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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Conservation of the environment > General
This special issue of the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment revisits Professor Christopher D. Stone's iconic 1972 article, and features an introduction by Professor Philippe Sands QC, a set of elegant and thought-provoking reflections on the original article by Baroness Mary Warnock, Professor Ngaire Naffine and Professor Lorraine Code, and an equally elegant and thought-provoking response to their reflections from Professor Stone himself. This thoughtful collection of essays will be a valuable addition to contemporary debates concerning the crucial search for new relationships between humanity and the living world and between human rights and the environment. The renowned contributors offer rich reflections on questions of legal standing, legal subjectivity and epistemology raised by Stone's article, and which have greater salience than ever as we face the environmental and human challenges of the 21st century. Contributors: L. Code, A. Grear, N. Naffine, P. Sands, C.D. Stone, M. Warnock
This book explores the nature of marine conservation based on the case study of Hinase, a fishing village in Okayama, Japan. It focuses on the fishers' self-motivated eelgrass restoration activity which has been continued for more than 30 years. This activity in Hinase recently attracted international attention as a case under the name "Satoumi" and "Marine Protected Areas" in several governmental reports, but detailed information, such as the historical background and social structure of Hinase, has not yet been analyzed. This book, therefore, fulfills this gap by providing its ethnographic information. In addition, this book offers some points for critical thinking by concluding that marine conservation activities cannot always be evaluated or arranged under the standardized approach with limited time and space. This viewpoint reaffirms the importance of local initiative and highlights the value of qualitative research to seek the way forward for promising marine conservation. This book is suitable for an academic audience in the field of social sciences, such as applied anthropology, as well as ecologists, government officials, environmentalists, and citizens who are interested or engaged in environmental issues or natural resource management.
This book gives an overview of various aspects of blue carbon dynamics from each country bordering the Indian Ocean. Given the importance of the topic of blue carbon, it can be assumed that in near future, more and more researchers from the Indian Ocean countries will pursue environmental research in this domain. This book is a ready reference to all those who are interested to have a holistic understanding about the ground scenario of blue carbon in the Indian Ocean. There are many research institutes situated in the periphery of the Indian Ocean that are devoted to nurturing the new avenues of marine carbon research. Researchers and scholars interested in this domain will find this book provides a good overview, wherein all the necessary information on the status and functioning of these blue carbon ecosystems are detailed in a concise way. The book is also helpful to postgraduate students of 'marine science' or those who have a specialization in 'marine biogeochemistry' or 'chemical oceanography' to develop a basic understanding about the very concept of 'blue carbon' from the perspective of the Indian Ocean.
This book highlights key results and lessons learnt from two field sites, La Suerte in Costa Rica and Ometepe Nicaragua. It provides long term data on species abundance and distribution. Primates receive specific attention in this book, as they are flagship species and good indicators for the "health" of an ecosystem, but as well a money maker. Many primate species are sensitive to habitat alteration, and are often hunted out first. But they play an important role as seed dispersal agents for the regeneration of the forest. The book then compares results from the two field sites with regional trends, and explores potential solutions such as REDD+. This book strongly calls for new approaches in conservation, it makes the case for looking beyond the pure species biology and classic conservation angle and to take into account the economic and political realities.
Ice humanities is a pioneering collection of essays that tackles the existential crisis posed by the planet's diminishing ice reserves. By the end of this century, we will likely be facing a world where sea ice no longer reliably forms in large areas of the Arctic Ocean, where glaciers have not just retreated but disappeared, where ice sheets collapse, and where permafrost is far from permanent. The ramifications of such change are not simply geophysical and biochemical. They are societal and cultural, and they are about value and loss. Where does this change leave our inherited ideas, knowledge and experiences of ice, snow, frost and frozen ground? How will human, animal and plant communities superbly adapted to cold and high places cope with less ice, or even none at all? The ecological services provided by ice are breath-taking, providing mobility, water and food security for hundreds of millions of people around the world, often Indigenous and vulnerable communities. The stakes could not be higher. Drawing on sources ranging from oral testimony to technical scientific expertise, this path-breaking collection sets out a highly compelling claim for the emerging field of ice humanities, convincingly demonstrating that the centrality of ice in human and non-human life is now impossible to ignore. This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13, Climate action -- .
Operations Research Management Science approaches have helped people for the last 40 years to understand the complex functioning of the systems based upon natural resources, as well as to manage natural resources in the most efficient manner. The areas usually viewed within the natural resources field are: agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and mining and water resources. All of these areas share the common problem of optimally allocating scarcity over a period of time. The scale of time or length of the planning horizon differs from one area to another. We have almost a continuous renewal in the case of the fisheries, periodic cycles in the case of agriculture and forestry and enormous periods of time much beyond the human perception in the case of mining resources. But in all the cases, the critical issue is to obtain an efficient use of the resource along its planned time horizon. Another element of connection among the different natural resources is due to the interaction between the use of the resource and the environmental impact caused by its extraction or harvest. This type of interaction implies additional complexities in the underlying decision-making process, making the use of OR/MS tools especially relevant. HANDBOOK OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH IN NATURAL RESOURCES will be the first systematic handbook treatment of quantitative modeling natural resource problems, their allocated efficient use, and societal and economic impact. AndrA(c)s Weintraub is the very top person in Natural Resource research. Moreover, he has an international reputation in OR and a former president of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies (IFORS). He has selectedco-editors who are at the top of the sub-fields in natural resources: agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and mining. The book will cover these areas in terms with contributions from researchers on modeling natural research problems, quantifying data, developing algorithms, and discussing the benefits of research implementations. The handbook will include tutorial contributions when necessary. Throughout the book, technological advances and algorithmic developments that have been driven by natural resource problems will be called out and discussed.
In this book, an international team of leading marine mammal scientists, with a remarkably diverse set of backgrounds and areas of expertise, lead you through a synthesis of current knowledge on baleen whales. Baleen whales are the largest animals ever to have lived on this planet. They also have the lowest and most intense voices on Earth, most likely evolved to take advantage of ocean acoustic transmission conditions so as to be detectable across ocean basins. Some baleen whales can live to be 150-200 years old. They migrate many thousands of kilometers between feeding and breeding areas. They produce songs and calls that serve as behavioral foundations for establishing, maintaining and expanding their cultural identities. To conclude that we know the behavioral limits of these large brained, long-lived animals would be naive. As baleen whale scientists, we are still beginning to comprehend the enormous complexities and natural histories of these remarkable animals. Today, the fact that whales sing is known throughout much of the world. This awareness started 50 years ago with the publication and popularization of a collection of humpback song recordings that motivated research into baleen whale behavioral ethology. In this book's chapters, a reader's experiences will stretch from learning about baleen whale laryngeal anatomy associated with their different voices to learning about the vast ocean areas over which their voices can be heard and the emerging complexities of their culturally defined societies. These are accompanied by chapters on the fundamental ethological contexts of socializing, migrating, and foraging. Two common themes permeate the book. One theme highlights the phenomenal increase in scientific knowledge achieved through technological advancements. The other theme recognizes the impacts of human-made activities on ocean acoustic environments and the resultant influences on the health and survival of individual whales and their populations. Although the book is intentionally ambitious in its scope, as scientists, we fully recognize that baleen whale science is still in its infancy. Many profound revelations await discovery by cohorts of young, multi-talented explorers, some of whom are stretching their wings in this volume and some of whom are reading these scientific stories for the first time.
This book presents contemporary case studies on selected Italian food and wine products to explore how traditional production and consumption models address and adapt to the sustainability challenges in the Italian high-excellence agri-food sector. Sustainability in High-Excellence Italian Food and Wine adopts a transaction cost economics approach, which is applied to five case-study chapters, each focusing on a key Italian agri-food product: Parmigiano Reggiano, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, Amarone wine, Prosecco wine, and Prosciutto di San Daniele. The production and organization of these products face many challenges as they seek to balance competing priorities around economic viability, maintenance of high-quality standards and environmental and social impacts. The book argues that the development of sustainable and quality models requires changes to the structure and organization of the supply chain while also acknowledging that consumers are increasingly demanding authentic, high-excellence products that require reliable labeling systems and designations of origin mechanism. Recommending that hybrid structures, such as cooperatives and consortia, are the most cost-minimizing governance structures for the production, the book highlights that in the case of Italian excellency food, environmental sustainability and economic efficiency are not actually traded off but are reciprocally valorized through the regulation of high-quality standards. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of food and wine excellence products, food systems and supply chains, agricultural production and economics and sustainable consumption.
Deciding what user impacts are natural or unnatural has inspired much debate. Biophysically, moose cause similar kinds of soil and vegetation impacts as hikers. Yet moose are the sign of nature while hikers are the sign of damage. The field of outdoor recreation is beset with paradoxes, and this book presents a unique, alternative framework to address these dilemmas. Examining outdoor recreation through the lens of ecological theory, Ryan draws from theorists such as Foucault, Derrida and Latour. The book explores minimum impact strategies designed to protect and enhance ecological integrity, but that also require a disturbing amount of policing of users, which runs counter to the freedom users seek. Recent ecological theory suggests that outdoor recreation's view of nature as balanced when impacts are removed is outdated and incorrect. What is needed, and indeed Ryan presents, is a paradoxical and ecological view of humans as neither natural nor unnatural, a view that embraces some traces in nature.
The effects of disturbed ecosystems, from devastating algal blooms to the loss of whale populations, have demonstrated the vulnerability of the oceans¿ biodiversity. Conservation of marine systems requires knowledge from many different fields in order to understand the complex interactions that threaten those systems. Dynamic Modeling for Marine Conservation provides a method of learning how these systems function, determining how natural and human actions have put them in peril and how we can best influence the marine world in order to maintain biodiversity. The difficulties of research and experimentation in the oceans make computer modeling particularly helpful for marine conservation. Modeling also enables scientists to communicate their findings with managers and others concerned with putting their ideas into practice. The book will demonstrate dynamic modeling through the use of the STELLA modeling program and case studies from marine conservation. After a section devoted to the concepts and tools needed to model marine systems, each chapter introduces background information about a key topic in marine conservation, presents an appropriate model, and discusses the results and implications. Contributors bring a wide range of expertise and experience to a selection of models relevant to real-world conservation problems. All models and a run-time version of the STELLA software are included with the book on a CD-ROM, which is compatible with both Macintosh and Window platforms.
Human exploitation of other mammals has passed through three histori cal phases, distinct in their ecological significance though overlapping in time. Initially, Homo sapiens was a predator, particularly of herbivores but also of fur-bearing predators. From about 11 000 years ago, goats and sheep were domesticated in the Middle East, rapidly replacing gazelles and other game as the principal source of meat. The principal crops, including wheat and barley, were taken into agriculture at about the same time, and the resulting Neolithic farming culture spread slowly from there over the subsequent 10 500 years. In a few places such as Mexico, Peru and China, this Middle Eastern culture met and merged with agricultural traditions that had made a similar but independent transition. These agricultural traditions provided the essential support for the industrial revolution, and for a third phase of industrial exploita tion of mammals. In this chapter, these themes are drawn out and their ecological signifi cance is investigated. Some of the impacts of humans on other mammals require consideration on a world-wide basis, but the chapter concen trates, parochially, on Great Britain. What have been the ecological consequences of our exploitation of other mammals? 2. 2 HISTORICAL PHASES OF EXPLOITATION 2. 2. 1 Predatory man Our nearest relatives - chimpanzees, orang utans and gorillas - are essentially forest species, deriving most of their diet from the fruits of forest trees and the shoots and leaves of plants."
This book discusses recent developments in the study of chemical processes and equilibria in the marine environment and in the air/water and water/sediment interfaces. The chemical cycle of carbon as well as the effect of organic substances on the speciation and distribution of inorganic and organometallic substances are extensively discussed. Much of the recent progress in the area is the direct result of advanced analytical technologies and chemometric applications which are highlighted in the book.
FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE IN GENERAL NONFICTION WINNER OF THE NATIONAL OUTDOOR BOOK AWARD A CHICAGO TRIBUNE TOP TEN BOOK OF 2018 A GUARDIAN, NPR's SCIENCE FRIDAY, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, AND LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF 2018 Hailed as "deeply felt" (New York Times), "a revelation" (Pacific Standard), and "the book on climate change and sea levels that was missing" (Chicago Tribune), Rising is both a highly original work of lyric reportage and a haunting meditation on how to let go of the places we love. With every passing day, and every record-breaking hurricane, it grows clearer that climate change is neither imagined nor distant-and that rising seas are transforming the coastline of the United States in irrevocable ways. In Rising, Elizabeth Rush guides readers through some of the places where this change has been most dramatic, from the Gulf Coast to Miami, and from New York City to the Bay Area. For many of the plants, animals, and humans in these places, the options are stark: retreat or perish in place. Weaving firsthand testimonials from those facing this choice-a Staten Islander who lost her father during Sandy, the remaining holdouts of a Native American community on a drowning Isle de Jean Charles, a neighborhood in Pensacola settled by escaped slaves hundreds of years ago-with profiles of wildlife biologists, activists, and other members of these vulnerable communities, Rising privileges the voices of those too often kept at the margins. In a new afterword for the paperback edition, Rush highlights questions of storytelling, adaptability, and how to powerfully shift conversation around ongoing climate change-including the storms of 2017 and 2018: Hurricanes Harvey, Maria, Irma, Florence, and Michael.
This book aims to cover the multitude of corporate approaches towards mainstreaming biodiversity conservation and ecological management in policies and action plans, and explores the roles of these efforts in achieving national and global targets for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The book addresses various aspects of corporate actions such as corporate environmental responsibility, green businesses, market-based approaches to biodiversity conservation, and biodiversity trade-offs, and includes concept papers, reviews, and case studies presenting qualitative and quantitative research. Additionally, the text compares and assesses examples of positive and negative impacts of corporate involvement in biodiversity conservation in developed and developing countries to identify innovative approaches, and the best practices and models that can be replicated in diverse environmental conditions. The studies included in the book will help those working in the field of corporate involvement in biodiversity conservation, and outline the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches which will be useful for designing new environmental management action plans in the face of climate change. The book will also be of great value to researchers, academicians, policy makers, civil society groups, policy think tanks, and conservation managers.
This book presents a comprehensive overview and analysis of mangrove ecological processes, structure, and function at the local, biogeographic, and global scales and how these properties interact to provide key ecosystem services to society. The analysis is based on an international collaborative effort that focuses on regions and countries holding the largest mangrove resources and encompasses the major biogeographic and socio-economic settings of mangrove distribution. Given the economic and ecological importance of mangrove wetlands at the global scale, the chapters aim to integrate ecological and socio-economic perspectives on mangrove function and management using a system-level hierarchical analysis framework. The book explores the nexus between mangrove ecology and the capacity for ecosystem services, with an emphasis on thresholds, multiple stressors, and local conditions that determine this capacity. The interdisciplinary approach and illustrative study cases included in the book will provide valuable resources in data, information, and knowledge about the current status of one of the most productive coastal ecosystem in the world.
The Everglades was once reviled as a liquid wasteland, and Americans dreamed of draining it. Now it is revered as a national treasure, and Americans have launched the largest environmental project in history to try to save it. "The Swamp" is the stunning story of the destruction and possible resurrection of the Everglades, the saga of man's abuse of nature in southern Florida and his unprecedented efforts to make amends. Michael Grunwald, a prize-winning national reporter for "The Washington Post," takes readers on a riveting journey from the Ice Ages to the present, illuminating the natural, social and political history of one of America's most beguiling but least understood patches of land. The Everglades was America's last frontier, a wild country long after the West was won. Grunwald chronicles how a series of visionaries tried to drain and "reclaim" it, and how Mother Nature refused to bend to their will; in the most harrowing tale, a 1928 hurricane drowned 2,500 people in the Everglades. But the Army Corps of Engineers finally tamed the beast with levees and canals, converting half the Everglades into sprawling suburbs and sugar plantations. And though the southern Everglades was preserved as a national park, it soon deteriorated into an ecological mess. The River of Grass stopped flowing, and 90 percent of its wading birds vanished. Now America wants its swamp back. Grunwald shows how a new breed of visionaries transformed Everglades politics, producing the $8 billion rescue plan. That plan is already the blueprint for a new worldwide era of ecosystem restoration. And this book is a cautionary tale for that era. Through gripping narrative and dogged reporting, Grunwald shows how the Everglades is still threatened by the same hubris, greed and well-intentioned folly that led to its decline. Michael Grunwald is a reporter at "The Washington Post." He has won the George Polk Award for national reporting, the Worth Bingham Prize for investigative reporting, and many other awards. He lives in Miami with his wife, Cristina Dominguez. Visit his website at www.michaelgrunwald.com.
This book examines a wide range of innovative approaches for coastal wetlands restoration and explains how we should use both academic research and practitioners' findings to influence learning, practice, policy and social change. For conservationists, tidal flats and coastal wetlands are regarded as among the most important areas to conserve for the health of the entire oceanic environment. As the number of restoration projects all over the world increases, this book provides a unique assessment of coastal wetland restorations by examining existing community perceptions and by drawing on the knowledge and expertise of both academics and practitioners. Based on a four-year sociological study across three different cultural settings - England, Japan and Malaysia - the book investigates how citizens perceive the existing environment; how they discuss the risks and benefits of restoration projects; how perceptions change over time; and how governmental and non-governmental organisations work with the various community perceptions on the ground. By comparing and contrasting the results from these three countries, the book offers guidance for future conservation and restoration activities, with a specific view to working with local citizens to avoid conflict and obtain long-term investment. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of coastal restoration, wetland conservation and citizen science, as well as environmental sociology and environmental management more broadly. It will also be of use to practitioners and policymakers involved in environmental restoration projects.
This open access volume presents a comprehensive account of all aspects of biological invasions in South Africa, where research has been conducted over more than three decades, and where bold initiatives have been implemented in attempts to control invasions and to reduce their ecological, economic and social effects. It covers a broad range of themes, including history, policy development and implementation, the status of invasions of animals and plants in terrestrial, marine and freshwater environments, the development of a robust ecological theory around biological invasions, the effectiveness of management interventions, and scenarios for the future. The South African situation stands out because of the remarkable diversity of the country, and the wide range of problems encountered in its varied ecosystems, which has resulted in a disproportionate investment into both research and management. The South African experience holds many lessons for other parts of the world, and this book should be of immense value to researchers, students, managers, and policy-makers who deal with biological invasions and ecosystem management and conservation in most other regions.
Climate Church, Climate World, originally published in 2018, contends that climate change is the greatest moral challenge humanity has ever faced. Hunger, refugees, poverty, inequality, deadly viruses, war-climate change multiplies all forms of global social injustice. Environmental advocate Rev. Jim Antal calls on the church to meet this moral challenge, to embrace a new vocation so that future generations might live in harmony with God's creation. After illuminating how human beings are responsible for the dangers our planet now faces, Antal proposes how people of faith can embrace new approaches to worship, preaching, witnessing, and other spiritual practices that honor creation and cultivate hope. This revised and updated edition includes a new chapter on political and policy shifts under the Trump and Biden administrations; influence of Greta Thunberg and climate change activists; and updated information on the current science of climate change. Includes a foreword by environmental advocate Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature.
This book explains why international negotiations have not produced a sustainable solution to tropical rainforest degradation. Using an innovative, critical approach to international regimes, the author analyzes the structure and operation of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). He shows how the timber industry and producing- and consuming-country governments created a blocking alliance that favored developmentalist interests and ideas. The ITTO bolstered this alliance by permitting environmentalists merely to voice, but not negotiate, their concerns. |
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