Despite being one of the most recognizable sea creatures in the world, sharks remain widely misunderstood by the public. Media coverage often sensationalizes them as dangerous creatures, when in reality, humans pose a much more significant threat to sharks than vice versa. Over the past few decades, overfishing has decimated populations worldwide as demand increases for byproducts such as meat, cartilage, and fins in particular, a crucial ingredient in the Chinese delicacy of shark fin soup. Finning, a particularly inefficient practice that promotes overfishing and waste, occurs when fishers cut off fins at sea and throw carcasses overboard. As sharks play an important role in marine ecosystems as apex predators and are slow to reproduce, increased attention to shark conservation is urgently needed. Although there have been attempts by international organizations such as the United Nations and by individual countries, current legislation has proven to be inadequate in combating shark exploitation. Though public awareness is on the rise thanks to increased media coverage and environmental advocacy, sharks still need greater protection in the face of overharvest and stock depletion. This thesis details the current state of shark exploitation, including shark biology, public perceptions of sharks, and current levels of shark finning, as well as the economics behind the trade. It also analyzes previous actions taken both at the international and national levels. Finally, it recommends further actions to be undertaken in order to preserve declining shark populations and keep them from extinction.

Surface coal mining is a major form of land change and environmental degradation in Central Appalachia. Traditional mine reclamation iresults in unmanaged, unproductive grasslands that fail to mitigate many of the environmental costs of coal mining and are of minimal use to communities. Forestry reclamation is an alternative reclamation tactic that has the potential to address both environmental and socioeconomic concerns in Central Appalachia. A case study of Laurel Fork Mine in Eastern Kentucky is included.

This thesis explores the theoretical basis of non-market valuation techniques; discusses in detail, the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and the Travel Cost Method (TCM); highlights the advantages and disadvantages of various non-market valuation techniques and their suitability under different conditions; and identifies the Contingent Valuation Method as the most appropriate non-market valuation technique to apply to Pekapeka Swamp, the case study site. The overall objective of the study is to apply the most appropriate non-market valuation technique to estimate the total economic value (TEV) of the restoration and preservation of Pekapeka Swamp and to test Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s (HBRC) restoration programme for the Pekapeka Swamp using economic efficiency criteria. An appropriate contingent valuation mail survey questionnaire was designed to elicit responses to the dichotomous choice (DC) and open-ended valuation questions, and to collect socio-economic data and information on households’ attitude towards the environment. Responses to the survey questionnaire were analysed (using ordinary least squares regression for the open ended question, and logistic regression, for the DC question) to identify the factors that influence households’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the restoration and preservation of the Pekapeka Swamp and to estimate TEV. A number of functional forms of the logit and open-ended WTP models were fitted from which WTP functions were estimated. Households were asked a DC question followed by an open-ended question regarding the value they placed on the restoration and preservation of Pekapeka Swamp. Out of an initial mail-out of 958 questionnaires, an overall response rate of 46.13% was achieved after two follow-ups. Results from the final usable sample of 231, after removing protests and inconsistent responses, indicate that households in the Hawke’s Bay region would pay, on average, between NZ$30.00 and NZ$76.89 per annum for five years. Unit value ranges between NZ$17,898 and NZ$45,866 per hectare per year; and net present values for the restoration and preservation programme for Pekapeka Swamp based on our ‘best estimates’ range between NZ$5.05 million and NZ$18.20 million depending on the model and discount rate used.

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Though food is widely recognized as a basic necessity for humanity, disparate access to it highlights whose bodies, environments, health, nutrition, and utter existence has mattered most in American society—and whose has mattered the least. Through interviews with residents of the South Side of Chicago about the alternative food pathway they’ve forged for themselves, we learn that food becomes much more than just sustenance. Interviewees describe our present day food system as undeniably rooted in a history of enslavement and exploitation of Black and Brown bodies; they regard food justice work by communities of color as an important source of empowerment as it not only is an act of survival, but also an act of reclamation of spaces they’ve long been historically denied. For them, community gardens are safe spaces for neighbors of all ages to congregate, discuss issues happening in the neighborhood, and ultimately keep the community alive and healthy; they are transformative spaces for community building, learning, and collective healing. Residents become better stewards to the earth and to each other. Ultimately, community-led urban agriculture has the power to transform urban communities and their relationship with food, land, the environment, and each other. Ineffective public health initiatives often fail to sufficiently historicize and contextualize the relationship between social factors, unhealthy urban landscapes, and poor health outcomes. By placing the agency of the affected community at the center of research, however, we might better understand the relationship between positionality, food access, adverse health outcomes and any efforts we make to improve them.