Pub Date : 2025-11-19DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101386
Christopher Malefors , Theresa Gerstbrein , Claudia von Brömssen , Niina Sundin , Ylva Ran , Fiona Lambe , Mattias Eriksson
Reducing food waste across food supply chains is crucial for achieving global environmental goals, but the impact of organisational strategy and social factors on food waste in public catering is not well understood. This study aimed to quantify and explain the drivers of food waste in Swedish school canteens by analysing data at three levels: the organisational, the school, and the individual level. The analysis combined national survey data (n = 111 municipalities), school-level quantification data (n = 693 schools), and 1722 individual on-site observations. The results show that municipalities with a higher share of guests eating in production kitchens had lower food waste (Spearman's ρ = −0.23) while having an explicit food waste reduction goal did not affect food waste levels (45 vs 47 g per guest). At the school level, student age was moderately correlated with plate waste (Kendall's τ = 0.34), with older students wasting about twice as much food as younger ones (36 vs 18 g per guest). At the individual level, extroverted students and those in group settings generated more waste (on average 67 g per waster).The findings point to complementary roles of organisational factors and guest behaviour in shaping food waste generation, highlighting the potential of interventions that address both.
{"title":"Understanding food waste generation in school canteens","authors":"Christopher Malefors , Theresa Gerstbrein , Claudia von Brömssen , Niina Sundin , Ylva Ran , Fiona Lambe , Mattias Eriksson","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101386","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101386","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reducing food waste across food supply chains is crucial for achieving global environmental goals, but the impact of organisational strategy and social factors on food waste in public catering is not well understood. This study aimed to quantify and explain the drivers of food waste in Swedish school canteens by analysing data at three levels: the organisational, the school, and the individual level. The analysis combined national survey data (n = 111 municipalities), school-level quantification data (n = 693 schools), and 1722 individual on-site observations. The results show that municipalities with a higher share of guests eating in production kitchens had lower food waste (Spearman's ρ = −0.23) while having an explicit food waste reduction goal did not affect food waste levels (45 vs 47 g per guest). At the school level, student age was moderately correlated with plate waste (Kendall's τ = 0.34), with older students wasting about twice as much food as younger ones (36 vs 18 g per guest). At the individual level, extroverted students and those in group settings generated more waste (on average 67 g per waster).The findings point to complementary roles of organisational factors and guest behaviour in shaping food waste generation, highlighting the potential of interventions that address both.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101386"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145578830","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101387
Muhammad Mehedi Masud , K. M. Anwarul Islam , Md. Fakhrudoza Bari , Abdul Alim Baser , Rulia Akhtar , Abdullah Al- Mamun
Governments all throughout the world are acting to encourage sustainable practices to stop food waste. A more comprehensive national plan in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls for efforts like green campus projects at institutions and environmental education. There is, however, little research on how these initiatives influence Gen Z's behavior towards food waste prevention behaviour. This study examines how personal environmental ethics, family education, university green initiatives, peer and teacher motivation, and a university green curriculum affect Gen Z's desire to prevent food waste using survey questionnaires and PLS-SEM data analysis. According to the findings, factors like personal environmental ethics, family education, university green initiatives, peer and teacher motivation, and a green curriculum at universities greatly influence Gen Z's intention to prevent food waste. Food waste prevention behavior among Gen Zs is shaped by this intention. The results of this study contribute to the achievement of SDG 12.3, which aims to reduce food waste by 2030 in retail and consumption sectors. The study suggests policy implications for improving environmental ethics and education in a variety of environments, including family settings and university environments, informing policymakers and educators about effective intervention programs.
{"title":"The role of personal, familial, and institutional factors on Gen Z's behavioral intentions toward food waste prevention","authors":"Muhammad Mehedi Masud , K. M. Anwarul Islam , Md. Fakhrudoza Bari , Abdul Alim Baser , Rulia Akhtar , Abdullah Al- Mamun","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101387","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101387","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Governments all throughout the world are acting to encourage sustainable practices to stop food waste. A more comprehensive national plan in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls for efforts like green campus projects at institutions and environmental education. There is, however, little research on how these initiatives influence Gen Z's behavior towards food waste prevention behaviour. This study examines how personal environmental ethics, family education, university green initiatives, peer and teacher motivation, and a university green curriculum affect Gen Z's desire to prevent food waste using survey questionnaires and PLS-SEM data analysis. According to the findings, factors like personal environmental ethics, family education, university green initiatives, peer and teacher motivation, and a green curriculum at universities greatly influence Gen Z's intention to prevent food waste. Food waste prevention behavior among Gen Zs is shaped by this intention. The results of this study contribute to the achievement of SDG 12.3, which aims to reduce food waste by 2030 in retail and consumption sectors. The study suggests policy implications for improving environmental ethics and education in a variety of environments, including family settings and university environments, informing policymakers and educators about effective intervention programs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101387"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145578831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-15DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101388
Dibyendu Saha , Kushal Roy , Ayan Saha , Md Nazir , Uday Das , Manika Saha
Paschim Bardhaman district of West Bengal, India, can serve as a model for strengthening rural communities affected by mining, providing young people access to entrepreneurship possibilities, and promoting a sustainable environment by reutilising historic coalfields, protecting culture and rural communities. To promote environmental restoration, regional empowerment, and a sustainable economy, this endeavour investigates the possibilities of using circuit tourism to regenerate Paschim Bardhaman in the Raniganj Coalfield. The study proposes community-driven tourism as a solution to the social and environmental problems of mining-affected regions by integrating mining history, cultural preservation, spiritual tourism, and ecological sustainability. The research employed an integrated-methods approach that includes fieldwork, stakeholder interaction, and an inventive online Tourism Demand and Awareness Survey. The study shows how circuit tourism may turn post-mining landscapes and others into thriving rural economies. The study recommends employing strategies like capacity-building, environmental restoration, and strategic awareness to address important problems, including poor infrastructure, environmental deterioration, and low community involvement. Motivated by various case studies, it establishes Paschim Bardhaman as the benchmark in environmentally friendly circuit tourism and provides a reproducible framework for transforming mining-affected areas into sustainable economic models. The study also aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), blueprinting similar initiatives in India and beyond.
{"title":"Sustainable circuit tourism: A path to renewal for India's mining-affected regions","authors":"Dibyendu Saha , Kushal Roy , Ayan Saha , Md Nazir , Uday Das , Manika Saha","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101388","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101388","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Paschim Bardhaman district of West Bengal, India, can serve as a model for strengthening rural communities affected by mining, providing young people access to entrepreneurship possibilities, and promoting a sustainable environment by reutilising historic coalfields, protecting culture and rural communities. To promote environmental restoration, regional empowerment, and a sustainable economy, this endeavour investigates the possibilities of using circuit tourism to regenerate Paschim Bardhaman in the Raniganj Coalfield. The study proposes community-driven tourism as a solution to the social and environmental problems of mining-affected regions by integrating mining history, cultural preservation, spiritual tourism, and ecological sustainability. The research employed an integrated-methods approach that includes fieldwork, stakeholder interaction, and an inventive online Tourism Demand and Awareness Survey. The study shows how circuit tourism may turn post-mining landscapes and others into thriving rural economies. The study recommends employing strategies like capacity-building, environmental restoration, and strategic awareness to address important problems, including poor infrastructure, environmental deterioration, and low community involvement. Motivated by various case studies, it establishes Paschim Bardhaman as the benchmark in environmentally friendly circuit tourism and provides a reproducible framework for transforming mining-affected areas into sustainable economic models. The study also aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), blueprinting similar initiatives in India and beyond.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101388"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145578832","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-10DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101384
Yiyao Zhou, Jun Zhai
Rapid urbanization poses a dual threat to global cultural heritage and the environment. Despite China's notable progress in canal heritage preservation, effectively integrating these efforts with urban blue-green infrastructure remains a significant challenge. This study explores innovative strategies using the Guilin-Liuzhou Ancient Canal in Guilin, China, showcasing the integration of blue-green infrastructure and canal heritage within composite corridors for Canal Cultural Park planning. The research unfolds in three stages: identifying and documenting canal heritage and essential resources, conducting an ecological sensitivity analysis, and evaluating the feasibility of constructing composite corridors. Findings stress the importance of choosing construction sites with low resistance, stable ecology, and non-fragile conditions to maximize the benefits of blue-green infrastructure and canal heritage. By blending heritage with infrastructure, this novel approach distinguishes itself from conventional cultural corridors and ecological greenways, offering dual advantages for Canal Cultural Park's development. Our research outcomes and implementation strategies are geared towards effectively safeguarding and leveraging heritage resources, providing detailed planning insights for ecological, cultural, and social services and management practices. Furthermore, this study can serve as a valuable roadmap for regions aiming to harmonize heritage preservation with future sustainability by integrating heritage protection and management into local blue-green infrastructure planning.
{"title":"Preserving the past, cultivating the future: Integrating canal heritage with blue-green infrastructure in composite corridors for Canal Cultural Park planning","authors":"Yiyao Zhou, Jun Zhai","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101384","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101384","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rapid urbanization poses a dual threat to global cultural heritage and the environment. Despite China's notable progress in canal heritage preservation, effectively integrating these efforts with urban blue-green infrastructure remains a significant challenge. This study explores innovative strategies using the Guilin-Liuzhou Ancient Canal in Guilin, China, showcasing the integration of blue-green infrastructure and canal heritage within composite corridors for Canal Cultural Park planning. The research unfolds in three stages: identifying and documenting canal heritage and essential resources, conducting an ecological sensitivity analysis, and evaluating the feasibility of constructing composite corridors. Findings stress the importance of choosing construction sites with low resistance, stable ecology, and non-fragile conditions to maximize the benefits of blue-green infrastructure and canal heritage. By blending heritage with infrastructure, this novel approach distinguishes itself from conventional cultural corridors and ecological greenways, offering dual advantages for Canal Cultural Park's development. Our research outcomes and implementation strategies are geared towards effectively safeguarding and leveraging heritage resources, providing detailed planning insights for ecological, cultural, and social services and management practices. Furthermore, this study can serve as a valuable roadmap for regions aiming to harmonize heritage preservation with future sustainability by integrating heritage protection and management into local blue-green infrastructure planning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101384"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145528233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-08DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101385
Ran Li , Farshid Nazemi , Yiheng Shu , Danyi Qi , Bhavik Bakshi , Brian E. Roe
Managers can improve the sustainability of foodservice outlets in many ways, including changes to the types of food served, service ware chosen, and how waste is discouraged and managed. However, given competitive markets, managers must consider how such changes affect consumer patronage and its knock-on effects to firm profits and market-wide environmental impacts. We develop a decisional life cycle assessment (LCA) framework for assessing foodservice interventions that permits calibration of market-wide environmental impacts from the point of view of a single establishment altering its practices and experiencing changes in patronage and costs due to market competition. We simulate market share responses to several restaurant sustainability interventions based upon results from a foodservice field experiment while revenues, operational costs, and environmental impacts are estimated using industry and literature sources. While some interventions, such as serving meals with more vegetables and less meat, reveal large cradle-to-grave environmental impacts via the attributional LCA, the decisional LCA reveals smaller market-wide impacts as some consumers choose competitors who continue to serve meals with the full portion of meat. Within the decisional LCA results, interventions that alter meal elements (less meat, more vegetables) yield larger reductions in environmental impacts than other interventions (compostable plates, composting food scraps, food waste reduction). Decisional LCA articulates the trade-offs between private profitability and environmental impacts to help managers decide how to best improve sustainability in the face of market competition.
{"title":"Assessing environmental gains from sustainability interventions in a competitive market setting: A foodservice case study","authors":"Ran Li , Farshid Nazemi , Yiheng Shu , Danyi Qi , Bhavik Bakshi , Brian E. Roe","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101385","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101385","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Managers can improve the sustainability of foodservice outlets in many ways, including changes to the types of food served, service ware chosen, and how waste is discouraged and managed. However, given competitive markets, managers must consider how such changes affect consumer patronage and its knock-on effects to firm profits and market-wide environmental impacts. We develop a decisional life cycle assessment (LCA) framework for assessing foodservice interventions that permits calibration of market-wide environmental impacts from the point of view of a single establishment altering its practices and experiencing changes in patronage and costs due to market competition. We simulate market share responses to several restaurant sustainability interventions based upon results from a foodservice field experiment while revenues, operational costs, and environmental impacts are estimated using industry and literature sources. While some interventions, such as serving meals with more vegetables and less meat, reveal large cradle-to-grave environmental impacts via the attributional LCA, the decisional LCA reveals smaller market-wide impacts as some consumers choose competitors who continue to serve meals with the full portion of meat. Within the decisional LCA results, interventions that alter meal elements (less meat, more vegetables) yield larger reductions in environmental impacts than other interventions (compostable plates, composting food scraps, food waste reduction). Decisional LCA articulates the trade-offs between private profitability and environmental impacts to help managers decide how to best improve sustainability in the face of market competition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101385"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145528234","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-06DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101382
Shibu Das
This study measured environmental awareness and identified the determinant factors behind the environmental crisis among 300 indigenous agrarian households across 12 representative rural villages located within different adaptation zones of the Indian Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, a fragile, agriculture-based region in Southeast Asia, using a cross-sectional survey design with a mixed-method approach. However, until now, a dearth of research has dealt with environmental awareness and measures the determinant factors behind different aspects of the environmental crisis due to climate change and climate variability among the indigenous agrarian community. This study makes a novel attempt to address this knowledge gap by measuring the agreement of the indigenous agrarian community in this vulnerable, fragile ecosystem with 22 statements related to climate variability and identifying the significant determinant factors behind 12 different aspects of the environmental crisis, using ordinal logistic regression and focus group discussion approaches. Results of ordinal logistic regression suggest that some specific indicators, i.e., education level, types of ethnic group, land holding size, irrigation facility, work opportunity, types of house, occupation, distance to the health centre, climate change awareness, use of the internet, agreement with summer temperature increased, winter temperature decreased, precipitation decreased, early warning system, and serious illness were the factors that significantly influence the different aspect of environmental crisis in this study area. The current study can be expanded in the future, and the approaches used in this study can be applied in other vulnerable areas of India and South Asia and other developing countries facing environmental distress.
{"title":"Environmental awareness and determinants of environmental crisis faced by the indigenous agrarian community: Empirical evidence from Indian Sundarban Biosphere Reserve","authors":"Shibu Das","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101382","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101382","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study measured environmental awareness and identified the determinant factors behind the environmental crisis among 300 indigenous agrarian households across 12 representative rural villages located within different adaptation zones of the Indian Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, a fragile, agriculture-based region in Southeast Asia, using a cross-sectional survey design with a mixed-method approach. However, until now, a dearth of research has dealt with environmental awareness and measures the determinant factors behind different aspects of the environmental crisis due to climate change and climate variability among the indigenous agrarian community. This study makes a novel attempt to address this knowledge gap by measuring the agreement of the indigenous agrarian community in this vulnerable, fragile ecosystem with 22 statements related to climate variability and identifying the significant determinant factors behind 12 different aspects of the environmental crisis, using ordinal logistic regression and focus group discussion approaches. Results of ordinal logistic regression suggest that some specific indicators, i.e., education level, types of ethnic group, land holding size, irrigation facility, work opportunity, types of house, occupation, distance to the health centre, climate change awareness, use of the internet, agreement with summer temperature increased, winter temperature decreased, precipitation decreased, early warning system, and serious illness were the factors that significantly influence the different aspect of environmental crisis in this study area. The current study can be expanded in the future, and the approaches used in this study can be applied in other vulnerable areas of India and South Asia and other developing countries facing environmental distress.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101382"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145473580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-05DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101383
Maria Thereza Fonseca , Gabriel Pereira dos Santos , Juni Cordeiro , Reisila S. Migliorini Mendes , Maria Manoela Gimmler Netto , Priscilla Macedo Moura , Eliane Maria Vieira , Maria Rita Scotti
The rapid urbanisation of Belo Horizonte City (Brazil) resulted in the establishment of informal settlements. The Victoria settlement was established in an upper-mountain area where four main headwaters (N1, N2, N3 and N4) coexist, resulting in the deforestation of the native vegetation as evidenced by the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), disturbance to the headwaters, erratic emergence of several springs, permanent waterlogging of streets and houses and high water erosion processes and sediment runoff as demonstrated by the high annual erosivity (12 895.50 MJ.mm.ha−1.h−1) and the natural erosion potential (2045.6 t. ha−1. year−1). We did not observe a direct relationship between the urban density and the surface rainwater runoff flux. The assessment of the soil water-holding soil capacity identified 56 springs across the area and a digital elevation model based on the differences in landscape altitude showed an erratic water flow, resulting in sediment accumulation in the Macacaos floodplain. A physical rehabilitation was performed by constructing a sustainable urban drainage system (SuDS) to redirect the water flows to the main watercourse, which was revegetated using a functional zoning system with herbaceous and woody species to prevent erosion and reduce flood risk in the settlement. Rehabilitation success was demonstrated by reduced sediment runoff, restored channel conveyance capacity, and the establishment of riparian vegetation one year after the interventions.
贝洛奥里藏特市（巴西）的快速城市化导致了非正式定居点的建立。维多利亚定居点建立在一个高山地区，那里有四个主要的源头（N1, N2， N3和N4）共存，导致原生植被被砍伐，这一点可以从归一化植被差异指数（NDVI）中得到证明，对源头的干扰，一些泉水的不稳定出现，街道和房屋的永久内涝，高的年侵蚀力（12 895.50 MJ.mm.ha - 1.h - 1）和自然侵蚀潜力（2045.6 t. ha - 1）证明了高的水侵蚀过程和泥沙径流。年−1)。我们没有观察到城市密度与地表雨水径流通量之间的直接关系。土壤持水能力评估确定了56个泉水，基于景观高度差异的数字高程模型显示水流不稳定，导致澳门洪泛平原泥沙堆积。通过构建可持续城市排水系统（SuDS）进行物理修复，将水流重新定向到主要水道，并使用草本和木本物种的功能分区系统进行植被恢复，以防止侵蚀并降低定居点的洪水风险。在干预一年后，泥沙径流量减少、河道输送能力恢复以及河岸植被的建立证明了恢复的成功。
{"title":"Impact assessment and rehabilitation of an informal settlement using sustainable urban drainage systems as a nature-based solution in Brazil","authors":"Maria Thereza Fonseca , Gabriel Pereira dos Santos , Juni Cordeiro , Reisila S. Migliorini Mendes , Maria Manoela Gimmler Netto , Priscilla Macedo Moura , Eliane Maria Vieira , Maria Rita Scotti","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101383","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101383","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rapid urbanisation of Belo Horizonte City (Brazil) resulted in the establishment of informal settlements. The Victoria settlement was established in an upper-mountain area where four main headwaters (N1, N2, N3 and N4) coexist, resulting in the deforestation of the native vegetation as evidenced by the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), disturbance to the headwaters, erratic emergence of several springs, permanent waterlogging of streets and houses and high water erosion processes and sediment runoff as demonstrated by the high annual erosivity (12 895.50 MJ.mm.ha<sup>−1</sup>.h<sup>−1</sup>) and the natural erosion potential (2045.6 t. ha<sup>−1</sup>. year<sup>−1</sup>). We did not observe a direct relationship between the urban density and the surface rainwater runoff flux. The assessment of the soil water-holding soil capacity identified 56 springs across the area and a digital elevation model based on the differences in landscape altitude showed an erratic water flow, resulting in sediment accumulation in the Macacaos floodplain. A physical rehabilitation was performed by constructing a sustainable urban drainage system (SuDS) to redirect the water flows to the main watercourse, which was revegetated using a functional zoning system with herbaceous and woody species to prevent erosion and reduce flood risk in the settlement. Rehabilitation success was demonstrated by reduced sediment runoff, restored channel conveyance capacity, and the establishment of riparian vegetation one year after the interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101383"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145528171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-05DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101381
Salemane Mallane , David Cook
This study examines local stakeholders' perceptions of the ‘We are a River’ (ReNOKA) Programme, Lesotho's national programme for integrated catchment management (ICM), an initiative aimed at restoring degraded land and water resources to enhance ecological sustainability and community livelihoods. Implemented in 2020, ReNOKA targets six priority sub-catchments, with this research focusing on two pilot studies: Makhalaneng and Likhetla. The primary aim was to assess stakeholders' views on the programme's success, progress toward its goals, enabling factors, barriers, and lessons for future expansion. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, conducted in June 2024, with sixteen local stakeholders, including farmers, herders, and community leaders. Thematic analysis of the interview content revealed a generally positive perception of ReNOKA, attributed to its livelihood-focused approach, job creation through land restoration, and environmental improvements such as enhanced rangelands and wetlands. Stakeholders noted increased vegetation, biodiversity, and water availability, alongside economic benefits from financial cooperatives and training. However, challenges included insufficient follow-up by ReNOKA, conflicts over wetland grazing by livestock owners, youth disengagement, and a lack of enforcement mechanisms for conservation efforts. This study's management recommendations emphasized the need for sustained programme presence, youth inclusion, and policy support to resolve resource-use conflicts. These findings suggest that while ReNOKA has made strides in ecological and social outcomes, its long-term success hinges on adaptive management, continuous stakeholder engagement, and addressing governance gaps. As the programme scales beyond pilot areas, integrating these insights could enhance its effectiveness in combating land degradation and securing water resources in Lesotho, offering a model for ICM in similar contexts.
{"title":"Perceptions of local stakeholders on integrated catchment management–the case of the ‘We are a River’ (ReNOKA) programme for land and water management in Lesotho","authors":"Salemane Mallane , David Cook","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101381","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101381","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines local stakeholders' perceptions of the ‘We are a River’ (ReNOKA) Programme, Lesotho's national programme for integrated catchment management (ICM), an initiative aimed at restoring degraded land and water resources to enhance ecological sustainability and community livelihoods. Implemented in 2020, ReNOKA targets six priority sub-catchments, with this research focusing on two pilot studies: Makhalaneng and Likhetla. The primary aim was to assess stakeholders' views on the programme's success, progress toward its goals, enabling factors, barriers, and lessons for future expansion. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, conducted in June 2024, with sixteen local stakeholders, including farmers, herders, and community leaders. Thematic analysis of the interview content revealed a generally positive perception of ReNOKA, attributed to its livelihood-focused approach, job creation through land restoration, and environmental improvements such as enhanced rangelands and wetlands. Stakeholders noted increased vegetation, biodiversity, and water availability, alongside economic benefits from financial cooperatives and training. However, challenges included insufficient follow-up by ReNOKA, conflicts over wetland grazing by livestock owners, youth disengagement, and a lack of enforcement mechanisms for conservation efforts. This study's management recommendations emphasized the need for sustained programme presence, youth inclusion, and policy support to resolve resource-use conflicts. These findings suggest that while ReNOKA has made strides in ecological and social outcomes, its long-term success hinges on adaptive management, continuous stakeholder engagement, and addressing governance gaps. As the programme scales beyond pilot areas, integrating these insights could enhance its effectiveness in combating land degradation and securing water resources in Lesotho, offering a model for ICM in similar contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101381"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145473581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-23DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101372
Yongzhen Luo, Hongguang Cheng, Jing Wang, Nuo Cheng
Centralized photovoltaic (PV) power generation in arid and semi – arid regions, as a crucial clean energy technology, has been extensively constructed and developed in many countries. Large-scale PV power stations in arid and semi - arid areas can improve ecosystem conditions through shading and moisture retention, but demonstrate limited restoration efficacy in hyper-arid zones, with potential adverse impacts emerging. An investigation of the impacts of PV deployment on arid and semi – arid ecosystems is crucial from the comprehensive perspectives of humidity, temperature, and dryness. This study focuses on PV power stations in China's Hexi Corridor New Energy Base, employing remote sensing data inversion and computation to analyze ecosystem changes before and after PV construction. The research aims to clarify the differential contributions and mechanisms between PV infrastructure development and climatic factors on ecosystem variations within PV deployment areas. Key findings reveal: No unified ecological improvement was observed post - PV construction across the study area, with ecosystem degradation detected in PV deployment zones of three major regions. Persistent thermal anomalies occurred, as temperatures within all PV station areas consistently exceeded those of adjacent non - PV zones. The single influence intensity of PV location factors on Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) changes is measured as 0.675. In arid and semi-arid regions, the highest combined impact power (0.816) on RSEI was attributed to the expansion of PV and geographical location. The ecological restoration effects of PV power station construction in arid and semi – arid regions are not universally observed, and heat island effects may be induced within deployment zones during the summer period.
{"title":"Exploring the potential impacts of photovoltaic arrays on ecosystem conditions in arid and semi – arid regions","authors":"Yongzhen Luo, Hongguang Cheng, Jing Wang, Nuo Cheng","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101372","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101372","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Centralized photovoltaic (PV) power generation in arid and semi – arid regions, as a crucial clean energy technology, has been extensively constructed and developed in many countries. Large-scale PV power stations in arid and semi - arid areas can improve ecosystem conditions through shading and moisture retention, but demonstrate limited restoration efficacy in hyper-arid zones, with potential adverse impacts emerging. An investigation of the impacts of PV deployment on arid and semi – arid ecosystems is crucial from the comprehensive perspectives of humidity, temperature, and dryness. This study focuses on PV power stations in China's Hexi Corridor New Energy Base, employing remote sensing data inversion and computation to analyze ecosystem changes before and after PV construction. The research aims to clarify the differential contributions and mechanisms between PV infrastructure development and climatic factors on ecosystem variations within PV deployment areas. Key findings reveal: No unified ecological improvement was observed post - PV construction across the study area, with ecosystem degradation detected in PV deployment zones of three major regions. Persistent thermal anomalies occurred, as temperatures within all PV station areas consistently exceeded those of adjacent non - PV zones. The single influence intensity of PV location factors on Remote Sensing Ecological Index (RSEI) changes is measured as 0.675. In arid and semi-arid regions, the highest combined impact power (0.816) on RSEI was attributed to the expansion of PV and geographical location. The ecological restoration effects of PV power station construction in arid and semi – arid regions are not universally observed, and heat island effects may be induced within deployment zones during the summer period.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101372"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145362215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-23DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101379
Aleksi Räsänen , Ville Turunen , Miika Kajanus , Teija Rantala , Maarit Satomaa , Mika Marttunen
Catchment areas are natural delineations to plan for multiple land- and water-related objectives, such as improvement of water quality, mitigation of climate change, and halting biodiversity loss. However, there is a lack of practical tools that facilitate management, conservation, and restoration of land and water ecosystems in the catchment areas. To address this need, we have developed a novel geospatial index-based approach to show how to prioritize sub-catchments that need to be targeted in catchment planning. Furthermore, we have piloted and validated the approach in two catchments in Finland. The approach is composed of (1) calculation of four indices that utilize existing geospatial data related to water quality management, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and biodiversity conservation, and (2) validation of the indices and more detailed indicator maps in landowner interviews and a stakeholder workshop. The results show that different sub-catchments have been ranked among the top for each of the four indices. This suggests a need for balancing between different environmental targets if a limited number of sub-catchments is selected for more detailed assessments of management measures. In the validation step, the approach is widely regarded as important and timely, which highlights the need for methods that allow spatial prioritization and allocation of potential environmental measures. Prioritization is needed because resources are often insufficient, and for the sake of cost-effectiveness, it is important that the selection of sites is based on objective criteria rather than solely on landowners' initiative.
{"title":"Spatial indices and indicators to facilitate catchment planning with multiple objectives","authors":"Aleksi Räsänen , Ville Turunen , Miika Kajanus , Teija Rantala , Maarit Satomaa , Mika Marttunen","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101379","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101379","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Catchment areas are natural delineations to plan for multiple land- and water-related objectives, such as improvement of water quality, mitigation of climate change, and halting biodiversity loss. However, there is a lack of practical tools that facilitate management, conservation, and restoration of land and water ecosystems in the catchment areas. To address this need, we have developed a novel geospatial index-based approach to show how to prioritize sub-catchments that need to be targeted in catchment planning. Furthermore, we have piloted and validated the approach in two catchments in Finland. The approach is composed of (1) calculation of four indices that utilize existing geospatial data related to water quality management, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and biodiversity conservation, and (2) validation of the indices and more detailed indicator maps in landowner interviews and a stakeholder workshop. The results show that different sub-catchments have been ranked among the top for each of the four indices. This suggests a need for balancing between different environmental targets if a limited number of sub-catchments is selected for more detailed assessments of management measures. In the validation step, the approach is widely regarded as important and timely, which highlights the need for methods that allow spatial prioritization and allocation of potential environmental measures. Prioritization is needed because resources are often insufficient, and for the sake of cost-effectiveness, it is important that the selection of sites is based on objective criteria rather than solely on landowners' initiative.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101379"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145362216","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号