The Global Forest Transition as a Human Affair

Peer reviewe

A framework to estimate biodiversity loss and associated costs due to nitrogen emissions from single power plants

Environmental reporting by companies is becoming increasingly important for measuring sustainability performance, but biodiversity impacts are still largely unaccounted for due to the complexity of assessing such impacts. Energy production by power plants causes nitrogen emissions that may affect nature areas. To assess the impact of power plants on the biodiversity of Natura 2000 areas and to estimate compensation costs, we developed an analytical framework and applied it to four single power plants in the Netherlands. These plants differed according to production capacity and fuel source (natural gas and biomass). The plants affected between 77 and 537 km2 of Natura 2000 nature areas. To estimate cost of biodiversity loss and compensation, three approaches were applied: costs of restoration, ‘insetting’ costs incurred by creating new nature areas within the current Natura 2000 network, and offsetting costs, including land purchase of former agricultural land. Depending on the nitrogen exceedance levels of vegetation, compensation areas ranged between 6.5 and 23.6 ha. The estimated total cost per power plant varied from € 38,430 to € 1,753,261 annually. Depending on the cost method applied, biodiversity cost of energy production by single power plants ranged from 0.06 €.MWh−1 to 1.65 €.MWh−1. This cost largely depends on the type and location of the vegetation affected, which indicates that a spatial analysis is needed to measure the biodiversity footprint of business operations in environmental reporting

A framework to estimate biodiversity loss and associated costs due to nitrogen emissions from single power plants

Environmental reporting by companies is becoming increasingly important for measuring sustainability performance, but biodiversity impacts are still largely unaccounted for due to the complexity of assessing such impacts. Energy production by power plants causes nitrogen emissions that may affect nature areas. To assess the impact of power plants on the biodiversity of Natura 2000 areas and to estimate compensation costs, we developed an analytical framework and applied it to four single power plants in the Netherlands. These plants differed according to production capacity and fuel source (natural gas and biomass). The plants affected between 77 and 537 km2 of Natura 2000 nature areas. To estimate cost of biodiversity loss and compensation, three approaches were applied: costs of restoration, ‘insetting’ costs incurred by creating new nature areas within the current Natura 2000 network, and offsetting costs, including land purchase of former agricultural land. Depending on the nitrogen exceedance levels of vegetation, compensation areas ranged between 6.5 and 23.6 ha. The estimated total cost per power plant varied from € 38,430 to € 1,753,261 annually. Depending on the cost method applied, biodiversity cost of energy production by single power plants ranged from 0.06 €.MWh−1 to 1.65 €.MWh−1. This cost largely depends on the type and location of the vegetation affected, which indicates that a spatial analysis is needed to measure the biodiversity footprint of business operations in environmental reporting.</p

Accelerating the transition towards sustainable agriculture: The case of organic dairy farming in the Netherlands

CONTEXT: Regardless 30 years of similar regulations and a common internal market, the diffusion of organic farming strongly differs amongst European member states. While the share of organic farmland in 2018 in Denmark and Austria was respectively 9.8% and 24.7%, in the Netherlands it was only 2.3%. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper was to analyze what factors may determine the very different diffusion of organic dairy farming in the Netherlands, compared to Denmark and Austria. METHODS: We applied the Technological Innovation System (TIS) framework to the case of organic dairy farming in the Netherlands, for which a literature review and interviews with key actors within the dairy value chain were carried out. To identify potential leverage points for upscaling also interviews with key actors from Denmark and Austria were held. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Various barriers in the fulfilment of the seven TIS functions of Dutch organic dairy farming could be identified. With regard to the system function market formation a diversification in certified dairy products are signaled as important factors for upscaling. The function entrepreneurial activities will benefit from an reinforcement of governmental subsidies, since farmers who convert to organic run financial risks. Regarding the function guidance of the search, more consistent and systemic governmental support is needed, since the conversion to organic encompass a regime shift rather that supporting newcomers entering the sector. SIGNIFICANCE: By studying the blocking mechanisms that hinder diffusion of organic dairy, the paper provides several leverage points that may also be applicable to the arrested diffusion of organic farming in other countries as well as the larger sustainability transition in European agriculture

Accelerating the transition towards sustainable agriculture: The case of organic dairy farming in the Netherlands

CONTEXT: Regardless 30 years of similar regulations and a common internal market, the diffusion of organic farming strongly differs amongst European member states. While the share of organic farmland in 2018 in Denmark and Austria was respectively 9.8% and 24.7%, in the Netherlands it was only 2.3%. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper was to analyze what factors may determine the very different diffusion of organic dairy farming in the Netherlands, compared to Denmark and Austria. METHODS: We applied the Technological Innovation System (TIS) framework to the case of organic dairy farming in the Netherlands, for which a literature review and interviews with key actors within the dairy value chain were carried out. To identify potential leverage points for upscaling also interviews with key actors from Denmark and Austria were held. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Various barriers in the fulfilment of the seven TIS functions of Dutch organic dairy farming could be identified. With regard to the system function market formation a diversification in certified dairy products are signaled as important factors for upscaling. The function entrepreneurial activities will benefit from an reinforcement of governmental subsidies, since farmers who convert to organic run financial risks. Regarding the function guidance of the search, more consistent and systemic governmental support is needed, since the conversion to organic encompass a regime shift rather that supporting newcomers entering the sector. SIGNIFICANCE: By studying the blocking mechanisms that hinder diffusion of organic dairy, the paper provides several leverage points that may also be applicable to the arrested diffusion of organic farming in other countries as well as the larger sustainability transition in European agriculture

What Hampers Implementation of Integrated Landscape Approaches in Rural Landscapes?

In rural areas, frameworks of integrated landscape approaches are increasingly being used to reconcile conflicting objectives of stakeholders and sectors, such as agriculture and conservation. In accommodating multiple land uses, social, economic, and environmental trade-offs need to be balanced. Different social processes underly integrated landscape approaches. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the barriers described in peer-reviewed case studies to better understand what hampers the implementation of integrated landscape approaches. To this purpose, we conducted a systematic literature study. We clustered the barriers into the following barriers groups: (1) participation problems, (2) interaction problems, (3) resource problems, and (4) institutional problems, and analyzed how these barriers hindered implementation of the following key landscape processes: planning and visioning, developing and implementing practices, establishing good governance, and monitoring and evaluation

A framework to estimate biodiversity loss and associated costs due to nitrogen emissions from single power plants

Environmental reporting by companies is becoming increasingly important for measuring sustainability performance, but biodiversity impacts are still largely unaccounted for due to the complexity of assessing such impacts. Energy production by power plants causes nitrogen emissions that may affect nature areas. To assess the impact of power plants on the biodiversity of Natura 2000 areas and to estimate compensation costs, we developed an analytical framework and applied it to four single power plants in the Netherlands. These plants differed according to production capacity and fuel source (natural gas and biomass). The plants affected between 77 and 537 km2 of Natura 2000 nature areas. To estimate cost of biodiversity loss and compensation, three approaches were applied: costs of restoration, ‘insetting’ costs incurred by creating new nature areas within the current Natura 2000 network, and offsetting costs, including land purchase of former agricultural land. Depending on the nitrogen exceedance levels of vegetation, compensation areas ranged between 6.5 and 23.6 ha. The estimated total cost per power plant varied from € 38,430 to € 1,753,261 annually. Depending on the cost method applied, biodiversity cost of energy production by single power plants ranged from 0.06 €.MWh−1 to 1.65 €.MWh−1. This cost largely depends on the type and location of the vegetation affected, which indicates that a spatial analysis is needed to measure the biodiversity footprint of business operations in environmental reporting

Shedding light on relationships between plant diversity and tropical forest ecosystem services across spatial scales and plot sizes

This paper sheds light on the state of our knowledge of relationships between plant diversity and tropical forests ecosystem services. We systematically reviewed the empirical evidence of relationships between three ecosystem services: carbon stock and sequestration, timber provisioning and non-timber forest product (NTFP) provisioning, and three dimensions of plant diversity: taxonomic, functional and structural. We carried out meta-analyses to assess their validity across spatial scales and plot sizes. We found that indicators of all three dimensions of plant diversity have reported relationships with at least two of the studied ecosystem services, but there has been limited and inconsistent use of plant diversity indicators and little attention for relationships with timber and NTFP services. Nevertheless, we found that tree species richness showed robust significant positive correlations with carbon stock across the tropics, and that the geographical extent of the study area had a significant negative effect on the strength of this relationship, where the strength of the relationship decreased with increasing geographical extent. This paper reveals a knowledge gap for services other than carbon stock and shows that at local to regional spatial scales, synergies can be achieved between policies focused on biodiversity conservation and maintenance of carbon stocks

Shedding light on relationships between plant diversity and tropical forest ecosystem services across spatial scales and plot sizes

This paper sheds light on the state of our knowledge of relationships between plant diversity and tropical forests ecosystem services. We systematically reviewed the empirical evidence of relationships between three ecosystem services: carbon stock and sequestration, timber provisioning and non-timber forest product (NTFP) provisioning, and three dimensions of plant diversity: taxonomic, functional and structural. We carried out meta-analyses to assess their validity across spatial scales and plot sizes. We found that indicators of all three dimensions of plant diversity have reported relationships with at least two of the studied ecosystem services, but there has been limited and inconsistent use of plant diversity indicators and little attention for relationships with timber and NTFP services. Nevertheless, we found that tree species richness showed robust significant positive correlations with carbon stock across the tropics, and that the geographical extent of the study area had a significant negative effect on the strength of this relationship, where the strength of the relationship decreased with increasing geographical extent. This paper reveals a knowledge gap for services other than carbon stock and shows that at local to regional spatial scales, synergies can be achieved between policies focused on biodiversity conservation and maintenance of carbon stocks

Substantiation of decisions effectiveness in the field of personnel management (based on the materials of Private JSC “Nedrofarba”)

Кваліфікаційна робота ступеня бакалавр напряму підготовки 0306 Менеджмент, НТУ «Дніпровська політехніка», Дніпро, 2020. Об’єкт розроблення – процес управління персоналом на підприємстві. Мета роботи – теоретичне обґрунтування та розробка рішень щодо підвищення ефективності управління персоналом підприємства. Основні результати кваліфікаційної роботи бакалавра полягають у такому: розглянуто теоретичні основи управління персоналом підприємства; досліджено формування резерву кадрів підприємства для планування кар’єрного зростання персоналу; зазначено роль оплати праці у процесі управління персоналом підприємства; наведено загальну характеристику ПрАТ «Недрофарба»; проаналізовано виробничу діяльністьпідприємства; досліджено систему управління персоналом ПрАТ «Недрофарба»; надано пропозиції щодо оптимізації параметрів процесу розвитку персоналу на підприємстві; визначено економічну ефективноість запропонованих заходів.Кваліфікаційна робота ступеня бакалавр напряму підготовки 0306 Менеджмент, НТУ «Дніпровська політехніка», Дніпро, 2020. Об’єкт розроблення – процес управління персоналом на підприємстві. Мета роботи – теоретичне обґрунтування та розробка рішень щодо підвищення ефективності управління персоналом підприємства. Основні результати кваліфікаційної роботи бакалавра полягають у такому: розглянуто теоретичні основи управління персоналом підприємства; досліджено формування резерву кадрів підприємства для планування кар’єрного зростання персоналу; зазначено роль оплати праці у процесі управління персоналом підприємства; наведено загальну характеристику ПрАТ «Недрофарба»; проаналізовано виробничу діяльністьпідприємства; досліджено систему управління персоналом ПрАТ «Недрофарба»; надано пропозиції щодо оптимізації параметрів процесу розвитку персоналу на підприємстві; визначено економічну ефективноість запропонованих заходів