Societal preferences for the conservation of traditional pig breeds and their agroecosystems: Addressing preference heterogeneity and protest responses through deterministic allocation and scale-extended models

We assess preferences of inhabitants of the island of Majorca (Spain) for the conservation of traditional, extensively reared Majorcan Black Pigs and the linked agroecosystem, using a choice experiment. Up to 35% of our respondents registered protest responses. We examine alternative methods of dealing with and accounting for these protests. We find that free allocated models report better information criteria estimates but may give rise to interpretation difficulties. Our preferred model in terms of performance and interpretability is a 3-class model where protest responses are deterministically allocated to one class and random parameters are included to account for heterogeneity. Among the non-protesting classes, we find heterogeneous preferences where 40% of the respondents are mostly concerned with management and product innovation and 24% more breed-concerned respondents favour price increases in breed-based products to fund improvement of the agroecosystem.Postprint (author's final draft

Understanding heterogeneity of social preferences for fire prevention management

The forest area burnt annually in the European Mediterranean region has more than doubled since the 1970s. In these forests, the main preventive action consists of forest compartmentalization by fuel break networks, which entail high costs and sometimes significant negative impacts. While many studies look at public preferences for fire suppression, this study analyses the heterogeneity of social preferences for fire prevention. The visual characteristics of fire prevention structures are very familiar to respondents, but their management is unfamiliar, which raises specific attention in terms of analysing preference heterogeneity. A random parameter logit model revealed large heterogeneity and preference for traditional heavy machinery, maintaining linear unshaded fuel breaks at a high density. A latent class model showed that this may be reflected by a third of the population preferring lighter machinery and shaded irregular fuel breaks; a quarter of the population not treating the budget constraint as limiting, another quarter only being worried about the area burnt and the remaining group being against everything. Finally, a discrete mixture model revealed extreme preference patterns for the density of fuel breaks. These results are important for designing fire prevention policies that are efficient and acceptable by the population.Funding from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) (20060569) is acknowledged

Disentangling the role of management practices on ecosystem services delivery in Mediterranean silvopastoral systems: Synergies and trade-offs through expert-based assessment

Silvopastoral systems (SPS) emerge with a renewal interest in the Mediterranean for their promotion of multifunctionality through a variety of ecosystem services (ES). However, the understanding of how combined forestry and pastoral practices affect the ES delivery as well as the synergies and trade-off dynamics amongst them is still very limited. We applied the structured expert consultation Delphi method to assess the medium-term effect of relevant silvopastoral management practices (SMP) on the delivery of provision, regulation and maintenance and cultural ES in Mediterranean mid-mountain SPS in Spain. The deliberation process entailed two rounds and the Delphi panel was finally formed by 69 experts covering a broad spectrum of background and expertise. Results show that some practices, such as silvicultural treatments (e.g., thinning or coppice selection), play a multifunctional role contributing to ES delivery in bundles while some trade-offs are also identified between SMP, such as free animal grazing, and the provision of some ES. Synergies are also found between ES, such as livestock production and recreational hunting and between timber production and carbon sequestration, whereas possible trade-offs were particularly relevant between wildfire prevention and carbon sequestration. These findings can support decision-making processes towards sustainable and multifunctional silvopastoral management in the northern Mediterranean basin.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Livelihood strategies of cacao producers in Ecuador: Effects of national policies to support cacao farmers and specialty cacao landraces

This study identifies the livelihood strategies pursued by small cacao farmers in the Guayas coastal region inEcuador, where two distinct cacao varieties are grown: thefineflavor variety, Cacao Nacional (CN), and a hybridvariety (CCN-51). Enhancing CN production is regarded as an economic development strategy since CN varietybeans are characterized by premium prices in international markets. This study aims to assess the trade-offsfaced by small cacao producers in the production of specialty (CN) vs. commodity (CCN-51) cacao and how theyaffect their livelihoods. A detailed household survey sampled 188 households. Based on activity variables, fourlatent profiles of livelihood strategies were identified, which were related to capital asset endowment and in-come share variables. The results show that there was not a clear gap between cultivation of CN and CCN-51, as60% of the sampled households simultaneously grew both varieties. The results indicate that the variable“shareof land allocated to CN”does not significantly contribute to discriminating among profiles. Households with alow share of land allocated to CCN-51 showed higher income diversification strategies and vice versa. Our studyalso shows that the lack of appropriate incentives may threaten the future cultivation of CN since the Nationalpolicy for CN rehabilitation has had little impact on the more cacao-driven profiles that have a lower assetendowment. The design, structuring and maintenance of a domestic differentiated value chain for the CNvariety, together with income diversification measures and prior improvement on the asset endowment of theseprofiles, seems to be the pathway to improve the livelihoods of small farmers and increase the success of thecurrent policy forfineflavor cacao rehabilitation at the national levelinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Livelihood strategies of cacao producers in Ecuador: Effects of national policies to support cacao farmers and specialty cacao landraces

This study identifies the livelihood strategies pursued by small cacao farmers in the Guayas coastal region inEcuador, where two distinct cacao varieties are grown: thefineflavor variety, Cacao Nacional (CN), and a hybridvariety (CCN-51). Enhancing CN production is regarded as an economic development strategy since CN varietybeans are characterized by premium prices in international markets. This study aims to assess the trade-offsfaced by small cacao producers in the production of specialty (CN) vs. commodity (CCN-51) cacao and how theyaffect their livelihoods. A detailed household survey sampled 188 households. Based on activity variables, fourlatent profiles of livelihood strategies were identified, which were related to capital asset endowment and in-come share variables. The results show that there was not a clear gap between cultivation of CN and CCN-51, as60% of the sampled households simultaneously grew both varieties. The results indicate that the variable“shareof land allocated to CN”does not significantly contribute to discriminating among profiles. Households with alow share of land allocated to CCN-51 showed higher income diversification strategies and vice versa. Our studyalso shows that the lack of appropriate incentives may threaten the future cultivation of CN since the Nationalpolicy for CN rehabilitation has had little impact on the more cacao-driven profiles that have a lower assetendowment. The design, structuring and maintenance of a domestic differentiated value chain for the CNvariety, together with income diversification measures and prior improvement on the asset endowment of theseprofiles, seems to be the pathway to improve the livelihoods of small farmers and increase the success of thecurrent policy forfineflavor cacao rehabilitation at the national levelinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

An Efficiency Improvement Approach to Reduce Transportation Costs: An Application

The reduction of transportation costs is an important issue for many companies that need to stay competitive. This work describes the application of a scheme for increasing transportation efficiency to achieve this purpose. This scheme is developed around a modified version of the Operational Equipment Effectiveness index used in TPM. This is adapted to be used as the main performance measure in transport operations. Availability, performance and quality wastes are identified using Value Stream Mapping of the operation. The implementation is carried out in the routing operation of a Mexican firm. The improvement initiatives are still in progress but the projected and available results are provided

Zonal travel cost approaches to assess recreational wild mushroom picking value: Trade-offs between online and onsite data collection strategies

Mushroom picking is a growing recreational activity in Europe. Since the institutional environment moves towards regulating mycological resources, estimating the value of this ecosystem service becomes a key tool for policy-makers and rural entrepreneurs. This paper applies the Travel Cost (TC) method to estimate the value of mushroom picking in three forest areas in the region of Catalonia, Spain. In particular, the main objective is to contrast different sampling strategies (online vs. onsite data collection) when used to build zonal Travel Cost models. This intends to guide practitioners towards choosing the best sampling strategy according to existing time, monetary and accuracy constraints. Eight TC models were derived using as regressors the zonal travel cost and selected picking and socio-economic variables. The resulting demand curves produce an estimate of the average site value per trip that ranges from 9 to 22€/visit considering the onsite data, and from 21 to 47 €/visit for zonal TC implemented on the online data. These results reveal estimate differences across the approaches, and especially evident for one picking ground (Els Ports). Our results point out that onsite surveys would be better suited when exploring the sample for an initial set up of permit fees, to set the permit boundaries and initial applications. On the other hand, the online data collection presents the problem of self-selection and self-reporting bias. We recommend practitioners to always perform a proper assessment of the effects of the context, chosen sampling strategy, and validity of assumptions when adopting valuation estimates for establishing a recreational price of ecosystem services.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Targeted policy proposals for managing spontaneous forest expansion in the Mediterranean

Recent forest expansion in Euro‐Mediterranean countries predominantly results from secondary succession in abandoned farmland, rather than from artificial afforestation. This major forest transition involves the delivery of both ecosystem services and disservices, which must be balanced through new land‐use planning and policy approaches. Ecosystem services arising from this expansion of forests include increased carbon sequestration, water infiltration, provision of forest products, soil retention, and forest coalescence. Nevertheless, ecosystem disservices such as reductions in water yield, landscape homogenisation, increased wildfire risk, and/or the loss of high nature value managed habitats caution against generalisation of the benefits of such expansion. Most EU funds related to forests are being allocated to conservation, restoration, or fire prevention and extinction efforts, whereas sustainable forest management and the maintenance of multifunctional agro‐silvo‐pastoral mosaics are hampered by the lack of financial incentives and by environmental regulations. Policy implications. We advocate for more‐targeted policies based on landscape planning that favours multifunctionality while reducing environmental and economic uncertainties and maximizing the ecosystem service/disservice ratio. The following recommendations follow from this approach: (1) a climate‐smart policy favouring fire‐resistant landscapes and enhancing value chains that stimulate active forest management; (2) the adoption of a territorial perspective, beyond forest and farm‐based measures and payments, that relies on management actions and minimizes socio‐ecological tensions; (3) re‐focusing CAP Pillar II grants from afforestation and forest protection measures to sustainable forest management; (4) transforming the CAP direct payments to support multifunctional farming systems (e.g. agroforestry); (5) a more balanced inclusion of different land uses in the Natura 2000 network and intensification of the support for High Nature Value farming in less‐favoured areas.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Satisfacción de los familiares de niños postoperados ambulatoriamente, en relación a la orientación recibida

Objetivo: Evaluar la relación entre la educación recibida por parte de la enfermera(o) y la satisfacción que sienten los usuarios después de la orientación recibida en una cirugía ambulatoria pediátrica. Metodología: Es un estudio de tipo descriptivo, donde participaron 125 familiares de niños y niñas sometidos a una cirugía ambulatoria en el hospital del niño en el mes de octubre de 2012. Resultados: el 98% de los familiares de los niños y niñas operados ambulatoriamente en el hospital del niño sintieron satisfacción después de la orientación recibida antes de la cirugía. Conclusión: Los familiares y pacientes bien orientados demuestran buenos índices de satisfacción y se le observa menos ansiedad durante el procedimiento quirúrgic