Exploring natural resource management tradeoffs in an agricultural landscape - an application of the MOSAIC model.

We describe a landscape scale non-linear discrete choice spatial optimisation model for identifying cost-effective strategies for achieving environmental goals. Spatial heterogeneity and configuration issues such as fencing costs, patch sizes and network linkages are explicitly accounted for and quasi-optimal allocations are determined using simulated annealing. Applications of the model being developed with New South Wales Catchment Management Authorities are discussed. These focus on targeting investments in revegetation to control dryland salinity and erosion and provide biodiversity benefits whilst minimising direct and opportunity costs. We compare our approach with alternate investment approaches.natural resource management, cost effectiveness, land use change, multicriteria, spatial optimisation, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Building Resilience in Flood Disaster Management in Northern Peru

This report provides a detailed account of the Newton Fund Peru Researcher Links Workshop held between 20th and 23rd August 2018 in Piura, Peru, entitled ‘Building Resilience in Flood Disaster Management in Northern Peru’. The report provides some background to the workshop, the aim and objectives, problem definition, as well as an account of the workshop process and key workshop findings and recommendations. The workshop was run jointly by Birmingham City University (BCU) in partnership with Instituto Geofísico del Perú (IGP) and was hosted by the Universidad de Piura (UDEP). The workshop was a response to the severe flooding experienced in Piura during the El Niño event of March 2017 which caused a number of fatalities, damaged over 100,000 homes and destroyed much local infrastructure including around 100 bridges. El Niño is a recurrent event and there is concern that its frequency and intensity may change in the future as a consequence of climate change. The four-day workshop adopted a structured facilitation approach to encourage participants to work together towards a common goal. Forty researchers and practitioners from the UK and Perú were challenged with working across disciplines to identify key cross-cutting themes and make recommendations for building resilience to future flood events. The activities included the identification of key themes facilitated by some key expert presentations, a full day of site visits to communities in the Piura and Catacaos area, meeting people who had been affected by the flooding events of 2017; and culminating in the development of key findings and recommendations which were presented on the final day. Six key and integrated themes emerged from the workshop activities as: i) Governance; ii) Risk Information; iii) Healthy Communities; iv) Infrastructure; v) Urban and regional planning; and vi) the River System. For each of these themes, the report provides an overview of the problem as well as some detailed suggestions and recommendations for addressing the difficulties and challenges identified. The key messages across these dimensions are: Governance: The importance of establishing participative planning in Chira-Piura Basins was identified for building collaboration and enabling integration. This can be done in three steps: (1) problem analysis and prioritization involving stakeholder mapping; (2) defining new governance arrangements that improve integration and communication; and (3) detailed action planning which creates collaborative implementation and monitoring. Risk Information: There is a clear need for the adoption of a risk model for the lowland basin of the Río Piura. An ideal risk model is comprised of data on hazard, exposure and vulnerability, with both outputs and inputs designed specifically to meet the needs and requirements of different stakeholders in the basin

Evaluation of Bayesian Networks in Participatory Water Resources Management, Upper Guadiana Basin, Spain

Stakeholder participation is becoming increasingly important in water resources management. In participatory processes, stakeholders contribute by putting forward their own perspective, and they benefit by enhancing their understanding of the factors involved in decision making. A diversity of modeling tools can be used to facilitate participatory processes. Bayesian networks are well suited to this task for a variety of reasons, including their ability to structure discussions and visual appeal. This research focuses on developing and testing a set of evaluation criteria for public participation. The advantages and limitations of these criteria are discussed in the light of a specific participatory modeling initiative. Modeling work was conducted in the Upper Guadiana Basin in central Spain, where uncontrolled groundwater extraction is responsible for wetland degradation and conflicts between farmers, water authorities, and environmentalists. Finding adequate solutions to the problem is urgent because the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive requires all aquatic ecosystems to be in a “good ecological state” within a relatively short time frame. Stakeholder evaluation highlights the potential of Bayesian networks to support public participation processes

A Sustainability Framework for Enhancing the Long-Term Success of LULUCF Projects

Collateral impacts of LULUCF projects, especially those concerning social and environmental aspects, have been recognised as important by the Marrakech Accords. The same applies to the necessity of assessing and, if possible, of quantifying the magnitude of these impacts. This article aims to define, clarify and structure the relevant social, economic and environmental issues to be addressed and to give examples of indicators that ought to be included in the planning, design, implementation, monitoring, and ex post evaluation of LULUCF projects. This is being done by providing a conceptual framework for the assessment of the sustainability of such projects that can be used as a checklist when dealing with concrete projects, and that in principle is applicable to both Annex I and non-Annex I countries. Finally, a set of recommendations is provided to further develop and promote the proposed framework.LULUCF projects, CDM, Kyoto Protocol, Sustainability, Socio-economic impacts, Environmental impacts