Valuation of tourism's natural resources

Discusses the implications of the economic valuation of natural resources used for tourism and relates this valuation to the concept of total economic valuation. It demonstrates how applications of the concept of total economic valuation can be supportive of the conservation of natural resources used for tourism. Techniques for valuing tourism’s natural resources are then outlined and critically evaluated. Consideration is given to travel cost methods, contingent valuation methods, and hedonic pricing approaches before concentrating on current developments of valuation techniques, such as choice modelling. The general limitations of existing methods are considered and it is argued that more attention should be given to developing guidelines that will identify ‘optimally imperfect methods’. An overall assessment concludes this article.

Economic rents, institutions and growth: International aid and natural resources: A comparative analysis

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Poverty, Inequality and Natural Resources Degradation

The present study is an attempt to understand the link between natural resource degradation and poverty among people dependent on these resources. This is done by examining the impact of depletion of marine resources on the livelihood and socio-economic condition of the small-scale marine fishery community in South Kerala. In Kerala, nearly ten lakh fisherfolk depend on the marine fishery resources for their livelihood. The overall level of education of the small-scale fishing community is lower than that of the State’s rural population. Almost all the households surveyed, is one way or other, depend on fishery resources for livelihood. Low levels percapita income and high levels of inequality imply the existence of a large proportion of poor people in the community who are vulnerable to external shocks. The study reveals that poverty was comparatively higher among households with no fishing assets, with only one earner, with more than two children, and depending entirely on pensions/remittances. The study has not provided any evidence to show that poverty in the community is the result of depletion of marine resources.

Wastewater Treatment Project for Palma Soriano, Cuba: Assessment of Cultural and Ecological Conditions

The Palma Project is an experiment in the use of cultural identity as a social trigger to address ecological degradation. The research methodology draws from environmental, social and urban analyses to unveil the best strategy to address the ecological, river restoration and water treatment challenges in Berkeley, California’s “Sister City” in southeast Cuba, Palma Soriano. The objective is to provide a better quality of life and to create new opportunities for the local community to reconnect with natural cycles of water and the cultivation of their own land. The project aim is to promote the strength and capacity of local communities to protect their own environment based upon a master plan, which includes natural wastewater treatment, reforestation, urban agriculture and the facilitation and utilization of a public space bordering the major river which flows by Palma Soriano, the Cauto. This project will contribute and produce healthy water recycling for Palma, provide a potable water source for the city, encourage ecological restoration of the riparian zone of the Cauto, and provide new opportunities for food production. It is designed to preserve the cultural identity of the local community, and to restore the essential balance between the community’s need to sustain both itself and the natural environment.

Comparison of pollinators and natural enemies: a meta-analysis of landscape and local effects on abundance and richness in crops

To manage agroecosystems for multiple ecosystem services, we need to know whether the management of one service has positive, negative, or no effects on other services. We do not yet have data on the interactions between pollination and pest-control services. However, we do have data on the distributions of pollinators and natural enemies in agroecosystems. Therefore, we compared these two groups of ecosystem service providers, to see if the management of farms and agricultural landscapes might have similar effects on the abundance and richness of both. In a meta-analysis, we compared 46 studies that sampled bees, predatory beetles, parasitic wasps, and spiders in fields, orchards, or vineyards of food crops. These studies used the proximity or proportion of non-crop or natural habitats in the landscapes surrounding these crops (a measure of landscape complexity), or the proximity or diversity of non-crop plants in the margins of these crops (a measure of local complexity), to explain the abundance or richness of these beneficial arthropods. Compositional complexity at both landscape and local scales had positive effects on both pollinators and natural enemies, but different effects on different taxa. Effects on bees and spiders were significantly positive, but effects on parasitoids and predatory beetles (mostly Carabidae and Staphylinidae) were inconclusive. Landscape complexity had significantly stronger effects on bees than it did on predatory beetles and significantly stronger effects in non-woody rather than in woody crops. Effects on richness were significantly stronger than effects on abundance, but possibly only for spiders. This abundance-richness difference might be caused by differences between generalists and specialists, or between arthropods that depend on non-crop habitats (ecotone species and dispersers) and those that do not (cultural species). We call this the ‘specialist-generalist’ or ‘cultural difference’ mechanism. If complexity has stronger effects on richness than abundance, it might have stronger effects on the stability than the magnitude of these arthropod-mediated ecosystem services. We conclude that some pollinators and natural enemies seem to have compatible responses to complexity, and it might be possible to manage agroecosystems for the benefit of both. However, too few studies have compared the two, and so we cannot yet conclude that there are no negative interactions between pollinators and natural enemies, and no trade-offs between pollination and pest-control services. Therefore, we suggest a framework for future research to bridge these gaps in our knowledge.

Extinction, pollution, and the sustainable use of exhaustible and renewable resources

Single ownership of natural resources is conunon in many developing countries and socialist economies. The sole owner is usually the .state or society at large, and governments are responsible for either distributing exploitation rights or engaging in exploitation through their own corporations. • Under this circumstance, the notion of externality may not fully explain pollution problems existent in these nations. This paper studies the case where a single agent owns both exhaustible and renewable resources, and attempts to maximize its welfare. The resources are either perfect or imperfect substitutes. Initially, exhaustible resource extraction does not affect the renewable resource, and sustainable growth is attainable. A lactor of pollution flowing from the extraction of the nc.nrenewable resource into the growth of the renewable resource is introduced. The continuous exploitation of the exhaustible resource leads to the " optimal " extinction of the renewable resource, and sustainable growth is no longer reached. Regulation from a supra governmental agency such as an multinational institution may prove to be of utmost importance, if sustainability is to be achieved. The paper is divided into five sections. Section two provides a brief survey of the relevant literature. Section three presents the model without pollution. This factor is introduced in section four. The final section discusses some possible approaches for attaining sustainable growth, and contains the concluding remarks .

Development of environmental and natural vulnerability maps for Brazilian coastal at Sao Sebastiao in São Paulo State

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Relationship between age of waste and natural electric potential generation in Sanitary Landfill

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Simulations of Ground-Water Flow, Transport, Age, and Particle Tracking near York, Nebraska, for a Study of Transport of Anthropogenic and Natural Contaminants (TANC) to Public-Supply Wells

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is committed to providing the Nation with credible scientific information that helps to enhance and protect the overall quality of life and that facilitates effective management of water, biological, energy, and mineral resources (http://www.usgs.gov/). Information on the Nation’s water resources is critical to ensuring long-term availability of water that is safe for drinking and recreation and is suitable for industry, irrigation, and fish and wildlife. Population growth and increasing demands for water make the availability of that water, now measured in terms of quantity and quality, even more essential to the long-term sustainability of our communities and ecosystems. The USGS implemented the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program in 1991 to support national, regional, State, and local information needs and decisions related to water-quality management and policy (http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa). The NAWQA Program is designed to answer: What is the condition of our Nation’s streams and ground water? How are conditions changing over time? How do natural features and human activities affect the quality of streams and ground water, and where are those effects most pronounced? By combining information on water chemistry, physical characteristics, stream habitat, and aquatic life, the NAWQA Program aims to provide science-based insights for current and emerging water issues and priorities. From 1991-2001, the NAWQA Program completed interdisciplinary assessments and established a baseline understanding of water-quality conditions in 51 of the Nation’s river basins and aquifers, referred to as Study Units (http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/studyu.html).

The role of landuse and natural determinants for grassland vegetation composition in the Swiss Alps

The Alps provide a high habitat diversity for plant species, structured by broad- and fine-scale abiotic site conditions. In man-made grasslands, vegetation composition is additionally affected by the type of landuse. We recorded vegetation composition in 216 parcels of grassland in 12 municipalities representing an area of 170 x 70 km in the south-eastern part of the Swiss Alps. Each parcel was characterized by a combination of altitudinal level (valley, intermediate, alp). traditional landuse (mown. grazed), current management (mown, grazed, abandoned). and Fertilization (unfertilized, fertilized). For each parcel we also assessed the abiotic factors aspect, slope, pH value, and geographic coordinates, and for each municipality annual precipitation and its cultural tradition. We analysed vegetation composition using (i) variation partitioning in RDA. (ii) cover of graminoids. non-legume forbs, and legumes, and (iii) dominance and frequency of species. Species composition was determined by, in decreasing order of variation explained. landuse, broad-scale abiotic factors, fine-scale abiotic factors. and cultural tradition. Current socio-economically motivated landuse changes, such as grazing of unfertilized former meadows or their abandonment, strongly affect vegetation composition. In our study, the frequency of characteristic meadow species was significantly smaller in grazed and even smaller in abandoned parcels than in still mown ones, suggesting less severe consequences of grazing for vegetation composition than of abandonment. Therefore. low-intensity grazing and mowing every few years should be considered valuable conservation alternatives to abandonment. Furthermore. because each landuse type was characterized by different species. a high variety of landuse types should be promoted to preserve plant species diversity in Alpine grasslands. (C) 2007 Gesellschaft fur Okologie. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Puerto Rico : Commonwealth election law and its application to a political status referendum : report to the Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate /

Running title : Puerto Rico's status referendum.

Electricity rates : hearing before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventh Congress, first session on S. 26, S. 287, S. 80, amdt. to S. 287, March 15, 2001.

Shipping list no.: 2001-0254-P.

Public administration of Florida's natural resources,

Mode of access: Internet.

Report on water resources studies, presented by Water Resources Advisory Committee to the Subcommittee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Mode of access: Internet.