ブルーカーボン生態系評価の社会・政策科学的研究： フィリピンにおけるグローバルな便益と貢献に関する地域住民の認識

Tohoku University松八重一代課

Is “Common But Differentiated Responsibilities” principle applicable in biodiversity? – Towards approaches for shared responsibilities based on updated capabilities and data.

The application of the “Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (and Respective Capabilities)” (CBDR-RC) principle in the field of biodiversity received criticisms due to the lack of scientific evidence and/or outdated categories which in turn resulted in a knowledge gap in its applicability in policy-making. Reflecting on this research gap, we reviewed existing relevant publications by quantifying and evaluating the responsibility of different countries under various categories (i.e., low-, middle-, and high-income) for biodiversity loss. As concrete indicators, we used the five direct drivers of biodiversity loss by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) to examine and identify biodiversity-related footprints and challenges, whereby the applicability of the CBDR principle was considered. Data on the national impact and positive contributions to global biodiversity were also encompassed, considering all available data from older periods as possible. The results showed that low-, middle-, and high-income countries contributed to biodiversity loss, with high-income countries as the largest contributor, indicating relatively high responsibility by developed countries. Meanwhile, developing (middle- and low-income) countries contributed about 44% of biodiversity loss. The results further indicated that the shared responsibility was not clear enough to be sorted out by a simple dichotomy between developed and developing countries and immediately applying the CBDR principle. Besides, the impact of global trade should be fairly attributed to consumer countries (frequently developed countries) and producer countries (developing countries). Moreover, the upward move in the income category in many countries in the last decades has not been fully reflected in discussions under the Convention on Biological Diversity. This means that the respective capabilities have not been considered in a timely manner in policy-making. As such, we propose non-binary “Differentiated But Shared Responsibilities (and Updated Capabilities)” (DBSR-UC) as a new concept, highlighting the need for incentives and burdens based on scientific evidence

Critical factors influencing visitor emotions: analysis of “restorativeness” in urban park visits in Fuzhou, China

ObjectiveTo date, a comprehensive analysis of urban green space (UGS) visitors’ emotional remains largely unexplored. In this study, we focus on how UGS environmental preferences, restorativeness, other physical factors (sound, air, and thermal environments), and individual characteristics affecting visitor emotions. Such a comprehensive analysis would allow relevant practitioners to check the environmental quality of UGSs and improve certain conditions to promote visitor emotions.MethodsA total of 904 questionnaire responses with concurrently monitored physical factors were analyzed by independent sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA and path analysis.ResultsThe thermal evaluation had the largest impact on positive emotions (β = 0.474), followed by perceived restorativeness (β = 0.297), which had β values of −0.120 and −0.158, respectively, on negative emotions. Air evaluation was more effective for increasing positive emotions (β = 0.293) than reducing negative emotions (β = −0.115). Sound evaluation also had similar results (β = 0.330 vs. β = −0.080). Environmental preference significantly influenced only positive emotions (β = 0.181) but could still indirectly impact negative emotions. Moreover, objective physical factors can indirectly affect visitors’ emotions by enhancing their evaluations..ConclusionThe influence of different UGS environmental factors on visitors’ emotions vary, as does their impacts on positive versus negative emotions. Positive emotions were generally more affected than negative emotions by UGS. Visitor emotions were mainly influenced by physical and psychological factors. Corresponding suggestions are proposed for UGS design and management in this study

Hydrodynamics across seagrass meadows and its impacts on Indonesian coastal ecosystems: A review

Seagrass canopies are important components of the world’s coastal environments providing critical ecological services. Nearshore hydrodynamics, i.e., waves and currents, are essential in controlling the ecological processes across coastal environments. Seagrass meadows can impose more complex hydrodynamics processes by attenuating sea-swell waves and decreasing the impact of nearshore mean water level rise due to wave setup and Infragravity (IG) waves. Consequently, the seagrasses dissipate waves and reduce flows allowing sediments to settle and accrete the shorelines. However, despite their significant roles, knowledge of hydrodynamics in the Indonesian seagrass ecosystems is relatively limited compared to other coastal ecosystems such as sandy beaches, mangroves, and coral reefs. This review highlights the dynamics of waves and currents, and their interaction with sediment transport and ecological processes, including biogeochemical and dispersal processes on the seagrass ecosystem contributing to the existing seagrass research in Indonesia. The associated literature is collected from scientific databases such as Scopus and Google Scholar that range between 1965 and 2021. The result showed that most of the research on hydrodynamic in seagrass ecosystems was carried out in temperate zones. Until recently, there have been limited publications discussing the interaction between the Indonesian (tropical) seagrass ecosystem and hydrodynamics parameters, even though the region has abundant seagrass species. Moreover, Indonesia is strongly influenced by various atmospheric-oceanic forcing, including the Asian monsoon affecting the dynamic of the coastal area with seagrass ecosystems. At a canopy scale, the correlation between the nearshore (tropical) hydrodynamics and ecological processes in the system is yet to be explored. Considering the potential benefit of seagrasses to coastal ecosystems, developing future research in hydrodynamics across the ecosystem is critical to overcoming the knowledge gaps in Indonesia. The knowledge gained could support the Indonesian seagrass ecosystem services and their resilience to potential hazards and climate change

How Blue Carbon Ecosystems Are Perceived by Local Communities in the Coral Triangle: Comparative and Empirical Examinations in the Philippines and Indonesia

Blue carbon ecosystem (BCE) initiatives in the Coral Triangle Region (CTR) are increasing due to their amplified recognition in mitigating global climate change. Although transdisciplinary approaches in the “blue carbon” discourse and collaborative actions are gaining momentum in the international and national arenas, more work is still needed at the local level. The study pursues how BCE initiatives permeate through the local communities in the Philippines and Indonesia, as part of CTR. Using perception surveys, the coastal residents from Busuanga, Philippines, and Karimunjawa, Indonesia were interviewed on their awareness, utilization, perceived threats, and management strategies for BCEs. Potential factors affecting residents’ perceptions were explored using multivariate regression and correlation analyses. Also, a comparative analysis was done to determine distinctions and commonalities in perceptions as influenced by site-specific scenarios. Results show that, despite respondents presenting relatively high awareness of BCE services, levels of utilization are low with 42.9–92.9% and 23.4–85.1% respondents in Busuanga and Karimunjawa, respectively, not directly utilizing BCE resources. Regression analysis showed that respondents’ occupation significantly influenced their utilization rate and observed opposite correlations in Busuanga (positive) and Karimunjawa (negative). Perceived threats are found to be driven by personal experiences—occurrence of natural disasters in Busuanga whereas discerned anthropogenic activities (i.e., land-use conversion) in Karimunjawa. Meanwhile, recognized management strategies are influenced by the strong presence of relevant agencies like non-government and people’s organizations in Busuanga and the local government in Karimunjawa. These results can be translated as useful metrics in contextualizing and/or enhancing BCE management plans specifically in strategizing advocacy campaigns and engagement of local stakeholders across the CTR

Perceptions of the seagrass ecosystems for the local communities of Eastern Samar, Philippines: Preliminary results and prospects of blue carbon services

Coastal communities, knowingly or otherwise, rely on seagrasses for their livelihood, recreation and food source, among other services. However, despite its importance, seagrasses are not receiving similar attentions with its adjacent ecosystems, the mangroves, and coral reefs. Because of their role in climate change mitigation, seagrasses along with mangroves and salt marshes (the blue carbon ecosystems) are gaining attention recently. This preliminary study investigates the perception of coastal communities in Eastern Samar, Philippines on seagrasses. The results of the survey show that there is a level of high awareness among respondents to seagrass ecosystem services. Despite that, however, utilization remains low. The level of awareness varies on the type of ecosystem service; for instance, locals have a high awareness of provisioning services while low awareness of cultural services. The survey also included the perceived threats to seagrasses, where damages caused by natural disturbances are identified as the most concerning threat. This may be due to the geographic location of the sites that are frequented by typhoons. The perception potentially indicates depleted resources brought about by mismanagement or overlooking this natural resource. The results provide a more contextualized understanding on how local communities are aware of and interacting with, or the lack thereof, seagrass ecosystems. This could aid local government units (LGUs) and conservation groups in the area to craft practicable and sustainable management plans and threat-specific solutions