现“一季休耕、一季雨养”,以减少地下水用量,修复地下水环境。农户作为农村最主要的生产与经营主体,如何给予农户合理的补偿,使其有效地实施冬小麦休耕政策成为缓解华北地区水资源短缺的关键因素。论文运用问卷调查法、机会成本法与Logistic模型对意愿与补偿标准进行分析,探讨了河北衡水地下水漏斗区农户冬小麦休耕意愿的主要影响因素及其生态补偿标准的合理性,以便为我国科学合理地制定地下水漏斗区耕地轮作休耕政策提供理论依据。研究结果表明：1）农户的文化程度、家庭农业劳动力总数、抚养比、农户对地下水漏斗区冬小麦休耕态度、农户对政府实行政策的信任度与农户休耕意愿呈显著的正向影响;2）务农工日、耕地质量、人均耕地面积与农户休耕意愿呈显著的负向影响;3）只考虑冬小麦对地下水影响,不考虑农产品市场价格变化的影响,建议河北衡水地区休耕农户补偿标准为518元/亩（7 770元/hm²）。最后论文提出了因地制宜地制定地下水漏斗区冬小麦休耕的补偿政策,发展绿色产业,转移剩余劳动力,并做好休耕政策宣传力度等政策建议。     

企业实施清洁生产政策激励机制研究

我国清洁生产的实践表明;现行条件下,由于企业内外部存在一系列实施清洁生产的障碍约束,要使作为清洁生产主体的企业完全自发地采取自觉主动的清洁生产行为是极其困难的,营造有利于调动企业实施清洁生产的外部政策激励机制则是促进我国清洁生产向纵深发展的关键。     

基于MODIS数据的林火识别方法研究

森林火灾是一种世界性的重要自然灾害。遥感、地理信息系统(简称GIS)、网络等现代高新技术的出现和发展。为人类研究防灾减灾的工作提供了更为方便的条件。该文在分析MODIS数据各波段特性、对地表亮温法和亮温一植被指数法火点识别的精度进行比较的基础上,结合CIS技术,利用地面信息,采用亮温一植被指数法,建立了基于MODIS数据的林火识别模型。经实验验证,该方法总体判识精度优于80％,能较好地满足林火检测需求,同时还可以获得燃烧植被的类型。     

Perceptions of Prescribed Burning in a Local Forest Community in Victoria, Australia

The general perceptions of prescribed burning were elicited from forest users for an area that has been subject to this form of land management for at least 20 years. The largest group consisted of local residents living in and around the Wombat State Forest with two smaller groups of students from a nearby university campus and local professional land managers. A questionnaire was given to each participant in order to explore how the forest was used, to determine the level of knowledge of burning in the targeted forest and Victoria and the perception of the appearance, effectiveness of protection, and accessibility to the forest after prescribed burning. Generally all groups had similar responses with community members having stronger views on the effectiveness and practicalities of prescribed burning, whereas students were more neutral in their opinions. All participants claimed knowledge of prescribed burning activities within Victoria, but fewer had experience of planned fires in the Wombat State Forest. All groups agreed that areas that had not been recently burned had a better appearance than those that had, but this result may have included a range of value judgments. Land managers had a greater understanding of the ecological importance of season and timing of burning; however, some students and community members were equally knowledgeable. Prescribed burning did not impede access to the forest, nor did smoke from prescribed burns pose any great problem. The majority of the participants felt that the amount of prescribed burning done in the forest was adequate for engendering a feeling of protection to life and property, yet many were still suspicious of this management practice. These initial findings indicate several areas in which further research would be useful including the efficacy of education programs for community members and improved communication of burn plans by land managers.     

Linking linear programming and spatial simulation models to predict landscape effects of forest management alternatives

Forest management planners require analytical tools to assess the effects of alternative strategies on the sometimes disparate benefits from forests such as timber production and wildlife habitat. We assessed the spatial patterns of alternative management strategies by linking two models that were developed for different purposes. We used a linear programming model (Spectrum) to optimize timber harvest schedules, then a simulation model (HARVEST) to project those schedules in a spatially explicit way and produce maps from which the spatial pattern of habitat could be calculated. We demonstrated the power of this approach by evaluating alternative plans developed for a national forest plan revision in Wisconsin, USA. The amount of forest interior habitat was inversely related to the amount of timber cut, and increased under the alternatives compared to the current plan. The amount of edge habitat was positively related to the amount of timber cut, and increased under all alternatives. The amount of mature northern hardwood interior and edge habitat increased for all alternatives, but mature pine habitat area varied. Mature age classes of all forest types increased, and young classes decreased under all alternatives. The average size of patches (defined by age class) generally decreased. These results are consistent with the design goals of each of the alternatives, but reveal that the spatial differences among the alternatives are modest. These complementary models are valuable for quantifying and comparing the spatial effects of alternative management strategies.     

基于公众关注的生态环境监测标准问题探讨中国生态环境监测标准体系的发展

简述了中国生态环境监测标准制修订的基本情况,汇总并分析了近年来公众关注的生态环境监测标准问题并给出相应解答,提出今后进一步加强生态环境监测标准制修订工作的建议。     

国际碳税政策实践发展与经验借鉴

碳税作为削减温室气体排放的有效市场经济政策手段,被全球多个国家推进实施并取得较好减排效果。目前,我国碳排放仍处于高位水平,碳减排行动面临严峻挑战。随着欧盟碳边境调节机制的推进,我国碳减排行动面临的国际形势也日趋复杂。因此,跟踪研究国际碳税政策最新实践进展,为我国实现“双碳”目标做好政策能力储备十分必要。本文系统分析了国际上碳税政策的实践进展与经验,将国际碳税政策实践发展分为初始起步阶段、探索发展阶段和深入拓展阶段,并从税制要素的角度全面总结了国际碳税实践的相关经验。根据国际碳税实践经验和我国的实际发展情况,本文提出了我国开征碳税的基本思路,并提出对使用含碳化石能源的单位或个人征收碳税,将碳税纳入环境保护税中实施统一征管等政策建议。