Bringing up conservation awareness among key stakeholders is essential for water management and it requires motivation and dialogue in order to achieve local and global environmental sustainability. ...Water management and agriculture must be in agreement to guarantee current and future multiple uses of water. This paper presents the role of outdoor education as a way for citizens to get involved in territory demands. This study-case of participatory monitoring of Macabu River Basin has been carried out since 2012 in Trajano de Moraes, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Firstly, a bibliographic review and search of historical documents offered the basis to the project “River Macabu in action: history, knowledge and life”. It was aimed at linking land use to water quality and involved students from nine different schools. The relationship between surface water and hydrologic cycle was observed through monitoring rainfall at nine pluviometers installed along 70 km of river length, and the water quality at eleven collection points. The project strategy focused on experiencing historical and geographic contexts and understanding the nature’s goods as a heritage of affective value before endowing it with economic one. The project was triggered after the agreement of various societal segments and an effective sharing for the adequacy of different ways of execution. In the first few months the farmers’ resistance to the project had been overcome as they were sensitized by relatives involved in it. After some time, most farmers got connected to territory and were able to understand the state of the river as an extension of their own choices. Then, conservation practices in agriculture became more frequent mainly in the upper part of the watershed acting as links between the urban and the rural population. The methodology developed in this project was acknowledged as a citizenship solution for water by “Market of Solutions” in the 8th World Water Forum held in 2018. The engagement of young people has been noticed in different forums such as the National Conference on Environment. The farmers’ practical knowledge associated to hands-on education and effective participation in actions for water management actions were considered fundamental to the citizens’ comprehension of the environmental conservation. The results showed the benefits from the farmers and their children’s involvement in the management of water and territory. The participation of family farmers in the River Basin Committees is considered highly relevant to the fulfilment of their legal role as core forums of the water management.
The conservation and tourism development of World Heritage (WH) sites has always been a key and urgent scientific issue to be solved urgently by academia and industry all over the world. An ...increasing number of researchers and practitioners are paying attention to this issue. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive literature review on this topic. To fill this gap, this study conducts a systematic literature review (SLR) based on 179 related studies retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) and Google Scholar (GS) databases. Focusing on the research question of the conservation and tourism development of World Natural Heritage (WNH) sites, we built an SLR framework to implement the review process. First, quantitative research was conducted to analyse the annual numbers, content and continents of the published literature. Second, we classified and summarized the main progress and achievements from theoretical research, technical methods, model construction, monitoring and evaluating, and application demonstration. Finally, in view of the current research situation of the conservation and tourism development of WNH sites, we proposed eight key scientific issues to be solved and several directions for future research.
The Natural Potential as a Premise for the Development of Tourism in Dâmbovița County, Romania. The tourism potential of a region is influenced by all the specific elements of the natural and ...man-made environment. A region can be integrated into the tourist circuit if it has a series of natural and anthropogenic resources that can be exploited (Bacal, Cocoș 2012). In this paper we have approached the natural resources specific to Dâmbovița County by analysing the following types of tourism potential: geology, relief, climate, water, biogeography and nature reserves. Dâmbovița County has a diversity of mountain, hilly and lowland landscapes that provide a varied habitat for a wide range of biotic species, which creates a significant tourism potential linked to the biogeographical components. The mountainous area of the county, including Bucegi Natural Park, is a major attraction for ecotourism and wildlife watching. The emblematic fauna of the Carpathians and thus of Dâmbovița County includes the black goat (Rupicapra rupicapra), frequently found on high ridges, the brown bear (Ursus arctos), important for forest ecosystems, and the Carpathian red deer (Cervus elaphus), present in forests. The county of Dâmbovița has a significant natural potential, which has not yet been capitalized. In this sense the development of tourism infrastructure in Dâmbovița County is essential for attracting tourists and for the economic growth of Dâmbovița County.
With the rapid development of tourism in the World Natural Heritage Sites (WNHSs), it made ecological environment issues increasingly become prominent while boosting regional economic development. ...Exploring the influence and evolution of natural and socio-economic factors will help to maintain the authenticity and integrity of the WNHSs, and promote sustainable development. Here, to better understand the sustainable development situation of the WNHSs, we construct a nature-society-based comprehensive evaluation framework, and combining the remote sensing-based ecological index (RSEI) with the spatial autocorrelation model, and employed the obstacle factor diagnostic model, to reveal the spatial–temporal characteristics and the key driving factor of ecological environment in the Jiuzhaigou. Meanwhile, we assess the integrated ecological sensitivity of the Jiuzhaigou and determine the key conservation area. Through the analysis of results, we find that RSEI from 2013 to 2020 exhibits a fluctuation trend resembling an ”N-shape”, high RSEI points tend to cluster in the southern part of the study area, while low RSEI points cluster in the northern part, it has a significant spatial heterogeneity. We shed further light on that when the number of tourists exceeds the population carrying capacity of the heritage site, the negative impacts of tourism development on the natural environment will outweigh the positive impacts of tourism revenue growth on regional economic development and constrain the sustainable development of the site as a whole. Specifically, dissolved oxygen concentration in water, nitrogen dioxide concentration, and noise are the main drivers of nature. The proportion of tertiary industry, fixed asset investment, and total tourism consumption are the main drivers of society. Furthermore, the ecological sensitivity of Jiuzhaigou is moderately low. Therefore, we suggest that the government should improve and refine the existing disaster early warning mechanism, dynamically adjust and control the number of tourists received per day, harmonize the relationship between economic development and environmental protection, and strengthen the protection of authenticity and integrity in areas of high ecological sensitivity.
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Increased population density is mainly linked to urban and infrastructural expansion. This expansion leads to urban sprawl which is connected to land cover change and social and ecological ...transformation. Urban boundaries can expand towards cultural and natural heritage sites. This is an evaluation of how our culture and natural heritage affect urban growth and their relation to sustainable tourism which has become an urgent need. The study outlines the development of four cities in Jordan from 1996 to 2020. It also explores the impact of cultural heritage on natural heritage in the delivery of urban city growth and its role in developing sustainable tourism. Quantitative method has been used by employing GIS and qualitative method by using case studies. The study concludes with an exploration of the relationship between natural and cultural sites as well as the relationship of tourism and population density with cultural heritage site encroachment. This conclusion has contributed towards the provision of a model that consists of multi recommendations for decision-makers in order to preserve the cultural and natural heritage areas through developing sustainable tourism and creating sustainable communities. The significance of this study is that it is the first study that discusses the increase of encroachment on natural and cultural sites, and the impact of tourism on this. This study also enhances knowledge by providing a tool for evaluating the expected level of preservation for cultural and natural heritage sites, and the extent to which cities are transformed from tourist cities (with populations that pass through) to tourist accommodations cities.
In the last two decades, remarkable ecological changes have been observed in Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve (JNNR). Some of these changes might be related to excessive deposition of sulfur (S) ...and nitrogen (N), but the relationship has not been quantified due to lack of monitoring data, particularly S and N deposition data. In this study, we investigated the concentrations, fluxes, and sources of S and N wet deposition in JNNR from April 2010 to May 2011. The results show that SO42−, NO3−, and NH4+ concentrations in the wet deposition were 39.4–170.5, 6.2–34.8, and 0.2–61.2μeqL−1, with annual Volume-Weighted Mean (VWM) concentrations of 70.5, 12.7, and 13.4μeqL−1, respectively. Annual wet deposition fluxes of SO42−, NO3−, and NH4+ were 8.06, 1.29, and 1.39kgS(N)ha−1, respectively, accounting for about 90% of annual atmospheric inputs of these species at the monitoring site. The results of Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) analysis show that fossil fuel combustion, agriculture, and aged sea salt contributed to 99% and 83% of annual wet deposition fluxes of SO42− and NO3−, respectively. Agriculture alone contributed to 89% of annual wet deposition flux of NH4+. Although wet deposition in JNNR was polluted by anthropogenic acids, the acidity was largely neutralized by the Ca2+ from crust and 81% of wet deposition samples had a pH higher than 6.00. However, acid rain mainly caused by SO42− continued to occur in the wet season, when ambient alkaline dust concentration was lower. Since anthropogenic emissions have elevated S and N deposition and caused acid rain in JNNR, further studies are needed to better quantify the regional sources and ecological effects of S and N deposition for JNNR.
•Annual wet deposition flux of SO42− was 8.06 kgSha−1.•Annual wet deposition flux of TIN was 2.68 kg N ha−1.•Wet deposition dominated annual total inputs of SO42− and TIN into JNNR.•Human sources dominated wet deposition fluxes of SO42− and TIN in JNNR.•Acid rain and elevated deposition of S and N would deteriorate ecosystems in JNNR.
El Cerro del Murciélago representa un sitio emblemático para el municipio de Zinacantepec, pues de este importante sitio recibe su nombre oficial. En la actualidad, la tenencia de la tierra y la ...falta de pertenencia, cultura y educación por parte de los vecinos y de las autoridades locales han generado diversos problemas sociales y sobre todo medioambientales relacionados principalmente con el tema del depósito de residuos sólidos en sitios inadecuados. Por lo tanto, es necesario implementar acciones en el marco teórico de la sustentabilidad para la recuperación del patrimonio cultural y natural del Cerro del Murciélago en Zinacantepec.
This paper considers a problematic dynamic in the protection of natural World Heritage properties for sites that also possess significant cultural assets, but that fall short of the World Heritage ...designation 'outstanding universal value' standard for cultural significance. The destruction of cultural heritage places in natural settings is a global concern and we use an Australian case study to illustrate the argument that cultural assets located within natural properties should be given an allied protection status. We argue that protection problems arise, represented by a nature/culture binary trope, despite significant progress in using more holistic approaches, as exemplified by cultural landscapes. To demonstrate our argument, we consider controversy surrounding a development proposal within the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (GBMWHA), located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. We find that a development proposal to raise a storage dam wall triggers significant problems for protecting both natural and cultural heritage features across the GBMWHA landscape and, in this context, we recommend a reconsideration of the rigid natural/cultural heritage binary of World Heritage classifications.
Wetlands serve multiple functions as biological habitats, in climate regulation and resource production, and possess aesthetic and cultural values. Long-term interactions between humans and wetland ...ecosystems determine their social values; in this regard, the social value evaluation theories and methods are still being explored and improved. In the present study, a coastal wetland social value evaluation model was proposed using quantitative methods. A wetland social value evaluation index system including 2 first-level indicators, 8 s-level indicators, and 22 indicator factors was constructed, the index weights were verified, and the social value of the Tiaozini Wetland was evaluated. The research results show that the social value of the Tiaozini Wetland is divided into eight levels, of which the weights of tourism potential value and market potential value are 0.662 and 0.363, respectively. An imbalance between the tourism potential and market potential values was observed. Along with the societal and cultural development, natural resources should be rationally developed and utilized to realize their social value. The evaluation of Tiaozini's social value is significant for protecting the ecological environment of this coastal wetland. The results index system proposed herein can also be similarly implemented to other coastal wetland regions around the world for promoting their sustainable development.
•Coastal wetland social value evaluation model was proposed using quantitative methods.•Wetland social value evaluation index system includes various indicators.•Social value of the Tiaozini Wetland was evaluated.•Weights of tourism potential value and market potential value are 0.662 and 0.363.