Marine reserve phenomenon in the Pacific islands

Coinciding with increased numbers of global marine reserves, communities in the Pacific islands are establishing unprecedented number of periodically-harvested and indefinitely-closed marine reserves. An integrated ecological and social comparative methodology is used to examine the motivations and outcomes of reserves in Vanuatu. Communities establish permanent reserves due to concerns about human impacts on reefs, while others establish periodic reserves in response to declining resources. Local knowledge suggests that both reserve types are effective, although validation by underwater surveys was inconclusive. Community support for both reserve types is strong, suggesting that the marine reserve phenomenon in Pacific will continue.     

Measuring the benefits and costs of community education and outreach in marine protected areas

Conservation organizations often invest considerable resources in education and outreach activities in and around marine protected areas (MPAs). The expectation is that such efforts will change local knowledge, attitudes and ultimately behavior. This is one of the first studies to assess the efficacy of using education and outreach activities to improve community knowledge and attitudes about an MPA. Random sample surveys in 2005 and 2010 (n=1213) before and after education and outreach activities are compared. Program budgets for the same period give the investment levels. With an investment level averaging US$24 per capita/year, the result was an average increase of 33% in “yes” responses across 15 indicators of knowledge and attitudes towards marine conservation. The increase in knowledge and positive attitudes was associated with a large decrease in “not sure” responses, suggesting that community members with fewer initial preconceptions are the most effective target for education and outreach activities. This study demonstrates that investments in MPA education and outreach can generate increases in local knowledge and positive attitudes, and changing knowledge and attitudes is expected to contribute to the long-term compliance with MPA regulations.     

Placing of photos on the internet: Critical analysis of biases on the depictions of France and Afghanistan on FLICKR

The Internet and the representation of space therein are almost omnipresent in society and everyday life. Peer-produced geographic data is gaining a particular importance through increasingly available digital tools and techniques that shape the perception of space in the internet, such as flickr, OpenStreetMap or Wikipedia. However, few studies focused on how space is represented, and by whom it is described. We hypothesize that the alleged opening up of geographic information and the assumed benefits for every individual and society through the occurrence of ‘easy-to-use-mapping-tools’ was premature. To explore these assumptions, a comparative study of the flickr worldmap was undertaken and roughly 6.8 million metadatasets of geocoded photos in France, and roughly 50,000 metadatasets in Afghanistan were downloaded and the metadata was analyzed. Our results indicate that photos geocoded in France show a large diversity of motives, while photos geocoded in Afghanistan are mostly limited to content containing warfare when they are up loaded in English. The content of the photo and therefore the representation of space strongly depend on who uploaded the photo, particularly in Afghanistan. We can show that the representation of space on the internet, for the case of flickr, is strongly dominated by perceptions of Western societies and individuals. We therefore confirm our hypothesis that the supposed opening up of geographic information systems through ‘easy-to-use-mapping-tools’ and their democratization thereof was premature. Moreover, we highlight the importance of understanding who contributes online content to be able to evaluate peer-produced data, its value, and its possible applications to avoid reproducing biases.     

Social identity, perception and motivation in adaptation to climate risk in the coffee sector of Chiapas, Mexico

Most investigation into climate adaptation to date has focused on specific technological interventions and socio-economic aspects of adaptive capacity. New perspectives posit that socio-cognitive factors may be as or more important in motivating individuals to take adaptive actions. Recent research indicates that incorporating insights from motivation theory can enhance theorization of adaptive capacity. Yet unexplored, and what we propose here, is the addition of social identity to models of adaptive capacity and adaptation. To apply this conceptual framework, the first author undertook in-depth interviews with a sample of farmers who had participated in broader surveys the previous year to explore their perceptions of their social identity, climate-related information and its sources, and climate risk. These interviews elicited compelling evidence that social identity mediates between risk perception and adaptation through its influence on motivation. Interviews revealed significant links between social identity and perception of information, risk perception and adaptation, of which the most salient were the relative credibility and legitimacy of information sources (related to us vs. them social group differentiation); the role of coffee organizations; and ethnicity and geographic marginalization. Strong in-group identity and perceptions of potentially influential out-groups such as the scientific community appear to particularly influence perception and use of information. These findings have rich policy implications for adaptation management and merit further investigation to identify how, where and why social identity plays a role in climate-risk perception, motivation and adaptation in other geographic areas of vulnerability worldwide.     

旅游目的地形象的空间认知过程与规律

旅游目的地形象的认知规律是形象定位及其传播策略的基础。从旅游目的地的地理空间属性出发 ,结合地理学关于地域空间的等级层次性和地域分异规律的基本观点 ,探讨了旅游者形成旅游目的地形象的基本空间过程和规律。认为旅游者对目的地的位置及其内涵等空间形象特征的认知 ,满足一种依据地域空间等级层次而展开的认知链过程 ,在此基础上 ,遵从旅游地形象认知的背景律、接近律、相似律及其形象替代等空间规律 ;而旅游者与目的地的距离 ,特别是感知距离以及旅游者所拥有的关于目的地的信息 ,分别对旅游地形象认知具有不同而复杂的修正作用 ;由于地域分异所形成的地方性 ,则成为旅游者对目的地形象之内容进行精确认知的基础 ,旅游者通过对旅游地的类型和地理文脉的认知 ,形成旅游地的类型形象和“地方性”形象     

青藏高原东北缘山地农户对气候变化的感知及适应策略——以湟水中游为例

以青藏高原东北缘山地地区不同海拔高度地理单元村落的农户为调查对象,进行气候变化、气象灾害的感知及适应策略等调查,采用感知强度公式及专家打分法分析农户气候变化感知以及所采用的适应策略,结果显示：1961—2013年湟水中游气候变化整体趋于暖干化,有84%的农户认为气候变暖,并对其生活造成了严重的影响;在不同海拔高度上的地理单元,农户对气象灾害的感知有明显差异,川水地区农户对沙尘的感知最强,浅山地区农户对虫害的感知最强,而脑山地区农户对连阴雨的感知最强;不同海拔高度的农户对适应策略的选择不同,川水地区农户主要采取“生产性+生活性+保障性”组合适应策略;浅山地区农户主要采取“生产性+生活性”组合适应策略;而脑山地区的农户则主要采取单一的“生产性”适应策略来应对气候变化所带来的影响。     

Flood risk management in Central Viet Nam: challenges and potentials

This article explores the impacts of floods on the economy, environment, and society and tries to clarify the rural community’s coping mechanism to flood disasters in Central Viet Nam. It focuses on the social aspects of flood risk perception that shapes the responses to floods. The research findings revealed that flooding is an essential element for a coastal population, whose livelihood depend on productive functions of cyclical floods. The findings also revealed that floods, causing losses and damages, often inhibited economic development. The surveyed communities appeared to have evolved coping mechanisms to reduce the negative impacts of the floods, yet these coping mechanisms are under pressure due to environmental degradation. Integrated flood risk management is considered as a suitable paradigm for coping with flood disasters.

游客对海岛旅游环境的感知研究——以东山岛为例

以我国东南沿海县级海岛东山岛为例,运用调查问卷与访谈的方法研究游客对东山岛旅游环境的感知,结果显示:游客对东山岛旅游环境总体感知一般;对海岛旅游自然环境、社会文化环境呈正面、积极感知,但对环境卫生、景区绿化、旅游从业人员文化水平、社会治安等持保留态度;对旅游经济环境正面感知不强;地方政府在环境保护和旅游规划方面应当更有所作为。     

Perception and evaluation of dead wood in streams and rivers by German students

Dead wood is a significant element of natural streams and rivers in temperate climate zones. Established stream management removes wood, whereas some scientists recently promoted the reintroduction of wood in stream rehabilitation and restoration. It is desirable to know if wood in streams and rivers would be accepted. A survey was therefore conducted in order to assess the spontaneous visual perception of 10 stream and 10 river scenes with and without wood in terms of naturalness, risk, aesthetics and need for improvement using visual analog scales. Three hundred and sixty-five German students from five subjects related to water management and from one subject without any professional association to running waters were surveyed before their first contact to teaching of aquatic ecology. They clearly perceived wood in streams and rivers as natural. Scenes with wood were most frequently associated with danger for sport activities while scenes without wood were most frequently associated with danger by flooding. When comparing scenes with and without wood, scenes with wood were clearly considered more positive as significantly more aesthetic, less dangerous and needing less improvement. The disciplinary groups showed variations in the absolute evaluation scores but the relative evaluation of scenes with wood versus scenes without wood was similar among all groups. The results indicate an acceptance for the reintroduction of wood in stream rehabilitation and restoration by young students who are potential future players in water management.     

Social preferences regarding the delivery of ecosystem services in a semiarid Mediterranean region

The valuation of ecosystem services has primarily been conducted within the context of the economic value of these services to society. Ecosystem services research has since advanced to identify conflicts of interest between different sectors of society while prioritizing conservation actions. This approach can be important in semiarid ecosystems, where biodiversity conservation can be hindered by a lack of community awareness. In the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula, conservation is perceived by society as a barrier to the economic development provided by agricultural or tourism activities. We use the contingent valuation method to identify community perception and economic values of different ecosystem services provided by semiarid ecosystems in the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. This method identifies the perceptions of individuals benefiting from ecosystem services and examines their willingness to pay for the maintaining of these ecosystem services. Results showed that most respondents recognized the importance of services to human well-being and were willing to conserve these services. Preferences for maintaining water and air quality showed that respondents understood the relationship between the conservation of ecosystem services and local well-being. However, responses varied greatly across categories of beneficiaries; this finding highlights a potential conflict of interest that should be considered in any decision-making processes.