An integrated approach to identification and conservation of medicinal plants in the tropical forest - A Brazilian experience

An integrated and interdisciplinary research programme with native medicinal plants from tropical forests has been performed in order to obtain new forest products for sustainable use in regional markets vis-à-vis ecosystem conservation. For the success of this programme ethnopharmacological studies are very important with respect to (i) identification of useful plants including medicinal and aromatic species; (ii) recuperation and preservation of traditional knowledge about native plants; and (iii) identification of potential plants with economic value. The plants are selected with a view to evaluate efficacy and safety (pharmacological and toxicological studies), and phytochemical profile and quality control (phytochemical and chromatographic characterization). These studies are very important to add value to plant products and also to mitigate unscrupulous exploitation of medicinal plants by local communities, since multiple use of plants represents an excellent strategy for sustaining the tropical ecosystem through ex situ and in situ conservation. Thus, conservation of tropical resources is possible in conjunction with improvements in the quality of life of the traditional communities and production of new products with therapeutic, cosmetic and 'cosmeceutic' value. © NIAB 2005.

Sustainable urban energy planning: The case study of a tropical city

The urbanization of modern societies has imposed to the planners and decision-makers a more precise attention to facts not considered before. Several aspects, such as the energy availability and the deleterious effect of pollution on the populations, must be considered in the policy decisions of cities urbanization. The current paradigm presents centralized power stations supplying a city, and a combination of technologies may compose the energy mix of a country, such as thermal power plants, hydroelectric plants, wind systems and solar-based systems, with their corresponding emission pattern. A goal programming multi-objective optimization model is presented for the electric expansion analysis of a tropical city, and also a case study for the city of Guaratinguetá, Brazil, considering a particular wind and solar radiation patterns established according to actual data and modeled via the time series analysis method. Scenarios are proposed and the results of single environmental objective, single economic objective and goal programming multi-objective modeling are discussed. The consequences of each dispatch decision, which considers pollutant emission exportation to the neighborhood or the need of supplementing electricity by purchasing it from the public electric power grid, are discussed. The results revealed energetic dispatch for the alternatives studied and the optimum environmental and economic solution was obtained. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Marine Protected Areas in Brazil: An ecological approach regarding the large marine ecosystems

The objective of this study was to address the importance of implementing Coastal and Marine Protected Areas in Brazil and to examine their distribution, based on the delimitation of Large Marine Ecosystems. Out of a total of 336 protected areas identified in Brazilian coastal and marine areas, the North Platform has the largest protected area, but the ecosystem with the largest number of protected area, predominantly sustainable areas, was the East Coast followed by the South Platform. One of the reasons the eastern coast of Brazil to have more protected areas is the fact that there is a largest amount of coral reefs. Additionally there was political opportunities for the creation of protected areas for sustainable use. The coastal region of Brazil has achieved the goal proposed by the Seventh Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity - 7, but only then through the category V of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which is not the best efficient means of conserving resources. The goal for marine conservation shows only the area above the recommended under protection in North Platform. The Marine portion of the East Coast and the South Platform has few protected areas, regardless of category management. We consider the coastal region the range of 12 nautical miles from baselines determined in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. As for the number of strategies permitted by law and used for the conservation of coastal and marine systems, coastal systems show a higher number when compared with the marine system. We suggest that the Brazilian government should specify strategies for the protection of marine systems and expand the protected areas of all Large Marine Ecosystems. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Agro-ecology as a mediating science between the training of the agronomist and sustainable agriculture

Agro-ecology plays an important role in the implementation of sustainable development, and an agronomist can be a leading agent in the dissemination of that culture. In this perspective, a survey was carried out with the attendants of the course in Agronomy at the Instituto Federal de Educacao, Ciencia e Tecnologia do Mato Grosso, Campus Campo Novo do Parecis, Brazil. The object of the study was to analyze the participation of the academics in agro-ecological activities, seeking to observe the acceptance, perceptions and possible indications of incorporation of these principles in the training. The survey was conducted during the period July-December 2011. The approach was the qualitative method and the instruments used in data collection were participant observation and interviews during the activities. The results revealed the satisfaction of students in engaging in agro-ecological activities: Students developed concepts and incorporated the proposal of agro-ecology throughout the project. The contents of the agronomy course offered at the institution, in the perception of students, is strongly linked to the principles of conventional farming, not fully considering training to meet the challenges, and current and emerging demands of agriculture.

“Eco-innovations in more sustainable supply chains for a low-carbon economy: A multiple case study of human critical success factors in Brazilian leading companies”

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Aircraft selection with DEA's triple index: an approach for sustainability

The objective of this paper is to present a benefit-cost ranking of 127 civil transport aircraft; this ranking was determined considering a new data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach, called triple index, which combines three assessment methods: 1) standard frontier, 2) inverted index; 3) cross-multiplicative index. The analysis used the following inputs: a) market price; b) direct operating costs; and as outputs: a) payload, b) cruise speed; c) maximum rate of climb with a single engine. To ensure the homogeneity of the units, the aircrafts were divided according to the propulsion system (jet and turboprop) and size (regional, narrow-body and wide-body); they were also evaluated according to different ranges in order to identify the aircraft with the best cost-benefit relationship for each option.