It is gradually becoming common knowledge that, natural resources have not been able to make positive impact on economic growth of countries. In that, countries rich in natural resources grow at a slower pace than the resource-poor countries. This occurrence is one of the reasons behind many defections and militant groups against state authority in many resource-rich countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa. Using panel data from 1980 to 2010 on 34 sub- Saharan African countries, this paper examines whether institutionalised authority, which is a proxy for state authority, can change the negative relationship between natural resources and economic growth. The key finding is that, institutionalised authority can alter the negative relationship that exists between natural resources and economic growth. JEL Classification C33, O43, Q28, Q33, Q43, Keywords Natural Resources, Economic growth, Institutionalised Authority, Dutch Disease, sub-Saharan Africa

Fsculty of Science School of Animal,Plant And Enviromental Sciences Msc 9201098j tsherwill@yahoo.com / South Africa’s new water policy and law have introduced the requirement for public participation in all aspects of resource management and decision-making. This policy change is in recognition of the potential benefits of participation in generating more informed, acceptable, equitable and sustainable management of the nation’s water resources. However the new water law does not prescribe the form this participation should take, or offer criteria for evaluating the success of participatory processes. The term ‘public participation’, in its contemporary usage worldwide, is poorly or broadly defined and may thus encompass a range of processes, which differ in the roles and influence afforded to their stakeholder participants, and in their ability to deliver desired outcomes and benefits to government or the public. This study aimed to investigate the influence of this procedural variation on public and stakeholder participation in the implementation of the National Water Act (Act no. 36 of 1998) in South Africa, and thereby recommend a preferred approach to conducting and facilitating these processes in the future. Use was made of a qualitative and primarily inductive research approach. This was designed to gather perspectives of the various role-players (stakeholders, specialists and government) for a desired process and outcome of participation, and to link process and outcome by means of two case studies of the current implementation of participatory processes for water resource management decision-making. Both case studies illustrated the over-riding negative influence of a product-oriented and ‘specialist-centred’ approach to participation, focused on the development of specific statutory products or decisions required by the National Water Act. This approach in turn is being driven by the current fragmentation of participation around these different products and stages of the overall resource management process. A recommended alternative is a more process-oriented, ‘stakeholder-centred’ approach to participatory events, within an integrative, ongoing participatory process. This must be based on mutual learning by all role-players, and an emphasis on inter-sectoral interaction and relationships. A key constraint identified to the achievement of more integrative participatory processes that offer influence to, and generate ownership by, stakeholder participants, is the lack of clarity within government and the South African water sector as to the intent of participation within the new water policy, and thus the process by which this participation should take place. In particular, the role of stakeholders, and how much influence or power they should be afforded in decision-making processes, is subject to individual interpretation. The recommendation from this research is that, given the ideals of equity, sustainability and citizen empowerment aspired to by the Constitution and the new water policy, government should strive to fully engage stakeholders in processes that both offer influence and inspire action. Ideally, linkages should be created to extend this influence to the broader political process.

The state of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is of importance to ecologists and conservationists considering the recent trends in the loss of local culture and indigenous knowledge systems worldwide. An understanding of the factors that affect the distribution and transmission of TEK may offer scientists an insight into how it can be conserved to persist to inform ecological decisions. This study investigated the distribution and transmission of TEK based on gender, age and tree resource use in two rural communities in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The distribution of this knowledge was assessed based on respondents’ ability to identify local tree species, their uses and conservation techniques. Their ecological knowledge of a number of common and rare indigenous tree species was also assessed. This was done mainly through focus group discussions, individual interviews and a participatory appraisal technique. Age group rather than gender had a significant effect on the distribution of TEK with old age respondents being more knowledgeable than youths and middle aged respondents. Resource use also affected the distribution of knowledge indicating that knowledge was highly dependent on resource use. Females were the main actors in the transfer of TEK in this community and majority of this knowledge was acquired through passive means. The results revealed a combination of factors that may pose a threat to the loss of TEK in these communities. These factors include; the continuous and unregulated harvesting of trees in the area, the effects of modernisation and globalization on aspects of the traditional community and the high levels of rural urban-migration.

In recent years, agricultural magazine articles have positioned crop insurance requirements as a barrier to conservation adoption. Our research uses a mixed-methods design with Midwest conventional corn farmers to identify if crop insurance is a hindrance to adoption. Qualitative data was analyzed in Nvivo using thematic coding and quantitative data was analyzed using Stata statistical software. Our results indicate that crop insurance is not a direct barrier to adoption. Rather, farmers identify distinct and complimentary outcomes for risk-management from participating in both crop insurance and conservation. These findings reflect broader perspectives on Midwest conventional corn producers’ beliefs and rationale for using crop insurance and/or conservation practices.

The San Bernardino Mountains are well known for their rich mining history, especially, gold in the mid-1800s and the current mining of one of the world’s largest deposits of high purity limestone. The purpose of this study was to compile new, current, and historical data of the major economic resources that are present and mining that has gone on in the San Bernardino Mountains. It is estimated that historical mining of the Holcomb Valley recovered $457,660,000 of gold or about 350,000 troy ounces based on samples collected for this study and 2013 gold price. The current major geologic resource is the limestone deposits on the north slope of the San Bernardino Mountains. Presently, there are three operators: Omya, Specialty Minerals, and Mitsubishi Cement. The San Bernardino Mountains are well known for skarn gold deposits. New work indicates that the placer gold from Holcomb Valley is often of very high purity. Placer gold samples were analyzed using the scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive x-ray spectra to determine the purity of the gold. Rim and core analysis of the placer gold was used to determine if the gold was transported from its source and to give an estimate of transportation distance. Results show some of the placer gold of Holcomb Valley has been rounded and flattened by weathering and transportation with increased gold purity in the rims while other gold grains still sustain their octahedral crystalline structure. Rims range in gold purity from 84.26% to 100%, with core gold purity ranging from 79.51% to 99.79%. Gold samples were weighed, photographed, measured, and classified by shape, angularity and texture, to assess the effects of transportation. Gold weights where used to calculate an economic value of gold. Geographic Information System “GIS” was used to visually display geology, historical and current mine locations, locations of samples used in this study, and to help calculate the volume of the Holcomb Valley TsE rock unit, which is where the placer gold is deposited. Sediment sample 15 from TsE had the lowest gold value of .002 ounces per cubic yard. This value is inferred to represent the amount of gold remaining after mining. Based on this assumption and the estimated volume of TsE at 50,027,000 cubic yards, the estimated total weight of gold remaining in the deposit is about 100,000 troy ounces, with a dollar value of about $130,760,000, using gold values for 2013. Sample 17 had the highest gold value, with .014 ounces per cubic yard. This is inferred to represent the concentration of placer gold deposits within parts of Holcomb Valley that have never been mined. This yields a total weight of the deposit of roughly 700,000 troy ounces, with an estimated value of $915,320,000 using gold prices for 2013. The gold values were calculated using November 7, 2013 gold spot price of $1,307.60.

Water is the root of life and the engine that drives agriculture, industry, economy and services. The demand for water often necessitates desalination, particularly in arid coastal environments where there are several desalination technologies in use today such as Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) and Reverse Osmosis (RO). The key utility requirement for technologies such as desalination and population in general include energy in one form or another. Therefore, desalination and co-generation are often integrated. Another key utility is electricity which is generated from either renewable or non-renewable sources. The demands for water and electricity change over time and are subject to uncertainty. In this dissertation, a country-wide large-scale energy and water cogeneration planning model for Kuwait was proposed and solved. Five different plant technologies where the planning horizon used was set to 37 years starting in year 2014 and until 2050. A Mixed Integer Mathematical programming model was proposed and formulated using General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS), the resulting model was solved using the CPLEX solver engine. In this research obtained detailed data on the consumption on water and energy in Kuwait and performed time series analysis of the population growth and individual behavior of water and energy consumption and novel method to represent cogeneration plants was implemented in the proposed mathematical programming model. ix A modeling framework that involves a data spreadsheet and a proprietary model was implemented. The data spreadsheet and the model were formulated as a template that can receive data from different applications. In addition, automation using Visual Basic for Application (VBA) was made to the data spreadsheets such that the data is sent to the model template, Gams-Cylix, and are written back to the spreadsheet. An analysis was made between oil-based plants, natural gas (NG) plants, and solar-based plants for co-generation. It was found that for water production solar-based plants can supply 50 percent or more of the demand during after period 2020 and after implementation and for electric power generation solar plants are limited. The results indicate the preferred technology for energy generation was NG-RO. With the implementation of solar based plants the electric power load is distributed among the technologies. NG-RO plants are more scalable and therefore were expanded to cope with the future demand. The percentage of the electric power supplied by solar plant was below 35 percent across the planning horizon. By the end of the planning horizon the percentage of electric power supplied by solar base plants was nearly 20 percent. Near 70 percent of the electric power was supplied by NG RO by period 2050. Other technologies had a representation of less than 10 percent by the end of the planning horizon.

A large part of the environmental restoration required by the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan calls for more water-storage on lands south of Lake Okeechobee in order to restore the natural water flows of the Everglades watershed. The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) can be used for increased water storage in order to relieve coastal estuaries of excess water in the rainy season. This water storage can deliver additional ecosystem services of soil retention and reduced CO2 emissions that could compensate farmers for the cost of water storage by increasing long term farm profitability. The goals of this study were 1) to quantify the environmental and economic trade-offs of different water storage scenarios using water-tolerant sugarcane cultivars, and 2) to quantify the amount of water storage possible in the EAA under different water storage scenarios. A mathematical model was developed to calculate soil depth, soil subsidence, depth to the water table, sugarcane production, farm return, water storage and carbon loss for three different sugarcane cultivars with different water-tolerances. A GIS tool is also developed to estimate the amount of water storage possible in the EAA. The study found that even though water-tolerant sugarcane cultivars experience higher yields and net returns than non-water-tolerant cultivars the water storage costs with these water tolerant cultivars was greater. Raising water tables on farm lands did have the environmental benefits of reduced soil subsidence, extended farm life and increased years of water storage. However total CO2 emissions rise from 14 to 136%. Results of the GIS analysis revealed that water storage capacity for a DWT of 61 cm is 1,404,562 ac-ft, 1,417,400 ac-ft for DWT 45 cm and 1,474,692 ac-ft for DWT 20 cm. The GIS analysis was also able to identify flow ways that could possibly carry water south from Lake Okeechobee and ultimately to the WCAs south of the EAA. These results show that raising water tables in the EAA to deliver the ecosystem service of expanded water storage is overall more costly, but yearly costs are very low. Therefore water storage on farmlands is an affordable interim method of water storage.

The Australian landcare movement is considered to be a major success, with an extensive community landcare network developed, raised levels and depth of awareness, and a range of demonstration projects undertaken. It has inspired people across Australia and has been emulated overseas. However, negative trends in environmental conditions continue unabated. If the approach of the Australian landcare movement to date has not addressed the current unsustainable farming practices, what approach will? This Australian study explores the history of the ‘mechanistic’ worldview, its influence on the attitudes to and treatment of landscapes and indigenous knowledge from colonisation, and the ongoing impacts on current social and natural rural landscapes. Increasing tension between the mechanistic worldview and the growing landcare ethic based on relationships is apparent. Through the focus project, Watershed Torbay, a different way of seeing and treating the world is explored by praxis. A worldview based on relationships and connection as the end purpose is proffered. Strengthening connection with one’s own moral framework, and relationships with people and place in community, are seen as the path to achieving sustainability based on ecological and values rationality. It is recognised that there are multiple ways of seeing and experiencing the world, and it is important to give voice to all players with a connection to decision making. This also means that there are different forms of knowledge; these can be grouped under the typology of epistemic or scientific knowledge, techne or technical/practical capability, and the central form of knowledge about values and interests. I have worked with the focus project as a reflective practitioner undertaking action research; this is evident in the movement between theory and practice through the thesis. The thesis concludes in praxis taking the learning from the focus project, and exploration of theory, to answer the question posed at the outset by outlining how the relational worldview can be applied to the regional bodies now delivering major landcare programs.

It is increasingly being recognised that global natural resource consumption levels exceed planetary limits and that the present trajectory of industrial development is not sustainable. To achieve a more viable existence necessitates a fundamental shift in priorities from the prevailing economic growth-centred, consumer driven philosophy to one that marries aspirations for economic growth with long-term environmental and social considerations. This shift in priorities requires significant contributions and action at the global, national and local levels by the primary 'wheels' of sustainability: government, corporations and civil society. Over the past 100 years, corporations have become the most powerful institution on the planet with both the financial resources and institutional capacity to take the lead role in shaping a sustainable future for humankind. Yet, within and between industry sectors and across geographic locations there has been great diversity in the extent and level of corporate commitment and engagement in societal efforts relating to planetary sustainability. Hence, greater understanding of what drives corporate interest and involvement in ecological sustainability will become increasingly critical to promoting corporate engagement in processes and practices to secure a long-term future for humanity. However, there has been limited explanatory research oriented upon developing an understanding of the processes and factors associated with corporate 'eco-change'. In recognition of this shortcoming in the literature, the present study utilised the case of the non-renewable resource extractive sector of Australia to examine corporate engagement with processes and practices for planetary sustainability. Specifically, it sought to construct and evidence an explanation of the external and internal factors that have promoted and/or retarded corporate engagement with planetary sustainability in the non-renewable resource extractive sector (NRRES) of Australia. Guided by grounded theory methodology, an instrumental case study of the NRRES in Australia was undertaken. The NRRES was chosen as this sector's profile, visibility and activities over the past twenty years have meant it has come under mounting pressure to incorporate the concept and principles of planetary sustainability into its ethos and operations. As such, the sector represents the opportunity to study this phenomenon within a dynamic context of sectoral and corporate responses to evolving societal expectations. The research was undertaken in three phases and the principal research method was in-depth key informant interviews with purposively sampled members of the sector's stakeholder groups. Each NRRES corporation is situated at the centre of a web of interconnected interests or 'stakes' necessitating efforts to balance the various stakeholder interests to maintain the institution's license-to-operate and secure a long-term existence. The thesis constructs an explanation of the societal drivers of NRRES corporate engagement with planetary sustainability, organised as the three categories of government, civil society and the corporate sector. These three groupings of stakeholders have been clustered into the broad category or theme of Activating Engagement, which recognises their collective role as the stimuli for NRRES corporation engagement in processes and practices for planetary sustainability. While the theme of Activating Engagement emphasises the importance and interrelatedness of the roles and actions within and between the three primary wheels of sustainability, of particular note is the evident rise of civil society as a more active societal stakeholder and more salient driver of corporate uptake of social and environmental issues. As the identified external drivers play a critical role in motivating NRRES corporation engagement, it is a corporation's particular characteristics that ultimately determine the extent and level of uptake of strategies to demonstrate corporate social responsibility. The thesis develops an explanation of the internal factors mediating NRRES corporate engagement comprising the factors of leadership, resources, structures, culture and understanding. These factors are conceptualised as the theme of Capacity for Engagement, which identifies their collective importance in a NRRES corporation's preparedness, impetus and capability relating to interest and participation in planetary sustainability. While all of the five factors are seen as essential to meaningful NRRES corporate engagement, the thesis identifies leadership as the most critical factor in Capacity for Engagement. Based on the findings of the research, several explanatory frameworks are developed. These frameworks aid in deepening our understanding of the NRRES corporate engagement process, in particular, the interconnections between the factors impeding and facilitating corporate interest and engagement with processes and practices for planetary sustainability. As such, these frameworks will make a substantial contribution to building our understanding of how the various factors and their components or 'pieces of the puzzle' interact and interrelate with each other to generate corporate engagement. The frameworks are the culmination of the research and, coupled with the more detailed explanations of their constituent factors, enhance our knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of NRRES corporation engagement with planetary sustainability. This enhanced understanding is significant and could be of considerable value in informing and targeting efforts to advance the depth and breadth of NRRES corporation engagement with processes and practices for planetary sustainability. To advance the standing of the study's findings, a series of case studies could be undertaken targeting the investigation of NRRES corporate engagement in other geographic locations and within different industry sectors.

Doctor of Philosophy / The population size and range of giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis have been greatly reduced in Africa in the past century, resulting in geographical isolation of local populations and some herds surviving at the edge of the species’ preferred range. Numerous factors have contributed to these declines, but historical analysis indicates that habitat loss and fragmentation, human encroachment, disease and poaching are the main threatening processes. These processes can be expected to continue to impact on giraffe populations, particularly as human populations grow and needs for land and resources increase. This study used field data and laboratory analyses to investigate the taxonomy, behaviour and ecology of desert-dwelling giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis in the northern Namib Desert. This population resides at the extreme of the giraffe’s range. My research also complements the community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) program of the Namibian government, and provides baseline data on the current population status and structure of giraffe in the Kunene Region. The field data, genetic, habitat and forage samples used in this study were collected by myself and a number of research assistants over a period of two years (2001 to 2003), following preliminary research that I undertook between 1999 and 2001. Laboratory analysis of genetic samples was conducted by Dr R. Brenneman and his team at Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, NB., as well as by Mr D. Brown at UCLA, CA. Mr W. Gawa!nab and his team at the agricultural laboratory, Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Affairs, Namibia, conducted chemical analyses on plant samples that form part of the giraffe’s diet. The genetic architecture of Namibian giraffe was investigated, including the samples from the desert-dwelling giraffe of the northern Namib Desert and giraffe from Etosha National Park. The results were compared with genetic profiles of giraffe subspecies throughout Africa, but in particular with G. c. giraffa which is the currently-accepted nomenclature of the Namibian giraffe. Results indicated that the Namibian giraffe has five unique haplotypes and is genetically distinct from G. c. giraffa or any other extant subspecies; it is considered here, tentatively, to represent G. c. angolensis. Furthermore, the Namibian Abstract iv giraffe has been separated from other populations for an extended period. Some gene flow has occurred between the desert-dwelling and Etosha NP giraffe population, and can be attributed to recent translocations between these regions. Within the study region, a sharing of haplotypes between three studied subpopulations indicated gene flow among giraffe throughout the northern Namib Desert, and this was confirmed by field-based monitoring. Taken together, these findings suggest that Namibian giraffe should be viewed as important for the conservation of overall genetic variation within Giraffa camelopardalis, although further investigation into the taxonomy of the Namibian form is warranted. Following these findings, I then investigated the behaviour and ecology of the desert-dwelling giraffe. As no previous study has been published on the ecology of G. c. angolensis, there is an information gap in our knowledge of this subspecies. One hundred and fifty six giraffe were identified individually using field-based identification methods and digital imagery. An assessment of the population structure and dynamics indicated marked variation in numbers, sex and age structure, herd structure and densities between three study areas. These variations possibly arose from differences in study area size, aridity, availability of forage and human impacts. I also investigated levels of associations between giraffe within the population using a simple ratio technique, and observed that increased association occurred in smaller populations; there appeared to be a matrilineal social structure. In one bull-biased population, a higher degree of association between bulls was observed compared to bulls in the other two populations. To gain further insight into the distribution and range of giraffe, I collected GPS locations from a combination of field-based monitoring and GPS satellite collars. The GPS satellite collars were the first trial of this technology on giraffe in Africa. Using Range Manager, a MapInfo animal location analysis extension program, I estimated 100% and 95% minimum convex polygon for daily, monthly and annual home range sizes of giraffe in the northern Namib Desert. Giraffe were observed to have large home ranges, with the largest individual range for a bull, Africa-wide, being recorded in this study. Large home ranges correlated with low population density, reduced diversity of forage and, in bulls, increased search areas for receptive cows. Giraffe movements occurred predominantly along riparian woodlands, although seasonal use of other habitats was recorded. Observations Abstract v Abstract vi and data from four GPS satellite-collared giraffe provided high-resolution data on daily movements, and indicated a pattern of highly biphasic movement behaviour that correlated with ambient temperatures. Diurnal activity budgets varied between the sexes, with cows spending more time feeding and resting, while bulls walked and ruminated more frequently. Juveniles rested more often than other giraffe. Seasonal variation in activity budgets was evident, perhaps reflecting use of an energy maximiser strategy for cows and an energy minimiser strategy for bulls. The establishment of artificial water points in the Hoanib River during the study period appeared to alter the seeming independence of giraffe on water in the northern Namib Desert, and also resulted in small-scale shifts in use of the riparian woodland by elephant. To investigate the diet of giraffe, I observed animals feeding in the field and also carried out laboratory analyses of the chemical content of preferred plant species. Seasonal changes in the abundance, moisture and protein content of available food plants correlated with shifts in the diet of giraffe. Giraffe impacted on their preferred forage source, Faidherbia albida, causing distinct structural changes in the individual plants and the F. albida population. This impact, combined with elephant damage and seasonal flood events, has resulted in a shift in the age structure and dynamics of the F. albida population over the past two decades. Finally, I present a brief overview on the history of conservation and management in the Kunene Region. The established CBNRM program provides a baseline for future wildlife conservation and management, of which the desert-dwelling giraffe could be an integral component for non-consumptive tourism. Long-term research on the population’s status, range, behaviour, social structure, habitat requirements, and ecology would help to provide a better understanding of the giraffe’s adaptation to the arid environment, while focussed legislation would enable increased control of communal lands and continue to benefit community-based conservancies.