The Veracruz Reef System (VRS) is located in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. It is comprised of 28 coral reefs in various stages of development and conservation. They are protected under the Parque Nacional Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano National Park created in 1992. There are many threats to the reefs of the VRS, including the Port and city of Veracruz, which hosts half a million inhabitants and Mexico’s oldest active port. The inhabitants of Veracruz have used reef resources for thousands of years, as evidenced in archaeological sites on Sacrificios island, and constructions throughout the city, most notably in the San Juan de Ulúa Fort which was built entirely of coral skeletons. Despite the usage and protection given under the National Park, there is relatively little known about the health and condition of the stony corals in the System. There has only been one large scale study of 21 reefs conducted in the VRS in the late 1980’s. Since then, the National Park was created and 28 reefs are now recognized. This study performed point-intercept transects on 24 of these reefs including five reefs added to the official list in 2012. Point-intercept transects were surveyed at 63 sites between 2007 and 2014. Percent cover was calculated for seven functional groups. Additionally, demographic data of a subset of individual stony coral colonies were assessed on each transect. The functional group with the greatest cover in the VRS was crustose coralline algae (mean ± S.E.: 28.9% ± 1.97), stony corals had the second highest cover (21.5% ± 1.24). The Jamapa river divides the VRS into two groups the Veracruz group to the North and the Anton Lizardo group to the south of the river mouth. The Veracruz group had lower crustose coralline algae cover (28.1% ± 2.71) and coral cover (17.8% ± 1.55) than the Anton Lizardo group (29.6% ± 2.87 CCA and 25.3% ± 1.86 coral cover). The highest average coral cover on a reef was recorded at Ahogado Chico (45.5% ± 5.58), and the highest cover recorded on a single transect was 70% at Santiaguillo reef. The lowest coral cover was recorded at the fringing reefs on the north of the VRS, Punta Gorda and Punta Brava which had less than 1% coral cover. Coral colonies averaged 69.1 cm ± 3.10 in length at the VRS, 56.8 cm ± 2.98 in the Veracruz group and 81.7 cm ± 5.11 in the Antón Lizardo group. Old partial mortality was 25% ± 1.05 overall and similar between groups, recent partial mortality was 1.2% ± 0.21 and 1% at both groups. Disease prevalence was 3.9% for the VRS, 2.9% ± 0.88 in the Veracruz group and 4.9% ± 1.11 in the Antón Lizardo group. Overall, these reefs are faring slightly better than other reefs in the Caribbean having higher coral cover and larger colonies. However, the great variability in the health and condition of these reefs demands added attention and clear management goals to ensure their persistence in the face of ever growing threats. It is important to decrease the sources of stress, such as construction and poor waste water management in the area, better regulate fishing and approach a watershed wide management plan which takes into account upstream effects from the rivers that discharge into the Veracruz Reef System.

Driven by the needs of growing populations, industrial and governing powers are successfully accelerating the rate of industrial consumption, production and employment as if the earth’s resources are in unlimited supply. In contrast, a range of international sustainable development forums, inspired by visionary individuals, have made significant progress in creating awareness that the footprint of human activity is exceeding the earth’s sink and source capacity; and educating people in government, workplaces and communities to slow down industrial consumption and clean up production. Turning around conventional and short sighted ‘business as usual’ logic, and directing economies toward greener, long-term sustainability outcomes, still meet with resistance and hidden unsustainable agendas. The ‘green economy’ drive nevertheless since 2008 attracts financial and human resources and bold action in favour of more sustainable management of human-nature relations. The sustainable development movement for example advocates a ‘triple bottom line’ approach, holding that socially and ecologically responsible economic development would be sustainable. The sustainability movement has attained significant buy-in among governments and business communities. It forms the under-labouring philosophy of the programmes reviewed in this case study. The thesis reviews social-economic events paving the way for a global green economy. Taking a leadership role in the sustainable development movement the United Nations (UN) and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) concurred to respond to the 2008 world-wide economic meltdown with a two-pronged ‘Green New Deal’ (UNEP, 2008). The Green New Deal financial package helps restore multi-national economic growth, employment and markets while re-shaping economies to follow an ecologically and socially responsible growth trajectory. South Africa implements green economy principles as part of the 2010 The New Growth Path overarching policy framework, with an implementation strategy embedded in the 2011 National Development Plan (NDP) (RSA. The Presidency, 2010; 2011). The New Growth Path emphasises that the transformation of South Africa’s un-sustainable economic and educational legacy to a more sustainable future is not expected to follow a smooth, linear process. The transition to a green economy is rather expected to be an event of “… noisy, healthy democracy” (RSA. The Presidency, 2010). A green, low carbon economy particularly constitutes a pledge to slow down and turn the human induced climate change trajectory around. McKinsey (2009) argues that this pledge is attainable on a world-wide scale, as sufficient and suitable environmentally sound techniques and technologies are already in place. Attaining buy-in from business stakeholders toward re-thinking and amending an economy’s self-defying large environmental footprint (inclusive of carbon, water and waste footprints) however requires education starting with awarenessraising followed by educational programmes and official curricula aimed at implementation and continuous improvement of green practices in day to day ‘doings and beings’ (Sen, 1997). This study at implementation level reviews two green economy training programmes and their emergence in South Africa around this rationale. The awareness generation and training programmes elected as case study examples are the ‘Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production’ (RECP) and ‘Industrial Energy Efficiency’ (IEE) programmes, of the hosting agency National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC-SA). The RECP and IEE teams reach out to decision makers, engineers and artisans at industrial workplaces and workplace related events to add green competences to their business-as-usual skill sets. Implementing green options in industry typically slows down industrial scale resource consumption, pollution, waste generation and green-house gas (GHG) emissions while optimising resource productivity and enterprise excellence. Optimised supply side systems allow industry to reduce energy and material intensity of products thus reducing cost and producing more with less. In transitioning to a ‘Green GDP’ economy South Africa is awakening to the reality that natural resources constitute the original, albeit limited feedstock for growth and employment. The RECP and IEE approach also contribute to reduction of industrial waste, waste-to-landfill, and energy and resource security. Literature reviewed for this research provides evidence that the green economy’s triple bottom line philosophy is quantifiable thus manageable. A range of green economy management tools are emerging, including guidelines for carbon, water and environmental footprinting and the green-house gas abatement cost curve (see section 2.2.5) (McKinsey and Company, 2009). Transitioning from business as usual to ecologically sustainable industrial sectors however requires visionary, educated leadership, willing and capable of introducing modern and more efficient techniques and technologies. The boundaries of this half thesis embrace the globally and historically significant Tbilisi Declaration and other education and sustainable development agreements produced by United Nations and OECD mechanisms. Participating nations like South Africa incorporate the essence of these agreements into domestic policies and strategies, and align industries to remain competitive in international markets, which are increasingly enforcing green standards like ISO 14001 and ISO 50001. The focus of this case study guided by inductive, abductive and retroductive inference is to understand how the two sustainability learning programmes for people in industrial workplaces, supported by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and relevant donors, and overseen by the South African Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), relate to emerging green learning aspects. Producing a review of this nature requires a framework of laterally understanding emerging green learning aspects, for which I have reviewed green economy literature and also green learning and conventional education and training literature respectively. Themes emerging from the literature review informed an analytical instrument (questionnaire) in Phase One. In Phase Two the questionnaire was applied through nested case study methodology to show how the educational content and approaches of the RECP and IEE programmes relate to emerging green learning aspects and as such is suitable for mainstreaming in the national educational system. From an explicit educational perspective potential partners for collaboration include the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) the South African Qualifications Authority’s (SAQA’s) Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) and the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) representing the training needs of the industrial workforce but affiliated to QCTO and SAQA. In the extended scenario the NCPC-SA as a dti programme recognises the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) as lead agency guiding implementation of South Africa’s green economy, and specifically DEA’s National Environmental Sector Skills Planning Forum (NESPF), a national leader in green skills development in South Africa, as conduit for productively mainstreaming relevant RECP and IEE content and approaches toward green skills development for the green economy.

Fisheries managers have the potential to significantly improve reef fish management in the Gulf of Mexico through the use of ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management. Ecosystem-based approaches are needed to address the effects of fishing on trophodynamic interactions, to better account for ecosystem-scale processes in model projections, and to recognize the short and long-term biomass tradeoffs associated with making regulatory choices. My research was concentrated around three objectives: (1) characterizing the trophodynamic interactions between Gulf of Mexico fishes, in order to construct an invaluable tool (a Gulf of Mexico Atlantis model) to be used in ecological hypothesis testing and policy performance evaluation for years to come; (2) predicting ecological indicators for the Gulf of Mexico that both respond to fishing pressure and are robust to observational error, and; (3) evaluating the performance of an ecosystem-based policy options for managing reef fish species in the Gulf of Mexico. To accomplish these objectives, a spatial, trophodynamic ecosystem model- Atlantis, was employed to represent the Gulf of Mexico marine ecosystem. To characterize trophic interactions between modeled species, I applied a maximum likelihood estimation procedure to produce Dirichlet probability distributions representing the likely contribution of prey species to predators’ diets. This provided mode values (the peak of the distribution) and associated error ranges, which describe the likely contribution of a prey item in a predator’s diet. The mode values were used to parameterize the availabilities (diet) matrix of the Gulf of Mexico Atlantis model. Investigating trophic interactions was useful for determining which species within the Atlantis model were data rich, and justified the emphasis on reef fish species and their prey items in subsequent analyses. Once parameterized and calibrated, I used the Atlantis model to project ecological indicators over a 50 year time horizon (2010-2060) under varying levels of fishing mortality. Principal component analysis was used to evaluate ecological indicator trajectories in multivariate space, to rank indicators according to how well they describe variability in ecosystem structure (termed ‘importance’), to reveal redundancies in the information conveyed, to quantify interannual noise and to determine how robust indicators are to observational error. Reef fish catch, Red snapper biomass, King mackerel biomass and Species richness indicators ranked the highest in terms of importance and robustness to error and in having low levels of interannual noise (i.e., requiring less frequent monitoring). I then used a management strategy evaluation (MSE) framework in Atlantis to evaluate some of these same indicators under an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management – using robust harvest control rules to manage reef fishes. I found that this ecosystem-based policy option was able to maintain higher reef fish biomass, catch and ecosystem-wide biodiversity under any given level of fishing mortality when compared to a status quo management approach. These results suggest that harvesting under the HCRs encourages an alternative ecosystem state with a more Pareto-efficient tradeoff frontier than the status-quo policy. A potentially reduced extinction risk for reef fish is plausible under this ecosystem-based policy option. This research provides a quantitative look at the fishery performance and ecological tradeoffs associated with various policy options. MSE methodology using ecosystem-based policy performance metrics is also demonstrated. Tool development and findings from this research should aid in the development of ecosystem-based policies for this region.

The South Florida Everglades is a unique ecosystem. Intensive water management in the system has facilitated agricultural, urban, and economic development. The Everglades offers a variety of ecosystem services (ES) to the people living in this region. Nevertheless, the ecosystem is under imminent threat of climate change, which would alter the way water is managed today and ultimately affect the ES offered by the system. On the other hand, substantial restoration is underway that aims to restore the Everglades closer to its historic condition. This research tried to map the public’s preference for Everglades restoration. Using a geocoded discrete-choice survey dataset, the study showed variation in the public’s preference by changing the levels of ES. Additionally, the general public’s attitude toward climate change risk to the Everglades and preference for mitigation were also assessed using the survey data.

Community forestry is an evolving approach to forest management, shown to maintain forest cover, while generating income for local communities. In Sierra Norte (SN), a region with no public protected areas, indigenous communities have been actively conserving their forests for decades, through conservation zoning and careful management of their logging areas. This study found that across 22 communities in SN, an estimated 2,949,116.50 m3 of timber were produced from 1993 to 2013, while the region maintains 78% forest cover. About 75% of the forest is under some form of community conservation. Community governance plays a major role, as rules and regulations regarding use, access, and conservation of communal lands are established and enforced by community members. The findings of this study support arguments that advocate for community forest management, as forest communities prove to maintain forest cover and decrease degradation, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing forest carbon stocks.

This thesis research employs a multi-pronged analysis approach to contribute to the existing knowledge regarding land use and water quality in southern Miami Dade County. Nutrient concentrations for TP, NOx-N, and NH3-N were evaluated for water quality monitoring stations across seven canals for two time periods: 1990-2003 and 2009-2014. Overall, the sites did not surpass the mandated TP threshold but a number of sites exceeded the NOx-N and NH3-N criteria set by multiple government agencies. Statistical tests demonstrated that the sites had differing distributions, not sharing similar median concentrations. Land use classifications were derived for the area interest for the years 1994 and 2013. Regression models relating land use classifications to nutrient concentrations at various spatial scales provided mixed results. Lastly, a trend analysis for nutrient concentrations at the stations for 1990-2003 and 2009-2014 demonstrated that there were either no trends or a decreasing trend at most sites.

The central Everglades serve as a Wildlife Management Area and as a Water Conservation Area for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area. It is also home to over 22 nonnative freshwater fish species and carries restrictive fish consumption guidelines for Mercury. In my study, boat anglers and canal bank anglers were personally interviewed in the field, to research their awareness and perspectives of these potential environmental and health threats. The study found 78% of anglers were aware of the presence of nonnative fish species, but favored native fish species, and that 69% were aware of mercury advisories, but did not eat fewer fish because of them. Demographic characteristics were found to predict awareness, which differed significantly between angler types. Public awareness campaigns of nonnative fish impacts should target high school educated, canal bank anglers while mercury advisories should be directed at canal bank anglers, who typically keep and consume their catch more than boat anglers, to those who live more than 30 miles from the area, and all anglers under the age of 48.

The Chihuahua desert is one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the world, but suffers serious degradation because of changes in fire regimes resulting in large catastrophic fires. My study was conducted in the Sierra La Mojonera (SLM) natural protected area in Mexico. The purpose of this study was to implement the use of FARSITE fire modeling as a fire management tool to develop an integrated fire management plan at SLM. Firebreaks proved to detain 100% of wildfire outbreaks. The rosetophilous scrub experienced the fastest rate of fire spread and lowland creosote bush scrub experienced the slowest rate of fire spread. March experienced the fastest rate of fire spread, while September experienced the slowest rate of fire spread. The results of my study provide a tool for wildfire management through the use geospatial technologies and, in particular, FARSITE fire modeling in SLM and Mexico.

Madagascar, a country whose extraordinary levels of endemism and biodiversity are celebrated globally by scientists and laymen alike, yet historically has received surprisingly little research attention, is the setting of the present dissertation. Here, I contribute to the need for applied research by: 1) focusing on the most intensely fished section of the Toliara Barrier Reef, the Bay of Ranobe; 2) characterizing the marine environment, the human population, and the fisheries; and 3) collecting the longest known time-series of data on fisheries of Madagascar, thereby providing a useful baseline for future analyses. In Chapter 1, the bathymetry of the Bay was characterized following a unique application of the boosted regression tree classifier to the RGB bands of IKONOS imagery. Derivation of water depths, based on DOS-corrected images, following a generic, log-transformed multiple linear regression approach produced a predictive accuracy of 1.28 m, whereas model fitting performed using the boosted regression tree classifier, allowing for interaction effects (tree complexity= 2), provided increased accuracy (RMSE= 1.01 m). Estimates of human population abundance, distribution, and dynamics were obtained following a dwelling-unit enumeration approach, using IKONOS Panchromatic and Google Earth images. Results indicated, in 2016, 31,850 people lived within 1 km of the shore, and 28,046 people lived within the 12 coastal villages of the Bay. Localized population growth rates within the villages, where birth rates and migration are combined, ranged from 2.96% - 6.83%, greatly exceeding official estimates of 2.78%. Annual pirogue counts demonstrated a shift in fishing effort from south to the north. Gear and boat (pirogue) profiles were developed, and the theoretical maximum number of fishermen predicted (n= 4,820), in 2013, from a regression model based on pirogue lengths (R2= 0.49). Spatial fishing effort distribution was mapped following a satellite-based enumeration of fishers-at-sea, resulting in a bay-wide estimate of intensity equaling 33.3 pirogue-meters km-2. Landings and CPUE were characterized, with respect to finfish, by family, species, gear, and village. Expansion of landings to bay-wide fisheries yields indicated 1,885.8 mt year-1 of mixed fisheries productivity, with an estimated wholesale value of 1.64 million USD per annum.

Some business leaders in the manufacturing industry lack strategies to optimize green supply chain management strategies that increase profitability while reducing the carbon footprint. The lack of green supply chain strategies sub optimizes the use of resources business leaders use to meet their financial goals. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore successful green supply chain strategies leaders used to increase profitability while reducing the carbon footprint. The participants were 7 business leaders in one manufacturing organization headquartered in Massachusetts who have sophisticated green supply chain strategies in place. The natural resource-based view theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and organizational documents. Through thematic analysis, 3 key themes emerged: environmental management strategies, profit-increasing strategies, and governance strategies. The findings of this study might be of value to business leaders to reduce costs and create sustainable, competitive supply chains using responsible methods. The implications for social change include the potential for leaders to preserve finite natural resources for future generations and reduce the carbon footprint of manufacturing organizations.