Balancing making a difference with making a living in the conservation sector

Goals play important roles in people's lives because they focus attention, mobilize effort, and sustain motivation. Understanding conservationists’ satisfaction with goal progress may provide insights into real-world environmental trends and flag risks to their well-being and motivation. We asked 2694 conservationists working globally how satisfied they were with progress toward goals important to them. We then explored how this satisfaction varied among groups, including demographic and occupational. Finally, we looked at respondents' experiences associated with goal-progress satisfaction. Many (94.0%) indicated that making a meaningful contribution to conservation was an important goal for them, and over half were satisfied or very satisfied in this area (52.5%). However, respondents were generally dissatisfied with progress on collective conservation goals (e.g., stopping species loss). Some groups were more likely to report dissatisfaction than others. For instance, those in conservation for longer tended to be less satisfied with collective goal progress (log odds –0.21, 95% credibility interval [CI] –0.32 to –0.10), but practitioners reported greater satisfaction (log odds 0.38, 95% CI 0.15–0.60). Likewise, those who were more optimistic in life (log odds 0.24, 95% CI 0.17–0.32), male (log odds 0.25, 95% CI 0.10–0.41), and working in conservation practice (log odds 0.25, 95% CI 0.08–0.43) reported greater satisfaction with individual goal progress. Free-text responses suggested widespread dissatisfaction with livelihood goals, particularly related to job security and adequate compensation. Although contributing to conservation appeared to be a source of satisfaction, slow goal progress in other areas––particularly around making a living––looked to be a source of distress and demotivation. Employers, funders, professional societies, and others should consider ways to help those in the sector make a difference while making a satisfactory living by, for example, prioritizing conservationists′ well-being when allocating funding. This support could include avoiding exploitative practices, fostering supportive work environments, and celebrating positive outcomes.     

A Review of the Elements of Human Well-Being with an Emphasis on the Contribution of Ecosystem Services

Natural ecosystems perform fundamental life-support services upon which human civilization depends. However, many people believe that nature provides these services for free and therefore, they are of little or no value. While we do not pay for them, we pay significantly for their loss in terms of wastewater treatment facilities, moratoriums on greenhouse gases, increased illnesses, reduced soil fertility and losses in those images of nature that contribute to our basic happiness. Little is understood about the well-being benefits of the natural environment and its ecosystem services. The interwoven relationship of ecosystems and human well-being is insufficiently acknowledged in the wider philosophical, social, and economic well-being literature. In this article, we discuss an approach to examine human well-being and the interactions of its four primary elements-basic human needs, economic needs, environmental needs, and subjective well-being-and ecosystem services.     

Rural well-being: the push and pull and the diversity in-between

This article proposes an analytical framework for developing indicators of agriculture and rural community sustainability, including the symbiotic relationship between sustainable agriculture and rural well-being. Rural well-being offers a sustainable approach to healthy lifestyles that are based on a balance of many complex components including social, economic, and environmental issues. The United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) have taken positions on these issues. The United States Department of Agriculture is ‘committed to helping improve the economy and quality of life in rural America’ through loans and subsidies (USDA 2015). The USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program vision is to sustain ‘an enduring American agriculture of the highest quality that is profitable, protects the nation’s land and water and is a force, providing a healthy and rewarding way of life for farmers and ranchers whose quality products and operations sustain their communities and society’ (SARE 2016; Smart, Sandt and Chris Zdorovtsov 2016). UK government and non-government agencies have taken a more holistic approach to rural well-being in their efforts to achieve a more balanced social–economic–environmental state of rural well-being. The UK interpretation of Community Supported Agriculture is a tested example of this sustainable approach to fostering rural well-being (Saltmarsh et al. 2011).     

Direct and indirect effects of weather experiences on life satisfaction – which role for climate change expectations?

This paper deals with the effect of (1) damage experience from extreme weather events and (2) expectations concerning future climate change on subjective well-being (SWB). We use data from a large representative survey carried out amongst German households. The effect of experienced weather events on the SWB of the heads of households is significant only in the case of heat waves; the same cannot be said for storms, heavy rain, and floods. Concerns about future climate change in households have a substantial negative impact on current SWB. In addition, we divide the impact of experience into direct and indirect effects of damage, deduced from the impact of experience on expectations regarding future climate change. Both direct and indirect effects of weather experiences are quantified. It becomes apparent that the indirect effect is significant, but small when compared to the direct effect.     

Wells and well-being: neoliberalism and holistic sustainability in the shale energy debate

Based on semi-structured interviews with 31 Ohioans, this article argues that individuals who are concerned about shale energy development draw from a discursive framework that diverges dramatically from the position promoted by industrial proponents. While the oil and gas industry and its supporters largely embrace a neoliberal outlook that most closely correlates well-being with economic growth, citizens troubled by such development are guided by a more holistic perspective that links well-being to numerous interrelated non-economic elements including human health, community continuity, political empowerment, and environmental sustainability. This work contributes to an emerging understanding of how environmental change and socionatural well-being converge in the novel context of shale energy development and aims to give voice to those who cope with the direct consequences of twenty-first-century fossil fuel extraction. Approaching discourse – defined here as shared communication patterns that simultaneously reproduce and generate distinctive understandings of the world – as a dynamic arena of sociopolitical struggle, I further suggest that shale energy opponents use holistic sustainability discourse to actively or implicitly challenge neoliberal strategies for guiding thought and governing action.     

Economic performance and carbon intensity of human well-being: empirical evidence from the MENA region

Our paper explores the effect of economic performance variables on the carbon intensity of human well-being (CIWB) for 13 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region over the period (1995–2013). We use a time-series cross-sectional Prais–Winsten regression model with panel-corrected standard errors (PCSEs). We find that economic performance has a statistically significant positive influence on CIWB over the period in question; thus, economic performance harms the environment, but the final effect deviates to a constant level after a while. This finding is not encouraging from the economic sustainability point of view. On the contrary, we find that total health expenditure has a statistically significant negative impact on CIWB by increasing life expectancy, which means less stress on the environment.     

Self-perceived mental well-being amongst Malaysian dentists

Purpose. To assess Malaysian dentists’ perceptions of their mental well-being. Methods. A self-administered questionnaire was developed based on a conceptual framework of mental health and well-being model. Two aspects were assessed, namely the physiological (two domains) and the psychological (six domains). Participants were asked to rate their experiences of the aforementioned aspects using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from all the time to never. Results. The response rate was 81%. Most of the dentists (61.7%) perceived having positive mental well-being. Under the physiological aspect, most respondents reported that they were ‘generally happy’ (93.3%), but about 30% stated they were ‘stressed physically and emotionally’. Of the six domains under the psychological aspect, positive well-being was observed in the ‘sense of coherence’ and ‘behavioural stress’ domains. Participants who were above 40 years old, married and had children reported having a more positive mental well-being when compared with their counterparts. Conclusion. Overall, most Malaysian dentists perceived having a positive mental well-being. It is crucial, however, to closely monitor and initiate early interventions for those with negative symptoms to ensure the safe practice of dentistry.     

生态系统服务研究进展与展望

生态系统服务对人类福祉具有不可替代性。基于文献阅读方法,对生态系统服务研究进展和趋势进行总结。主要内容包括：1）阐述生态系统服务的概念与内涵;2）从生态系统服务货币价值评估、生态系统服务供需平衡与流转、生态系统服务的权衡和协同3个方面,梳理了国内外生态系统服务相关研究进展;3）提出生态系统格局–过程–功能–服务内在关系将是生态系统服务研究的热点,生态系统服务供需与空间流转将成为重要研究方向,生态系统服务权衡与协同将是生态系统管理研究的重点内容,生态系统服务与人类福祉的反馈机制研究将更加深入。该研究将有助于科学认识生态系统服务对人类社会可持续发展的支撑作用,促进生态系统服务研究成果服务于实践。

     

秦巴山区生态系统服务与居民福祉耦合关系的时空变化

保护生态系统、提高居民福祉是实现联合国2030可持续发展目标的核心内容。在分析秦巴山区生态系统服务与居民福祉时空演化特征的基础上,采用弹性系数揭示了二者的时空耦合关系。研究发现：（1）1990—2018年秦巴山区水源涵养总量、土壤保持总量均呈波动下降趋势,碳储量总量则呈缓慢增长趋势,且各生态系统服务呈不同的空间分异特征。（2）1990—2018年居民福祉呈上升趋势,增幅高达220%,并呈“南高北低”的分布格局。（3）县域尺度上,三种生态系统服务与居民福祉明显不协调发展。其中,水源涵养、固碳服务与居民福祉的耦合关系均以“福祉增—服务减”为主,占比分别为88.75%、62.5%;而土壤保持服务与居民福祉的耦合关系则以“双增”为主,占比为57.5%。此外,各项生态系统服务与居民福祉反向变化区多分布于汉江河谷盆地和秦岭山脉中段。研究结果可为促进贫困山区生态系统服务与居民福祉协调发展提供决策依据。     

基于三维福利的城市生态福利强度及驱动模式——以长三角地区为例

基于2000—2017年长三角城市生态消耗和福利水平,分析生态福利强度时空演化过程及驱动模式。研究发现：长三角地区城市生态福利强度不断降低,多以低强度类型为主,城市生态系统服务的生态效率得以提高;空间演化上表现为外围地市的生态福利强度低于核心地市,较低和低强度类型范围呈现由四周向中心地区蔓延态势,中高强度类型主要分布在资源型、工业密集型地市;驱动因素中资源消耗效应、技术效应及福利效应对城市生态福利强度表现为显著的正向驱动效应,效率效应和经济效应的增强导致城市生态福利强度的降低,环境消耗效应和规模效应驱动作用不显著。据此,城市福利生态强度的驱动模式可划分为单因素支配型、双因素主导型、三因素协同型及四因素均衡型。