Ambio最新文献

Aquaculture is the fastest-growing seafood production system globally, offering economic and social opportunities for small-scale fishing communities. Yet, it is often introduced through top-down, technocratic approaches that ignore the social-ecological realities of these communities. Drawing on four case studies from Mexico and Honduras, this study uses a multistage, participatory mixed-methods approach to examine the integration of aquaculture into existing fisheries. We focus on governance, social organization, economic assets, and cultural traditions, key yet understudied dimensions of implementation. Findings reveal that projects overlooking these interactions risk deepening inequities, displacing traditional livelihoods, and weakening community cohesion. Success depends on early economic support, recognition of local traditions and social structures, and the creation of context-specific governance systems. Centering community needs and experiences can help design equitable, place-based aquaculture initiatives that strengthen, rather than disrupt, small-scale fishing livelihoods.

Senior Aboriginal leaders have stated that all decent Australians should be encouraged to take on the responsibility of caring for Country. There is much to be learned from caring for Country, particularly about the form of sustainability that it encompasses, but this requires deeper understanding of what exactly is done to care for Country. This study reports on the results of a systematic review of activities that the literature states are undertaken when caring for Country. Using PRISMA, 467 articles were identified, and data were extracted from 266. Thirty-seven highly inter-related activities were identified in the articles and are presented in a cloud diagram. Caring for Country goes well beyond land (or sea) management: cultural activities are integral, as are contemporary expressions that address globally-established sustainability issues. The data provide a benchmark for exploring whether non-indigenous land managers are caring for Country and what more might be done for sustainability.

Varroa destructor, the most damaging pest of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera), arrived in Australia in June 2022. This parasitic mite weakens bees and spreads harmful viruses. We investigated Australian beekeepers' trust and perceptions of biomechanical Varroa control methods to identify barriers to adoption. An online survey and in-person interviews were conducted with commercial, semi-commercial, and hobbyist beekeepers. Data were analysed using generalised linear models and content analysis. While many beekeepers expressed interest in non-chemical approaches, most relied on chemical treatments. Although 80% had heard of biomechanical options, few applied them due to concerns about time, practicality, and efficacy. Interviews revealed limited available information and context-specific challenges, including high reinfestation rates and co-infestation by small hive beetles. Our findings highlight the need for targeted education and support to promote sustainable Varroa destructor management and provide guidelines for future research aligned with commercial beekeepers' needs.

Countries use lethal control as a tool to respond to human-large carnivore conflicts to varying degrees. The aim of this study was to explore the complexities surrounding the often-controversial decision to lethally manage carnivores. We examined the cases of the tiger (Panthera tigris) in India and the wolf (Canis lupus) in Germany. This study used an Institutional Analysis and Development framework to analyze contrasting sociopolitical processes. Through a review of legislative documents (n = 44) and interviews with experts (n = 47), the study examined the intricacies and challenges of the decision-making process and its implementation. While both countries were restrictive in their use of lethal control, decisions were primarily shaped by culturally embedded tolerance thresholds, accountability structures of decision-makers and influential societal factors. The findings demonstrate that effective carnivore management requires careful institutional design balancing scientific evidence with democratic participation.

Arctic sea ice is a vital component of the global climate system and a key indicator of climate change. Collaborations between Western scientists and Indigenous Knowledge holders advance understanding of the cryosphere by integrating diverse observations of sea ice physics, ecosystems, and food webs. As interest in collaborative research grows, co-production of knowledge (CPK) has emerged as a leading participatory approach in Arctic research. This study reviews multidisciplinary literature on sea ice knowledge co-production using a systematic literature review. Of more than 65 000 peer-reviewed articles on sea ice, only 461 mention engagement with Arctic Indigenous communities, and just 25 explicitly describe collaborative engagement with communities. By highlighting the presence and absence of key CPK tools and concepts in existing research, we uncover gaps in the documentation and practice of sharing research benefits with communities and identify opportunities for transparency in CPK practice.

Urbanisation is reshaping ecosystems, posing both challenges and opportunities for biodiversity conservation, particularly for urban mammals. We investigated public appreciation of 15 wild mammal species occurring in cities through a visual survey of 1000 respondents across ten Italian cities. Participants ranked species by desirability in urban environments. Hedgehogs, squirrels, rabbits, and roe deer were consistently preferred, possibly for their broad urban presence, whereas rats, wild boar, and coypus were less positively rated, possibly because of the widespread fears of health risks, damage, or invasiveness. Wolves elicited polarised reactions, possibly reflecting complex cultural meanings, including fascination and human-wildlife conflict issues. Geographic variation was marked: some species were preferred where familiar ("familiarity effect"), whereas large carnivores were highly valued where absent ("distance effect"). Visual survey tools effectively captured instinctive responses. Results stress the need for localised, species-specific education and conservation strategies that integrate citizen-science to improve coexistence in urban landscapes.

For more than 50 years, the Nordic countries have together played a significant role in Europe in raising awareness, scientific understanding and policy development for the control of acid rain and related air pollution problems. The Nordic cooperation has most of the time been organised by the Nordic Council of Ministers. It began within OECD in 1969 and was followed by the establishment of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) under UNECE and the Convention for Long-Range Transport of Air Pollutants (the Air Convention), signed in 1979. This paper examines Nordic collaboration across three distinct phases: 1970-1980, 1985-2000 and post-2000. We analyse the defining characteristics of each period and their varying influences on international policy development in Europe, initially focusing on the Air Convention and later extending to the European Union. Finally, we explore potential pathways for maintaining an influential international role of the Nordic countries in advancing air pollution control when climate change, energy transition, increased security uncertainties and the AI revolution pose significant challenges and opportunities for air pollution management and control.

Fostering coexistence between people and wildlife requires understanding their interactions and how they might change in the future. Climate change potentially impacts coexistence by exacerbating resource scarcity, shifting land-use patterns or changing human-wildlife encounters. Assessing challenges and opportunities for coexistence under climate change is, therefore, a conservation priority. We focused on the Central Asian highlands to investigate the spatial interactions between the snow leopard, its prey, and pastoralists and to explore how climate change might affect these interactions. Our results reveal regionally diverging patterns, with a potential for increased human-snow leopard conflict in Tajikistan (4-17% higher distributional overlap), yet an increasing spatial separation of wildlife and pastoralists in Kyrgyzstan (11-26% lower overlap). As a result, even under the same climate change scenario, some landscapes will likely require conflict mitigation measures, while others will offer opportunities for restoring wildlife. This highlights the need for context-specificity to foster positive human-wildlife interactions under climate change.

Complex interactions within social-ecological systems underpin multiple social-ecological risks, which can cross administrative boundaries and have large-scale impacts, especially under hierarchical governance. However, a systematic approach for examining collaborative risk governance is still lacking. Here, we developed a multiscale social-ecological network approach, applied it to the case study of soil erosion risk in Shanxi Province, China, and further explored the alignment between networks of ecological linkages related to soil erosion and intergovernmental collaboration. The results showed that, in 91% of cities, the intensity of cross-county collaborative governance failed to effectively address soil erosion risk, particularly in Lvliang and Changzhi. Insufficient collaboration was also evident between adjacent cities. Xinzhou, Lvliang, and Linfen were identified as key nodes for strengthening collaborative governance networks in Shanxi Province. This study highlights the importance of breaking administrative boundaries and provides policy insights for fostering multiscale collaborative governance systems.