Transfrontier conservation areas: Integrating biodiversity and poverty alleviation in Southern Africa

Sub‐Saharan Africa continues to face the daunting challenge of alleviating poverty due to slow economic growth. In southern Africa, most countries are adopting policies that promote the integration of biodiversity conservation and rural development to contribute to rural poverty alleviation. Numerous approaches have been undertaken in this endeavour, including Transfrontier Parks (TFPs) and Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs). This paper discusses some of the limitations of the TFPs. In conclusion I posit that unlike TFPs, which are state controlled and managed, TFCAs, which promote multi‐land use and multi‐stakeholder participation are attainable and have a higher probability of sustaining biodiversity conservation and contributing to the alleviation of rural poverty, if: (i) areas of high biodiversity conservation within communal areas can be identified, zoned and leveraged to biodiversity conservation and managed in partnership between the communities and the private sector; (ii) local communities can secure legal rights to their customary land being devoted to biodiversity conservation and use such pieces of land as collateral in negotiating partnerships with the private sector in developing conservation‐based enterprises; (iii) functional community natural resource governance institutions can be established and empowered to represent their constituencies in securing fair equity from profits made from sustainable use of the conserved biodiversity assets and tourism businesses; (iv) concerted effort can be invested in developing and implementing family planning and fertility reduction strategies that would slow down human population growth to levels that can be sustained by the available natural resources; and (v) if sustainable financing mechanisms can be developed, and the governance of protected areas occurring in the TFCAs can be broadened to include other stakeholders.     

FLOOD HAZARD STUDIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN USING REMOTE SENSING1

ABSTRACT. The Spring 1973 Mississippi River flood was investigated using remotely sensed data from ERTS-1. Both manual and automatic analyses of the data indicate that ERTS-I is extremely useful as a regional tool for flood management. Quantitative estimates of area flooded were made in St. Charles County, Missouri and Arkansas. Flood hazard mapping was conducted in three study areas along the Mississippi River using pre-flood ERTS-1 imagery enlarged to 1:250,000 and 1:100,000 scale. The flood prone areas delineated on these maps correspond to areas that would be inundated by significant flooding (approximately the 100 year flood). The flood prone area boundaries were generally in agreement with flood hazard maps produced by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and U. S. Geological Survey although the latter are somewhat more detailed because of their larger scale. Initial results indicate that ERTS-1 digital mapping of flood prone areas can be performed at 1:62,500 which is comparable to some conventional flood hazard map scales.     

Small cetacean bycatch as estimated from stranding schemes: The common dolphin case in the northeast Atlantic

Death in fishing gear of non-target species (called ‘bycatch’) is a major concern for marine wildlife, and mostly worrying for long-lived species like cetaceans, considering their demographic characteristics (slow population growth rates and low fecundity). In European waters, cetaceans are highly impacted by this phenomenon. Under the Common Fishery Policy, the EC 812/2004 regulation constitutes a legal frame for bycatch monitoring on 5–10% of fishing vessels >15 m. The aim of this work was to compare parameters and bycatch estimates of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) provided by observer programmes in France and UK national reports and those inferred from stranding data, through two approaches. Bycatch was estimated from stranding data, first by correcting effectives from drift conditions (using a drift prediction model) and then by estimating the probability of being buoyant. Observer programmes on fishing vessels allowed us to identify the specificity of the interaction between common dolphins and fishing gear, and provided low estimates of annual bycaught animals (around 550 animals year⁻¹). However, observer programmes are hindered by logistical and administrative constraints, and the sampling scheme seems to be poorly designed for the detection of marine mammal bycatches. The analyses of strandings by considering drift conditions highlighted areas with high levels of interactions between common dolphins and fisheries. Since 1997, the highest densities of bycaught dolphins at sea were located in the southern part of the continental shelf and slope of the Bay of Biscay. Bycatch numbers inferred from strandings suggested very high levels, ranging from 3650 dolphins year⁻¹ [2250–7000] to 4700 [3850–5750] dolphins year⁻¹, depending on methodological choices. The main advantage of stranding data is its large spatial scale, cutting across administrative boundaries. Diverging estimates between observer programmes and stranding interpretation can set very different management consequences: observer programmes suggest a sustainable situation for common dolphins, whereas estimates based on strandings highlight a very worrying and unsustainable process.     

Integrating economic landscape valuation into Mediterranean territorial planning

Recent and rapid landscape changes have occurred over large areas in Mediterranean Basin. Wildfires and human activities are the most important disturbances at landscape-level due to their ecological and socio-economic impacts. The increasing demand which society places on the forest landscapes has led us to develop a tool to identify the economic landscape value around natural protected areas. Our research focused on the integration of social, ecological and economic components of landscape management based on stated social preferences and contingent valuation method (CVM). Landscape value research has been motivated by the need to assist land use planning and environmental management.Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have provided new opportunities to spatially distributed modeling of landscape quality. Correlations were found between the representativeness of the landscape and its sense of belonging, and the contingent rating. Landscape with intensive agricultural practices and mining areas were the least preferred landscapes. There was a notable variation in the economic landscape value attributed to the study area based on the considered CVM scenario, ranging from 1,253,075.1 Euros to 3,650,827.8 Euros. We added the geospatial allocation of willingness to pay according to five landscape quality categories. Our approach could be used to identify priority areas for conservation based on maximizing landscape value, and would be useful in detecting interesting or conflict areas associated with new management and planning alternatives. In this sense, this approach offers managers to seek territorial management strategies to increase economic efficiency in the allocation of resources.     

Effectiveness of Voluntary Conservation Agreements: Case Study of Endangered Whales and Commercial Whale Watching

Abstract: The use of voluntary approaches to achieve conservation goals is becoming increasingly popular. Nevertheless, few researchers have quantitatively evaluated their efficacy. In 1998 industry, government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations established a voluntary conservation program for whale watching in the northeast region of the United States, with the intent to avoid collisions with and harassment of endangered whales by commercial and recreational whale‐watching vessels. One important aspect of the program was the establishment of 3 speed zones within specific distances of whales. We wanted to determine the level of compliance with this aspect of the program to gauge its efficacy and gain insights into the effectiveness of voluntary measures as a conservation tool. Inconspicuous observers accompanied 46 commercial whale‐watching trips from 12 companies in 2003 (n= 35) and 2004 (n= 11). During each trip, vessel position and speed were collected at 5‐second intervals with a GPS receiver. Binoculars with internal laser rangefinders and digital compasses were used to record range and bearing to sighted whales. We mapped whale locations with ArcGIS. We created speed‐zone buffers around sighted whales and overlaid them with vessel‐track and speed data to evaluate compliance. Speeds in excess of those recommended by the program were considered noncompliant. We judged the magnitude of noncompliance by comparing a vessel's maximum speed within a zone to its maximum recorded trip speed. The level of noncompliance was high (mean 0.78; company range 0.74–0.88), some companies were more compliant than others (p= 0.02), noncompliance was significantly higher in zones farther from whales (p < 0.001), and operators approached the maximum speed capabilities of their vessel in all zones. The voluntary conservation program did not achieve the goal of substantially limiting vessel speed near whales. Our results support the need for conservation programs to have quantifiable metrics and frequent evaluation to ensure efficacy.     

Trends in management plans and guides: 25 years of experience from Southern France

This study analysed 14 management plans and guidelines from a 25-year period to understand trends in conservation planning. A Rosetta Stone Analysis was used for the systematic comparison of plans and guidelines. Management plans incorporated management philosophies, management scenarios, opportunities for infrastructure, and plans for data collection by 2000. As of 2010, they incorporated ecosystem services, stakeholders’ objectives and methods for storing and analysing data. The results demonstrate the complex nature of management plans, with an important workload for site managers. Recommendations for future planning include adjustments in planning timeframes and a better identification of conservation targets from initial stages.     

Partial neutralization of rain by seaspray: the case of Recôncavo, Bahia-Brazil

In the Recôncavo of Bahia (located between 12°33′ and 13°10′S and 38°00′and 39°00′W), there are significant discharges of SO₂ and NO_x due to local, industrial and urban activities. The incoming air masses from the Atlantic Ocean are enriched with seaspray, which neutralizes part of the rain acidity. The extent of seaspray neutralization of rain acidity was quantified in four sites of the region, each with different loads of seaspray. Rain samples were obtained daily at the same time, integrating the precipitation of the previous 24 h, using wet-only collectors and analyzed for pH by potentiometry and for sodium by flame photometry. The amount of rain acidity in Recôncavo neutralized by seaspray ranged from <1% up to 88% and depended on the site. On average, neutralization ranged from 5% to 18%.     

Environmental Policy Beliefs of Stakeholders in Protected Area Management

Although the importance of understanding stakeholder beliefs regarding environmental policy has been noted by many authors, research focusing on the heterogeneity of stakeholder views is still very scarce and concentrated on a product-oriented definition of stakeholders. The aim of the present study is to address this gap by examining environmental policy beliefs of stakeholder groups engaged in protected area management. Questionnaires containing 73 five-point Likert scale items were administered to eight different stakeholder groups involved in the management of Greek protected areas. Items referred to core beliefs on environmental policy, namely, the value framework and sustainable development, and secondary beliefs, that is, beliefs on social consensus and ecotourism development. Our study used as a starting point respondent recruitment on the basis of a traditional product-centered approach. We investigated whether environmental policy beliefs can be used to effectively segregate stakeholders in well-defined segments, which override the product-oriented definition of stakeholders. Indeed, K-means clustering revealed an innovation-introduction and an implementation-charged sample segment. The instrument utilized in this research proved quite reliable and valid in measuring stakeholder environmental policy beliefs. Furthermore, the methodology implied that stakeholder groups differ in a significant number of belief-system elements. On the other hand, stakeholder groups were effectively distinguished on a small set of both core and secondary beliefs. Therefore, the instrument used can be an effective tool for determining and monitoring environmental policy beliefs of stakeholders in protected area management. This is of considerable importance in the Greek case, given the recent establishment of 27 administrative bodies of protected areas, all of which are required to incorporate public consultation into management practices.     

A novel approach for VOC source apportionment combining characteristic factor and pattern recognition technology in a Chinese industrial area

Volatile organic compound (VOC) emission control and source apportionment in small-scale industrial areas have become key topics of air pollution control in China. This study proposed a novel characteristic factor and pattern recognition (CF-PR) model for VOC source apportionment based on the similarity of characteristic factors between sources and receptors. A simulation was carried out in a typical industrial area with the CF-PR model involving simulated receptor samples. Refined and accurate source profiles were constructed through in situ sampling and analysis, covering rubber, chemicals, coating, electronics, plastics, printing, incubation and medical treatment industries. Characteristic factors of n-undecane, styrene, o-xylene and propane were identified. The source apportionment simulation results indicated that the predicted contribution rate was basically consistent with the real contribution rate. Compared to traditional receptor models, this method achieves notable advantages in terms of refinement and timeliness at similar accuracy, which is more suitable for VOC source identification and apportionment in small-scale industrial areas.