Assessing the value of forest landscapes: a choice experiment approach

Landscape planning and design occupies a major role in forest policy in the UK. Since the 1980s, UK forests have been managed increasingly for multi-purpose objectives, a policy which has been underpinned by international agreements on sustainable forestry. Within this context, there is a need to understand public preferences for forest landscapes in designing policies that meet the needs of multi-purpose forestry. This paper is based on a study to investigate public willingness to pay (WTP) for regular visual and recreational access to a wide variety of generic forest landscapes. A total of thirty-three forest landscapes were investigated, each of which was defined as a combination of the configuration of the planting and the landscape factors. Computergenerated images of each of these landscapes were used to underpin a series of choice experiments conducted as part of a questionnaire survey of over 400 households across Great Britain. The results confirm the importance of landscape in contributing to the social and environmental benefits provided by forests, and suggests that current policies of woodland expansion may generate additional benefits, especially if more woodland is located close to urban populations. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these results for forest policy across the UK. © AB Academic Publishers 2009

Antioxidant activity and antimicrobial properties of <i>Entada leptostachya</i> and <i>Prosopis juliflora</i> extracts

Background: Natural phytoconstituents produced by plants for their sustenance have been reported to reduce disease. Objectives: This study determined the phytoconstituents, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of crude methanolic extracts of Entada leptostachya and Prosopis juliflora extracts. Methodology: Antioxidant activity was determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and β-carotene assays; the total phenolic and flavonoid were estimated using Folin–Ciocalteau and aluminium chloride, whereas antimicrobial activity was determined using the zone of inhibition method. Results: Screening of the extracts revealed the presence of terpenoids, flavonoids, saponins and phenols. Fourier transform infrared spectra of the extracts revealed presence of hydrogen bonded –OH functional group. E. leptostachya barks had the highest antioxidant activity followed by P. juliflora roots, E. leptostachya roots and P. juliflora leaves [μg/mL]. Prosopis juliflora (roots) had the highest bleaching effect, whereas E. leptostachya (barks) had the lowest bleaching effect. The total flavonoids were determined to be 0.15 ± 0.02 mg/g, 1.18 ± 0.18 mg/g, 0.39 ± 0.05 mg/g and 0.64 ± 0.03 mg/g for E. leptostachya roots, E. leptostachya barks, P. juliflora leaves and P. juliflora roots extracts, respectively. The total phenols were determined to be 0.93 ± 0.18 mg/g, 2.69 ± 0.41 mg/g, 0.62 ± 0.08 mg/g and 0.62 ± 0.08 mg/g for E. leptostachya roots, E. leptostachya barks, P. juliflora roots and P. juliflora leaves extracts. All plant extracts exhibited moderate activity against the growth of selected microorganisms. Conclusion: Antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the two plants was as a result of secondary metabolites found in the crude extracts

The Climate Challenge for Agriculture and the Value of Climate Services: Application to Coffee-Farming in Peru

The use of climate information in economic activities, typically provided by climate services, may serve as a possible adaptation strategy to changing climate conditions. The present paper analyzes the value of climate services aimed at improving agricultural productivity through a reduction in weather-associated risks. In the first part, we provide a theoretical foundation for estimating the value of climate services by proposing a stochastic life-cycle model of a rural household which faces uncertainty with respect to the timing and the size of an adverse weather shock. We subsequently calibrate the model to match the environment of coffee producers in the Cusco region of Peru and provide a range of estimates for the value of climate services for a single average household, the region, and the country as a whole. In the second part of the paper we use empirical data to verify the numerical estimates. We assess the value of climate services in the agricultural sector in Cusco based on a choice experiment approach. Data are analyzed using a standard as well as a random parameter logit model allowing for preference heterogeneity. Farmers show a significant willingness-to-pay for enhanced climate services which is particularly related to the service accuracy and geographic resolution. On average, the yearly value of a climate service in the coffee sector is found to be in the range $20.64 -$21.10 per hectare and $8.1 -$8.2 million for Peru as a whole

Preferences for Domestic Water Services in the Middle Olifants Sub-Basin of South Africa

Using household survey data, this study investigates preferences for domestic water services in the Middle Olifants sub-basin of South Africa. Water is a relatively scarce resource in South Africa that is distributed unevenly both geographically and seasonally as well as sociopolitically. For a water management addressing the policy objectives of efficiency in use, equity in access and benefits and long-term sustainability, economic valuation of the different water uses is required. In order to detect households' preferences, a choice experiment of the various water services was conducted. Results suggested the presence of preference heterogeneity and therefore, a latent class model was applied, dividing households into homogeneous groups according to their preferences. Four distinct groups of households could be identified which differ significantly in terms of their socio-economic characteristics, their attitudes toward pricing of water and their satisfaction with current water service levels. Willingness to pay (WTP) estimates of different water service characteristics in all groups indicate that households are willing to pay higher prices for a better and more reliable water services provision. But the amount households are willing to pay differs among the groups. This information is helpful for policy-makers to enable the design of water services in the Middle Olifants according to preferences of local households. Besides, WTP estimation can provide a basis for setting water tariffs

Human Remains from the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition of Southwest China Suggest a Complex Evolutionary History for East Asians

BACKGROUND: Later Pleistocene human evolution in East Asia remains poorly understood owing to a scarcity of well described, reliably classified and accurately dated fossils. Southwest China has been identified from genetic research as a hotspot of human diversity, containing ancient mtDNA and Y-DNA lineages, and has yielded a number of human remains thought to derive from Pleistocene deposits. We have prepared, reconstructed, described and dated a new partial skull from a consolidated sediment block collected in 1979 from the site of Longlin Cave (Guangxi Province). We also undertook new excavations at Maludong (Yunnan Province) to clarify the stratigraphy and dating of a large sample of mostly undescribed human remains from the site. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We undertook a detailed comparison of cranial, including a virtual endocast for the Maludong calotte, mandibular and dental remains from these two localities. Both samples probably derive from the same population, exhibiting an unusual mixture of modern human traits, characters probably plesiomorphic for later Homo, and some unusual features. We dated charcoal with AMS radiocarbon dating and speleothem with the Uranium-series technique and the results show both samples to be from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition: ∼14.3-11.5 ka. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our analysis suggests two plausible explanations for the morphology sampled at Longlin Cave and Maludong. First, it may represent a late-surviving archaic population, perhaps paralleling the situation seen in North Africa as indicated by remains from Dar-es-Soltane and Temara, and maybe also in southern China at Zhirendong. Alternatively, East Asia may have been colonised during multiple waves during the Pleistocene, with the Longlin-Maludong morphology possibly reflecting deep population substructure in Africa prior to modern humans dispersing into Eurasia

Valuing animal genetic resources: a case study of cattle in Kenya using choice experiments

In an effort to improve productivity and profits, many farmers have replaced traditional livestock breeds with higher yielding alternatives. While such changes may bring about short-term economic gains, the loss of traditional livestock breeds could result in the loss of an important genetic resource as a variety of important genetic traits adapted to local conditions gradually become less common in the population. This is a particular problem in Africa, where livestock make a substantial contribution to human livelihoods. Using the example of cattle in Kenya's pastoral livestock markets this study uses a choice experiment approach to investigate buyers' preferences for indigenous breeds such as the Maasai Zebu. The analysis employs a latent class approach to characterize heterogeneity in valuations both within and across respondents buying cattle for breeding, slaughter, or resale. The results show that there are at least three classes of buyers with distinct preferences for cattle traits and that most buyers favor exotic rather than indigenous breeds. Such preferences have implications for the conservation of indigenous cattle in Kenya and in other developing countries and suggest that some form of intervention may be required to ensure the preservation of this important animal genetic resource