Though heavily criticized, the Kyoto Protocol has stood out as the key political tool in addressing climate change. However the only of its instruments (IET, JI, CDM) that allows industrialized and developing countries to cooperate towards mitigation of GHGs is CDM. The underlying assumption of forestry CDM is that forest plantations (afforestation/ reforestation) might help to remove carbon dioxide (the most representative GHG) emissions. This assumption takes for granted that forest plantations might compensate for the loss of natural forests. Therefore this alleged trade-off constitutes the very focus of this study. Due to high monetary price instability in brand new markets, like the carbon offset one, the analysis abstracts out money variables. Additionally, this engine helps overcome the trap set up by monetary prices as scarcity indicators. Thus, to go along with the bioeconomic analysis, a Gordon-Schaefer fishery-like model is applied to carbon forest sequestration in Rio Grande do Sul. This state is thought of bringing an interesting picture to the analysis of the claimed trade-off between natural and planted forests. This owes both to Rio Grande do Sul s unworthy deforestation rates and to its high natural-to-planted forest ratio. This land use assortment is thought of as if there were two countries or regions: a forest-rich one, where natural forests still remain, and a forest-poor one, where afforestation and/or reforestation takes place. Only physical units (MtC) are used to calculate exchange and interest rates as well as non-monetary prices. Next, a function that assigns the land use to natural and planted forests is arrived at. As such, it works as the emission removal demand. On the other hand, the emission supply function depends on the economic growth rates. The results show that, eventually, the sustainability of economic growth hinges on a region s or country s ecological situation namely, equilibrium, credit or debt. The economic and environmental advantages of each mitigation strategy CDM and natural forest conservation are crosschecked. A nearly 40-year long overshoot rate is, after all, estimated for the forest sector in Rio Grande do Sul. The estimates suggest that CDM might help relieve environmental stress only where ecological credit is reported. Where ecological debt is already on, CDM was found unable to compensate for conservation disregard. / Apesar das críticas que tem sofrido, o Protocolo de Kyoto tem-se constituído na principal ferramenta política para enfrentar a mudança climática. No entanto o único de seus instrumentos (comércio internacional de emissões, implementação conjunta e MDL) que prevê a cooperação entre países industrializados e em desenvolvimento para mitigar as emissões de GEE é o MDL. A modalidade florestal do MDL pressupõe que as plantações florestais (florestamento/reflorestamento) podem ajudar na remoção das emissões de dióxido de carbono (o GEE mais representativo). Esse pressuposto aceita que as plantações florestais podem compensar a perda de florestas naturais. Por isso esse proclamado trade-off constitui o foco principal deste estudo. Devido à grande instabilidade dos preços monetários em mercados incipientes como o do carbono, a análise abstém-se de utilizar variáveis monetárias. De resto, esse artifício ajuda a contornar certas dificuldades decorrentes da utilização dos preços monetários como indicadores de escassez. Assim, a análise bioeconômica prossegue com a aplicação, ao seqüestro florestal de carbono no Rio Grande do Sul, de um modelo similar ao de Gordon-Schaefer, tradicionalmente empregado na gestão da pesca. Por duas razões principais, o caso do Rio Grande do Sul contribui para a análise do suposto trade-off entre florestas naturais e plantadas. Em primeiro lugar, por não se registrarem taxas de desmatamento pronunciadas no estado. Em segundo lugar, pela elevada proporção de florestas naturais em relação às florestas plantadas em seu território. A repartição do uso do solo entre as florestas é utilizada para estudá-las como se representassem nações ou regiões diferentes: uma, rica em florestas, onde as formações florestais nativas permanecem em pé; outra, pobre em florestas, onde as plantações florestais se estabelecem através de florestamento e/ou reflorestamento. Apenas unidades físicas (MtC) são utilizadas para calcular taxas de câmbio, taxas de juro e preços não-monetários. A seguir, deduz-se uma função que reparte o uso da terra entre florestas naturais e plantadas. Essa função equivale à demanda por remoção de emissões. Sua contraparte é a função oferta de emissões, que depende das taxas de crescimento econômico. Os resultados mostram como, em última análise, a sustentação do crescimento econômico está condicionada à situação ecológica (dívida, crédito ou equilíbrio) de um país ou região. Em cada cenário, confrontam-se as vantagens econômicas e ambientais das estratégias do MDL e da conservação de florestas naturais. Além disso, estima-se uma taxa de overshoot para a atividade florestal no Rio Grande do Sul ao longo dos últimos 40 anos aproximadamente. As estimativas sugerem que o MDL pode aliviar pressões ambientais somente onde se registre crédito ecológico. Onde o endividamento ecológico já esteja em curso, o MDL não substitui a conservação.

Die Freizeit- bzw. Angelfischerei ist ein komplexes sozial-ökologisches System, welches sich aus drei wesentlichen Komponenten zusammensetzt: einer biologischen, einer sozialen und einer Managementkomponente. Fischereimanager sind aufgefordert, anglerischen Interessen und den Anforderungen einer biologisch nachhaltigen Gewässerbewirtschaftung gleichsam gerecht zu werden. Unzureichend verstandene Wechselwirkungen zwischen den Fischereikomponenten limitieren die Möglichkeit, die Angelfischerei nachhaltig zu entwickeln. Diese werden beeinflusst von lebensgeschichtlichen Parametern der jeweiligen Fischart, von Dynamik und Diversität der Angler sowie von Maßnahmen und Managementzielen. Die Dissertation untersuchte die Bedeutung einer gleichzeitigen Berücksichtigung der drei Fischereikomponenten und ihren Wechselwirkungen zur Realisierung einer biologisch und sozial nachhaltigen Angelfischerei. Ein neuartiges bioökonomisches Simulationsmodell identifizierte Bewirtschaftungsmaßnahmen, die den von der Fischerei erzeugten sozialen Nutzen maximieren. Die Ergebnisse widerlegen die Annahme der Selbstregulationsfähigkeit der Angelfischerei. Die Höhe und Art der Befischungsintensität sowie der soziale Nutzen wurden stark durch eine Vielzahl von fangabhängigen und fangunabhängigen Attributen beeinflusst, wobei auch Anglertyp und Anfälligkeit der Fischpopulation zur Überfischung eine Rolle spielten. Einige Regularien zur Erreichung der Bewirtschaftungsziele waren effektiver als andere, aber ihre Wirksamkeit könnte durch die Haksterblichkeit und die Nichteinhaltung von Vorschriften unterlaufen werden. Obwohl sich die Bewirtschaftungsmaßnahmen je nach Zielart, Anglerschaft und Bewirtschaftungszielen richten, beinhalten die als optimal identifizierten Maßnahmen in fast allen Fällen eine biologische nachhaltige Bewirtschaftung. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein interdisziplinärer Ansatz zu einer sozial und biologisch nachhaltigen Bewirtschaftung der Freizeitfischerei beitragen kann. / Recreational fisheries are complex social-ecological systems, and managers often need to balance the interests of the anglers utilizing the fishery – the social sustainability – and the biological sustainability of the fish population. However, a poor understanding of the interactions among the main components of a fishery – the biological, social, and management components – has limited our ability to manage recreational fisheries sustainably. Fish life-history type (LHT), the dynamics and diversity of the angler population, angling regulations and management objectives all influence management outcomes. Using both empirical and theoretical studies, I evaluated the importance of jointly considering these primary drivers and the feedbacks between fishery components when managing recreational fisheries. I developed a novel bioeconomic modelling framework to determine which regulations (effort regulations and minimum-size limits) maximized the social welfare derived from the fishery, the optimal social yield (OSY). My research refutes the hypothesis that anglers are self-regulating (i.e., stop fishing when catch rates decline). The amount and type of fishing pressure the fishery received and the social welfare derived were strongly influenced by multiple fishery attributes and differed with the type of angler fishing and the fish population’s vulnerability to overexploitation (LHT). I found regulations influenced fishing mortality rates, but also directly influenced angler behaviour. Some regulations were more effective than others at achieving management objectives, but their effectiveness could be undermined by hooking mortality and regulatory noncompliance. Despite differences in optimal regulations, an OSY management approach generally did not result in overfishing. My research demonstrates that a multidisciplinary approach based on clear objectives can help us progress towards both socially and biologically sustainable management of recreational fisheries.

Using a bioeconomic model and stochastic simulation to assess the economic viability of small-scale, recirculating shrimp farms in the Midwestern U.S. A series of stress tests were implemented on key input variables including survival rate, selling price, electricity usage, discount rate and the cost of added salt. The key output variable is the Net Present Value of the operation. <div><br></div><div><br></div>