Volumen 8 (2020): Edición 3 (September 2020)

Bush encroachment involves a widespread increase in, and abundance of, woody vegetation in grassland and savanna biomes. This phenomenon has a direct impact on the socio-economic well-being of rural communities and affects livestock owners and those who utilise the land for various other purposes. This study set out to evaluate and gain an understanding of how livestock owners and land users in a typical rural village in South Africa’s North West Province perceive bush encroachment and the impact it has on the community’s ecosystem services. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design was used to document the perceptions of the participants regarding bush encroachment and bush control in an attempt to describe characteristics and to find answers to questions related to how local communities are affected by bush encroachment and the control thereof. The results show that encroachment has a significant impact on the socio-economic status of participants. Furthermore, it was found that the vast untapped knowledge of local livestock owners is vital to control bush encroachment, preserve the land for various types of usage and to conserve natural resources. Evaluating participants’ responses and perceptions also contributed significantly to gaining an understanding of how bush encroachment and the control thereof impact rural communities socio-economically. This led the contributors to conclude that raising awareness, actively engaging with the community, imparting skills and offering educational opportunities, creating jobs, merging biophysical activities and promoting active participation are key to the success of programmes aimed at bush control and the resultant improvement of ecosystem services.

The issues of sustainable and green development is becoming more important, both in scientific analyses and in city policies. The aim of this article was to attempt to create The Green Polish Cities Index. The Index consists of two main parts - Sustainable Development and Green Development, and was based on a review of previous indices and the OECD typology - the PSR (pressure-state-response) model. The article compares and critically analyzes 6 indices used by the European Environment Agency, OECD or other European Units. The selection of indices was connected with a wide application and the diversity of variables used. In total, 226 variables were analysed. Due to a lack of comparative research for Polish cities, The Green Polish Cities Index was constructed. The Index consists of 31 variables representing the most important dimensions of a green and sustainable city. The availability of data and specific conditions of Polish cities were taken into account. An overview of indices and preparation of The Green Polish Cities Index led to the conclusion that implementation of the green city idea under Polish conditions requires, amongst other things, greater cooperation between the Central Statistical Office, universities and city decision-makers.

This article discusses the knowledge of indigenous people about forest care, interconnectivity and maintenance of their ecological resources as well as the challenges they face among the Matigsalug-Manobo people of Marilog District, Davao City, Philippines. The researchers utilized a descriptive research design through qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews, focus-group discussions and photo-video documentation. To extract the data, the necessary permits and ethical compliance were provided by the respective parties of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Region 11, the Local Government Unit of Marilog District and the Manobo-Matigsalug Tribal Council Incorporated. The data gathered were analyzed through thematic analysis focusing on the dominant themes from the respondents’ narratives. The results revealed that these people’s indigenous knowledge on biodiversity conservation has been challenged by changes in the natural landscape, forest deterioration and the unintended consequences of these such as cultural loss and economic well-being. Thus, this has led to major implications of how they conserve the forest and manage their ecological resources in the current times. This calls for building a sustainable and inclusive economic livelihood for the indigenous group and other stakeholders in the Marilog district. This is a vital step in order not to compromise their economic livelihood, to retain cultural practices and to maintain their rights to manage and sustain their ecological resources. Overall, the Matigsalug-Manobos are actively negotiating the cause and effects of these socio-economic factors and are able to devise ways to use the forest and its ecological resources for their survival.

Hail involving very large hailstones (maximum diameter ≥ 5 cm), is a rare but very hazardous phenomenon in Poland, and can be forecast using reflectivity signatures. Every year, Poland experiences from one to over a dozen storms with such large hailstones. Despite the current recommendations regarding polarimetric techniques used in hail risk monitoring, Poland does not have a fully polarimetric radar network. Therefore it is essential to check hail detection capabilities using only reflectivity techniques based on individual radar systems involving hail detection algorithms such as Waldvogel et al. (1979) or Vertically Integrated Liquid thresholds connected with manual signature analysis to get better warning decisions. This study is aimed to determine the reflectivity features, thresholds and lead times for nowcasting of severe storms with very large hailstones in Poland, using data from the Polish radar system and from the European Severe Weather Database for the period 2007–2015. Most incidents involving very large hailstones were linked to supercell storms with distinctive reflectivity signatures, however, some storms with extremely large hailstones presented very poorly developed signatures. These signatures enabled the prediction of hail involving very large hailstones approximately 29 minutes before it fell. The Lemon (1980) criterion and WER were found to be the best hail predictors for Polish radar system conditions.

This article assessed community participation in the provision of environmental sanitation infrastructure in Akure, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed for the study. Four residential zones: the traditional core, the transition zone, the peripheral zone and the public housing district were identified, this was with a view to showcasing the variation in the level of contributions and efforts of different communities based on the delineated areas towards the provision of environmental sanitation infrastructure in the study area. Twenty residential areas were identified across the residential zones of the study area out of which ten areas which represented 50% of the total areas were selected. Ten percent of the total number of buildings in the selected areas were subsequently sampled, resulting in the selection of 180 residents for questionnaire administration. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics with frequency used for univariate analysis and cross tabulation for bivariate and multivariate analysis as well as the use of chi-square for inferential statistics. Findings revealed that community participation did not play a leading role in providing environmental sanitation facilities in Akure, but that the government did. This shows that most of the environmental facilities in the area are provided by the government, thus revealing the overdependence of the residents on the government for the provision of environmental sanitation infrastructure. Further findings revealed that most of the challenges faced in the study area in terms of providing environmental sanitation infrastructure had a significant influence on the provision of these facilities. Thus, the study showed that challenges significantly hindered the provision of environmental sanitation facilities in the area.

This article explores the interactions between industrial development and environmental protection dimensions of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In consideration of the suitability and data availability, this article uses the SDG indicators 9.2.1 (manufacturing value-added per capita) and 12.4.1 (E-waste per capita) as the two indicators to reflect industrial development and environmental protection under the SDGs framework. Based on a cross-country data source, this article examines the correlation between manufacturing value-added per capita and E-waste per capita in forty countries across four income levels as defined by the World Bank. The results show that the manufacturing value-added per capita and E-waste per capita increase with the countries’ income levels. In addition, the positive correlation between manufacturing value-added per capita and electronic waste (E-waste_ per capita) becomes weaker with the increase of the countries’ income levels, and for high-income countries the correlation turns negative. This provides evidence to partially support the Environmental Kuznets Curve, which demonstrates the ‘inverted-U shape’ relationship between economic development and environmental protection. It also generates a number of implications on the monitoring and management of SDG indicators. In consideration of the interactions between different SDGs (including targets and indicators), a holistic, multi-disciplinary, and cross-departmental management and monitoring of SDG indicators is recommended.