New decline curve models have been developed to overcome the boundary-dominated flow assumption of the basic Arps’ models, which restricts their application in ultra-low permeability reservoirs exhibiting long-duration transient flow regimes. However, these new decline curve analysis (DCA) methods are still based only on production rate data, relying on the assumption of stable flowing pressure. Since this stabilized state is not reached rapidly in most cases, the applicability of these methods and the reliability of their solutions may be compromised. In addition, production performance predictions cannot be disassociated from the existing operation constraints under which production history was developed. On the other hand, DCA is often carried out without a proper identification of flow regimes. The arbitrary application of DCA models regardless of existing flow regimes may produce unrealistic production forecasts, because these models have been designed assuming specific flow regimes. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible benefits provided by including flowing pressures in production decline analysis. As a result, it have been demonstrated that decline curve analysis based on pressure-normalized rates can be used as a reliable production forecasting technique suited to interpret unconventional wells in specific situations such as unstable operating conditions, limited availability of production data (short production history) and high-pressure, rate-restricted wells. In addition, pressure-normalized DCA techniques proved to have the special ability of dissociating the estimation of future production performance from the existing operation constraints under which production history was developed. On the other hand, it was also observed than more consistent and representative flow regime interpretations may be obtained as diagnostic plots are improved by including MBT, pseudovariables (for gas wells) and pressure-normalized rates. This means that misinterpretations may occur if diagnostic plots are not applied correctly. In general, an improved forecasting ability implies greater accuracy in the production performance forecasts and more reliable reserve estimations. The petroleum industry may become more confident in reserves estimates, which are the basis for the design of development plans, investment decisions, and valuation of companies’ assets.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

The study was conducted in the Amazizi Traditional Administrative Council Area, in the Obonjaneni community, which is the closest community to the Royal Natal Park, KwaZulu-Natal. The aim of the research was to evaluate how trust-based relationships can affect the ability of protected area managers to meet the objective of biodiversity conservation. The objectives of the study involved determining the nature and basis of the current relationship between communities and park authorities in the Royal Natal Park; determining the resilience of their relationship and commenting on how these relationships might be better developed. Data collection was undertaken using focus groups from the community; key informant interviews with Park authorities (represented by the Officer in Charge), the Community Conservation Officer, and the Tribal Authority (represented by the inkosi). Three dimensions of trust, adapted from Grunig and Hon (1999), were used as a conceptual framework in investigating the extent to which trust can be assessed in the case study. The dimensions of trust are: integrity, competence, and dependability. The researcher found that there is no forum for the exchange of ideas where the Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife (EKZNW) authority can act to address community concerns and facilitate the formulation of greater levels of trust. Several issues came up during data collection which showed that all the three dimensions of trust were under serious threat. There was inadequate communication amongst all the parties involved. Misunderstanding and the lack of adequate communication are key threats to trust between these parties. Findings draw attention to deficiencies in the competence and dependability of all parties and in the ability to develop and maintain trust-based relationships. In order to develop a better relationship between the community of Obonjaneni and the Royal Natal Park authorities, it is recommended that the Park involves the community members of Obonjaneni, who are the interested and affected party, in decision-making processes that directly affect them. This entails the formation of a forum for the exchange of ideas and one where the EKZNW authority can act to address community concerns – and where the community can voice its concerns. Furthermore, success in meeting the main objective of the park, that of biodiversity conservation; requires recognition among all stakeholders that the Park alone cannot solve poverty and underdevelopment in the surrounding areas. Other Government Departments also need to be involved in poverty reduction. The Park also needs to continue to play its role of providing resources and improving the communication with surrounding communities: these are critical areas of competency of the park authorities. Communities, because they have different levels of understanding and capacity, need to be helped to understand issues of conservation. Sharing the same set of values, which in this case is biodiversity conservation, may be successful if people, despite issues of poverty, are made to understand the critical importance of such a conservation ethic. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

[Truncated abstract] This ethnoecological study examines land uses by modern Martu Aboriginal people on their country. They occupy very remote settlements—Parnngurr, Punmu and Kunawarritji—in the Great and Little Sandy Deserts. In 1990, their country included Crown Lands and Rudall River National Park. The study investigated the proposition that the knowledge and practices of Martu were of direct relevance to ecosystem processes and national park management. This research commenced in the wider Australian research context of the late 1980s – early 90s when prevailing questions were about the role of customary harvest within contemporary Aboriginal society (Altman 1987; Devitt 1988) and the sustainability of species-specific harvests by Australian indigenous people (Bomford & Caughley 1996). Separately, there was a national line of enquiry into Aboriginal roles in natural resource and protected area management (Williams & Hunn 1986; Birckhead et al. 1992). The field work underpinning this study was done in 1986–1988 and quantitative data collected in 1990 whilst the researcher lived on Martu settlements. Ethnographic information was gathered from informal discussions, semi-structured interviews and participant observation on trips undertaken by Martu. A variety of parameters was recorded for each trip in 1990. On trips accompanied by the researcher, details on the plant and animal species collected were quantified. Martu knowledge and observations of Martu behaviour are interpreted in terms of the variety of land uses conducted and transport strategies including vehicle use; the significance of different species collected; socio-economic features of bush food collection; spatio-temporal patterns of foraging; and, the 'management' of species and lands by Martu. The research found that in 1990, hunting and gathering were major activities within the suite of land uses practiced by Martu. At least 40% of trips from the settlements were principally to hunt. More than 43 animal species and 37 plant food species were reported to be collected during the study; additionally, species were gathered for firewood, medicines and timber artefacts. Customary harvesting persisted because of the need for sustenance, particularly when there were low store supplies, as well as other reasons. The weight of bush meats hunted at least equalled and, occasionally, was three times greater than the weights of store meats available to Parnngurr residents. ... Paradoxically, hunting was a subject of significant difference despite it being the principal activity driving Martu expertise and practice. There is potential for comanagement in the National Park but it remains contingent on many factors between both Martu and DEC as well as external to them. The dissertation suggests practical strategies to enhance co-management.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis investigates the use of GIS (Geographical Information Systems) to develop an infrastructure management support system for the Western Cape Nature Conservation Board (WCNCB). The primary goal was to design a system to help the managers with their task of managing the infrastructure of a reserve. It involved the development and description, of a system in ArcView with the programming language Avenue in conjunction with an Access application developed in Visual Basic for Applications. The end result was a system that can create maps of all the different infrastructure features with ArcView and use an open-ended Access application to input data. The data are stored in an Access database. The thesis describes the user functionality of the system. Basic reporting facilities are provided and the data and system have the potential to provide essential reporting in future development. The conclusion of this thesis is that GIS could fulfil the role of an Infrastructure Management Support System for WCNCB. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die tesis ondersoek die gebruik van GIS (Geografiese Inligting Stelsels) in die ontwikkeling van 'n infrastruktuur bestuurshulpmiddel VIT Wes-Kaap Natuurbewaringsraad. Die primêre doel van hierdie studie is om 'n sisteem te ontwikkel wat die bestuurders van die verskillende natuurreservate kan bystaan in die bestuur van hul reservate. Die tesis beskryf die ontwikkeling van 'n infrastruktuur bestuurshulpmiddel met ArcView se programmeringstaal Avenue. Tesame hiermee is 'n Access applikasie wat in Visual Basic for Applications ontwikkel is geïntegreer. Die eind-resultaat is 'n sisteem wat kaarte met ArcView vanaf gestoorde data in 'n Access databasis kan produseer en ook datainvordering kan hanteer. Die tesis beskryf die ontwikkeling en funksionaliteit van die sisteem. Daar word voorsiening gemaak vir basiese verslaglewerende funksies en vir toekomstige meer gevorderde analises in die data samestelling. Die gevolgtrekking wat in die tesis gemaak word is dat GIS die rol van 'n infrastruktuur bestuurshulpmiddel kan vervul VIT Wes-Kaap Natuurbewaringsraad.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:39:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PINTO_Bruna_2014.pdf: 7582705 bytes, checksum: d231281182e1012c5ab65a4e42ad1f3a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-04 / Considering that less than 11% of the brazilian Environmental Protection Areas have a Management Plan, the assessment of land use and the conflict in Permanent Preservation Areas can provide important results to the management of this Protected Area category, since the map of degraded Permanent Preservation Areas can be used as a guide for restoration actions. This research aimed to characterize the land use in APA Tietê, highlighting the conflict associated with Permanent Preservation Areas (Federal law n° 12.651 de 2012), in order to provide subsidies to the planning and land management. We have mapped land use through supervised automatic classification of RapidEye satellite image, and determined the land use conflicts with aid of software ArcGIS 10.2. We can conclude that APA Tietê has predominance of agricultural land uses, corresponding to 78.42% of the total protected area. This area is in critical condition to biodiversity conservation, since 76.43% of Permanent Preservation Areas consist of conflicting land uses. We have mapped 908 forest fragments, of which approximately 88% have areas smaller than 10 ha. 39.64% of these forest fragments have no neighbor fragment in a distance of 100 m. The native vegetation cover represents only 9.98% of the total area of the Environmental Protection Areas. The analysis of the hypothetical scenario showed that the restoration of Permament Preservation Areas can increase the size of the fragments and enhance landscape connectivity, in compliance with environmental legislation. Another alternative indicated to increase total vegetation cover in APA Tietê following legal increments is proposed for the restoration of the area through the establishment of Legal Reserves. In this context, through multicriteria analysis, we made a rank of all the territory of the Protected Area based on ecological relevance in order to give priority to some areas for the establishment of these protected areas. This work revealed the criticality of the current status of APA Tietê, especially towards its conservation objectives and offered alternatives, based on a scientific rigor to support the planning process of the protected area, at the local, state and national context. / Considerando que menos de 11% das Áreas de Proteção Ambiental brasileiras possuem Plano de Manejo, a avaliação do uso da terra e do conflito em Áreas de Preservação Permanente pode fornecer resultados importantes para a gestão dessa categoria de Unidade de Conservação, uma vez que a espacialização das Áreas de Preservação Permanente degradadas pode ser utilizada como diretriz de ações de restauração. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo caracterizar o uso da terra da APA Tietê, evidenciando os conflitos associados às Áreas de Preservação Permanente (Lei Federal n° 12.651 de 2012), de modo a fornecer subsídios para o planejamento e gestão territorial. Mapeou-se o uso da terra por meio classificação automática supervisionada de imagem do satélite RapidEye e determinou-se os conflitos com o auxílio do software ArcGis 10.2. Conclui-se que a APA Tietê possui predominância de usos agropecuários da terra, correspondendo a 78,45% da área total da Unidade de Conservação. A área encontra-se em estado crítico para conservação da biodiversidade, uma vez que 74,40% das Áreas de Preservação Permanente são compostas por usos da terra conflituosos. Foram mapeados 908 fragmentos florestais, sendo que aproximadamente 88% dos fragmentos mapeados possuem áreas menores do que 10 ha. 39,64% dos fragmentos florestais não possuem nenhum fragmento vizinho em um raio de 100 m. A cobertura vegetal nativa representa apenas 9,98% da área total da APA. A análise do cenário potencial revelou que a restauração das APPs permite aumentar o tamanho dos fragmentos e melhorar a conectividade da paisagem, em observância com a legislação ambiental. Outra opção indicada para incrementar a cobertura vegetal total na APA Tietê seguindo os incrementos propostos por lei é a restauração de área por meio da instituição da RL. Nesse aspecto, por meio de análise multicritério, pode-se ranquear todo o território da UC com base na sua relevância ecológica de modo a priorizar áreas para a instituição dessas áreas protegidas. O trabalho revelou a criticidade da situação atual da APA Tietê, principalmente perante seus objetivos conservacionistas e ofereceu alternativas, baseadas em um rigor científico, para subsidiar o processo de planejamento dessa área protegida, no contexto local, estadual e nacional.

The reintroduction of lions, cheetahs and African wild dogs to Kwandwe Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa created the opportunity to study the biology and behaviour of these large carnivores in an enclosed system. The research focused on space utilisation and feeding ecology of the predators, using standard observational methods. Changes in the structure of the carnivore guild, and changes in the prey base that occurred during the study were used as natural experiments to examine factors affecting space use and diet. In general, the diets of the predators were similar to previous studies and prey abundance was more important than prey species size in determining prey selection. Changes in the abundance of certain prey species was matched by a dietary switch in lions from kudu to warthog and an increase in the proportion of springbok kills by the cheetahs. There was no significant difference in the proportions of prey species detected by ad hoc or continuous observations. Core areas occupied by the predators were significantly smaller than home ranges except when females were denning. Home ranges overlapped both within and between species, but there was very little overlap of core areas. An increase in the number of lion prides in the area during the study resulted in an increase in overlap of home ranges of lions and cheetahs, but did not result in a change in home range size. Space use by female cheetahs with cubs increased as the cubs grew older. The use of thicket vegetation by cheetahs decreased with an increase in the number of lion prides. Minimum Daily Energy Expenditure, energy intake and net benefit were calculated for the predators using data from continuous observations. All predators exhibited a large net benefit and the net benefit for single female cheetahs was greater than for the members of the coalition. Net benefit for the alpha pair of African wild dogs was lower than that of the pack.

Rangers, as vanguards of wildlife conservation, are constantly fighting off armed poachers. That makes their work stressful and dangerous. In spite of this, their needs are neglected and are not considered as the focus is on saving wildlife. Undoubtedly, the African continent is not spared from the unrelenting poaching menace that threatens to drive the world’s wildlife spicies into extinction. In response to this scourge, countries, in their quest to safeguard these species from extermination, have signed various treaties, continuously come up with different strategies and pledged their support to fight illegal wildlife trading. This study was conducted at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HIP) and Mkhuze Game Reserve, which are under the management of Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Wildlife Management. These parks have turned into a battlefield between poachers and rangers. The intrinsic case study approach which is explorative and interpretive in perspective was used to unravel and describe the experiences from the world view of rangers. A descriptive qualitative research design was used to gain insight from the rangers about their challenges and needs in the workplace. Furthermore, developmental research was used to design and develop a tailor- made technology – a ranger resilience-building model – to assist rangers to deal with their workplace challenges. Focus group discussions were conducted with a group of rangers, while individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers in order to solicit information from purposively selected sample of rangers and managers at HIP and Mkhuze game reserve, that assisted in the development of the model. Ethical considerations, which involve the informed consent of the participants, confidentiality and privacy, participants’ right to withdraw from the study and the management of information, were applied to ensure that the participants were protected from harm. The collected data was analysed by using codes and themes that best described the experiences of the rangers, and data verification was done before the process of model development. It was evident that rangers are faced with a variety of workplace challenges, such as poor quality of work life, unpleasant living conditions, coupled with poor amenities, inadequte wellness interventions, and the poor management and implementation of policies by the Human Resources (HR) Department. Nevertheless, teamwork and their cultural practices were positive aspects that promoted their coping capacities in dealing with their everyday challenges. / Social Work / D. Phil. (Social Work)

In response to recent decentralization in Ethiopia, we investigated the status of and pressure exerted on Awash National Park (ANP), vis-a- vis Park resources, observed land use and land cover changes, causes of park-related conflicts, use and management role of stakeholders at federal, regional and local level and the impact of policy on sustainable resources conservation through a comparative framework of before (pre-1995) and after decentralization (post-1995). We used a combination of two black and white aerial photographs of 1975 and 1986, a satellite image of 2006, field observation, information from local communities and Geographic Information System (GIS) to generate the land use and land cover profile. We selected a total of 210 respondents by stratified random sampling, and group discussion participants and key informants using the purposive sampling technique. Direct observed participation of stakeholders, household questionnaire, and interview with key informants and focus group discussions were used to collect data. Our results showed a declining scattered bushland by a rate of 20.61km2 per year between 1972 and 1986. On the other hand, Shrub encroachment increased by 32.2 % between 1972 and 1986 and by 10.3 % (77.4 km2) during the entire study period. Grassland was the largest cover type in the area between 1986 and 2006 and expanded by 14.2 % (106.4 km2) between 1972 and 1986. The majority of respondents highlighted that the most important drivers of the observed LULC changes pre-1995 were the combined effects of the land reform policy and changes in Park boundary (size of the Park). Population growth was reported to be the main driving factor for LULC change pre-and post-1995. The continuing existence of the area as a national Park receives unreserved support from most pastoral and agro-pastoral communities. From the data we conclude that overall, decentralization in Ethiopia was not effective in terms of improving the status of Awash National Park. We recommend action should be taken in terms of reducing human and livestock pressure and to prevent and solve interest-based conflicts between stakeholder / Environmental Sciences / Ph. D. (Environmental Sciences)

The migrant labour practice in South Africa played an important role in the country's development and economy. Although it has benefited many native migrant workers by creating job opportunities, it has had adverse effects on the families of migrant workers. The focus of this study is the phenomenon of migrant labouring and its effects on the family. A literature study has shown that migrant labourers, living in overcrowded city hostels, were subjected to exploitation, malnutrition and crime. The empirical study brought to light the many problems experienced by the families back home: Wives were overburdened by dual roles and responsibilities, lack of support and money, children's development was impeded and academic motivations and performance were low. The ultimate aim of this study was to design practical guidelines to help families cope with the effects of an absent father due to the migrant labour practice. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed.(Guidance and Counselling)