Net reductions or spatiotemporal displacement of intentional wildfires in response to arrests? : evidence from Spain

Research to date has not examined how the impacts of arrests manifest across space and time in environmental crimes. We evaluate whether arrests reduce or merely spatiotemporally displace intentional illegal outdoor firesetting. Using municipality-level daily wildfire count data from Galicia, Spain, from 1999 to 2014, we develop daily spatiotemporal ignition count models of agricultural, non-agricultural and total intentional illegal wildfires as functions of spatiotemporally lagged arrests, the election cycle, seasonal and day indicators, meteorological factors and socioeconomic variables. We find evidence that arrests reduce future intentional illegal fires across space in subsequent time periods.This research was partly funded by Project ECO2017–89274-R MINECO/AEI/FEDER, UES

Reconciling yield stability with international fisheries agencies precautionary preferences: the role of non constant discount factors in age structured models

International fisheries agencies recommend exploitation paths that satisfy two features. First, for precautionary reasons exploitation paths should avoid high fishing mortality in those fisheries where the biomass is depleted to a degree that jeopardise the stock's capacity to produce the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY). Second, for economic and social reasons, captures should be as stable (smooth) as possible over time. In this article we show that a conflict between these two interests may occur when seeking for optimal exploitation paths using age structured bioeconomic approach. Our results show that this conflict be overtaken by using non constant discount factors that value future stocks considering their relative intertemporal scarcity.European Commission (MINOW H2020-SFS-2014-2, number 634495, MYFISH, FP7-KBBE-2011-5, number 289257) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy Competitiveness (ECO2012-39098-C06-01, ECO2012-39098-C06-05 and ECO2012-35820

Reconciling yield stability with international fisheries agencies precautionary preferences : The role of non constant discount factors in age structured models

International fisheries agencies recommend exploitation paths that satisfy two features. First, for precautionary reasons exploitation paths should avoid high fishing mortality in those fisheries where the biomass is depleted to a degree that jeopardise the stock's capacity to produce the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY). Second, for economic and social reasons, captures should be as stable (smooth) as possible over time. In this article we show that a conflict between these two interests may occur when seeking for optimal exploitation paths using age structured bioeconomic approach. Our results show that this conflict be overtaken by using non constant discount factors that value future stocks considering their relative intertemporal scarcity

Untangling perceptions around indicators for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services

Biodiversity indicators are commonly monitored to ensure the sustainable management of ecosystems and the conservation of multiple ecosystem goods and services. Indicators are important for tracking the ecological outcomes of conservation programmes, but they are also important in a wider context such as monitoring progress towards broader sustainability goals and serving to generate public support and funding for these programmes. Little attention is usually given to the social and cultural dimensions of biodiversity indicators. In this paper, using a discrete choice experiment, we compare the impact of within-species, between-species and within-ecosystem level biodiversity indicators on public preferences for conservation programmes in Spanish pine forests. Specifically we show that preferences towards conservation programmes are significantly affected by the interaction between indicators and their perceived role in delivering ecosystem services. Genetic variation, the number of invasive species and keystone elements were associated equally frequently with provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services, whereas population structure, the number of native species and the area of land conserved were more variable in how they were associated with different ecosystem services. Our results highlight the importance of considering the perceived social relevance of indicators alongside their ecological suitability in the design of conservation programmes and monitoring

Spatial patterns of social vulnerability in relation to wildfire risk and wildland-urban interface presence

Wildfires have greater impacts on socially vulnerable communities. Identifying these vulnerable communities and enhancing understanding of what influences their susceptibility to wildfires can guide the design of spatially targeted strategies in preparedness, mitigation plans, and adaptation strategies. This paper investigates the heterogeneous spatial coincidence of social vulnerability and wildfire risk in Galicia (Spain) at the municipality level. Results show that socioeconomic status, rates of dependence on social programs, and household unit characteristics are factors that contribute the most to social vulnerability. In general, municipalities with the highest proportion of their area in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) have the lowest social vulnerability. Within Galicia, locations with high social vulnerability and high wildfire risk are spatially concentrated in the south and tend to be low-population density communities, often in remote locations and with relatively high percentages of elderly people. Our findings provide an empirical foundation for wildfire management planning that accounts for the spatial distribution of vulnerable communitiesThis research was supported by project ECO2017-89274-R (MINECO/AEI/FEDER, UE)S

The ability of regional coordination and policy integration to produce coherent marine management : Implementing the Marine Strategy Framework Directive in the North-East Atlantic

The transboundary nature of the marine environment requires concerted actions among neighbouring countries to improve its quality in an effective way. Coordination at international level is particularly important during the implementation of environmental policies aimed at reducing the widespread pressures derived from activities, such as shipping and fishing. The European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) aims to protect and improve the status of a wide range of ecosystem components with a regional focus, promoting cooperation among countries and integration with other environmental policies. In 2014, the European Commission assessed the level of adequacy, consistency and coherence achieved by Member States during the implementation of the first phase of the MSFD and hence this paper focuses on the cross-border coherence and coordination within one marine region in order to achieve the goals of the Directive. In particular, it identifies and analyses the main differences among the results of the implementation of the first phase of the MSFD across the North-East Atlantic region. This analysis shows that, in general, the use of existing data, methodologies and targets from related environmental policies corresponds to the higher levels of coherence among countries while a limited use of such policies produces less coherence. This suggests that the European Commission, Regional Seas Conventions and Member States should work together to identify the real connection between the MSFD and other policies to make a proper use of existing data and approaches and to harmonise different policy objectives. In particular, the review shows what might be termed a 'paradox of coherence' amongst Member States where coherence of action has to be achieved within a European policy of subsidiarity, the act of Member States having control over the way they implement framework directives. This can be regarded as a fundamental flaw in having a 'Framework Directive' instead of the greater control in a 'Directive

Portugal under austerity: from financial to renewable crisis?

Portugal was hit hard by the global financial crisis, with concomitant effects upon the development of its renewable energy sector. The imposition of austerity has had negative impacts upon the further development of the Portuguese renewables sector, prompting the question of whether we have seen a critical juncture that will lead to a new policy trajectory. Historical institutionalist analysis demonstrates a range of unintended consequences arising from the pursuit of austerity in Portugal, yet no true critical juncture to the country's commitment to renewable electricity. The path dependent structure of the Portuguese electricity market and the export bottleneck between the Iberian Peninsula and Central Europe are identified as critical variables explaining the sub-optimal policy trajectory. We conclude that resolving this bottleneck will be critical for Portugal to reduce current financial and electricity price pressures, and continue its renewable energy transition

To shape or to be shaped : engaging stakeholders in fishery management advice

The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of the collaboration between stakeholders and scientists in the construction of a bio-economic model to simulate management strategies for the fisheries in Iberian Atlantic waters. For three years, different stakeholders were involved in a model development study, participating in meetings, surveys and workshops. Participatory modelling involved the definition of objectives and priorities of stakeholders, a qualitative evaluation and validation of the model for use by decision-makers, and an iterative process with the fishing sector to interpret results and introduce new scenarios for numerical simulation. The results showed that the objectives of the participating stakeholders differed. Incorporating objectives into the design of the model and prioritising them was a challenging task. We showed that the parameterization of the model and the analysis of the scenarios results could be improved by the fishers’ input: e.g. ray and skate stocks were explicitly included in the model; and the behaviour of fleet dynamics proved much more complex than assumed in any traditional modelling approach. Overall, this study demonstrated that stakeholder engagement through dialogue and many interactions was beneficial for both, scientists and the fishing industry. The researchers obtained a final refined model and the fishing industry benefited for participating in a process, which enables them to influence decisions that may affect them directly (to shape) whereas non-participatory processes lead to management strategies being imposed on stakeholders (to be shaped)

Iberian Peninsula October 2017 wildfires : Burned area and population exposure in Galicia (NW of Spain)

In October 2017, an extreme wildfire outbreak in the NW of the Iberian Peninsula burned thousands of hectares, resulting in human deaths and important economic damage. This paper provides a first comprehensive assessment of the exposure of the local communities in the Spanish region of Galicia, where forestlands routinely experience fire outbreaks, as the one that occurred in 14th, 15th and 16th October with more than two hundred fire incidents. We delimitate the wildfire perimeters, characterize the area burned in regards to vegetation characteristics, evaluate the affected wildland-urban interface (WUI), and quantify the population and buildings exposed to wildfires. The burned area was found to be unevenly distributed, concentrated in the south of the region, and in municipalities with nearly half of their lands under WUI. This resulted in a high level of exposure in the affected lands. We estimated that 51 communities were inside fire perimeters. Moreover, 873 communities with more than 87,000 people residing on them, were at a close distance of less than 1 km away. This study demonstrates the importance of understanding extreme wildfire events and their potential impacts which can guide how best communities can respond to them. The high number of population exposed to the studied event shows the necessity of integrating land-use planning with wildfire risk prevention and preparedness

Can national management measures achieve good status across international boundaries? : a case study of the Bay of Biscay and Iberian coast sub-region

Coastal countries have historically implemented management measures to improve the status of their national marine waters and little effort has been made to take coordinated actions to improve the status of the entire region or sub- region of which they are part. At the European level, the adoption of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) aims to remedy this deficiency and to promote coordination among countries and an integrated management of the marine environment. The MSFD requires each country to propose and adopt a programme of measures to achieve Good Environmental Status of the regional seas. This study compares the programmes of measures of the three countries of the Bay of Biscay and Iberian coast sub-region – France, Portugal and Spain – presenting a novel use of multivariate analyses using semi-quantitative policy information. Among the four North-East Atlantic sub-regions, this study area was chosen because it showed the lowest levels of coherence during the first phase of the implementation of the MSFD, according to the European Commission assessment. The results show the differences among the three programmes, confirming the difficulties that neighbouring countries face when they are required to adopt common approaches in the implementation of this multi-sectoral Directive. Most of the measures developed in the sub-region address marine biodiversity but this is through a wide range of actions, covering different pressures and different species/habitats. The integration with other legislation is more similar between Spain and France and differs between these and Portugal. The three countries also recognise the lack of knowledge to perform the economic analysis, in particular in quantifying the costs of and social benefits derived from their measures. It is concluded here that a better use of the regional and European coordination structures is needed to fill the gaps in knowledge and to exchange good practices. More political will is necessary to take action at European and international level to mitigate the impact of those socio-economic activities through joint programmes, for which Community funding is available