The Integrated Coastal Zone Management protocol of the Barcelona Convention sets governance objectives for countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. This protocol emphasizes collaborative approaches to acknowledge the role of local people in coastal management. Evaluating the quality of governance processes is critical if coastal zone values are to be effectively managed in times of global climate change. This study examined the structure and attributes of collaborative governance networks in two Mediterranean deltas, the Camargue (France) and Gediz Delta (Turkey). A deliberative social catchment sampling was used to target actors with physical, cultural, social or economic ties. Forty-five different organizations/professions were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire to identify the frequency and quality of contacts, information flows, and subject matter relevant to natural resource management. There were higher levels of degree centrality and reciprocal ties in the Camargue, while the Gediz Delta had a greater homogeneity of actors, with one centralized influential actor. Civil society played a greater role in the Camargue network, and government organizations were more central in the Gediz Delta. The differences between the two sites call into question the use of the same integrated management strategies and suggest the need to acknowledge the importance of existing governance models and relationships within local contexts.

Governance in integrated coastal zone management: a social networks analysis of cross-scale collaboration

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01939663/document

Participatory mapping: Exploring landscape values associated with an iconic species

Bounded by ocean and desert, the isolated, predominately Mediterranean-climate region of south-western Australia (SWA) includes nine bioregions (circa 44 million hectares). The ecological integrity of the landscapes in this global biodiversity hotspot has been compromised by deforestation, fragmentation, exploitation, and introduced biota. Nature and degree of transformation varies between four interconnected landscapes (Swan Coastal Plain; South-west Forests; Wandoo Woodlands; and Great Western Woodlands). A Gondwanan perspective emphasizes a venerable biota and a cultural component to deep time. The particular importance of remnants and protected areas is recognized in restoring ecological integrity to Gondwanan landscapes. The nature and magnitude of the restoration task in these ancient, and neighboring, landscapes require higher levels of investment and more time than do recent landscapes. The protection, conservation, restoration, and rehabilitation of ecological integrity require multiple approaches in each landscape as well as consideration of the whole. Active conservation of biota and minimizing the impact of industrial- and agricultural-use are priorities. Integrating a climate focus and rethinking fire are critical restoration considerations to future trajectories under anthropogenic climate change. A legislative mandate to coordinate industrial-scale restoration and active conservation to build from protected areas must become a societal priority to restore ecological integrity.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/rec.12372

Application of a Gondwanan perspective to restore ecological integrity in the south-western Australian global biodiversity hotspot

K’gari-Fraser Island, the world's largest barrier sand island, is at the crossroads of World Heritage status, due to destructive environmental use in concert with climate change. Will K’gari-Fraser Island exemplify innovative, adaptive management or become just another degraded recreational facility? We synthesize the likely impact of human pressures and predicted consequences on the values of this island. World-renown natural beauty and ongoing biological and geological processes in coastal, wetland, heathland and rainforest environments, all contribute to its World Heritage status. The impact of hundreds of thousands of annual visitors is increasing on the island's biodiversity, cultural connections, ecological functions and environmental values. Maintaining World Heritage values will necessitate the re-framing of values to integrate socioeconomic factors in management and reduce extractive forms of tourism. Environmentally sound, systematic conservation planning that achieves social equity is urgently ...

Re-framing values for a World Heritage future: what type of icon will K'gari-Fraser Island become?

After over 50 000 years of interaction between Aboriginal people and changing climates, south-western Australia’s tall forests were first logged less than 200 years ago, initiating persistent conflict. Recent conservation advocacy has resulted in the protection of 49% of these tall forests in statutory reserves, providing an opportunity to implement and benefit from a growing moral consensus on the valuing of these globally significant, tall forest ecosystems. We analysed a cross-section of literature (63 papers, 118 statements) published on these forests over 187 years to identify values framing advocacy. We differentiated four resource-oriented discourses and three discourses giving primacy to social and environmental values over seven eras. Invasion sparked initial uncontrolled exploitation, with the Forests Act 1918 managing competing agricultural and timber advocacy. Following the Colonial and Country Life eras, industrial-scale exploitation of the karri forest region resulted in reaction by increasingly broad sectors of society. Warming and drying in the 21st Century emphasises the importance of intact tall forest and the Indigenous Renaissance discourse. Vesting for a more comprehensive set of values would acknowledge a new moral consensus.

/pdf/the-contest-for-the-tall-forests-of-south-western-australia-4n2utnzxbf.pdf

The contest for the tall forests of south-western Australia and the discourses of advocates

The trending need for smarter electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) is surging globally by the year and is giving rise to huge amounts of outdated EEE going into landfills. This has caused enormous threats to our environment and the health of living beings due to its unsustainable ways of collection, treatment and disposal of waste EEE or E-waste. With increasing E-waste, the formal sectors lack infrastructure, technology and expertise required to collect and process the E-waste in an environmentally sound manner. This article is intended to bring out the global best practices in the field of E-waste management, to shed light on the importance of policy implementation, technology requirement and social awareness to arrive at a sustainable and circular economy. Although about 71% of the world’s populace has incorporated E-waste legislation, there is a need to enforce and implement a common legal framework across the globe. The article explains the gap created among the stakeholders and their knowledge on the roles and responsibilities towards a legalized E-waste management. It further explains the lack of awareness on extended producer responsibility (EPR) and producer responsibility schemes. Despite various legislations in force, numerous illegal practices such as acid leaching, open incineration, illegal dumping carried out by the informal sector are causing harm to the environment, natural resources and the safety of unorganized and unskilled labor. The article discusses the crucial need for awareness amongst stakeholders, consumer behavior and the global challenges and opportunities in this field to achieve a low-carbon, circular economy. To conclude, the article highlights the importance of common legal framework, EPR and licenses, transformation of the informal sector, benchmark technologies, responsibilities of various stakeholders and entrepreneurial opportunities to enhance the formal capacity. The article wholly advocates for transparency, accountability and traceability in the E-waste recycling chain, thus creating a greener environment and protecting our planet and natural resources for future generations.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/2/647/pdf?version=1641789599

A Review on Global E-Waste Management: Urban Mining towards a Sustainable Future and Circular Economy

Challenges and opportunities of lignocellulosic biomass gasification in the path of circular bioeconomy.

Blockchain-integrated waste management and circular economy are emergent concepts that target minimising waste generation and fluctuations of resource commodity. Blockchain can support a circular economy and green principles by enabling information transparency, reliability and automation. Redesigning plastics by molecular tagging is the way forward to ensure synthetic plastics are kept in an infinite loop and support closed-loop recycling. The involvement of major corporations in product development and blockchain-integrated closed-loop recycling has resulted in several successful green chemical approaches toward circular plastic economy projects. Government policies and legislations are progressively supporting plastic redesigning for improving the plastic circular economy. Nevertheless, a systematic approach is required in addressing blockchain technology and plastic redesigning to effectively leverage circular economy initiatives. 

Leveraging blockchain concepts as watermarkers of plastics for sustainable waste management in progressing circular economy.

Advancing societal’s progress to achieve circularity is imperative as our linear (take, make, waste) economic model is highly unsustainable. It depletes our natural resources and substantially contributes to pollution and global greenhouse gas emissions. Our continued participation in the linear economy will also expose businesses to volatile resource prices and supply disruptions resulting from the scarcity of critical materials and geopolitical factors. Hence, there are compelling reasons for businesses to transit and participate in the circular economy. However, anecdotal evidence suggests limited practical implementations. Therefore, this systematic review aims to determine the most significant drivers and barriers that influence business leaders to transform their businesses for participation in the circular economy. By clarifying the most influential factors and their characteristics, we can introduce effective measures to encourage or mitigate them. This review takes a transdisciplinary approach to discuss salient and consequential ideas with depth and completeness. Its associated practical and managerial implications are also thoroughly discussed.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/3/1757/pdf?version=1644323862

Transitioning to a Circular Economy: A Systematic Review of Its Drivers and Barriers

Biodiversity fits within a broader landscape, not only of ecological systems, but also of social, cultural and economic systems. Through identifying and understanding different voices, values and practices in biodiversity conservation we improve the potential for effective long-term biodiversity conservation that is peaceful and inclusive. This book draws on the collective knowledge of a linked cycle of theory and practice. The contributors benefit from being grounded by practical biodiversity communities and draw on experience at the global scale. Insights from practice in Indigenous, developing and developed contexts in Asian, Australian and African landscapes are included. The integration of landscape practice theory with technological, socially grounded and philosophical perspectives presents social justice as a rationale for biodiversity conservation with as much power as plant and animal conservation. This collective synthesis of Indigenous, scientific and local knowledge guides practice in effective and sustained biodiversity conservation in a breadth of contexts. This ecology of peace provides a compelling reason for working with compassion in biodiversity conservation. [Book Synopsis]

S Ramakrishna

Papers

A Review on Global E-Waste Management: Urban Mining towards a Sustainable Future and Circular Economy

Challenges and opportunities of lignocellulosic biomass gasification in the path of circular bioeconomy.

Leveraging blockchain concepts as watermarkers of plastics for sustainable waste management in progressing circular economy.

Transitioning to a Circular Economy: A Systematic Review of Its Drivers and Barriers

Biodiversity and social justice : practices for an ecology of peace