published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Eighty three of Acocks's sites, originally surveyed about 50 years ago, were resurveyed in 1996 to determine the extent of grassland change in the humid grasslands of KwaZulu-Natal. Sites were relocated using 1:10 000 scale ortho-photos and present land cover was determined for each site. Forty six of the sites that were still under original grassland were further examined to determine present species composition. A survey method was designed that would emulate Acocks's data and comparisons were drawn between original and present species composition. These differences were then analysed together with some environmental variables to try to determine the factors which had the most influence on the change and which environment and management factors are related to the present variation in composition among sites. Of the 83 sites, 26 had changed from natural vegetation to some other form of agriculture such as forestry or cultivation. Most of this change had occurred in the Natal Mistbelt Ngongoni Veld where large areas are forested. Cultivation is found predominantly in the communal areas where subsistence, cultivation practices are employed. The remainder of the sites had changed significantly in terms of their species composition. The most pronounced change had occurred in areas under communal tenure although significant changes had occurred in the commercially farmed areas. The direction of change was also more consistent towards species that commonly predominate in heavily grazed areas in the communal areas compared to the commercial areas. The exact reasons for this were unclear but this could possibly be attributed to heavier stocking rates in the communal areas. Change in floristic composition was also more pronounced at lower altitudes where the mean annual rainfall is lower and the mean annual temperature higher. This could possibly be a result of the vegetation at lower altitudes being less stable and thus less resistant to change. Basal cover differed significantly between commercial and communally grazed sites. Lower basal cover was found in the communal sites where intensive grazing limits the growth of individual tufts. Number of species found at each site did not differ significantly between communal and commercially grazed sites. This study was also a practical implementation of the resurveying of Acocks's sites and the original data set was found to be a useful baseline data set to determine coarse long-term changes in the vegetation. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1997.

Orientador: Ademar Ribeiro Romeiro / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-24T06:03:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bernasconi_Paula_M.pdf: 4646808 bytes, checksum: eb2bb642eaef735909760bcd68eb0eb3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: O principal marco legal para conservação em áreas privadas é o Código Florestal que, entre outras regras, exige que as propriedades rurais mantenham uma parte de sua área sob cobertura de vegetação natural, chamada Reserva Legal. Essa área é destinada à conservação da biodiversidade e à manutenção da provisão de serviços ecossistêmicos. Apesar de apresentar um percentual de cumprimento muito baixo por parte dos proprietários rurais, é esperado um aumento na fiscalização e no seu cumprimento. Isso porque houve recentes alterações na lei que a tornaram menos restrita e trouxeram alguns instrumentos econômicos visando reduzir os custos de oportunidade. Um das opções para adequação ambiental é a possibilidade de compensação da reserva legal em outra propriedade que possua um excedente de vegetação natural (ou área em recuperação) além do exigido por lei. Esse trabalho avalia o potencial de aplicação da compensação de reserva legal no estado de São Paulo através de uma simulação de impacto desse instrumento utilizando dados empíricos, e também analisa os desafios de sua implementação no arcabouço de políticas públicas do estado. A análise foi feita com o uso do software de planejamento da conservação Marxan através da simulação de diferentes cenários de combinação de políticas e restrições ao mercado de compensação. O objetivo é avaliar os possíveis efeitos do instrumento de compensação em relação à efetividade da conservação e à redução dos custos de oportunidade de adequação à reserva legal, comparados a uma abordagem puramente de comando e controle. Os resultados mostram um claro potencial do instrumento de compensação de reserva legal de reduzir os custos de oportunidade de conservação de reservas legais. Porém, o resultado da alocação das reservas pelo mercado mostra que, potencialmente, não serão localizadas nas áreas mais prioritárias para restauração da biodiversidade. Já a simulação da proposta de inclusão de uma restrição no mercado focando em áreas prioritárias resultou num cenário com custos também menores que a opção puramente de comando e controle, porém com uma efetividade ecológica muito maior. Os resultados ressaltam a importância de análises de impacto de políticas públicas ex-ante a fim de subsidiar com dados empíricos os formuladores de políticas / Abstract: Until today, direct regulation has been the most important type of policies for biodiversity conservation in Brazil. This resulted in conflicts with rural sector about compliance costs. The main command and control instrument for forest conservation is the Forest Code, which was newly amended in 2012. It requires that all private properties set aside parts of their properties for conservation, called Forest Reserve. This law has passed through many alterations and has been poorly enforced, resulting in a current very low compliance. However, the recent change in the law has made it less strict, and a higher level of enforcement and compliance is expected. In order to limit the economic impact of the Forest Reserve on landowners some mechanism of flexibility are being discussed. One of the options is the compensation of Forest Reserve in another rural property, what is a kind of tradable development rights (TDR). The landowners who have deforested more than allowed by law can compensate their deficit in another farm which has more natural vegetation than required. The aim of implementing TDRs is to reduce the opportunity costs of conservation but it also opens to the possibility of improving gains in conservation if the instrument targets priority areas for conservation. In this paper we evaluated possible effects of the TDR on the conservation outcome with regards to opportunity costs and ecological effectiveness and compared this to a pure command-and-control-approach. Using the conservation planning software Marxan with Zones we conducted an ex-ante policy evaluation by simulating different scenarios that combine policies and market constraints. We assess the hypothesis that the larger the geographical scope of TDR market and the fewer market constraints, the greater the opportunity cost differentials and the greater the economic arbitrage opportunities in a TDR market. We chose as a case study the state of Sao Paulo, the most industrialized and most populated in Brazil, which faces many ecological challenges. Our results showed a clear potential of the TDR to both reduce compliance costs and improve ecological effectiveness depending on different market restrictions on allocation of forest reserves / Mestrado / Desenvolvimento Economico, Espaço e Meio Ambiente / Mestra em Desenvolvimento Econômico

Climate change involves long-term change in the state of the climate. It is expected to have negative effects which include the increased frequency and intensity of climate extremes such as droughts, floods and storms. In addition, agricultural seasons and productivity are generally expected to be affected. This is likely to compound the problems that rural people in Africa face, especially the smallholder farmers. Thus, adaptation is of paramount importance. However, many factors limit the ability of farmers to adapt to climate change. This includes lack of information and knowledge about climate change. In rural areas an important source of information is agricultural extension; however, in some cases it is not effective and efficient. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been noted to play an important role in the dissemination of agricultural information, and recently, their potential in contributing to climate change awareness and adaptation has received increased attention. Therefore, the study aims to explore how ICTs contribute to climate change awareness and adaptation amongst communal farmers. The study was conducted in Seke and Murewa Rural Districts (herein Seke and Murewa) situated in Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe. The target population were communal farmers who are mainly dependent on agriculture (field crops, horticulture, fruit production, and livestock rearing). The two districts have climate associated with natural agro-ecological region II, with an average rainfall of 500-700 mm. The study used the mixed methods approach, which combined the quantitative method based on a survey of 300 farming households and the qualitative method based on key informant interviews. A multi-stage sampling approach was used for the survey. The data was collected in 2011. The Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) package was used for data entry and descriptive statistics, while Stata data analytical package was used for regression analysis. The first objective was to determine the level of access to ICTs by communal farmers in the two districts. Most of the respondents in both districts knew and owned the following ICTs namely, the radio, the mobile phone, and the television (TV). The main power sources for the ICTs were solar power, national grid electricity, and rechargeable batteries. Most of the respondents in both districts read newspapers, and church magazines. For almost all the print media in both districts, the main source of the media was through friends and relatives, buying and to some extent libraries and public places. The majority of respondents understood the language used in various ICTs, though some had difficulties in understanding the English language. The second objective was to assess how access to ICTs influenced climate change awareness amongst communal farmers in the two districts. The majority of respondents in both districts were generally found to be aware of climate change. Nevertheless, some of those who perceived themselves as being aware were actually not aware or had low awareness as revealed by the climate change awareness index. The respondents had limited understanding of the issues relating to causes and intervention measures to address climate change. From the regression analysis, the following factors were found to have a significant positive influence on climate change awareness: access to mobile phone, access to radio, access to newspapers, access to agricultural extension, participation in developmental and farmer organisations, having talked about climate change, education level, and age of the respondent. One variable namely position of authority had a significant negative relationship. The third objective of the study was to investigate the contribution of ICTs in climate change adaptation amongst the communal farmers. This objective was fulfilled by mainly concentrating on assessing how farmers accessed forecasting and early warning information. Up to two-thirds of the respondents indicated that they did not have access to timely early warning information on droughts and violent storms. In addition, around half of the respondents indicated that they were not getting information on the likely rainfall amount and distribution in the coming season. Respondents ranked deciding the planting dates and the choice of crop varieties as the most important farm decision-making activities that were influenced by forecasting information. Some of the channels through which farmers accessed early warning and weather information were radio, extension, direct enquiry, TV, other farmers, newspapers, mobile phone, and farming magazines. This study showed that both old and new ICTs are important in information dissemination and capacity building for climate change adaptation and awareness. In order for rural people to benefit from various applications and capabilities of ICTs, in particular, mobile phone applications, there is need to improve telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructure. Agricultural extension workers who are an important source of information in rural areas, had less knowledge on climate change issues hence the need to incorporate such issues into their training. Initiatives to promote climate change awareness and adaptation should provide platforms for diverse stakeholders to share and exchange information and knowledge on climate change. There is need to improve the reliability of weather forecasting information as well as training farmers on how to interpret the information. Most importantly, complimentary agricultural information, inputs, and technologies should be available and accessible to the farmers. / Environmental Sciences / D. Litt. et Phil (Environmental Management)

South African grasslands are under-conserved and there is a need to expand conservation efforts beyond the boundaries of protected areas. While communal grasslands have conservation potential they are generally over-utilized and the impact of communal land-use on biodiversity is poorly studied. At the same time there is pressure on protected areas to allow for the sustainable utilization of biodiversity. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of communal land-use on various components of biodiversity and to make recommendations regarding communal use of protected areas. A fence-line study was conducted to assess the impact of eight years of controlled communal land-use on biodiversity in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park. The communally used land (referred to as the lease land) which was used for controlled grazing as well as plant collection was compared with land under formal conservation. Vegetation was sampled using the importance score method and veld condition assessments. Selected invertebrate taxa were sampled using sweep netting, colour pan traps and transects and were identified to morphospecies level. Multivariate statistics revealed that sites generally grouped according to landscape position rather than land-use. No significant differences were found in diversity, evenness, richness or veld condition between the lease and conservation land. However, more than twenty-five percent of vegetation and invertebrate species were found exclusively in the lease or conservation land, suggesting that different suites of species were supported by the two landuses. Four alien plant species were found exclusively in the lease land, while one vulnerable and one rare plant species were found only in the conservation land. Further research is required to assess whether biodiversity was diminished by controlled communal. While the lease concept may offer potential as a low-use buffer zone, localised damage from cattle paths and weak enforcement of grazing agreements were areas of concern. Keywords: communal grass)ands, grassland flora, grassland invertebrates, transfrontier park. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Climate change involves long-term change in the state of the climate. It is expected to have negative effects which include the increased frequency and intensity of climate extremes such as droughts, floods and storms. In addition, agricultural seasons and productivity are generally expected to be affected. This is likely to compound the problems that rural people in Africa face, especially the smallholder farmers. Thus, adaptation is of paramount importance. However, many factors limit the ability of farmers to adapt to climate change. This includes lack of information and knowledge about climate change. In rural areas an important source of information is agricultural extension; however, in some cases it is not effective and efficient. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been noted to play an important role in the dissemination of agricultural information, and recently, their potential in contributing to climate change awareness and adaptation has received increased attention. Therefore, the study aims to explore how ICTs contribute to climate change awareness and adaptation amongst communal farmers. The study was conducted in Seke and Murewa Rural Districts (herein Seke and Murewa) situated in Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe. The target population were communal farmers who are mainly dependent on agriculture (field crops, horticulture, fruit production, and livestock rearing). The two districts have climate associated with natural agro-ecological region II, with an average rainfall of 500-700 mm. The study used the mixed methods approach, which combined the quantitative method based on a survey of 300 farming households and the qualitative method based on key informant interviews. A multi-stage sampling approach was used for the survey. The data was collected in 2011. The Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) package was used for data entry and descriptive statistics, while Stata data analytical package was used for regression analysis. The first objective was to determine the level of access to ICTs by communal farmers in the two districts. Most of the respondents in both districts knew and owned the following ICTs namely, the radio, the mobile phone, and the television (TV). The main power sources for the ICTs were solar power, national grid electricity, and rechargeable batteries. Most of the respondents in both districts read newspapers, and church magazines. For almost all the print media in both districts, the main source of the media was through friends and relatives, buying and to some extent libraries and public places. The majority of respondents understood the language used in various ICTs, though some had difficulties in understanding the English language. The second objective was to assess how access to ICTs influenced climate change awareness amongst communal farmers in the two districts. The majority of respondents in both districts were generally found to be aware of climate change. Nevertheless, some of those who perceived themselves as being aware were actually not aware or had low awareness as revealed by the climate change awareness index. The respondents had limited understanding of the issues relating to causes and intervention measures to address climate change. From the regression analysis, the following factors were found to have a significant positive influence on climate change awareness: access to mobile phone, access to radio, access to newspapers, access to agricultural extension, participation in developmental and farmer organisations, having talked about climate change, education level, and age of the respondent. One variable namely position of authority had a significant negative relationship. The third objective of the study was to investigate the contribution of ICTs in climate change adaptation amongst the communal farmers. This objective was fulfilled by mainly concentrating on assessing how farmers accessed forecasting and early warning information. Up to two-thirds of the respondents indicated that they did not have access to timely early warning information on droughts and violent storms. In addition, around half of the respondents indicated that they were not getting information on the likely rainfall amount and distribution in the coming season. Respondents ranked deciding the planting dates and the choice of crop varieties as the most important farm decision-making activities that were influenced by forecasting information. Some of the channels through which farmers accessed early warning and weather information were radio, extension, direct enquiry, TV, other farmers, newspapers, mobile phone, and farming magazines. This study showed that both old and new ICTs are important in information dissemination and capacity building for climate change adaptation and awareness. In order for rural people to benefit from various applications and capabilities of ICTs, in particular, mobile phone applications, there is need to improve telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructure. Agricultural extension workers who are an important source of information in rural areas, had less knowledge on climate change issues hence the need to incorporate such issues into their training. Initiatives to promote climate change awareness and adaptation should provide platforms for diverse stakeholders to share and exchange information and knowledge on climate change. There is need to improve the reliability of weather forecasting information as well as training farmers on how to interpret the information. Most importantly, complimentary agricultural information, inputs, and technologies should be available and accessible to the farmers. / Environmental Sciences / D. Litt. et Phil (Environmental Management)

The Safe Drinking Water Act ensures that public systems provide water that meets health standards. However, no such protection exists for millions of Americans who obtain water from private wells. Concern for safety is warranted as most wells draw from underground aquifers, and studies demonstrate that groundwater is affected by a range of contaminants, most often nitrate. Oregon's Domestic Well Testing Act (DWTA) links well testing to property sales, enabling continuous data collection by the State. This research addresses a need for identifying datasets for characterizing exposure to private well contaminants by evaluating DWTA data for use in a sentinel surveillance system. Validation of DWTA data was accomplished by developing a land use regression (LUR) model based on agricultural nitrogen inputs and soil leachability to predict nitrate concentrations in well water. Geographic information systems (GIS) were used to advance methods for high resolution spatial modeling of fertilizer and manure nitrogen with statewide coverage. Hazard mapping with these datasets suggests that nearly half of recently drilled wells are susceptible to nitrate contamination. Spearman's rank correlation demonstrated a significant correlation between LUR-predicted nitrate levels and levels reported in the DWTA dataset. These results suggest that DWTA data is valid for use in a sentinel surveillance system, such that evidence of nitrate contamination in a single well may indicate an area-wide health hazard. However, a low fraction of variance explained by the LUR model highlighted the need for specific improvements to datasets crucial for understanding nitrate contamination in well water, including the DWTA. / Graduation date: 2012