Magister Scientiae - MSc (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) / At a meeting of worl leaders at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, it was recognized that because of the tremendous increase in the size of the global populations (which now is estimated to exceed six billion), there were concerns that global biodiversity was at risk if insufficient land were not put aside for conservation within formal Protected Areas. The primary aim of this study was to compare investment in Protected Areas in relation to socio-economic conditions at global and regional levels. / South Africa

Ph.D. / Definitions of sustainable development can be grouped according to their ideological orientation and economic paradigm in which they are placed: neoclassical; social and ecological modernisation of neoclassical; and radical. The view of sustainable development predominant in the mining sector aligns with the dominant neoclassical economic paradigm. It is revealed specifically through the system of metrics used, the most obvious of which is profit, shareholder value, and growth. The idea of sustainability is understood in mining as the need to respond to increasing regulation by adding two extra dimensions to the economic one – social and environmental. This is abbreviated as the triple bottom line, or weak sustainability. In the exercise of process stewardship, mines tend to follow global responsibility guidelines formulated for the sector, but product stewardship is of secondary importance. Narrow definitions of sustainability fail to take into account the biosphere as a complex adaptive system. In this study there is a discussion about an innovative collaborative sustainability model to be developed in a new industrial sector. That sector would operate beyond mining, while at the same time using mining waste residues feedstock as its inputs. The landscape in which the new sector would be located would be the current neoclassical one, but the model has been formulated as a tool to move towards a broader conception of sustainability. As a means of clarifying the fuzzy boundaries between the various entities and components of the complex adaptive system of the biosphere, for the purposes of discussion, the biosphere has been divided into seven separate schematic dimensions (after Gell-Mann, 1994: 345-366). These are ideological, institutional, economic, social, demographic, informational and technological. Six research and development projects, carried out over seven years (2002 to 2009) in a research and development group of a trans-national mining corporation, were directed by the author. These projects, in the fields of improved air quality and of minimisation of mining waste residues, formed the basis for conceptualising a new collaborative sustainability model. The projects, when placed in the context of seven dimensions of the biosphere and as examples of sustainable development, reveal themselves as falling far short of attaining sustainability goals. What a reductionist definition of sustainability used in the mining industry means is that the industry is slow at anticipating needs of communities after a mine closes, or after organisational restructuring and downsizing in the trans-national corporation has happened, or in dealing with the influx of people into the area who come to improve their economic/political opportunities. The implementation of sustainability principles in mines is directed by global protocols, directives and regulatory obligations, and is driven by the market economy.

D.Ed. / This research project lasting from 1994-1996 is a comprehensive description and evaluation of the environmental education programme offered at Delta Environmental Centre. It is an evaluative case study of a progamme in environmental education. The principal aim of the project was to evaluate the environmental education programme offered by Delta. This was achieved through a comprehensive description and documentation of the various features/aspects of the programme. Because the research is based upon the Fourth Generation Evaluation approach (Guba & Lincoln 1989:50/252), the views, claims, concerns of the Delta Environmental Education Officers and other significant stakeholders form the major part of the research. Through interviews, factors influencing the programme and some aspects of the Centre were elicited by the research process. Both the Environmental Education Officers and the other stakeholders (Sponsors, the Honorary President and founder of the Centre, the Chairman, the former Chief Executive of Delta and the former Chief Educationalist) made important and valid recommendations which, if taken serious by the management of the Centre, will influence the future direction of the Centre. From the available documents such as internal educational reports, newsletters, magazines and pamphlets, together with the interviews conducted, the history and development of the Centre and its environmental education activities was revealed. The Centre has changed over the years and the changes are reflected on the many mission statements the Centre has produced. These are reviewed on an ongoing basis to keep up with changes in environmental education. This has led to very successful educational activities reflected in the methods employed by the Officers and the content of the programme. The methodology is central to the teaching and learning at the Centre. It emerged from the interviews, that the instructional strategies are varied and geared to different age levels and backgrounds of the groups. Creative teaching methods such as dramatisation, games and role play (Shongwe 1992b:44) are used very effectively at the Centre. In addition to such methods is observation, self-discovery, hands-on activities and experiential learning where pupils are given the opportunity to experience and encounter natural features of Delta Park. The pupils visiting the Centre bring along certain experiences, needs and expectations that should be recognised by the Environmental Education Officers if effective teaching and learning is to be achieved. The pupils, through a questionnaire, articulate these and this is one area that needs further investigation and formal research. The role of the Centre was explained, priorities were set and recommendations for improvement were made by both the Environmental Education Officers and the other stakeholders. It is recommended that the Centre should go beyond the teaching foundations of ecology to issues that are more relevent to the day to day living of people. The programme should incorporate more problem solving skills that will assist the pupils to solve real problems back at home. Teachers should be exposed to environmental management techniques which might be translated into the promotion of environmental values and ethics as part of the day to day running of schools. Techniques such as how to draw and implement an Environmental Management System (EMS), an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and to conducts environmental audits at school be promoted. The programme has changed over the years for the better. Among other factors, the working conditions, the personality of the Officers and their outonomy, are the main contributing factors influencing the effectiveness of the Centre and its environmental education programme. These are unique findings as there is no evidence from literature that this has ever been articulated. The research confirms the relevance of qualitative research and the use of the case study approach as most appropriate for research in environmental education. Fourth Generation Evaluation is also most suitable for an evaluation of an environmental education programme. Finally, the research recognises the contributions by the Centre towards the development of environmental education in this country on non-formal basis and argues for a balance between this approach and formal education. The research concludes that the environmental education programme at Delta is effective and based upon sound environmental and educational principles. High and strong commendations to the staff and the management of the Centre. The Centre is one of the most important and well suited establishment to facilitate the incorporation of environmental education in the formal curriculum.

Systematic conservation assessments are spatially-explicit techniques for prioritising areas for the implementation of conservation action. There has been considerable reference in the peer-reviewed literature as to the usefulness of these tools, which appear to be primarily used by academics for theoretical research. A literature review and author survey reveals the peer-reviewed literature is largely theoretical, although conservation action results more frequently than reported. The effectiveness of these interventions is generally described as only ‘fairly effective’. This general trend, coupled with previous personal failures in translating systematic conservation assessments into effective conservation action triggered an explicit process of social learning implemented as action research. It examined the workings of the Subtropical Thicket Ecosystem Planning (STEP) project, which included development of a systematic conservation assessment. Systematic conservations assessments simply provide information on where action should be implemented, and so are only useful if situated within broader operational models for conservation planning. Most operational models presented in the peer-reviewed literature are primarily focused upon the testing ecological data, not upon the delivery of conservation action. A new operational model for conservation planning is presented which more accurately reflects the ‘real-world’ process of conservation planning. An implementation strategy is an essential complement to a systematic conservation assessment. It describes how specific, explicitly-stated goals will be achieved, who is accountable for undertaking these activities, and the resources required. As the Implementation Specialist for the STEP Project, I co-lead the collaborative development of an implementation strategy with stakeholders that aimed to mobilise resources towards achieving common goals. Whilst the development and initial uptake of the strategy was good, subsequent implementation has flounder. The reasons for this are explored. The ultimate pragmatic goal of a conservation planning process is the establishment of effective social learning institutions. These develop common visions, mobilise collective action, and adaptively learn and refine their conservation activities. Thicket Forum is one xi such institution established through the STEP Project. My involvement with Thicket Forum since 2004 in implementing an adaptive learning approach facilitates collaboration between land managers, government and research organisations. Systematic conservation assessments evolved in response to the ad hoc way in which protected areas were implemented, leaving unrepresentative, biased protected area networks. Most research is theoretical and without an intimate understanding of the social-ecological system of a planning region, notably opportunities and constraints for implementing conservation action. Highlighting the importance of an approach which is flexible, not only in space, but in time, which can capitalise upon implementation opportunities, is important for stemming the myth that opportunism is the nemesis of systematic conservation assessments. To this end, conservation planners have been slow to include factors influencing effective implementation in systematic conservation assessments. Many studies which identify candidate protected area networks, first, fail to identify the specific instrument(s) to be applied, and second, assume all intact land is available. Having mapped the willingness of land managers in the Albany District, South Africa, to sell their land, it is demonstrated the majority of targets fail to be achieved because land managers will not sell. Knowing this, the current focus of gathering ever-more ecological data is misplaced. Human, social and economic factors influence target achievement, efficiency and spatial configuration of priority areas. Selecting important areas for conservation, particularly at the local-scale, requires the mapping of factors which define opportunities for conservation. Land manager willingness to collaborate and participate, entrepreneurial orientation, conservation knowledge, social capital, and local champions were applied using a method of hierarchical clustering to identify land managers who represent conservation opportunities for private land conservation initiatives.

Marine unconsolidated sediments constitute the largest ecosystems on earth in terms of spatial coverage, but there are still critical gaps in the science required to support conservation and ecosystem-based management. This is mainly due to the inaccessibility of these ecosystems in wave-exposed environments or deeper waters and the difficulty in observing biota in their three-dimensional sedimentary habitat. Currently, the physical driving processes of intertidal unconsolidated sediment ecosystems are much better understood than those of the subtidal ecosystems. However, these ecosystems are linked through water and sediment movement. This thesis, therefore, considers the continuum of unconsolidated sediment ecosystems across the entire continental shelf (i.e. intertidal to the shelf edge). The aim of this thesis was two-fold; (i) to advance the foundational understanding of biodiversity patterns and driving processes in unconsolidated sediment habitats, and (ii) to apply this knowledge in the development of a systematic conservation plan for marine unconsolidated sediment ecosystems. The South African west coast continental shelf was used as a case study in order to represent Eastern boundary upwelling regions. This study sought to investigate biodiversity patterns in macro-infaunal communities and determine their driving processes for incorporation into habitat classifications and the development of a habitat map. Systematic conservation plans require a map of biodiversity patterns and processes, and quantitative conservation targets to ensure representation of all biodiversity features including habitats.in marine protected areas. This thesis provided these key elements by classifying the unconsolidated sediment habitats and determining habitat-specific evidence-based conservation targets to support conservation of these important ecosystems. The application of these elements was then demonstrated in a systematic conservation plan for the unconsolidated sediment ecosystems of the South African west coast. Diversity patterns were examined using physical and macro-infauna data, ranging from the beach to the shelf edge (0-412 m). These data were analysed to develop two different habitat classifications, namely seascapes derived from geophysical and biophysical data, and biotopes derived from the combination of macro-infaunal and physical data. Multivariate analyses of 13 physical variables identified eight seascapes for the unconsolidated sediment samples from 48 sites on the South African west coast. These were based on depth, slope, sediment type, and upwelling-related processes (i.e. maximum chlorophyll concentration, sediment organic carbon content and austral summer bottom oxygen concentration). Latitude and bottom temperature were not considered major drivers of seascapes on the west coast because latitude closely reflected changes in upwelling-related processes and the temperature range was narrow across the shelf. This study revealed that productivity, a biophysical variable not usually included in geo-physical habitat classifications, played a significant role in the definition of seascapes on the South African west coast. It is therefore recommended that productivity be included in future seascape classifications to improve the utility of these classifications particularly in areas of variable productivity. Seascapes should, however, be tested against biological data to improve the understanding of key physical drivers of communities in unconsolidated sediment ecosystems. Macro-infaunal community distributions were determined along with their physical drivers for the unconsolidated sediments of the South African west coast. A total of 44 828 individuals from 469 taxa were identified from 48 sites representing 46.2 m2 of seafloor. Seven distinct macro-infaunal communities were defined through multivariate analyses and their key characteristic and distinguishing species were identified. These communities reflected five depth zones across the shelf, namely beach, inner shelf (10-42 m), middle shelf (60-142 m), outer shelf (150-357 m) and shelf edge (348-412 m). The processes driving the community structure of these depth zones were postulated to be tides, wave turbulence, seasonal hypoxia, habitat stability and homogeneity, and internal tides and/or shelf break upwelling, with drivers listed in order of increasing influence with depth. The middle shelf was further separated into three distinct communities based on sediment type, sediment organic carbon content and frequency of hypoxia. Variations in water turbulence, sediment grain size, upwelling-related variables and riverine sediment input were identified as the likely primary drivers of macro-infaunal community patterns. This chapter culminated in the development of a biotope classification based on the combination of macro-infaunal communities and their physical habitats (i.e. biotopes). South Africa has developed an expert-derived National Marine and Coastal Habitat (SANMC) Classification System which is used as a biodiversity surrogate in ecosystem assessment and spatial planning. This thesis tested the validity of this classification and the data derived Seascape classification against macro-infauna species abundance and biomass data in an effort to determine how well the different classifications represent macro-infaunal diversity of the west coast. These two classifications were also compared to the Biotope classification which combines macro-infaunal communities with their physical habitats. A canonical analysis of principle coordinates (CAP) was utilised to test the success with which each sample was allocated to the relevant habitat type in each classification. The total allocation success for each classification was used as a measure of effectiveness in terms of representing biodiversity patterns. Both classifications had similar allocation successes of 89-92 percent and 92-94 percent for the Seascape and National Habitat Classification respectively, but either over- or under-classified the macrofauna communities. The Biotope classification had the highest allocation success (98 percent), therefore it is the most accurate reflection of the macrofauna biodiversity patterns on the west coast. A key finding of this study was the increasing accuracy of classifications from physically- to expert- to biologically-derived habitat classifications. In this thesis, the Biotope classification was deemed the best representative of biodiversity patterns and was therefore used to produce the Biotope map for use in spatial assessment and planning. The distinct depth patterns that emerged in both the Seascape and Biotope classifications highlighted the need for further investigation of the relationship between depth and biodiversity. Despite variability in macro-infaunal communities, a general unifying pattern in biodiversity across the shelf was sought. Three relationships between depth and species richness have been described in the literature; namely a unimodal pattern, a positively linear relationship with depth, and no relationship between depth and species richness. These hypotheses were tested on the west coast. Two different species richness metrics were utilised to test the depth-diversity relationship, namely observed species density (spp.0.2m-2) and estimated species richness (spp.site-1). Observed species density increased from the beach to the shelf edge (350 m), then decreased to 412 m. The decline may have been due to difficulty in detecting species at greater depths as a result of sampling challenges. The inclusion of an innovative extrapolative method for estimating species richness (the capture-recapture heterogeneity model) within the Bayesian statistical framework mitigated the effects of species detection heterogeneity and revealed that species richness actually increased continuously across the shelf from beach to shelf edge. Thus the general relationship between depth and species richness is positively linear on the west coast of South Africa The new macro-infauna dataset and biotope map provided the opportunity to develop the first habitat-specific evidence-based conservation targets for unconsolidated sediments of the west coast. Species-Area Relationship (SAR) based conservation targets were developed for the biotopes using a modification of the generally accepted methodology. The accepted methodology has three steps (i) the estimation of total species richness for each habitat using the Bootstrap asymptotic estimator, (ii) the calculation of the slope of the species area curve (i.e. the z-value), and (iii) the calculation of targets representing 80 percent of the species. The inclusion of an innovative extrapolative species richness estimator, the Multi-species Site Occupancy Model (MSOM) provided better species richness estimation than the more conventional bootstrap species richness estimator, even though both are based on species accumulation. The MSOM, applied in the Bayesian statistical framework takes detectability of a species into account.

This thesis analyses a problem that is common in planning for conservacy areas — the problem of the meeting dual and contradictory objectives of preserving natural areas that must also be used for recreation. Where one objective excludes the other, a compromise must be reached. Previous experience in North America has shown that it is not easy to reconcile the two functions. A case study approach is used in the thesis. The study area, Boundary Bay, is an important waterfowl and shore-bird habitat. The Bay also has the potential to serve many recreational needs close to an urban area, Greater Vancouver. The role of Boundary Bay, including Mud and Semiahmoo Bays, and their shorelands in the ecology of wildlife species is analysed using census and food chain data. Information collected for an inventory of regional recreation suggests which recreation needs might be satisfied at Boundary Bay. Guidelines are developed for integration of human activity and wildlife habitat, based on anticipated recreational use of the Bay. Data from four public meetings in Surrey points to the existence of some concern on the part of Bay area residents about the implications of conservacy use of the Bay. Suggestions for further investigation or resolution of these conflicts are made. The issues involved in planning Boundary Bay are complex ones because of the number of interests involved. There is no "right" way of proceeding. Four scenarios are developed to illustrate alternative means of applying resource management guidelines and measures for resolution of conflicts to the study area. Each alternative requires a different level and type of management with different implications for long term reconciliation of use with preservation. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

No description available.

Bibliography: pages 53-57. / This dissertation has four main aims: 1. To assess whether multi-media (particularly interactive video) can be used in illiterate and semi-literate communities as a tool for both increased environmental awareness and increased participation in various stages of the development process. 2. To assess whether interactive video as an approach in itself facilitates empowerment of target communities. 3. To create a visual communication experience which combines the rigours of academic research with the practical application of academic theories in the field. 4. To foster a sensitivity in the "reader" towards access to information.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

In the lights of the most pertinent challenge, how do the science departments of representative high schools in San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Merced counties meet the problem? What are their courses of study? In what courses is conservation of natural resources taught? What objectives do the various science departments have in teaching conservation? Are the teachers adequately prepared to teach conservation. It is in an attempt to determine the answers to these questions that this study was undertaken. In order to determine the adequacy and effectiveness of the conservation education program in certain San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Merced county high schools the present study has attempted to analyze the following: (1) The courses of study of the science departments of certain high schools of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Merced counties. (2) The methods used in the teaching of conservation of natural resources in these high schools. (3) The objectives used in the teaching of conservation of natural resources in these high schools. (4) The adequacy of teacher preparation in the teaching of conservation of natural resources.