Voter Participation in the 1998 Bundestag Elections: A Theoretical Modification and Empirical Application of Downs’ Theory of Voter Participation

This article seeks to contribute to the illumination of the so-called 'paradox of voting' using the German Bundestag elections of 1998 as an empirical case. Downs' model of voter participation will be extended to include elements of the theory of subjective expected utility (SEU). This will allow a theoretical and empirical exploration of the crucial mechanisms of individual voters' decisions to participate, or abstain from voting, in the German general election of 1998. It will be argued that the infinitely low probability of an individual citizen's vote to decide the election outcome will not necessarily reduce the probability of electoral participation. The empirical analysis is largely based on data from the ALLBUS 1998. It confirms the predictions derived from SEU theory. The voters' expected benefits and their subjective expectation to be able to influence government policy by voting are the crucial mechanisms to explain participation. By contrast, the explanatory contribution of perceived information and opportunity costs is low.

Relationship between water transparency and species richness of surviving haplochromines in selected habitats in Mwanza Gulf - Lake Victoria

Several of the surviving haplochromine species have been recorded in habitats of different water transparencies within the Mwanza Gulf. Sampling for the haplochromines was carried out in muddy, rocky, sandy and vegetated habitats. All of the recorded species had been reported previously. Fewer species were encountered than previously reported in the same sampling stations. There was evidence for positive correlation between species richness and water transparency that was reinforced with data on ecological differentiation. Further exploration and conservation measures of diversity have been suggested for Lake Victoria haplochromines.

Identification et analyse des éléments caractérisant la participation de la population locale et les paramètres à considérer pour l'élaboration d'un plan d'aménagement et de gestion de terroir: Cas du Fokontany Ambohibary Sokafana - Corridor Anjozorobe Angavo

La gestion durable des ressources naturelles est actuellement perçue comme une condition essentielle pour le développement durable, et surtout pour les pays en développement comme Madagascar. Face à la dégradation continue des ressources naturelles et surtout forestières, diverses stratégies sont adoptées par l’état malgache, dont l’extension des aires protégées qui veut allier la protection intégrale de certaines parties des ressources, et la satisfaction des besoins des populations riveraines. Le Code des Aires Protégées constitue un outil destiné à la gestion de ces aires de conservation. Toutefois, l’élaboration du plan d’aménagement ne prend pas souvent en compte des paramètres tels que l’augmentation de la population et les besoins qui s’en suivent, ou bien la participation de ces populations au processus d’élaboration et de mise en oeuvre du plan. Le défi est d’arriver à intégrer ces deux logiques de protection et de satisfaction des besoins de la population locale en réalisant des plans d’aménagement et de gestion concertés. Le cas du fokontany Ambohibary Sokafana dans le Corridor Anjozorobe Angavo est étudié pour identifier les paramètres à considérer si on veut atteindre cet objectif : paramètres écologiques et socio-économiques influençant la gestion des ressources forestières, critères permettant de définir la participation des acteurs dans cette gestion. Une revue des ouvrages spécifiques traitant du sujet ainsi que des observations et rencontres avec les divers acteurs sur terrain ont été menées afin de pouvoir identifier ces divers paramètres. Les analyses ont permis d’avancer deux scénarii qui traduisent l’intégration de la protection des forêts et la satisfaction des besoins en bois et en produits vivriers des populations riveraines, en tenant compte des motivations de ces dernières à participer au processus d’appropriation du plan d’aménagement et de gestion.

A methodology for appraising and selecting strategies to mitigate desertification based on stakeholder participation and global best practices

The main aim of the methodology presented in this paper is to provide a framework for a participatory process for the appraisal and selection of options to mitigate desertification and land degradation. This methodology is being developed within the EU project DESIRE (www.desire-project.eu/) in collaboration with WOCAT (www.wocat.org). It is used to select promising conservation strategies for test-implementation in each of the 16 degradation and desertification hotspot sites in the Mediterranean and around the world. The methodology consists of three main parts: In a first step, prevention and mitigation strategies already applied at the respective DESIRE study site are identified and listed during a workshop with representatives of different stakeholders groups (land users, policy makers, researchers). The participatory and process-oriented approach initiates a mutual learning process among the different stakeholders by sharing knowledge and jointly reflecting on current problems and solutions related to land degradation and desertification. In the second step these identified, locally applied solutions (technologies and approaches) are assessed with the help of the WOCAT methodology. Comprehensive questionnaires and a database system have been developed to document and evaluate all relevant aspects of technical measures as well as implementation approaches by teams of researchers and specialists, together with land users. This research process ensures systematic assessing and piecing together of local information, together with specific details about the environmental and socio-economic setting. The third part consists of another stakeholder workshop where promising strategies for sustainable land management in the given context are selected, based on the best practices database of WOCAT, including the evaluated locally applied strategies at the DESIRE sites. These promising strategies will be assessed with the help of a selection and decision support tool and adapted for test-implementation at the study site.

Biodiversity and Fishery Sustainability in the Lake Victoria Basin: An Unexpected Marriage?

Lake Victoria is Africa’s single most important source of inland fishery production. After it was initially fished down in the first half of the 20th century, Lake Victoria became home to a series of introduced food fishes, culminating in the eventual demographic dominance of the Nile perch, Lates niloticus. Simultaneously with the changes in fish stocks, Lake Victoria experienced dramatic changes in its ecology. The lake fishery during most of the 20th century was a multispecies fishery resting on a diverse lake ecosystem, in which native food fishes were targeted. The lake ended the century with a much more productive fishery, but one in which three species — two of them introduced — made up the majority of the catch. Although many fish stocks in Lake Victoria had declined before the expansion of the Nile perch population, a dramatic increase in the population size of Nile perch in the 1980s roughly coincided with the drastic decline or disappearance of many indigenous species. Now, two decades after the rise of Nile perch in Lake Victoria, this species has shown signs of being overfished, and some of the native species that were in retreat — or even thought extinct — are now reemerging. Data on the resurgence of the indigenous species suggest that heavy fishing of Nile perch may enhance biodiversity; this has spawned renewed interest in management options that promote both fishery sustainability and biodiversity conservation.

Patterns of the Remnant Cichlid Fauna in Southern Lake Victoria. Patrones de la Fauna de Ciclidos Remanentes en el Sur del Lago Victoria

During the years 1984–1987 Lake Victoria in East Africa experienced what is probably the largest mass extinction of contemporary vertebrates. Within a decade about 200 endemic species of haplochromine cichlids disappeared. The extinctions that occurred in the 1980s have been documented predominantly on species of offshore and sub-littoral waters in the Mwanza Gulf of southern Lake Victoria. Although the littoral fauna of southern Lake Victoria had not been examined in detail, their diversity seemed less affected by the changes in the ecosystem. We give results of the first comprehensive inventory of the littoral cichlid fauna in southern Lake Victoria and discuss its conservation status. We also report on new developments in the sub-littoral fauna after 1990. More than 50 littoral and 15 sub-littoral stations were sampled between the years 1991 to 1995. Of the littoral stations, 34 were sampled for the first time. One hundred sixty three species of haplochromines were collected. Of these, 102 species were previously unknown. About two thirds of them live in rocky areas that were sampled for the first time. Littoral rocky habitats harbored the highest diversity. Since 1990, however, 13 more species disappeared from established sampling stations in littoral habitats. Fishing practices, spreading of exotic fishes, water hyacinth, and eutrophication are considered important threats to the littoral fauna. Also in the upper sub-littoral the number of species declined further. On deeper sub-littoral mud bottoms individual and species numbers increased again, although they are nowhere close to those found before the Nile perch (Lates niloticus) upsurge. This fauna differs from the well studied pre-Nile perch fauna. At well-established sampling stations, the sub-littoral zone is dominated by previously unknown species, and some known species have performed dramatic habitat shifts.

WOCAT - World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies - Preliminary results from Eastern and Southern Africa

The World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) is a program of the World Association of Soil and Water Conservation (WASWC), organized as a consortium of several international institutions. The overall goal of WOCAT is to contribute to sustainable utilization of soil and water. WOCAT collects and analyzes information on soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies and approaches world-wide, and presents the collected information in computer databases and decision support systems, and in the form of handbooks, reports and maps readily accessible to SWC specialists and policy-makers world-wide. WOCAT has prepared a framework for the evaluation of soil and water conservation and has started data collection. The paper presents preliminary results with promising SWC technologies and approaches used in Eastern and Southern Africa. The first finding is that hardly any promising SWC activities could be found on common grazing lands. Analysis of the cropland shows some of the bio-physical and socioeconomic conditions under which certain SWC technologies and approaches are used, including land use types, climatic zones and land tenure, and looks at issues such as participation and costs. Furthermore, classification criteria for SWC technologies and approaches are discussed.