Potential of Artificial Wetlands for Removing Pesticides from Water in a Cost-Effective Framework

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the implication of wetland construction for the cost-effective design of a pesticide charge. A model is developed in order to show that, for a given target, the introduction of wetland construction can reduce overall abatement costs and can lower the input charge asked to the farmers. This result remains true as long as the cost of constructing a wetland is not too high. A numerical illustration is carried out in order to simulate pesticide regulations in a wine catchment in North-East of Francewater policy, constructed wetlands, agricultural pollution regulation, Agribusiness, Land Economics/Use, Q25, Q58, K32,

Payment for Ecosystem Services: Cases from the Experience of U.S. Communities

The cases in this report include a wide variety of types of Payment for Ecosystem Services, or "PES" programs. The cases vary by payment type, ecosystem services involved, and the end goal of the purchase. The locales span the United States, from New York to California, and from Georgia to Washington, so they represent a sample of what the United States has tried and offer lessons applicable to future PES programs.Each case offers unique insights into specific situations, but there are some aspects that are largely seen across the board. PES schemes seem to all benefit greatly from a strong and broad coalition of groups supporting them from the early planning stages through implementation. PES schemes are still relatively new and people can be resistant to new and different things. Having these coalitions helps to gain trust and respect from communities and partners, which increases the chances of program success. Allowing adequate time is another theme that seems to greatly enhance the chance of success. Creating these partnerships and navigating the new terrain of PES schemes takes time and patience. Many of these cases were only successful because the parties involved were willing to put in up to years of time in order to make it happen. As the cases demonstrate, the benefits of these PES schemes make the time and work put in to make them happen more than completely worth it

Rhetoric of Reconciliation: Implications from Bonhoeffer\u27s [Work] for a Communicative Praxis of Reconciliation Grounded in Christian Narrative

Reconciliation may broadly be considered as the repairing, restoring, and mending of that which has been broken, namely relationships be they interpersonal, communal, or national due to some type of conflict between two parties. This project seeks to establish a Rhetoric of Reconciliation as a narratively constructed ethical communicative praxis. The first chapter will consist of an overview of reconciliation. In the second chapter the major theoretical frameworks and scholarship in the field of reconciliation will be considered to establish a working understanding of the particular communicative processes of reconciliation and how these processes are narratively grounded. The major theoretical frames will consist of Judicial, Social-Psychological, and Religious perspectives. The third chapter of this project will inquire how the narrative faith perspective of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Bonhoeffer\u27s notion of reconciliation, which is grounded in his theological and philosophical construction of the self, other, church and community, may inform reconciliation. Furthermore, this project will take into consideration Bonhoeffer\u27s ethic of responsibility as that step of faith or praxis in the reconciliation process that moves beyond the theoretical to engage a rhetoric of reconciliation in action. The fourth chapter will review South Africa\u27s Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a case study of the process of reconciliation grounded in a narratively situated religious and cultural perspective and a discussion of pragmatic implications and further research on a rhetoric of reconciliation

Seafloor characterization using airborne hyperspectral co-registration procedures independent from attitude and positioning sensors

The advance of remote-sensing technology and data-storage capabilities has progressed in the last decade to commercial multi-sensor data collection. There is a constant need to characterize, quantify and monitor the coastal areas for habitat research and coastal management. In this paper, we present work on seafloor characterization that uses hyperspectral imagery (HSI). The HSI data allows the operator to extend seafloor characterization from multibeam backscatter towards land and thus creates a seamless ocean-to-land characterization of the littoral zone

'Exit' in deeply divided societies: regimes of discrimination in Estonia and Latvia and the potential for Russophone migration.

Hirschman’s model of ‘exit’ envisages that mass migration can communicate feedback to a state and elicit modifying policy behaviour. The regimes of discrimination against Russophones in Estonia and Latvia are examined to demonstrate that in certain conditions of inter-ethnic conflict the model does not work as predicted. In deeply divided societies the mass migration of a minority can be intentionally promoted by a majority regime of discrimination and thus does not perform a feedback function. Equally, in such conditions migration may operate as a safety valve to release the build up of minority antagonisms against the discriminatory regimes. The cases of Estonia and Latvia also illustrate the limitations of international conditionality from the EU and OSCE to prevent anti-minority policies, when there is a lack of international commitment and when governing elites resist. Given the lack of political will in Estonia and Latvia to modify the regimes of discrimination, and the poor prospects for integration or assimilation, the article predicts a significant out-migration by Russophones to other EU member states when restrictions on freedom of movement are eased after the transitional period.

Financial incentives for large-scale wetland restoration: beyond markets to common asset trusts

Wetlands provide $47.4 trillion/year worth of ecosystem services globally and support immense biodiversity, yet face widespread drainage and pollution, and large-scale wetlands restoration is urgently needed. Payment for ecosystem service (PES) schemes provide a viable avenue for funding large-scale wetland restoration. However, schemes around the globe differ substantially in their goals, structure, challenges, and effectiveness in supporting large-scale wetland restoration. Here, we suggest wetland-based PES schemes use common asset trusts (CATs) to build investment portfolios of wetlands across landscapes that sustain and enhance overall provision of multiple ecosystem services. CATs can meet the needs of multiple investors, permit bundled payments, and provide flexibility to invest in the restoration of numerous services/values, all using a coordinated, highly collaborative, prioritized, and transparent process. CATs would support financial viability, facilitate efficiency to reduce administrative burdens, and enable credibility and social licence building to restore wetland values and services globally