Conservation Businesses and Conservation Planning in a Biological Diversity Hotspot

The allocation of land to biological diversity conservation competes with other land uses and the needs of society for development, food, and extraction of natural resources. Trade‐offs between biological diversity conservation and alternative land uses are unavoidable, given the realities of limited conservation resources and the competing demands of society. We developed a conservation‐planning assessment for the South African province of KwaZulu‐Natal, which forms the central component of the Maputaland–Pondoland–Albany biological diversity hotspot. Our objective was to enhance biological diversity protection while promoting sustainable development and providing spatial guidance in the resolution of potential policy conflicts over priority areas for conservation at risk of transformation. The conservation‐planning assessment combined spatial‐distribution models for 646 conservation features, spatial economic‐return models for 28 alternative land uses, and spatial maps for 4 threats. Nature‐based tourism businesses were competitive with other land uses and could provide revenues of >US$60 million/year to local stakeholders and simultaneously help meeting conservation goals for almost half the conservation features in the planning region. Accounting for opportunity costs substantially decreased conflicts between biological diversity, agricultural use, commercial forestry, and mining. Accounting for economic benefits arising from conservation and reducing potential policy conflicts with alternative plans for development can provide opportunities for successful strategies that combine conservation and sustainable development and facilitate conservation action. Negocios de Conservación y Planificación de la Conservación en un Sitio de Importancia para la Biodiversidad     

THE IMPACT OF GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANTS ON FOREST VEGETATION. A CASE STUDY AT TRAVALE (TUSCANY, CENTRAL ITALY)

A survey of the crown status of Turkey oak Quercus cerris L.) trees in the boron-rich area atTravale (Southern Tuscany, Italy) was carried outin order to evaluate the impact ofgeothermal power plants. Crown thinness was assessed andmorphological and chemical tests werecarried out on leaf samples. Leaf area and dry weight weredetermined as morphological parameters;while the chemical measurements performed included nitrogenand potassium (among the nutrients),and sulphur, boron, arsenic and mercury (among the elements ofgeothermal origin). Acute damagewas found only in the area immediately adjacent to the outletsand is the result of the action of boron;crown thinness, on the other hand, is affected by the natureof the geological substrate. High quantitiesof sulphur were found in leaves throughout the survey area,due both to the availability of this elementin the geopedological substrate and to the atmospheric inputof geothermal H2S. The leafcontent of this element correlates negatively with thedistance from the power plants. Boron andarsenic are the other geothermal origin elements most commonlyfound in plant matrices. The presenceof these two elements is associated with leaf area reductionand/or an increase of specific dry weight.The most significant impact on the environment appears to beexerted by the southernmost powerplant, where there is an unfavourable ratio between quantityof emissions and height of the chimneys.