<p>In most developing countries, forest resources are a major source of livelihood for forest dwellers. Forests provide fuel wood, farm products, meat, timber and plants of high medicinal value, including Prunus africana. The collection of medicinal plants is also an important source of cash income for some forest communities, and widely relied on to cure illnesses (Poffenberger, 1993). Because of this, the poor forest dwellers in particular are forced to exert pressure on their surrounding environment to make ends meet. Indiscriminate exploitation of forest resources has cost some forest dwellers dearly as they are now experiencing marked reduction of wildlife, forest cover, soil fertility and most importantly water supply, which is a key to life. Prunus africana has a very high economic and medicinal value locally as well as internationally. The exploitation of this species is a very profitable activity in most parts of Africa where it occurs, including the Mount Cameroon region. In recent years, most youths and young men in the Mount Cameroon region have seemingly become less interested in their usual income generating activities (farming, hunting, etc.) because of reduced productivity and have taken up Prunus harvesting as their major source of income. Increase in demand for this species by the French pharmaceutical company (Plantecam), weak institutional capacity to control exploitation, uncontrolled access into the forest, scramble for diminished stock by legal and illegal exploiters, destruction of wild stock by unsustainable practices, and insufficient regeneration of the species in the past have almost driven this species to extinction in certain parts of Cameroon and made it severely threatened in others. Prunus africana is presently threatened with extinction in the entire Mount Cameroon region. In response to this, the Mount Cameroon Project (MCP) and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MINEF) helped some communities (Bokwoango and Mapanja) in the Mount Cameroon region to form Prunus africana harvesters’ unions with the aim of preserving the resource and improving the socio-economic benefits. The principal aim of the Bokwoango Prunus africana harvesters’ union is to ensure sustainable exploitation of Prunus africana while saving money for important development projects for individual members, their families and the entire community. This piece of work highlights the different facets of Prunus africana management in Cameroon in general and the Bokwoango community in particular. The study examines the socio-economic impact of Prunus africana management in the Bokwoango community and shows specifically the management role played by the Bokwoango Prunus africana harvesters’ union to reduce the rate of exploitation of Prunus africana and also to ensure benefit sharing of the earnings from sales of Prunus bark. It at the same time brings out the constraints encountered by harvesters as well as the opportunities that can make the union become more viable to the socio-economic development of the Bokwoango community. Results of this study show that for the short period that the Bokwoango Prunus africana harvesters’ union has existed, the socio-economic changes in this community are encouraging if one compares the present situation with that before the formation of the union. Most importantly, there has been increased awareness on the great need to conserve not only the threatened Prunus africana species but also other threatened plant and animal species in the region through sustainable hunting, harvesting and regeneration. Some proposals are made for efficient natural resource management and improvements on livelihood through alternative income generating activities. The study ends with recommendations for policy and institutional reforms as well as suggestions for further research in sustainable management of Prunus africana.</p>

<p>Treatment wetlands play an important role in reducing nitrogen content in wastewater and agricultural run-off water. The main removal process is denitrification and the removal efficiency depends on the hydrological and microbiological features of the wetland, especially in terms of water residence times and denitrification rates. The aim of this thesis was to increase the understanding of the coupled hydrological and microbiological processes regulating the denitrification capacity. This was done by applying a broad spectrum of analyses methods, including tracer experiment, water flow modeling, denitrification rate measurements, and analyses of the microbial community structures. The tracer experiment and flow modeling revealed that the wetland design, especially the vegetation, largely can affect the water residence time distributions in wetlands. In the investigated wetland, vegetation dominated the water flow, explaining 60-80% of the variance in water residence times, whereas basin shape only explained about 10% of the variance, but also mixing phenomena significantly affected the residence times and could considerably delay solutes. Measured potential denitrification rates in the wetland exhibited significant spatial variations, and the variations were best described by concentration of nitrogen in sediments and water residence time. Analyses of the denitrifying bacteria populations indicated that a few key populations dominated and that the community diversity increased with decreasing nutrient levels and increasing water residence times. Moreover, it was found that denitrification rates in terms of Menten and first order kinetics can be evaluated by fitting a mathematical expression, considering denitrification and other nitrogen transforming processes to measured product formation in nitrate limited experiments.</p>

<p>Volcanic ash and Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) were investigated as indigenous materials for drinking water treatment based on problems identified at Kampala and Masaka water treatment plants in Uganda. Coagulation experiments were done using swamp raw water at Masaka National Water & Sewerage Corporation water treatment plant and pilot-scale filtration experiments carried out at Ggaba II (Kampala) water treatment plant. The results from the study indicated that there were both operational and design handicaps at the treatment plants in Kampala. There is need to modify the filtration and clarification units to enable production of water meeting both the national and international standards. At Masaka water treatment, there was increase in trihalomethanes concentration as a result of pre-chlorination. Following aeration and pre-chlorination processes, the average increase of total trihalomethanes concentration was over 4000% with over 99% being chloroform. Preliminary results from the jar test experiments indicated that use of alum with MOCSC as coagulant aid is promising as a first stage in the treatment train for waters with a humic materials and high content of iron, typical of swamp water sources. This would probably eliminate the formation of unwanted by-products by eliminating the pre-chlorination process. Assessment of the characteristics of the volcanic ash showed that it meets the requirements for a filtration material; and results obtained from the pilot study showed that it was a suitable alternative material for use in a dual media filtration system. There was an increase in the filter run length of about two and half fold in the dual media filtration column compared to the mono medium column. Both columns produced similar water quality levels. Therefore, conversion of the rapid sand filters at Ggaba and similar water treatment plants in the country to dual media (volcanic ash on top of sand) systems would probably significantly improve the performance of the filtration systems.</p>

<p>Wetlands in most parts of the world are under threat of over-exploitation, loss and/or degradation partly due to agriculture and urban land uses.</p><p>Yala swamp, the largest fresh water wetland in Kenya measuring about 17,500 ha supports a large biodiversity and is source of livelihoods to communities around it. This study addresses the situation where part of this wetland is converted into large-scale agriculture by a multinational company, Dominion Farms (K) Ltd resulting into a conflict and controversy amongst key stakeholders. The study sought to investigate livelihood impacts this transformation has for the local community. It employs the concepts Stakeholder Analysis (SA) and Sustainable Livelihood Approaches (SLA) to asses the livelihood situation in terms of socio-economic conditions, rural infrastructure, income diversification, food security and environmental issues.</p><p>Data and information have been obtained from primary and secondary sources through field survey at the Yala wetland, in which randomly sampled small-scale farmers, fisher folk, Dominion employees, local leaders and informants, traders and other stakeholders were interviewed using questionnaire and other participatory methods. The main questions were designed to gain information about historical use of the wetland, changes in livelihoods and wetland before and after entry of Dominion Company into the area. From the study, it is evident that assessment of the key stakeholders in relation to this natural resource is of utmost importance for mapping out an acceptable management strategy for the wetland. Besides being cause to a conflict and controversy over control of and access to the swamp, the conversion has resulted into both negative and positive short-term and long-term livelihood impacts to the local community. The wetland being a contested resource with multiple users who claim a stake on it requires a holistic approach in its management that caters for divergent needs and views of key stakeholder groups. The study identifies management issues and proposes abroad vision for the future including recommendations for planning as well as suggestions for specific research needs that should form the basis of action</p>

<p>ABSTRACT</p><p>Wetlands in most parts of the world are under threat of over-exploitation, loss and/or degradation partly due to agriculture and urban land uses.</p><p>Yala swamp, the largest fresh water wetland in Kenya measuring about 17,500 ha supports a large biodiversity and is source of livelihoods to communities around it. This study addresses the situation where part of this wetland is converted into large-scale agriculture by a multinational company, Dominion Farms (K) Ltd. The study was undertaken to investigate the livelihood impacts this transformation has for the local community. It employs the concepts Stakeholder Analysis (SA) and Sustainable Livelihood Approaches (SLA) to assess the livelihood situation in terms of the socio-economic status, rural infrastructure, income diversification, food security and environmental management issues.</p><p>Data and information have been obtained from primary and secondary sources through field survey in the Yala wetland, in which randomly sampled small-scale farmers, fisher folk, Dominion employees, local leaders and informants, traders and other stakeholders were interviewed using questionnaire and other participatory methods. From the study, it is evident that assessment of the key stakeholders and their relation to this natural resource is of utmost importance for mapping out an acceptable management strategy for the wetland. Besides being cause to a conflict and controversy over control of and access to the swamp, the conversion has resulted into negative and positive short-term and long-term livelihood impacts to the local community. This contested resource with multiple users who claim a stake on it requires a holistic approach in its management that caters for divergent needs and views of key stakeholder groups. The study identifies management issues and proposes abroad vision for the future including recommendations for planning and research needs that should form the basis of action.</p>

<p>I denna uppsats undersöks det hur det fungerar med enskilda avlopp utanför kommunens VA-nät. Hur enskilda avlopp är uppbyggda och hur de fungerar. Varför man bör ha avloppsrening, och vilka lagar och regler som styr enskilda avlopp. Jag utreder vidare varför man ska jobba för en ökad rening av avlopp och varför man ska jobba mot att uppnå ett uthålligt samhälle.</p><p>Uppsatsen har en teoridel som handlar om hur och varför vi ska sträva efter en uthållig samhällsutveckling. En strävan som kommuner som Söderköping har när dom försöker få människor att byta till hållbara VA-system.</p><p>Med dom här funderingarna som bakgrund och ett antal frågeställningar har jag skrivit en fyllig bakgrund som går igenom Östersjöns problematik och även relevant information om enskilda avlopp. Jag går igenom varför vi behöver en bra rening och hur man kan jobba för att uppnå en bättre rening. Bakgrunden ger en grund för att jag ska kunna genomföra min undersökning på ett bra sätt.</p><p>I resultat delen undersöker jag hur Söderköpings kommun och Allren arbetar med enskilda avlopp. Jag valde Söderköpings kommun för att det är en kustnära kommun som av den anledningen alltid brottas med att inte få ut läckage av näring i Östersjön. Och det märks att dom har tagit detta ämne på allvar då dom jobbar för att skapa recirkulation av näringen genom exempelvis urinsorterande system.</p><p>I slutet av uppsatsen har jag diskussions delar där jag flätar samman uppsatsen och för en diskussion om vad jag har kommit fram till och vad jag har för åsikter om arbetet med enskilda avlopp.</p><p>Uppsatsen avslutas med att jag har med en didaktik del. En didaktisk del som gör det möjligt att lära ut de kunskaper man besitter efter en uppsats.</p>

<p>Currently, there is a great rampage among conservationists looking for useful approaches that can be used to bring efficiency towards conservation of global natural ecosystems. But which approach can be really effective to halt destruction of a particular natural ecosystem where the local people depend on the same ecosystem resources for their livelihoods? Do the local communities accept to refrain themselves from using natural ecosystem resources (loss of free access), which they believe is under their local territory since they are born, without having alternatives that will replace and improve economic gain of their livelihoods? Are the consumers who benefited from the ecosystem services always willing to compensate local communities around natural ecosystem as a means of replacing what they lose?</p><p>This study looks at the reliability of Payment for Water Environmental Services (PWES) approach at Kiwengwa-Pongwe Forest Reserve (KPFR) as a device aimed at promoting the sustainable management of KPFR watershed resources without undermining livelihoods of the Kiwengwa-Pongwe local communities. Hoteliers along the Kiwengwa-Pongwe Tourist Area (KPTA) are the potential customers benefiting from water resources found in the KPFR, which is claimed to be deteriorated by the intensity of the livelihood activities of Kiwengwa-Pongwe (KP) local communities. Based on Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), KPTA hoteliers were asked about the amount they would be willing to pay as maximum (WTP) for improvement of water services through sustainable management of watershed areas in KPFR. On the other hand, KP communities were asked what level of compensation they would be willing to accept as minimum amount (WTA) for a loss of free access to KPFR.</p><p>Both hoteliers (75 %) and KP communities (91 %) agreed on the establishment of the PWES system. However, there were differences between amount accepted by KP communities (10 US$ per 200 litres) and the amount claimed to be paid by hoteliers (1US$ per 200 litres), thus giving a gap of 9US$. Based on the overall study findings and experiences from other parts of the world where similar systems have been implemented, this issue is negotiable. It is upon existing KPFR management team and proposed board from Zanzibar water authority to launch a constructive dialogue between stakeholders to reach the amount that can be used as compensation causing no harm to both parts and without compromising the sustainable management of KPFR.</p>

<p>Zambia is a highly urbanized country with 60% of its urban population residing in low cost areas also called peri-urban, slum or informal settlements. The increase in urban population attributed to rapid migration and urbanization due to political and economic changes has taken a toll on service provision as the infrastructure development and service provision has failed to meet the demand. For the 33 peri-urban areas in Lusaka, the water supply and sanitation has been poor, inadequate and unreliable with the coverage being slightly above 50% for water while 90% of the urban population does not have access to the much needed sanitation. The low coverage is a result of lack the financial capacity on the part of the service providers to extend services to un served areas.</p><p>This research focuses on the strategies to provide sustainable water and sanitation services to peri-urban areas to ensure improved accessibility through the expansion of infrastructure and attainment of full cost recovery. In this era of increasing migration to unplanned settlements where the services are inadequate, alternatives to public provision of water and sanitation services need to be put in place. One of the alternatives is the public-private partnership which encompasses the society, private and the civil society. As has been found in the study the best alternative should not only be completely bottom up but should also be more demand driven and be able to provide for reater contributions from the affected communities.</p><p>The hypothesis of the study is to ascertain if provision of water supply to the Peri-Urban Areas (PUAs) can be achieved through the partnership between the water utility and the small scale water providers. Therefore, the objectives of the research are to: evaluate and compare the current service provision to the peri-urban areas by the utility and small scale providers in terms of technical, social and institutional arrangements and determine the best way of ensuring sustained service provision to peri urban areas and show how partnership can be the best solution to improving service delivery to these areas.</p><p>Service provision in PUAs can not be achieved without the involvement of all the stakeholders especially the community who are also the users and whose major role is paying for the service to enhance sustainability. In this study the Small Scale Water Providers (SSWP) users were found to be satisfied with the service provided than the utility users who felt that more needed to be done. The two providers are found to have different strengths which when combined would enhance service provision. The collaboration between utility with its competence in water supply, technical installations, water quality testing and SSWP with theirs in community involvement, cost recovery, effective operation and maintenance and demand driven water schemes have to be merged to achieve the intended goal and it is also an indication that the two can complement each other. Utility should therefore consider opening investment accounts for all the areas so as to detach PUAs needs from the general plan and eventually budget as they would be self sustaining and enhance  illingness to pay for the users. The SSWP should therefore be viewed as partners by all and licensing should be considered by the government for the benefit of the urban poor.</p>

<p>Zambia is a highly urbanized country with 60% of its urban population residing in low cost areas also called peri-urban, slum or informal settlements. The increase in urban population attributed to rapid migration and urbanization due to political and economic changes has taken a toll on service provision as the infrastructure development and service provision has failed to meet the demand. For the 33 peri-urban areas in Lusaka, the water supply and sanitation has been poor, inadequate and unreliable with the coverage being slightly above 50% for water while 90% of the urban population does not have access to the much needed sanitation. The low coverage is a result of lack the financial capacity on the part of the service providers to extend services to un served areas.</p><p>This research focuses on the strategies to provide sustainable water and sanitation services to peri-urban areas to ensure improved accessibility through the expansion of infrastructure and attainment of full cost recovery. In this era of increasing migration to unplanned settlements where the services are inadequate, alternatives to public provision of water and sanitation services need to be put in place. One of the alternatives is the public-private partnership which encompasses the society, private and the civil society. As has been found in the study the best alternative should not only be completely bottom up but should also be more demand driven and be able to provide for greater contributions from the affected communities.</p><p>The hypothesis of the study is to ascertain if provision of water supply to the Peri-Urban Areas (PUAs) can be achieved through the partnership between the water utility and the small scale water providers. Therefore, the objectives of the research are to: evaluate and compare the current service provision to the peri-urban areas by the utility and small scale providers in terms of technical, social and institutional arrangements and determine the best way of ensuring sustained service provision to peri urban areas and show how partnership can be the best solution to improving service delivery to these areas.</p><p>Service provision in PUAs can not be achieved without the involvement of all the stakeholders especially the community who are also the users and whose major role is paying for the service to enhance sustainability. In this study the Small Scale Water Providers (SSWP) users were found to be satisfied with the service provided than the utility users who felt that more needed to be done. The two providers are found to have different strengths which when combined would enhance service provision. The collaboration between utility with its competence in water supply, technical installations, water quality testing and SSWP with theirs in community involvement, cost recovery, effective operation and maintenance and demand driven water schemes have to be merged to achieve the intended goal and it is also an indication that the two can complement each other. Utility should therefore consider opening investment accounts for all the areas so as to detach PUAs needs from the general plan and eventually budget as they would be self sustaining and enhance willingness to pay for the users. The SSWP should therefore be viewed as partners by all and licensing should be considered by the government for the benefit of the urban poor.</p>

The purpose of this study is to find potential areas suitable for energy production using renewable sources. For this aim, accurate assessments are necessary. The assessments include geographical suitability, closeness of infrastructure and observing local and regional framework concerning the use of renewable sources together with environmental protection. In addition, economical factor is considered in such an assessment. In this study, the Photovoltaic (PV) production potential for Germany is considered. An accurate and complete data set is necessary in order to achieve reliable results. In addition, a powerful database management and strong analysis tools are required. Geographical Information System (GIS) is a tool for finding suitable sites for the photovoltaic production.Using GIS, energy generation planners are able to visualize solar densities throughout the considered area. In addition, they can find the optimal and most economical sites by the combination of solar potential with the information about land. In this study, data sources consist of meteorological and geographical conditions. Furthermore, all analyses have been performed using Arc GIS Desktop. This study demonstrates the possible places for photovoltaic plants and indicates suitable candidates according to weights and factors in multi criteria analysis. The solar radiation data is from year 1995 to 2005. Land cover data is according to Corine 2000 and the more detailed Raumordnungskataster (Rok) for Weser-Ems. Numerical results are reliable from a comparison point of view. This study demonstrates the sensitivity of the defined criteria with respect to electricity production. In particular, this study is useful to see the capabilities of GIS for site selection regarding photovoltaic plants.The purpose of this study is to find potential areas suitable for energy production using renewable sources. For this aim, accurate assessments are necessary. The assessments include geographical suitability, closeness of infrastructure and observing local and regional framework concerning the use of renewable sources together with environmental protection. In addition, economical factor is considered in such an assessment. In this study, the Photovoltaic (PV) production potential for Germany is considered. An accurate and complete data set is necessary in order to achieve reliable results. In addition, a powerful database management and strong analysis tools are required. Geographical Information System (GIS) is a tool for finding suitable sites for the photovoltaic production.Using GIS, energy generation planners are able to visualize solar densities throughout the considered area. In addition, they can find the optimal and most economical sites by the combination of solar potential with the information about land. In this study, data sources consist of meteorological and geographical conditions. Furthermore, all analyses have been performed using Arc GIS Desktop. This study demonstrates the possible places for photovoltaic plants and indicates suitable candidates according to weights and factors in multi criteria analysis. The solar radiation data is from year 1995 to 2005. Land cover data is according to Corine 2000 and the more detailed Raumordnungskataster (Rok) for Weser-Ems. Numerical results are reliable from a comparison point of view. This study demonstrates the sensitivity of the defined criteria with respect to electricity production. In particular, this study is useful to see the capabilities of GIS for site selection regarding photovoltaic plants.