Fixing extraction through conservation : on crises, fixes and the production of shared value and threat

We are currently witnessing a global trend of intensifying and deepening relationships between extractive companies and biodiversity conservation organisations that warrants closer scrutiny. Although existing literature has established that these two sectors often share the same space and rely on similar logics, it is increasingly common to find biodiversity conservation being carried out through partnerships between extractive and conservation actors. In this article, we explore what this cooperation achieves for both sectors. Using illustrative examples of extractive-conservation collaboration across sub-Saharan Africa, we argue that new entanglements between extractive and conservation actors are motivated by multiple purposes. First, partnering with conservation actors serves as a spatial and socio-ecological fix for extractive companies in response to multiple crises that threaten the sector's productivity. Second, new forms of collaboration between extractive and conservation actors create pathways for both sectors to produce new value from nature. For the extractive sector, creating new value from nature works as a further fix to capitalist crises whereas, for the conservation sector, producing value through nature amounts to new opportunities for capital accumulation. Importantly, working together to produce shared value from nature within and beyond extractive concessions secures both sectors' control over the means of production. Theoretically, our analysis links literature on value in capitalist nature with that on spatial and socio-ecological fixes

“Top-Down-Bottom-Up” Methodology as a Common Approach to Defining Bespoke Sets of Sustainability Assessment Criteria for the Built Environment

YesThe top-down-bottom-up (TDBU) methodology for defining bespoke sets of sustainability criteria for specific civil engineering project types is introduced and discussed. The need to define sustainability criteria for specific civil engineering project types occurs mainly in one or both of the following cases: (1) when a more comprehensive and indicative assessment of the sustainability of the project type in question is required; and/or (2) there is no readily available bespoke sustainability assessment tool, or set of criteria, for assessing the sustainability of the project type. The construction of roads, buildings, airports, tunnels, dams, flood banks, bridges, water supply, and sewage systems and their supporting systems are considered to be unique civil engineering/infrastructure project types. The normative definition of sustainable civil engineering/infrastructure projects and the framework for assessing its sustainability is defined and provided by the authors. An example of the TDBU methodology being applied to define sustainability criteria for transport noise reducing devices is presented and discussed. The end result of applying the methodology is a systematically researched and industry validated set of criteria that denotes assessing the sustainability of the civil engineering/infrastructure project type. The paper concludes that the top-down-bottom-up will support stakeholders and managers involved in assessing sustainability to consider all major research methods to define general and unique sustainability criteria to assess and so maximize sustainability

Positive demographic effects of nest surveillance campaigns to counter illegal harvest of the Bonelli's eagle in Sicily (Italy)

Illegal trade in wildlife has been identified as one of the main challenges to wildlife conservation. In 2010, an illegal trade-ring trafficking in birds of prey was uncovered in Sicily (southern Italy). This illegal trade targeted the three most endangered species in Italy: Bonelli's eagle Aquila fasciata, Lanner falcon Falco biarmicus and Egyptian vulture Neophron percnopterus, all of them long-lived territorial raptors threatened with extinction across their European distribution. Illegal harvest primarily involved young birds and eggs taken from nests. After the discovery of these activities, surveillance camps and camera traps connected to the mobile Global System for Mobile communications network were established in nine Bonelli's eagle breeding sites in which illegal harvest was reported. Surveillance activities resulted in a sharp reduction in illegal harvest that has contributed to the recent increase in population size and number of breeding pairs of Bonelli's eagle in the island. This population represents 95% of the entire Italian population and is catalogued as Critically Endangered in this country. Importantly, our results highlight the impact of illegal harvest on the population dynamics of endangered species as demonstrated by a population viability analysis. This is particularly important in the case of insular species for which demographic recovery due to immigration from other geographic areas is unlikely. Systematic patrols by forestry police authorities, a resolute application of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species legislation via legal punishment, and the requirement of including all live captive specimens used for falconry in an obligatory DNA data bank would contribute to reducing the risk of extinction for small populations of endangered species of birds of prey

Online calculators of 'ecological footprint': do they promote or dissuade sustainable behaviour?

Ecological footprint (EF) indices estimate the impact of an individual's lifestyle on the planet by converting levels of consumption into the amount of land needed to sustain production levels and lifestyle choices. Several popular organizations (e.g. WWF, Global Footprint Network) now offer personalized EF calculators to help inform consumers of the impacts of their personal consumption habits. In this paper, we evaluate the most popular online EF calculators and find that, even when the most environmentally friendly options are adopted, for the majority of available indices, one still exceeds the planet's biocapacity levels. The absence of options to fully offset one's environmental impacts implicitly suggests that there is no truly sustainable level of consumption at current population levels, even under the most prudent consumer choices. Although all online EF calculators claim to be a tool for education to promote sustainable behaviour, their calculations suggest, to the contrary, that as consumers we may postpone but not necessarily prevent environmental catastrophes

Assessing the effectiveness of protected areas for conserving range‐restricted rain forest butterflies in Sabah, Borneo

Rain forests on Borneo support exceptional concentrations of endemic insect biodiversity, but many of these forest‐dependent species are threatened by land‐use change. Totally protected areas (TPAs) of forest are key for conserving biodiversity, and we examined the effectiveness of the current TPA network for conserving range‐restricted butterflies in Sabah (Malaysian Borneo). We found that mean diurnal temperature range and precipitation of the wettest quarter of the year were the most important predictors of butterfly distributions (N = 77 range‐restricted species), and that species richness increased with elevation and aboveground forest carbon. On average across all species, TPAs were effective at conserving ~43% of species’ ranges, but encompassed only ~40% of areas with high species richness (i.e., containing at least 50% of our study species). The TPA network also included only 33%–40% of areas identified as high priority for conserving range‐restricted species, as determined by a systematic conservation prioritization analysis. Hence, the current TPA network is reasonably effective at conserving range‐restricted butterflies, although considerable areas of high species richness (6,565 km2) and high conservation priority (11,152–12,531 km2) are not currently protected. Sabah's remaining forests, and the range‐restricted species they support, are under continued threat from agricultural expansion and urban development, and our study highlights important areas of rain forest that require enhanced protection. Abstract in Malay is available with online material

Applying eCDT Technologies in Small-scale Tuna Handline Fisheries in the Philippines (Full report)

This report, prepared in partnership with USAID Oceans by the Kabang Kalikasan ng Pilipinas Foundation Inc. (KKPFI)–also known as the World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines (WWF-Philippines)–documents the expanded application and testing of municipal electronic catch documentation and traceability (eCDT) technologies beyond the USAID Oceans Learning Site of General Santos City, into the Bicol and Mindoro regions of the Philippines where WWF-Philippines works with municipal fishers and Local Governance Units (LGUs). The application of eCDT technologies in Bicol and Mindoro is intended to help combat IUU fishing, promote sustainable fisheries, and conserve marine biodiversity through the demonstration and expansion of eCDT technologies in the small-scale handline tuna fisheries the Philippines. This report is focused on the application and testing of eCDT by the small-scale tuna handline fisheries at sites in Bicol and Mindoro working in partnership with WWF-Philippines. This involved the installation and use of onboard FAME radio frequency transponders and Near-field Communication (NFC) cards within the small-scale handline tuna fisheries. The report notes on the user friendliness of the device and evaluating the acceptance of the fishers, considering the perception that it would be an additional task for their fishing operation. The information gathered in this report provides a case study of the potential of eCDT technology for small-scale fisheries in terms of combating IUU fishing. Furthermore, the case study illustrates how essential this technology can be in promoting sustainable fisheries, as well as understanding the direct benefits the eCDT can have for artisanal fisheries

Applying eCDT Technologies in Small-scale Tuna Handline Fisheries in the Philippines (Summary report)

This summary report, prepared in partnership with USAID Oceans by the Kabang Kalikasan ng Pilipinas Foundation Inc. (KKPFI)–also known as the World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines (WWF-Philippines)–documents the expanded application and testing of municipal electronic catch documentation and traceability (eCDT) technologies beyond the USAID Oceans Learning Site of General Santos City, into the Bicol and Mindoro regions of the Philippines where WWF-Philippines works with municipal fishers and Local Governance Units (LGUs). The application of eCDT technologies in Bicol and Mindoro is intended to help combat IUU fishing, promote sustainable fisheries, and conserve marine biodiversity through the demonstration and expansion of eCDT technologies in the small-scale handline tuna fisheries the Philippines. This summary report provides an overview of the application and testing of eCDT by the small-scale tuna handline fisheries at sites in Bicol and Mindoro working in partnership with WWF-Philippines. This involved the installation and use of onboard FAME radio frequency transponders and Near-field Communication (NFC) cards within the small-scale handline tuna fisheries. The summary report notes on the user friendliness of the device and evaluating the acceptance of the fishers, considering the perception that it would be an additional task for their fishing operation. The information gathered in this summary report provides a synopsis of the potential of eCDT technology for small-scale fisheries in terms of combating IUU fishing. Furthermore, the summary report illustrates how essential this technology can be in promoting sustainable fisheries, as well as understanding the direct benefits the eCDT can have for artisanal fisheries

Promoting community socio-ecological sustainability through technology: A case study from Chile

The importance of community learning in effecting social change towards ecological sustainability has been recognised for some time. More recently, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools to promote socio-ecological sustainability has been shown to have potential in community education for sustainable development (ESD). The effective design and use of technology for community learning implies an understanding of a range of cross- dimensional factors including: socio-cultural characteristics and needs of the target audience; considerations of available and culturally responsive types of technology; and non-formal pedagogical ESD strategies for community empowerment. In addition, both technology itself and social communities are dynamically evolving and complex entities. This article presents a case study which evaluated the potential of ICT for promoting ecological literacy and action competence amongst community members in southern Chile. The case study addressed the ecological deterioration of a lake, which is having deep social, economic, recreational and cultural implications locally. The authors’ research involved developing a theoret- ical framework for the design, implementation and use of ICT for community learning for sustainability. The framework was based on key ideas from ESD, ICT and community education, and was underpinned by a systems thinking approach to account for the dynamism and complexity of such settings. Activity theory provided a frame to address overarching socio-cultural elements when using technology as a mediating tool for community learning. The authors’ findings suggest that the use of an ICT tool, such as a website, can enhance ecological literacy in relation to a local socio-ecological issue