Human-wildlife conflict, benefit sharing and the survival of lions in pastoralist community-based conservancies

No abstract available

The Economic Benefits of Cleaning Up the Chesapeake

Information on the economic benefits of environmental improvement is an important consideration for anyone (firms, organizations, government agencies, and individuals) concerned about the cost-effectiveness of changes in management designed to achieve that improvement. In the case of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment), these benefits would accrue due to improvements in the health, and therefore productivity, of land and water in the watershed. These productivity changes occur both due to the outcomes of the TMDL and state implementation plans, also known as a "Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint" itself (i.e., cleaner water in the Bay) as well as a result of the measures taken to achieve those outcomes that have their own beneficial side effects. All such changes are then translated into dollar values for various ecosystem services, including water supply, food production, recreation, aesthetics, and others. By these measures, the total economic benefit of the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint is estimated at $22.5 billion per year (in 2013 dollars), as measured as the improvement over current conditions, or at$28.2 billion per year (in 2013 dollars), as measured as the difference between the Clean Water Blueprint and a business-as-usual scenario. (Due to lag times—it takes some time for changes in land management to result in improvements in water quality, the full measure of these benefits would begin to accrue sometime after full implementation of the Blueprint.) These considerable benefits should be considered alongside the costs and other economic aspects of implementing the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint

Annual Report: 2008

I submit herewith the annual report from the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, for the period ending December 31, 2008. This is done in accordance with an act of Congress, approved March 2, 1887, entitled, “An act to establish agricultural experiment stations, in connection with the agricultural college established in the several states under the provisions of an act approved July 2, 1862, and under the acts supplementary thereto,” and also of the act of the Alaska Territorial Legislature, approved March 12, 1935, accepting the provisions of the act of Congress. The research reports are organized according to our strategic plan, which focuses on high-latitude soils, high-latitude agriculture, natural resources use and allocation, ecosystems management, and geographic information. These areas cross department and unit lines, linking them and unifying the research. We have also included in our financial statement information on the special grants we receive. These special grants allow us to provide research and outreach that is targeted toward economic development in Alaska. Research conducted by our graduate and undergraduate students plays an important role in these grants and the impact they make on Alaska.Financial statement -- Grants -- Students -- Research reports: Partners, Facilities, and Programs; Geographic Information; High-Latitude Agriculture; High-Latitude Soils, Management of Ecosystems; Natural Resources Use and Allocation; Index to Reports -- Publications -- Facult

Management recommendations

The acute succession problem justifies an opportunistic use of all suitable methods on the short-term (10 years). The ban on winter burning should be (temporally) lifted. The mown area should be enlarged by activating volunteers, raising budgets and funds for mowing of BNP-owned peatlands and by using peat harvesters. BNP and farmers should co-operate to raise funds and conclude Management Agreements for livestock farming on private and BNP-owned peatland. Agreements should include the use of Biebrza hay and litter. In the longer term (>10 years) extensive grazing seems the most promising tool. It may be implemented as traditional dairy farming, ranching of beef cattle, horses or (semi-) wild herbivores or as Wilderness. Suitability and feasibility may differ between the three basins. The entry of Poland to the EU will affect the feasibility of the strategie