Think Globally, Act Locally publishing amidst global summits

We are very pleased to present InJAST Volume 2 Number 2 October 2021 at this exciting time for national and global focus on applied environmental studies. This latest edition contains reviews and research articles such as Traditional knowledge of biodiversity in the community surrounding Giam Siak Kecil-Bukit Batu Biosphere Reserve, Riau, Indonesia†and Overview and evaluation of Indonesia's water resources management policies for food securityâ€. In addition, our guest editorial explores the topic of Government, private, and local communities in ecosystem restoration governance and practicesâ€. This editorial reminds us all that we are now in the first year of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), which challenges everyone to massively scale up restoration efforts focussed on our degraded ecosystems

The role of the academic community in combating wildlife trafficking

In Indonesia, the value of the illegal trade in wildlife reaches more than US one million per year. Apart from being a source country, Indonesia also has a significantly growing home market for illegally traded wildlife as pets, skins, and medicines.The illegal wildlife trade uses various modus operandi, directed by organized criminal groups and carried out by a variety of perpetrators on the ground, often very poor locals from rural communities. Whilst this trading activity is a transnational crime, that is, across national and continental borders, and may use the same supply routes usually associated with other crimes such as weapons, drugs and people trafficking, it is usually only the poachers on the ground who are caught and prosecuted. In summary, universities and their researchers have a significant role in the fight against the illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade, in monitoring wildlife populations and poaching activity, and in changing people's behavior, so that the activities of hunting, trading, or owning protected wildlife become unattractive and unacceptable to all communities. This role draws on disciplines across the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, encouraging those interdisciplinary behaviours so important for effective environmental management that delivers for the long-term health and well-being of people

The Online Journal System now live for submission and peer-review

Producing the first issue of a new scientific journal is an exciting and stressful time for any editorial board. Producing the second issue is more quietly satisfying with different concerns. Everyone was supportive and interested in the launch, but will they now follow up with challenging papers and relevant information to share, and will colleagues use and share this journal?  A significant step forwards in the production of The Indonesian Journal of Applied Environmental Studies  (InJAST), is that the Online Journal System is now live. This has meant that, whereas all work for the first issue was undertaken through email communication, for this second issue, all manuscript submissions and their peer-review processes have been managed successfully online.  A major and much appreciated demonstration of support for InJAST is the MoU that has now been signed between the Graduate School of Environment Management in Pakuan University and PERWAKU (Perhimpunan Cendikiawan Lingkungan Indonesia; the Indonesian Association of Environmental Scholars), one of their key collaborations being to publish collaboratively InJAST. The MoU was signed auspiciously on 5 June 2020, the 16th anniversary of PERWAKU and the 46th anniversary of World Environment Day.World Environment Day 2020 sought to engage governments, businesses, celebrities and citizens to focus their efforts on a pressing environmental issue the theme is biodiversity a concern that is both urgent and existential. Recent events, from bushfires in Brazil, the United States, and Australia to locust infestations across East Africa and now, a global disease pandemic demonstrate the interdependence of humans and the webs of life, in which they exist.â€Also to mark World Environment Day, Pakuan University and PERWAKU, together with Andalas University, held a webinar focussed on the Protection and Management of The Environment of the Covid-19 Era. This global pandemic has of course affected everyone from all walks of life, and the webinar explored the dangers of over use and destruction of the natural world, the benefits all humans derive from nature for our survival, and the demands for good focussed environmental management. Although incredibly tragic, the pandemic has perhaps focussed governments, businesses and communities alike on our relationship with nature.All such concerns lie within the globally recognised nexus of the nature crisis, the climate emergency, and unsustainable production and consumption. Environmental managers must understand and bring into account a wide array of subjects and approaches, not just science and technology but also social sciences, behavioural insights, economics, policy and regulation, and the arts and humanities, when tackling such problems. In Indonesia, and elsewhere, these challenges include deforestation, habitat loss and air pollution from forest fires, and water and air pollution from industrial and urban development. The second issue of InJAST illustrates this breadth of interest, concern, and focussed research, comprising papers on environmental policy, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, natural resources management, biodiversity of restored habitats, and progression in methodological approaches.As Editors-in-Chief, we are very pleased to see this second issue appear and encourage our colleagues from all sectors to submit their papers covering primary research, reviews, and research into policy and practice

The first issue of InJAST available in print and online

It is our great pleasure to announce that the very first issue of the Indonesian Journal of Applied Environmental Studies (InJAST) is now be  available   in  both  print  and  online.  This journal has evolved from the Journal of Environmental Education which started in 2015, and was managed  by the Study Programme of Population and Environmental Education, Graduate Programme of Pakuan University. Because this study programme has now become the Study Programme of Environmental Management,  we have decided to establish this new journal to publish scientific articles covering broader environmental issues that are written by the  Indonesian  students  of  graduate programmes either in Pakuan and other universities or researchers. Meanwhile, the publication and management  of the Journal of Environmental Education will be transferred to another relevant faculty or study programme within Pakuan University.We intend the new InJAST to be  published in English (with abstracts  both in English and Bahasa) so that it can reach a wider readership internationally, and we hope encourage international  environmental  students  and scientists working  in Indonesia or on topics of specific relevance to Indonesia,   to disseminate their research results and findings through  this journal.We are pleased to also announce that it has been agreed  in principle that  this new journal will be published collaboratively between the Graduate School of Pakuan University and PERWAKU (Perhimpunan Cendikiawan Pemerhati  Lingkungan  Indonesia,  the Indonesian Association of Environmentalist Scholars). A formal Memorandum of Understanding   between  both  parties  will  be signed in the near future.In this occasion, we, as the chief editors of this new journal, would like to express our gratitude  to various parties and individuals who have supported this initiative,  especially to Prof. Dr. H. Bibin Rubini, M.Pd. (Chancellor of Pakuan University), Prof. Dr. Ing. H. Soewarto Hardhienata (Dean of Graduate School Pakuan University), and Prof. Jatna Supriatna, Ph.D. (Chairman   of   PERWAKU  Indonesia).     We would also like to express special thanks to our national and international  colleagues at Pakuan University  and     elsewhere, who have so generously offered their time as members of the editorial board of the journal.Last but not least, we hope that the Indonesian Journal  of  Applied Environmental Studies  (InJAST) will  provide new  colour and perspectives the scientific journals published by Pakuan Univeristy,  and become the vehicle of choice for environmental  science students  and scientists to disseminate of their work

The results of applied research for solutions to environmental problems, expected!

With this issue, the Indonesia Journal of Applied Environmental Studies (InJAST) enters its second year, having been first published in April 2020 just as the Covid-19 pandemic was spreading globally. In the first two issues, InJAST published 13 articles, which were the results of research and ideas from academia, researchers from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and members of conservation NGOs. Within its first year, the InJAST website has been visited by around 1,500 visitors from 50+ countries.  Although the majority were from Indonesia, 30% were from across Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Africa, and included the USA, UK, Australia, and India.One of InJAST's missions is to provide a vehicle for academia (students and lecturers), members of environmental NGOs, and young researchers, particularly from Indonesia, who are just starting to publish their ideas, literature reviews and research findings or articles in scientific journals. InJAST was also developed to accommodate scientific papers related to broader environmental topics, but as yet, most articles have focused on plant/wildlife ecology, nature conservation, and forest restoration (61%). Others were the result of the studies on environmental education (8%) and on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other environmental issues (31%).As we start the third decade of the 21st century, the environmental challenges we face are ever more complex and demanding. The UNs global action plan for the next 10 years set out in the "UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development", puts forward special measures to achieve a world that is fairer, more prosperous, and more respectful of the environment. The main global environmental challenges that, according to the UN, must be resolved in this decade, are climate change mitigation and adaptation, pollution problems and their effects on health, protecting oceans, the energy transitions and renewables, a sustainable food model, protecting biodiversity, sustainable urban development and mobility, hydric stress and water scarcity, extreme meteorological phenomena, and overpopulation and waste management. As academics, environmental researchers, and members of environmental NGOs, we can and should support the UN agenda by seeking the solutions to these major global environmental problems that affect all of us. We do this by carrying out relevant research and, just as importantly, publishing them in scientific journals so that we can disseminate our findings as widely as possible and suggested interventions can be trialed and then implemented on the ground.This new issue of InJAST contains several papers focusing on plant ecology, endangered species conservation, and forest restoration, all of which are closely related to one of the main global problems identified by the UN, namely protecting biodiversity. Another paper analyses determinants and typology of hydrometeorological disasters that may relate to the problem of extreme meteorological phenomena. Strong pro-environmental legislation and government regulations are very important in implementing existing environmental policies, and environmental awareness and responsibility are also important to assess whether people are willing to participate in addressing global environmental problems at the local level. This is explored in two other papers in this issue of InJAST.We reflect further that we are in a hugely different place from where we were at the start of 2020. The Covid pandemic, obviously a global tragedy, has changed many peoples behavioral patterns and our subsequent impact of nature and the environment. It seems to have in many ways heightened people's awareness of nature and environmental issues, and the relationships between unsustainable production and consumption and the nature and climate change crises. A plethora of new research is emerging on these interdisciplinary questions and we look forward to submissions tackling these questions in future editions of InJAST.Finally, as Editors-in-Chief, we have been working hard to improve and expand our peer review community, as well as the processes of online submission, reviewing and publishing.  We are delighted to be presenting Volume 2 No 1 of InJAST and we encourage our colleagues from all sectors to submit their papers for the next issue

Environmental security and resilience Indonesia and global challenges

Indonesia faces tremendous challenges from climate change, biodiversity loss, and wider social and economic change. These challenges need extensive interdisciplinary approaches enabling multiple perspectives from diverse stakeholders to be recognised and utilised. Collaboration between scientists, social scientists, and economists has never been so important. As  Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change said:  The [global] challenges we face are massive, urgent, and interconnected. We need people across all sectors to pull together and move us to a bright and strong future. Theres no time to waste!â€.  We are therefore happy to see the growing number of community-based participatory studies being submitted to InJAST and hope these will increase in future. There are exciting and vitally important issues to be tackled and supported by environmental managers to build the necessary environmental security and resilience, from direct conservation work to flood risk management and pollution control. Climate change drives or affects all these of course and has been, for example, one of the key drivers for Indonesias momentous plans to move the capital from the 256,000-hectare (990-square-mile) Jakarta on the north-western side of Java Island, the most populated island in the country, to the relatively undeveloped and biodiversity-rich East Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo. Climate change and immediate economic drivers in many parts of Indonesia also contribute to the annual toxic haze, which causes air quality to reach hazardous levels and creates major health, environmental and economic problems, especially in Sumatra and Java. Indeed, as of March this year, Riau province has already declared a state of emergency ahead of this years main fire season

Relationship between social support, quality of life, and Th2 cytokines in a biobehavioral cancer survivorship trial.

ObjectiveBenefits of social support (SS) during cancer survivorship are complex. This study examines change in SS over time in cervical cancer (CXCA) survivors who have completed definitive treatment and how changing SS impacts quality of life (QOL) and T-helper type 2 (Th2) cytokines.MethodsWe conducted a randomized trial in 204 CXCA survivors to test if psychosocial telephone counseling (PTC) could improve QOL compared to usual care (UC). Although PTC did not target SS, data were collected at baseline, 4 and 9 months post-enrollment using the Medical Outcomes Survey Social Support scale. Biospecimens were collected to investigate associations with patient-reported outcomes. Data were analyzed using multivariate linear models and stepwise regression.ResultsParticipants' mean age was 43. PTC participants experienced increasing SS compared to UC at 4 months (PTC-UC = 5.1; p = 0.055) and 9 months (PTC-UC = 6.0; p = 0.046). Higher baseline SS and increasing SS were independently associated with improved QOL at 4 and 9 months after adjusting for patient characteristics (p < 0.05). Differences between study arms were not statistically significant. Improvements in QOL at 4 months were observed with increases in emotional/informational and tangible SS. Increasing SS predicted significant longitudinal decreases in IL-4 and IL-13 at 4 months that were larger in the PTC arm (interactions p = 0.041 and p = 0.057, respectively).ConclusionImproved SS was significantly associated with improved QOL independent of patient characteristics and study arm. Decreasing Th2 cytokines with increasing SS and QOL are consistent with a biobehavioral paradigm in which modulation of the chronic stress response is associated with shifts in immune stance

A 2018 Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity.

This is our ninth annual horizon scan to identify emerging issues that we believe could affect global biological diversity, natural capital and ecosystem services, and conservation efforts. Our diverse and international team, with expertise in horizon scanning, science communication, as well as conservation science, practice, and policy, reviewed 117 potential issues. We identified the 15 that may have the greatest positive or negative effects but are not yet well recognised by the global conservation community. Themes among these topics include new mechanisms driving the emergence and geographic expansion of diseases, innovative biotechnologies, reassessments of global change, and the development of strategic infrastructure to facilitate global economic priorities

A horizon scan of global conservation issues for 2014

This paper presents the output of our fifth annual horizon-scanning exercise, which aims to identify topics that increasingly may affect conservation of biological diversity, but have yet to be widely considered. A team of professional horizon scanners, researchers, practitioners, and a journalist identified 15 topics which were identified via an iterative, Delphi-like process. The 15 topics include a carbon market induced financial crash, rapid geographic expansion of macroalgal cultivation, genetic control of invasive species, probiotic therapy for amphibians, and an emerging snake fungal disease. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

Evaluation of Allelic Expression of Imprinted Genes in Adult Human Blood

Imprinted genes are expressed from only one allele in a parent-of-origin dependent manner. Loss of imprinted (LOI) expression can result in a variety of human disorders and is frequently reported in cancer. Biallelic expression of imprinted genes in adult blood has been suggested as a useful biomarker and is currently being investigated in colorectal cancer. In general, the expression profiles of imprinted genes are well characterised during human and mouse fetal development, but not in human adults