Conservation by racialized dispossession: The making of an eco-destination on Honduras’s North Coast

Within the context of neoliberal conservation and ecotourism development, the Honduran state has prioritized the desires of foreign tourists and private investors over the needs of indigenous and black coastal inhabitants, and increasingly this is leading to state-sanctioned violence against marginalized groups. I use Peluso’s analytic of coercive conservation (1993) to show how conservation practice furthers the expansionist policies of the state and elite investors while simultaneously dehumanizing the indigenous peoples that depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. While Garífuna culture is central to Honduras’s ecotourism ambitions, their livelihoods, in the eyes of many developers and conservation NGOs, are a potential threat to the viability of the emerging tourism imaginary. Black and indigenous coastal inhabitants are valued for the cultural cache they add to regional tourism plans, yet denigrated for their inherent “backwardness” and presumed inability to respect the delicate ecosystems they inhabit. This imaginary authorizes material practices of racialized dispossession, which were set in motion by neoliberal conservation regimes designed to exploit the natural and cultural resources upon which tourism development is premised.     

Modelling urban growth evolution and land-use changes using GIS based cellular automata and SLEUTH models: the case of Sana’a metropolitan city, Yemen

An effective and efficient planning of an urban growth and land use changes and its impact on the environment requires information about growth trends and patterns amongst other important information. Over the years, many urban growth models have been developed and used in the developed countries for forecasting growth patterns. In the developing countries however, there exist a very few studies showing the application of these models and their performances. In this study two models such as cellular automata (CA) and the SLEUTH models are applied in a geographical information system (GIS) to simulate and predict the urban growth and land use change for the City of Sana’a (Yemen) for the period 2004–2020. GIS based maps were generated for the urban growth pattern of the city which was further analyzed using geo-statistical techniques. During the models calibration process, a total of 35 years of time series dataset such as historical topographical maps, aerial photographs and satellite imageries was used to identify the parameters that influenced the urban growth. The validation result showed an overall accuracy of 99.6 %; with the producer’s accuracy of 83.3 % and the user’s accuracy 83.6 %. The SLEUTH model used the best fit growth rule parameters during the calibration to forecasting future urban growth pattern and generated various probability maps in which the individual grid cells are urbanized assuming unique “urban growth signatures”. The models generated future urban growth pattern and land use changes from the period 2004–2020. Both models proved effective in forecasting growth pattern that will be useful in planning and decision making. In comparison, the CA model growth pattern showed high density development, in which growth edges were filled and clusters were merged together to form a compact built-up area wherein less agricultural lands were included. On the contrary, the SLEUTH model growth pattern showed more urban sprawl and low-density development that included substantial areas of agricultural lands.     

Ra’s Abdah of the north Eastern Desert of Egypt: the role of granitic dykes in the formation of radioactive mineralization,evidenced by zircon morphology and chemistry

Syenogranitic dykes in the north of Egypt’s Eastern Desert are of geological and economic interest because of the presence of magmatic and supergene enrichment of radioactive mineralization. Zircon crystal morphology within the syenogranitic dykes allows precise definition of sub-alkaline series granites and crystallized at mean temperature of about 637 °C. The growth pattern of the zircons suggest magmatic and hydrothermal origins of radioactive mineralization. Hydrothermal processes are responsible for the formation of significant zircon overgrowth; high U-zircon margins might have occurred contemporaneously with the emplacement of syenogranitic dykes which show anomalous uranium (eU) and thorium (eTh) contents of up to 1386 and 7330 ppm, respectively. Zircon chemistry revealed a relative increase of Hf consistent with decreasing Zr content, suggesting the replacement of Zr by Hf during hydrothermal activity. Visible uranium mineralization is present and recognized by the presence of uranophane and autunite.     

Influence of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">X</Emphasis>-site composition on tourmaline’s crystal structure: investigation of synthetic K-dravite,dravite, oxy-uvite,and magnesio-foitite using SREF and Raman spectroscopy

The crystal structures of synthetic K-dravite [^XK^YMg ₃ ^Z Al ₆ ^T Si₆O₁₈(BO₃) ₃ ^V (OH) ₃ ^W (OH)], dravite [^XNa^YMg ₃ ^Z Al ₆ ^T Si₆O₁₈(BO₃) ₃ ^V (OH) ₃ ^W (OH)], oxy-uvite [^XCa^YMg ₃ ^Z Al ₆ ^T Si₆O₁₈(BO₃) ₃ ^V (OH) ₃ ^W O], and magnesio-foitite [^X?^Y(Mg₂Al)^ZAl ₆ ^T Si₆O₁₈(BO₃) ₃ ^V (OH) ₃ ^W (OH)] are investigated by polarized Raman spectroscopy, single-crystal structure refinement (SREF), and powder X-ray diffraction. The use of compositionally simple tourmalines characterized by electron microprobe analysis facilitates the determination of site occupancy in the SREF and band assignment in the Raman spectra. The synthesized K-dravite, oxy-uvite, and magnesio-foitite have significant Mg–Al disorder between their octahedral sites indicated by their respective average 〈Y–O〉 and 〈Z–O〉 bond lengths. The Y- and Z-site compositions of oxy-uvite (^YMg_1.52Al_1.48(10) and ^ZAl_4.90Mg_1.10(15)) and magnesio-foitite (^YAl_1.62Mg_1.38(18) and ^ZAl_4.92Mg_1.08(24)) are refined from the electron densities at each site. The Mg–Al ratio of the Y and Z sites is also determined from the relative integrated peak intensities of the Raman bands in the O–H stretching vibrational range (3250–3850 cm^?1), producing values in good agreement with the SREF data. The unit cell volume of tourmaline increases from magnesio-foitite (1558.4(3) ų) to dravite (1569.5(4)–1571.7(3) ų) to oxy-uvite (1572.4(2) ų) to K-dravite (1588.1(2) ų), mainly due to lengthening of the crystallographic c-axis. The increase in the size of the X-site coordination polyhedron from dravite (Na) to K-dravite (K) is accommodated locally in the crystal structure, resulting in the shortening of the neighboring O1–H1 bond. In oxy-uvite, Ca²⁺ is locally associated with a deprotonated W (O1) site, whereas vacant X sites are neighbored by protonated W (O1) sites. Increasing the size of the X-site-occupying ion does not detectably affect bonding between the other sites; however, the higher charge of Ca and the deprotonated W (O1) site in oxy-uvite are correlated to changes in the lattice vibration Raman spectrum (100–1200 cm^?1), particularly for bands assigned to the T ₆O₁₈ ring. The Raman spectrum of magnesio-foitite shows significant deviations from those of K-dravite, dravite, and oxy-uvite in both the lattice and O–H stretching vibrational ranges (100–1200 and 3250–3850 cm^?1, respectively). The vacant X site is correlated with long- and short-range changes in the crystal structure, i.e., deformation of the T ₆O₁₈ ring and lengthening of the O1–H1 and O3–H3 bonds. However, X-site vacancies in K-dravite, dravite, and oxy-uvite result only in the lengthening of the neighboring O1–H1 bond and do not result in identifiable changes in the lattice-bonding environment.     

“You have to engage with life,or life will go away”: An intersectional life course analysis of older women’s social participation in a disadvantaged urban area

Social participation in later life has been studied as part of discourses around ‘active ageing’ but the promotion of participation in disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods meets with particular challenges. In this paper I argue that in order to effectively promote social participation in later life researchers and practitioners require an understanding of life-long relational practices which are embedded in social norms and places as they intersect with identities such as gender, class and age.The intersectional life course analysis traces complex relationalities between people and place across the life course of two women living in disadvantaged urban areas. It shows the effects of societal and structural changes on individuals’ opportunities for social participation as well as demonstrating how age-related relational practices may lead to spatial segregation of older people in society.