Pub Date : 2025-10-15DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101377
Guannan Cui , Wenchao Li , Yihao Meng , Liming Dong
In Chinese terrestrial ecosystems, above-ground carbon (AGC) and surface soil organic carbon (SOC) constitute critical components of vegetation carbon stocks. This study offers a more comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms that influence carbon sequestration. Through a meta-analysis of 173 peer-reviewed studies, the research examined three major natural ecosystems: trees, shrubs, and grasses. Key findings reveal: (1) The trees exhibited the highest carbon sequestration capacity (AGC = 4.73, SOC = 2.34), followed by shrubs (AGC = 1.07, SOC = 2.66) and grasses (AGC = −1.07, SOC = 1.37), with all values compared to control farmland. (2) Regional divergence: Tree AGC was highest in Northeast (13.29) and North China (6.87); Grass AGC was lower than farmland in Inner Mongolia (−7.94), Southeast (−3.56), and Northwest China (−2.21); SOC was most prominent for trees and shrubs in Southwest China (3.77 and 4.48, respectively); Grass SOC peaked in Central China (4.24); Comparative analysis showed tree AGC generally exceeded SOC, while grasses exhibited the opposite pattern; Shrubs demonstrated higher AGC than SOC in northern regions, with the reverse pattern in southern regions. (3) Climatic thresholds: High precipitation (>1500 mm) maximally enhances AGC and SOC capacities for trees and shrubs, with SOC further enhanced at >15 °C; Grasses demonstrate optimal carbon sequestration under moderate conditions (5–15 °C and 1000–1500 mm). These findings emphasize the critical importance of considering vegetation type, regional heterogeneity, and climatic thresholds in developing forest management strategies for enhanced carbon sink optimization. The study provides valuable insights for ecosystem-specific carbon management approaches in China's diverse terrestrial environments.
{"title":"Differential effects of vegetation types on regional carbon stocks in China: A meta-analysis-based integrated assessment of above-ground and surface soil carbon pools","authors":"Guannan Cui , Wenchao Li , Yihao Meng , Liming Dong","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101377","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101377","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In Chinese terrestrial ecosystems, above-ground carbon (AGC) and surface soil organic carbon (SOC) constitute critical components of vegetation carbon stocks. This study offers a more comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms that influence carbon sequestration. Through a meta-analysis of 173 peer-reviewed studies, the research examined three major natural ecosystems: trees, shrubs, and grasses. Key findings reveal: (1) The trees exhibited the highest carbon sequestration capacity (AGC = 4.73, SOC = 2.34), followed by shrubs (AGC = 1.07, SOC = 2.66) and grasses (AGC = −1.07, SOC = 1.37), with all values compared to control farmland. (2) Regional divergence: Tree AGC was highest in Northeast (13.29) and North China (6.87); Grass AGC was lower than farmland in Inner Mongolia (−7.94), Southeast (−3.56), and Northwest China (−2.21); SOC was most prominent for trees and shrubs in Southwest China (3.77 and 4.48, respectively); Grass SOC peaked in Central China (4.24); Comparative analysis showed tree AGC generally exceeded SOC, while grasses exhibited the opposite pattern; Shrubs demonstrated higher AGC than SOC in northern regions, with the reverse pattern in southern regions. (3) Climatic thresholds: High precipitation (>1500 mm) maximally enhances AGC and SOC capacities for trees and shrubs, with SOC further enhanced at >15 °C; Grasses demonstrate optimal carbon sequestration under moderate conditions (5–15 °C and 1000–1500 mm). These findings emphasize the critical importance of considering vegetation type, regional heterogeneity, and climatic thresholds in developing forest management strategies for enhanced carbon sink optimization. The study provides valuable insights for ecosystem-specific carbon management approaches in China's diverse terrestrial environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101377"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145320170","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 : 2025-10-15DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101376
Manob Das , Arijit Das
Green spaces offer vital cultural ecosystem services (ES), and these ES are essential for human health and well-being. But the green spaces in cities are increasingly threatened by rapid urbanization, particularly in developing countries. This study aims to explore the use and perception of cultural ES from green spaces in Kolkata Megacity Region (KMR). A number of statistical analyses such as Kruskal-Wallis test, Correlation Analysis, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA), were applied to assess patterns of ES use and perceptions from green spaces. The results showed that green spaces were primarily valued for recreation, social interactions, aesthetics, and health benefits. Recreation ES showed strong correlations with social relations (0.868, 0.775), inspiration (0.878, 0.751), aesthetics (0.896, 0.83), sense of place (0.987, 0.851), and health (0.78, 0.853). Hierarchical clustering revealed that 58.33% of ES in Rabindra Sarabor fell into Cluster 2, while Eco Park had the highest share in Cluster 1 (37.50 %). PCA indicated that PC1 and PC2 explained 69 % and 31 % of the variance in Rabindra Sarabor, while Eco Park showed 54% total variance. The findings highlight the importance of integrating cultural ES into urban planning for enhanced human well-being. Strategic landscape management can ensure the sustainability of these spaces, fostering community engagement and environmental resilience.
{"title":"Use and perception of cultural ecosystem services from green spaces: A case from Kolkata Megacity Region (India)","authors":"Manob Das , Arijit Das","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101376","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101376","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Green spaces offer vital cultural ecosystem services (ES), and these ES are essential for human health and well-being. But the green spaces in cities are increasingly threatened by rapid urbanization, particularly in developing countries. This study aims to explore the use and perception of cultural ES from green spaces in Kolkata Megacity Region (KMR). A number of statistical analyses such as Kruskal-Wallis test, Correlation Analysis, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA), were applied to assess patterns of ES use and perceptions from green spaces. The results showed that green spaces were primarily valued for recreation, social interactions, aesthetics, and health benefits. Recreation ES showed strong correlations with social relations (0.868, 0.775), inspiration (0.878, 0.751), aesthetics (0.896, 0.83), sense of place (0.987, 0.851), and health (0.78, 0.853). Hierarchical clustering revealed that 58.33% of ES in Rabindra Sarabor fell into Cluster 2, while Eco Park had the highest share in Cluster 1 (37.50 %). PCA indicated that PC<sub>1</sub> and PC<sub>2</sub> explained 69 % and 31 % of the variance in Rabindra Sarabor, while Eco Park showed 54% total variance. The findings highlight the importance of integrating cultural ES into urban planning for enhanced human well-being. Strategic landscape management can ensure the sustainability of these spaces, fostering community engagement and environmental resilience.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101376"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145320097","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}
The “Nexus” concept has emerged as an effective approach to natural resources management, that integrates management and governance across sectors and scales, emphasizing the need to consider interconnections and interdependencies among multiple sectors and dimensions. Research over the past decade has contributed to developing tools and methods for effectively mapping and analyzing these interdependencies, and the use of mixed qualitative/quantitative modeling of the Nexus is seen as a relevant opportunity. Stakeholder engagement in Nexus modeling remains crucial to ensure that policy-relevant messages are produced. Focusing on the Tarquinia plain (Italy), where a strong interdependency (and conflict) exists between agriculture and the state of the environment, this study applies both a participatory Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) and a agro-hydrological model (SWAT) to analyze a Nexus system. The combination of these tools is mainly functional: the CLD facilitates participatory Nexus mapping and helps stakeholders identify key challenges, while SWAT provides an in-depth analysis of those challenges, quantifying the impacts of drivers (e.g., climate change) and the potential effectiveness of measures. Attention is given to soil loss assessment and erosion rates, as an effect of irrigated agriculture. The study highlights the potential of the proposed approach to support finding suitable strategies to guarantee a balanced and sustainable development of areas where a strong Nexus among societal and environmental needs exists.
{"title":"“Nexus” analysis using Participatory System Dynamics Modelling and agro-hydrological Modelling: hints from an agricultural basin in Central Italy","authors":"Marwah Yaseen , Alessandro Pagano , Raffaele Giordano , Silvia Vanino , Stefano Fabiani , Valentina Baratella , Vito Iacobellis , Aras Izzaddin , Ivan Portoghese","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101374","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101374","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The “Nexus” concept has emerged as an effective approach to natural resources management, that integrates management and governance across sectors and scales, emphasizing the need to consider interconnections and interdependencies among multiple sectors and dimensions. Research over the past decade has contributed to developing tools and methods for effectively mapping and analyzing these interdependencies, and the use of mixed qualitative/quantitative modeling of the Nexus is seen as a relevant opportunity. Stakeholder engagement in Nexus modeling remains crucial to ensure that policy-relevant messages are produced. Focusing on the Tarquinia plain (Italy), where a strong interdependency (and conflict) exists between agriculture and the state of the environment, this study applies both a participatory Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) and a agro-hydrological model (SWAT) to analyze a Nexus system. The combination of these tools is mainly functional: the CLD facilitates participatory Nexus mapping and helps stakeholders identify key challenges, while SWAT provides an in-depth analysis of those challenges, quantifying the impacts of drivers (e.g., climate change) and the potential effectiveness of measures. Attention is given to soil loss assessment and erosion rates, as an effect of irrigated agriculture. The study highlights the potential of the proposed approach to support finding suitable strategies to guarantee a balanced and sustainable development of areas where a strong Nexus among societal and environmental needs exists.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101374"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145320166","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 : 2025-10-15DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101373
Vida Mantey , Arnold Missiame , Christine Bosch , Regina Birner , Athena Birkenberg , Viviane Guesbeogo Yameogo , John Mburu
The development and implementation of smallholder agricultural carbon projects offer opportunities for sustainable dairy production. Understanding the role of institutions such as cooperatives and the efficient use of resources by farmers in carbon projects is crucial to achieving sustainable agriculture and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The main objective of this study is to explore the role that cooperatives can play in agricultural carbon projects and to understand the efficient use of resources by participating farmers, using a pioneering project as a case study. A mixed methods approach was used. Ten focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted in addition to a household survey with 153 participants. A participatory and visual mapping tool (Net-Map) was used to understand the interaction between cooperatives and other actors including project developers in the project. Stochastic frontier and endogenous switching regression models were used to analyse the impact of cooperative membership on technical efficiency. The results show that dairy cooperatives promote the adoption of sustainable practices and support carbon monitoring and reporting. While cooperative membership is positively related to technical efficiency, non-members in our study had slightly higher technical efficiency. This finding suggests the need for cooperatives to go beyond promoting environmentally sustainable practices to enhancing farmers efficient use of input. The results also reveal information asymmetries in voluntary carbon markets which limits the capacity of cooperatives to promote sustainable agriculture. The study highlights the important role of cooperatives in promoting sustainable dairy farming in the face of climate change. It serves as a guide not only for carbon project managers, but also for other development project developers to strengthen the participation of cooperatives in climate change mitigation and sustainable agriculture.
{"title":"Carbon projects, cooperative membership and technical efficiency of smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya","authors":"Vida Mantey , Arnold Missiame , Christine Bosch , Regina Birner , Athena Birkenberg , Viviane Guesbeogo Yameogo , John Mburu","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101373","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101373","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The development and implementation of smallholder agricultural carbon projects offer opportunities for sustainable dairy production. Understanding the role of institutions such as cooperatives and the efficient use of resources by farmers in carbon projects is crucial to achieving sustainable agriculture and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The main objective of this study is to explore the role that cooperatives can play in agricultural carbon projects and to understand the efficient use of resources by participating farmers, using a pioneering project as a case study. A mixed methods approach was used. Ten focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted in addition to a household survey with 153 participants. A participatory and visual mapping tool (Net-Map) was used to understand the interaction between cooperatives and other actors including project developers in the project. Stochastic frontier and endogenous switching regression models were used to analyse the impact of cooperative membership on technical efficiency. The results show that dairy cooperatives promote the adoption of sustainable practices and support carbon monitoring and reporting. While cooperative membership is positively related to technical efficiency, non-members in our study had slightly higher technical efficiency. This finding suggests the need for cooperatives to go beyond promoting environmentally sustainable practices to enhancing farmers efficient use of input. The results also reveal information asymmetries in voluntary carbon markets which limits the capacity of cooperatives to promote sustainable agriculture. The study highlights the important role of cooperatives in promoting sustainable dairy farming in the face of climate change. It serves as a guide not only for carbon project managers, but also for other development project developers to strengthen the participation of cooperatives in climate change mitigation and sustainable agriculture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101373"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145320168","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}
Climate-induced landslides pose a growing challenge in many developing countries, where institutional fragmentation, limited financial capacity, and regulatory gaps hinder effective disaster risk governance. While community-based innovations offer promising solutions, they often face barriers to integration within established technical systems. This study applies the multi-level perspective framework to a case from a highland community in northern Thailand, where vetiver grass was introduced as a nature-based solution to reduce landslide risk. Findings show that increasing disaster frequency and ineffective governance at the landscape level prompted grassroots experimentation with vetiver-based bioengineering. This initiative successfully stabilised landslide-prone areas, demonstrating the potential of niche innovations to build community resilience. The project gained momentum by aligning with the Royal Initiative Project, which legitimised vetiver as a soil conservation tool. Over time, the grassroots effort was formally recognised and integrated into local disaster risk management, marking a shift toward regime-level institutionalisation. This case illustrates how marginalised communities can drive systemic change by moving from reactive adaptation to proactive risk governance. The study highlights the importance of enabling policies that legitimise and scale grassroots innovations to foster inclusive and sustainable disaster resilience.
{"title":"A multi-level perspective on implementing vetiver grass as a nature-based and social innovation for landslide risk reduction","authors":"Unruan Leknoi , Bussarin Duangden , Weeradetch Tanapalungkorn , Suched Likitlersuang","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101371","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101371","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate-induced landslides pose a growing challenge in many developing countries, where institutional fragmentation, limited financial capacity, and regulatory gaps hinder effective disaster risk governance. While community-based innovations offer promising solutions, they often face barriers to integration within established technical systems. This study applies the multi-level perspective framework to a case from a highland community in northern Thailand, where vetiver grass was introduced as a nature-based solution to reduce landslide risk. Findings show that increasing disaster frequency and ineffective governance at the landscape level prompted grassroots experimentation with vetiver-based bioengineering. This initiative successfully stabilised landslide-prone areas, demonstrating the potential of niche innovations to build community resilience. The project gained momentum by aligning with the Royal Initiative Project, which legitimised vetiver as a soil conservation tool. Over time, the grassroots effort was formally recognised and integrated into local disaster risk management, marking a shift toward regime-level institutionalisation. This case illustrates how marginalised communities can drive systemic change by moving from reactive adaptation to proactive risk governance. The study highlights the importance of enabling policies that legitimise and scale grassroots innovations to foster inclusive and sustainable disaster resilience.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101371"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145320165","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 : 2025-10-14DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101367
Inácio Ribeiro , Hélder Silva Lopes , Paula C. Remoaldo , Vítor Ribeiro , Juliana Araújo Alves , Lígia Silva
Climate change has a global impact, particularly in urban areas. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are gaining prominence as an important alternative, harnessing natural processes to deliver socio-economic and environmental benefits, particularly in urban and peri-urban areas, owing to their multifaceted nature. In Europe, NbS are being primarily explored in urban environments to enhance resilience to extreme climatic events. This study consisted of a systematic review of 66 projects funded by the European Union (EU) between 2014 and 2023, conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), a set of standards aimed at improving the quality and transparency of systematic reviews. The review was carried out through the analysis of EU research and development repositories, based on criteria including funding period, project description, geographical location, typology, methods adopted in each project, and the main challenges identified, which underscore the urgency of innovative solutions to manage natural systems in urban environments. The qualitive and quantitative analysis indicates the wide geographical distribution of the projects, with significant applications in countries such as Spain (n = 76), Italy (n = 40), France (n = 36), Germany (n = 29), and Portugal (with n = 28). Projects were categorized according to their purpose, methodology, and technologies employed, highlighting a diversity of approaches, sufficiently replicable to ensure feasibility in future projects that promote urban sustainability and adaptation to climatic adversities.
The urban challenges faced in the implementation of the projects analysed include issues related to the deployment and replication of solutions, community behavioural change, collaboration between different stakeholders, and funding. Furthermore, the various target groups involved reflect a collaborative approach to the co-creation of NbS, aimed at maximizing benefits and strengthening community resilience, with a particular focus on government entities (n = 50), citizens (n = 41), the scientific community (n = 26), the business community (n = 21), and civil society/NGO (n = 13), thereby achieving the objectives set. This study underscores the importance of NbS as a tool to address social, economic, and environmental challenges, particularly in cities, contributing to the development of more resilient communities. However, in order to effectively respond to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), greater efforts are required to ensure the inclusion of NbS and a broader variety of measures in public policies, given that 2030 has been set as the target year for achieving the SDGs.
{"title":"Contribution of nature-based solutions (NbS) to resilience - A review of European projects between 2014 and 2023","authors":"Inácio Ribeiro , Hélder Silva Lopes , Paula C. Remoaldo , Vítor Ribeiro , Juliana Araújo Alves , Lígia Silva","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101367","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101367","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate change has a global impact, particularly in urban areas. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are gaining prominence as an important alternative, harnessing natural processes to deliver socio-economic and environmental benefits, particularly in urban and peri-urban areas, owing to their multifaceted nature. In Europe, NbS are being primarily explored in urban environments to enhance resilience to extreme climatic events. This study consisted of a systematic review of 66 projects funded by the European Union (EU) between 2014 and 2023, conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), a set of standards aimed at improving the quality and transparency of systematic reviews. The review was carried out through the analysis of EU research and development repositories, based on criteria including funding period, project description, geographical location, typology, methods adopted in each project, and the main challenges identified, which underscore the urgency of innovative solutions to manage natural systems in urban environments. The qualitive and quantitative analysis indicates the wide geographical distribution of the projects, with significant applications in countries such as Spain (<em>n</em> = 76), Italy (<em>n</em> = 40), France (<em>n</em> = 36), Germany (<em>n</em> = 29), and Portugal (with <em>n</em> = 28). Projects were categorized according to their purpose, methodology, and technologies employed, highlighting a diversity of approaches, sufficiently replicable to ensure feasibility in future projects that promote urban sustainability and adaptation to climatic adversities.</div><div>The urban challenges faced in the implementation of the projects analysed include issues related to the deployment and replication of solutions, community behavioural change, collaboration between different stakeholders, and funding. Furthermore, the various target groups involved reflect a collaborative approach to the co-creation of NbS, aimed at maximizing benefits and strengthening community resilience, with a particular focus on government entities (<em>n</em> = 50), citizens (<em>n</em> = 41), the scientific community (<em>n</em> = 26), the business community (<em>n</em> = 21), and civil society/NGO (<em>n</em> = 13), thereby achieving the objectives set. This study underscores the importance of NbS as a tool to address social, economic, and environmental challenges, particularly in cities, contributing to the development of more resilient communities. However, in order to effectively respond to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), greater efforts are required to ensure the inclusion of NbS and a broader variety of measures in public policies, given that 2030 has been set as the target year for achieving the SDGs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101367"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145320169","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}
Balaenoptera edeni (Bryde's whale complex) plays a pivotal role in maintaining marine ecosystem balance. However, the Bryde's whale population is increasingly threatened by anthropogenic pressures, including habitat disruption and food scarcity. Despite these challenges, the lack of comprehensive scientific data impeded conservation efforts, particularly in the Gulf of Thailand. This study addresses these knowledge gaps by examining the key factors influencing Bryde's whale populations, integrating interdisciplinary principles, and applying robust analytical tools such as the Delphi method and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This research identifies and prioritizes the risk factors affecting Bryde's whales in the upper Gulf of Thailand. The ten sub-factors influencing the Bryde's whale population—non-aggressive behavior, coastal dwellers, long lifespan and top consumer, climate change, water pollution, underwater noise, habitat loss due to coastal development, spatial use conflict, unregulated whale watching, and competition for food resource by human—were synthesized using the Delphi method. A hierarchical model structured these sub-factors into two overarching groups (environmental and human-induced factors) to identify the most critical risk factors affecting the Bryde's whale population. The findings reveal that human-induced threats, such as spatial use conflicts, competition with humans for food resources, water pollution, and unregulated whale-watching practices, are of the highest concern. The integrated Delphi and AHP methods effectively evaluated these risks, allowing for the systematic analysis of stakeholder input and reducing decision-making bias through pairwise comparisons. The results offer valuable insights for developing targeted conservation strategies to safeguard the Bryde's whale population in the upper Gulf of Thailand.
{"title":"How well are Our Whales? Assessing key risks to Bryde's whales in the Gulf of Thailand using integrated Delphi-AHP method","authors":"Sittinon Sanor , Saowanee Wijitkosum , Somrudee Meprasert Jitpraphai","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101366","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101366","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Balaenoptera edeni</em> (Bryde's whale complex) plays a pivotal role in maintaining marine ecosystem balance. However, the Bryde's whale population is increasingly threatened by anthropogenic pressures, including habitat disruption and food scarcity. Despite these challenges, the lack of comprehensive scientific data impeded conservation efforts, particularly in the Gulf of Thailand. This study addresses these knowledge gaps by examining the key factors influencing Bryde's whale populations, integrating interdisciplinary principles, and applying robust analytical tools such as the Delphi method and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This research identifies and prioritizes the risk factors affecting Bryde's whales in the upper Gulf of Thailand. The ten sub-factors influencing the Bryde's whale population—non-aggressive behavior, coastal dwellers, long lifespan and top consumer, climate change, water pollution, underwater noise, habitat loss due to coastal development, spatial use conflict, unregulated whale watching, and competition for food resource by human—were synthesized using the Delphi method. A hierarchical model structured these sub-factors into two overarching groups (environmental and human-induced factors) to identify the most critical risk factors affecting the Bryde's whale population. The findings reveal that human-induced threats, such as spatial use conflicts, competition with humans for food resources, water pollution, and unregulated whale-watching practices, are of the highest concern. The integrated Delphi and AHP methods effectively evaluated these risks, allowing for the systematic analysis of stakeholder input and reducing decision-making bias through pairwise comparisons. The results offer valuable insights for developing targeted conservation strategies to safeguard the Bryde's whale population in the upper Gulf of Thailand.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101366"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145320164","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 : 2025-10-09DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101365
Saskia Neumann , Julie M.L. Berta , Thomas Elliot , Lars Bodum
Climate change causes an increase in occurrence and intensity of extreme weather events, especially in densely built cities. Consequently, inequities are created as not only the exposure varies across geographies, but also the sensitivity and adaptive capacity towards climate hazards, which can differ on an individual level. From an urban climate justice perspective, these inequities need to be considered in climate adaptation planning practices, something that is currently lacking in many municipalities. This research explores how municipalities can assess social vulnerability for a more just approach to climate adaptation planning. A case study of the coastal city of Oostende (Belgium) is used to illustrate the method, which combines exposure to climate hazards (fluvial flooding, pluvial flooding, storm surges, and heat) and an established social vulnerability index covering a wide range of social and cultural factors that influence sensitivity and adaptive capacity of those communities. The results are mapped and these facilitate prioritisation for just climate adaptation measures. Namely making parts of the population more visible, which serves to increase the recognition of disadvantaged groups and their realities, which is why adaption measures can be tailored to their specific needs. This can also be used to positively influence the distribution of adaptation measures across the city but also across its inhabitants. Maps such as the ones produced in this study can function as an aid to point towards areas that are especially vulnerable and make the communication of these issues within and outside of the municipality easier. The approach has proven to be user-friendly and easy to implement by Oostende as well as other European coastal cities.
{"title":"Towards urban climate justice: Integrating social vulnerability in climate adaptation planning","authors":"Saskia Neumann , Julie M.L. Berta , Thomas Elliot , Lars Bodum","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101365","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101365","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate change causes an increase in occurrence and intensity of extreme weather events, especially in densely built cities. Consequently, inequities are created as not only the exposure varies across geographies, but also the sensitivity and adaptive capacity towards climate hazards, which can differ on an individual level. From an urban climate justice perspective, these inequities need to be considered in climate adaptation planning practices, something that is currently lacking in many municipalities. This research explores how municipalities can assess social vulnerability for a more just approach to climate adaptation planning. A case study of the coastal city of Oostende (Belgium) is used to illustrate the method, which combines exposure to climate hazards (fluvial flooding, pluvial flooding, storm surges, and heat) and an established social vulnerability index covering a wide range of social and cultural factors that influence sensitivity and adaptive capacity of those communities. The results are mapped and these facilitate prioritisation for just climate adaptation measures. Namely making parts of the population more visible, which serves to increase the recognition of disadvantaged groups and their realities, which is why adaption measures can be tailored to their specific needs. This can also be used to positively influence the distribution of adaptation measures across the city but also across its inhabitants. Maps such as the ones produced in this study can function as an aid to point towards areas that are especially vulnerable and make the communication of these issues within and outside of the municipality easier. The approach has proven to be user-friendly and easy to implement by Oostende as well as other European coastal cities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101365"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145320167","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 : 2025-10-06DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101363
Godspower Oke Omokaro , Ikioukenigha Michael , Ogheneochuko Shadrack Efeni , Opelopejesu Israel Adeyanju , Justice Obomejero
This study reviews the systemic failures and opportunities in Nigeria's waste management landscape. Nigeria's solid waste crisis reflects structural deficiencies in governance, infrastructure, and behavior, with cascading effects on public health and ecosystems. Using a scoping review methodology guided by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) and reported in line with PRISMA-ScR standards, 84 multidisciplinary studies were synthesized to (i) map institutional and environmental risks, (ii) appraise regional disparities and the role of informal waste pickers, and (iii) evaluate the feasibility of circular economy pathways suited to Nigeria's context. The findings show that fragmented mandates, weak enforcement, and data scarcity entrench open dumping and burning, driving leachate and air-pollution burdens and elevating disease risks, especially in informal settlements. Nonetheless, significant opportunities exist in decentralized organics management, inclusive recycling ecosystems, and targeted waste-to-energy niches. Evidence was translated into a phased governance roadmap that prioritizes a unified national policy with enforceable Extended Producer Responsibility, formal integration of informal workers with safety and finance provisions, city-level digital registries and route optimization, and community-based separation of organics and plastics. While finance, infrastructure gaps, market development, and social acceptance constrain scaling, addressing these challenges can enable a transition from linear disposal to a resilient and circular waste system. Overall, the review concludes that Nigeria's path forward lies in linking governance reform with culturally sensitive, inclusive, and scalable circular economy solutions aligned with SDGs 6, 11, and 12.
{"title":"Waste management in Nigeria: Systemic failures, circular economy pathways and sustainable solutions","authors":"Godspower Oke Omokaro , Ikioukenigha Michael , Ogheneochuko Shadrack Efeni , Opelopejesu Israel Adeyanju , Justice Obomejero","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101363","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101363","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study reviews the systemic failures and opportunities in Nigeria's waste management landscape. Nigeria's solid waste crisis reflects structural deficiencies in governance, infrastructure, and behavior, with cascading effects on public health and ecosystems. Using a scoping review methodology guided by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) and reported in line with PRISMA-ScR standards, 84 multidisciplinary studies were synthesized to (i) map institutional and environmental risks, (ii) appraise regional disparities and the role of informal waste pickers, and (iii) evaluate the feasibility of circular economy pathways suited to Nigeria's context. The findings show that fragmented mandates, weak enforcement, and data scarcity entrench open dumping and burning, driving leachate and air-pollution burdens and elevating disease risks, especially in informal settlements. Nonetheless, significant opportunities exist in decentralized organics management, inclusive recycling ecosystems, and targeted waste-to-energy niches. Evidence was translated into a phased governance roadmap that prioritizes a unified national policy with enforceable Extended Producer Responsibility, formal integration of informal workers with safety and finance provisions, city-level digital registries and route optimization, and community-based separation of organics and plastics. While finance, infrastructure gaps, market development, and social acceptance constrain scaling, addressing these challenges can enable a transition from linear disposal to a resilient and circular waste system. Overall, the review concludes that Nigeria's path forward lies in linking governance reform with culturally sensitive, inclusive, and scalable circular economy solutions aligned with SDGs 6, 11, and 12.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101363"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145265569","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}
Since 1992, UNDP's Global Environment Facility - Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP) has supported over 27,000 community-driven environmental projects across the world. Despite its grassroots success, knowledge management (KM) within the SGP remains fragmented, limiting the systematic documentation, sharing, and scaling of local innovations. Since Operational Phase 7 (OP7), UNDP initiated efforts to strengthen KM by partnering with national organizations, yet strategies vary widely due to diverse regional and institutional contexts. Examining the evolution of SGP's thematic priorities and KM initiatives, and identifying key gaps and institutional challenges, this perspective article argues for a unified yet flexible KM framework. We propose actionable elements for such a system grounded in global learning, participatory knowledge capture, communication strategies, local ownership and cross-learning, while respecting local specificity. Such a system can enhance horizontal learning, policy engagement, and the replication of community-based solutions by bridging global environmental objectives with grassroots insights.
{"title":"Towards a unified knowledge management framework for Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP): Bridging global goals with local insights","authors":"Susmita Mitra , Dhiman Debsarma , Dipankar Saharia , Aradhana Goyal","doi":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101364","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envdev.2025.101364","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since 1992, UNDP's Global Environment Facility - Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP) has supported over 27,000 community-driven environmental projects across the world. Despite its grassroots success, knowledge management (KM) within the SGP remains fragmented, limiting the systematic documentation, sharing, and scaling of local innovations. Since Operational Phase 7 (OP7), UNDP initiated efforts to strengthen KM by partnering with national organizations, yet strategies vary widely due to diverse regional and institutional contexts. Examining the evolution of SGP's thematic priorities and KM initiatives, and identifying key gaps and institutional challenges, this perspective article argues for a unified yet flexible KM framework. We propose actionable elements for such a system grounded in global learning, participatory knowledge capture, communication strategies, local ownership and cross-learning, while respecting local specificity. Such a system can enhance horizontal learning, policy engagement, and the replication of community-based solutions by bridging global environmental objectives with grassroots insights.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54269,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Development","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 101364"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145320171","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}
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