Understanding implications of consumer behavior for wildlife farming and sustainable wildlife trade

Unsustainable wildlife trade affects biodiversity and the livelihoods of communities dependent upon those resources. Wildlife farming has been proposed to promote sustainable trade, but characterizing markets and understanding consumer behavior remain neglected but essential steps in the design and evaluation of such operations. We used sea turtle trade in the Cayman Islands, where turtles have been farm raised for human consumption for almost 50 years, as a case study to explore consumer preferences toward wild‐sourced (illegal) and farmed (legal) products and potential conservation implications. Combining methods innovatively (including indirect questioning and choice experiments), we conducted a nationwide trade assessment through in‐person interviews from September to December 2014. Households were randomly selected using disproportionate stratified sampling, and responses were weighted based on district population size. We approached 597 individuals, of which 37 (6.2%) refused to participate. Although 30% of households had consumed turtle in the previous 12 months, the purchase and consumption of wild products was rare (e.g., 64–742 resident households consumed wild turtle meat [i.e., 0.3–3.5% of households] but represented a large threat to wild turtles in the area due to their reduced populations). Differences among groups of consumers were marked, as identified through choice experiments, and price and source of product played important roles in their decisions. Despite the long‐term practice of farming turtles, 13.5% of consumers showed a strong preference for wild products, which demonstrates the limitations of wildlife farming as a single tool for sustainable wildlife trade. By using a combination of indirect questioning, choice experiments, and sales data to investigate demand for wildlife products, we obtained insights about consumer behavior that can be used to develop conservation‐demand‐focused initiatives. Lack of data from long‐term social–ecological assessments hinders the evaluation of and learning from wildlife farming. This information is key to understanding under which conditions different interventions (e.g., bans, wildlife farming, social marketing) are likely to succeed.     

Specific Contributions of Politics,Economics, and Toxicology in Setting Socially Consensual Limit Values

/ Limit values are legal limits for the concentrations of substances in the environment. They must be agreed upon in a consensual procedure between science, economics/technology, and political forces. This is a crucial political precondition for their social acceptance. The arguments put forward to justify their expediency and numerical level are based not only on risk-benefit considerations but also on the aspect of the technical avoidability of direct and indirect exposure. The critical assessment of the direct benefit of specified exposures falls within the responsibility of economics/technology, whereas criteria for their potential adverse effects (direct and indirect) are provided by medicine/biochemistry and/or ecology. Within this concept, the avoidance of nonbeneficial-even if not openly adverse-exposure is the essential aim of environmental hygiene and should be promoted by politics/science. In general, society or segments thereof reject adverse, accept beneficial, and tolerate unavoidable exposure. Conflicts of interest arise when different groups of society simultaneously define a given exposure as being adverse, beneficial, and unavoidable. Therefore, from the viewpoint of society as a whole, an optimal exposure lies as far as reasonably achievable at a level lower than known or plausible adverse effect thresholds (as defined by toxicology or ecology). This optimal level of exposure must be determined using a transparent and, hence, public procedure.KEY WORDS: Legal limit values; Benefit threshold; Social acceptance; Social tolerability; Adverse effect threshold; Avoidable exposure; Tolerance threshold; Environmental hygiene     

A review of public acceptance of nature-based solutions: The ‘why’, ‘when’, and ‘how’ of success for disaster risk reduction measures

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are increasingly recognized as sustainable approaches to address societal challenges. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) has benefited by moving away from purely ‘grey’ infrastructure measures towards NbS. However, this shift also furthers an increasing trend of reliance on public acceptance to plan, implement and manage DRR measures. In this review, we examine how unique NbS characteristics relate to public acceptance through a comparison with grey measures, and we identify influential acceptance factors related to individuals, society, and DRR measures. Based on the review, we introduce the PA-NbS model that highlights the role of risk perception, trust, competing societal interests, and ecosystem services. Efforts to increase acceptance should focus on providing and promoting awareness of benefits combined with effective communication and collaboration. Further research is required to understand interconnections among identified factors and how they can be leveraged for the success and further uptake of NbS.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01502-4.     

Evaluation of reusing alum sludge for the coagulation of industrial wastewater containing mixed anionic surfactants

A coagulation-flocculation process is typically employed to treat the industrial wastewater generated by the consumer products industry manufacturing detergents, soaps, and others. The expenditure of chemicals including coagulants and chemicals for pH adjustment is costly for treating this wastewater. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of reusing the aluminum sulfate (alum) sludge as a coagulant or as a coagulation aid so that the fresh alum dosage can be minimized or the removal e ciency can be enhanced. The experiments were conducted in a jar-test apparatus simulating the coagulation-flocculation process for simultaneous removals of organic matters, anionic surfactants, suspended solids, and turbidity. At the optimum initial pH value of 10 and the fresh alum concentration of 400 mg/L, the total suspended solids (TSS), total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD), total anionic surfactants, and turbidity removal e ciencies were 71.5%, 76.4%, 95.4%, and 98.2%, respectively. The addition of alum sludge as a coagulant alone without any fresh alum addition could significantly remove the turbidity, TCOD, and anionic surfactants. The TSS was left in the supernatants after the settling period, but would subsequently be removed by adding the fresh alum. The TSS, TCOD, and turbidity removal e ciencies were also enhanced when both the alum sludge and the fresh alum were employed. The TCOD removal e ciency over 80% has been accomplished, which has never fulfilled by using the fresh alum alone. It is concluded that the alum sludge could be reused for the treatment of industrial wastewater generated by the consumer products industry.     

谈建设项目竣工验收监测质量控制

质量控制是贯穿环境监测全过程的技术手段和管理程序,文章通过对建设项竣工验收监测质量控制进行阐述,其目的是为了提高我们的监测水平和能力,更好的保护好我们的生态环境。     

生活垃圾填埋场项目竣工环保验收应注意的问题

生活垃圾填埋场建设项目竣工环境保护验收制度是环境保护工作的重要制度。垃圾填埋场项目竣工环境保护验收情况是环保部门对改项目运行后进行环境管理的主要依据。根据垃圾填埋场项目竣工环境保护验收规范要求和实际工作经验,总结出竣工项目环境保护验收中需要注意的问题,并就问题的原因分析提出注意要点。     

基于生产工艺的水泥工业项目竣工环保验收监测重点分析研究

基于水泥工业的生产工艺特点,说明新型干法生产时代,水泥生产的主要产污环节及特征污染物,并分析其对生态环境的影响和危害,表明该行业属高能耗、高污染的产能过剩行业.根据建设项目竣工环境保护验收规范要求和工作实践经验,结合生产工艺、特征污染物和污染物总量控制等要求,从废水监测、废气监测、噪声监测等方面阐明水泥行业项目竣工环保验收的侧重点和注意事项,并指出污染防治设施、总量控制等几方面应重点关注的问题.     

糖蜜酒精厂环境保护验收清洁生产评价研究

糖蜜是糖厂榨糖后的副产品,含有可发酵性的糖45％∽52％,是直接用于发酵生产酒精的较好的原料.文章以广西某糖蜜酒精厂为例,在调查了解酒精厂生产工艺与装备、资源能源利用指标、污染物产生指标、废物回收利用率和环境管理要求等五个方面的基础上,认真细致分析环境保护竣工验收监测数据及生产报表数据,按照（HJ 581-2010）《清洁生产标准酒精制造业》（国家环境保护部）的要求对酒精厂清洁生产水平进行评价,并根据评价结果提出进一步提高清洁生产水平的建议和要求.     

企业建设项目竣工环境保护自主验收工作初探

简述了企业建设项目竣工环境保护自主验收政策的出台背景,介绍了自主验收目前取得的成效。针对现阶段工作中存在的自主验收缺乏有效监管及配套的技术支撑、企业主体责任意识不强等问题,提出了完善监督管理制度、提高企业主体责任意识、加强第三方验收监测机构管理、开展验收技术培训、规范建设项目变动认定管理等建议。     

基于结构方程模型的环境风险接受度影响因素分析

随着社会经济的发展和城市化进程的推进,我国环境风险事故频发。与此同时,公众对于美好环境的需求日益提升,公众与专家和政府之间的风险判断差异是不同规模的群体性事件发生的主要诱因。为识别公众环境风险接受度的影响因素,本研究基于结构方程模型分析了11种环境风险的客观风险水平和公众感知到的风险影响度、场域了解度、政府信任度、社会经济水平等因素对公众风险接受度的影响。研究结果显示,社会经济水平、风险影响度、场域了解度、政府信任度均直接影响公众的风险接受度;客观风险水平则通过风险影响度的中介作用间接影响风险接受度。因此,为在经济发展过程中降低公众风险感知偏差对生产生活的影响,我国除了通过更严格的风险管控手段降低风险事故发生概率和影响范围外,还需要通过信息公开、公众参与和生态科普等方式增强公众对风险场域的了解度和对政府的信任度以提升风险接受能力。