scholarly journals Ecosystem and Ecological Services; Need for Biodiversity Conservation-A Critical Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
C. E. Oguh ◽  
E. N. O. Obiwulu ◽  
O. J. Umezinwa ◽  
S. E. Ameh ◽  
C. V. Ugwu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Chloride Ions ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Organic Salts ◽  
Waste Products ◽  
The Future ◽  
Aesthetic Enjoyment

Biodiversity and ecosystems are closely related concepts. Biodiversity provides numerous ecosystem services that are crucial and important to human well-being at present and in the future. The review aim to explain the Ecosystem services, and need for conservation of biodiversity. Ecosystem services (also called environmental services or nature’s services) are benefits provided by ecosystems to humans, which contribute to making human life both possible and worth living. Human kind fully depends on the earth’s ecosystems and the services they provide, such as food, water, disease management, climate regulation, spiritual fulfillment and aesthetic enjoyment. Over the past 50 years, humans have changed these ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than ever before, so that growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fiber and fuel can be met. Pollution through the discharge of municipal and industrial wastewater and solid waste (e.g. plastics) exacerbates the related problems. Environmental pollution results from mishandling, deliberate disposal, spilling and leakage of waste products, such as gasoline, lubricating oils, diesel fuel, heating oil’s, used or spent engine oils, animal wastes, human excreta, certain dissolved organic compound (e.g. urea, carbohydrate etc.), and organic salts such as nitrates, soap, phosphates of detergent, sodium, potassium, calcium and chloride ions. Under natural process most of the biodegradable pollutants of sewage are rapidly decomposed, but when they accumulate in large quantities, they create problems, i.e., when their input into environment exceeds the decomposition or disposal capacity. Ecosystem health is inherently linked to water management, sanitation and agriculture as these aspects influence water availability and quality. The loss of biodiversity can reduce the provision of ecosystem services essential for human well-being. Therefore, sustainable sanitation and water management is crucial for a more sustainable ecosystem management in the future.

scholarly journals Cultural Ecosystem Services: The Case of Coastal-Rural Area (Nemunas Delta and Curonian Lagoon, Lithuania)

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Lina Marcinkevičiūtė ◽  
Rasa Pranskūnienė
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Rural Area ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Service Differentiation ◽  
Curonian Lagoon ◽  
Cultural Ecosystem Services ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Impact

The benefits or harms of external and internal consequences for the viability of ecosystems are revealed through the impact on the quality of human life. The issues of assessing these benefits or harms are significant for the whole society and are therefore analyzed from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The article seeks to theoretically examine the coherence between humans and ecosystems, ensuring the social and economic well-being of present and future generations in the context of cultural ecosystem services (CES). As well, the article seeks to present the empirical research, carried out on the possibilities of adapting human activities to CES in the specific area, i.e., coastal-rural area, evaluating the past, present and future CES potential in the Lithuanian coastal zone, Nemunas Delta and Curonian Lagoon in Lithuania. Elderships located near the Curonian Lagoon or within the protected area of the Nemunas Delta Regional Park were selected for the study. For this purpose, the empirical study involved representatives of different (public and private) sectors and stakeholders. The research was carried out in local tourism cultural centers and elderships with four group respondents (tourists, farmers, entrepreneurs, eldership employees). The research revealed the past and the current situation of CES potential and showed the possible CES potential future development directions. The article described the opportunities for the rural population (a potential supply of cultural ecosystems) to achieve diversification of economic activities and the needs of tourists (a potential demand for cultural ecosystems) to achieve service differentiation. Therefore, the recommendations have been formulated on how to exploit future CES of a specific territory by “employing” available natural resources, i.e., the ecosystems.

scholarly journals Local Communities’ Awareness on Payments for Ecosystem Services for Improved Livelihood and Conservation of Nyando Wetland, Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 969-980
Author(s):  
Joseph K. Maithya ◽  
Felix L.M. Ming’ate ◽  
Sammy C. Letema
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Payment For Ecosystem Services ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Natural Resource Conservation

Nyando wetland provides several ecosystem goods and services, i.e., provisioning, cultural, supporting and regulating which are essential for human well-being for making life possible and worth living. Payment for Ecosystem Services presents one key question in current literature on whether local communities are aware of ecosystem services provided by wetlands. This paper contributes to the understanding of the local community’s level of awareness of the ecosystem services provided by Nyando wetland in Kenya as a strategy to improve protection of wetlands. The study is significant as it proposes policy options that can assist conservation authorities and local communities in management of wetlands. A stratified random sampling based on two administrative sub-counties, namely Nyando and Nyakach was employed to collect quantitative data from 394 households using a structured questionnaire. The quantitative data was subjected to descriptive statistics and Chi-square test which were performed in SPSS version 20. The results confirmed that the local community is more conversant with the provisioning ecosystem services (37.7%) compared to the other classes of ecosystem services. Despite the locals being involved in community based natural resource conservation initiatives, majority of the respondents (69%) were not familiar with the concept of Payment for Ecosystem Services. Therefore, there is need to create awareness and capacity building to local communities on the importance of both the wetland ecosystem services and Payment for Ecosystem Services in conservation of wetlands for enhanced community livelihoods. Keywords: Payment for ecosystem services; wetland; conservation; community; livelihood; awareness

scholarly journals Smart cities survey: Technologies, application domains and challenges for the cities of the future

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 155014771985398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruben Sánchez-Corcuera ◽  
Adrián Nuñez-Marcos ◽  
Jesus Sesma-Solance ◽  
Aritz Bilbao-Jayo ◽  
Rubén Mulero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Future ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
The City

The introduction of the Information and Communication Technologies throughout the last decades has created a trend of providing daily objects with smartness, aiming to make human life more comfortable. The paradigm of Smart Cities arises as a response to the goal of creating the city of the future, where (1) the well-being and rights of their citizens are guaranteed, (2) industry and (3) urban planning is assessed from an environmental and sustainable viewpoint. Smart Cities still face some challenges in their implementation, but gradually more research projects of Smart Cities are funded and executed. Moreover, cities from all around the globe are implementing Smart City features to improve services or the quality of life of their citizens. Through this article, (1) we go through various definitions of Smart Cities in the literature, (2) we review the technologies and methodologies used nowadays, (3) we summarise the different domains of applications where these technologies and methodologies are applied (e.g. health and education), (4) we show the cities that have integrated the Smart City paradigm in their daily functioning and (5) we provide a review of the open research challenges. Finally, we discuss about the future opportunities for Smart Cities and the issues that must be tackled in order to move towards the cities of the future.

scholarly journals Positive Psychology, Indian Psychology and Spirituality

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 12-26
Author(s):  
PRIYANKA SHUKLA
Keyword(s):  
Positive Psychology ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Body ◽  
Spiritual Practices ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Life Worth Living ◽  
Indian Psychology ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Yoga Meditation

Positive psychology is a relatively new field that examines how ordinary people can become happier and more fulfilled. Positive psychology is a science of positive aspects of human life, such as happiness, well-being and flourishing. Indian psychology is an approach to psychology based on the Indian ethos. Indian Psychology is essentially positive and rooted in the consciousness-based Indian worldview, yoga and a life-affirming spirituality. Human life is a journey of the soul which resides in the human body. Indian psychology highlights the pathway to make this journey easy and the ultimate goal of liberation of the soul (moksha) achievable through yoga, meditation and prayer. Humans are made of the body, mind, intellect, ego and soul and only soul can help to attain ultimate happiness and bliss through spirituality. The present paper is an attempt to explain that both positive psychology and Indian psychology focus on human happiness and their unique strength; and discusses how goals of positive psychology can be achieved through the rich Indian spiritual heritage. Indian psychology and spirituality share a framework that human has enormous potential hidden in its being. Indian scriptures (Vedas, Upanishads, Yoga, Bhagavad Gita) and spiritual practices (Yoga, meditation and prayer) help to discipline the mind to achieve balance, (samyavastha) to overcome the hindrance in the pursuit of happiness and to improve the qualities of different roles we play in our lives. In this way the Indian spiritual practices have important implications for the achievement of goals of Positive Psychology i.e. wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice and transcendence and makes life worth living.

The impact of fictitious land use changes on water management related ecosystem services in a Hungarian catchment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bence Decsi ◽  
Zsolt Kozma
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Water Yield ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

<p>As a result of climate change, improving the efficiency of our water management has become a key social goal in recent decades. In many regions, water management problems are becoming more common as the result of hydrologic extremes, such as water scarcity, drought or floods.</p><p>Countries and regions dealing with water problems, like some parts of Hungary, could avoid major damage by land use change. The possibility of land use change is obviously not an option in certain instances, especially in populated areas or areas with major infrastructure (roads, railways, airports, factories, etc.). At the same time, non-populated areas (primarily agricultural land) may be transformed in the future, in the hope of better water management.</p><p>Complex, multi-dimensional assessment of ecosystem services can be a step forward in the evaluation and planning of future land use changes with the aim of improving water resources management. The strength of this approach is multi-disciplinarity, which requires the collaboration of representatives of the technical, economic, social and ecological sciences.</p><p>In our study, we quantified and mapped the most important water resources related indicators and services of the Zala River basin in Western Hungary. Zala River is the largest sub-catchment of Lake Balaton, Central-Europe’s largest standing water. The lake has great economic and social importance in Hungary, primarily due to its recreational and cultural services, so it is necessary to have sufficient quantity and quality of water.  The catchment area is 1521 km<sup>2</sup>, land use conditions are dominated by agricultural and forest areas (around 57% and 37% respectively).</p><p>For the quantification of ecosystem services indicators, we used the GIS based, static model package InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs). InVEST is suggested to describe the socio-ecological state of several services, under various periods or land use conditions. The strength of the model lies in its solid data requirements and low computational demand. In our work, we mapped the following services and indicators: annual water yield, seasonal water yield, quickflow, nutrient retention, sediment retention and agricultural crop yields.</p><p>We examined the impact of different interventions on the ecosystem services. We intervened primarily in areas where agricultural land use is not justified due to different environmental conditions. In these areas, we analyzed the introduction of natural surfaces with afforestation and meadows. We built up a reference (based on a novel LULC map representing actual conditions) and some fictive model variants. These model variants differed in the amount and location of the new semi-natural areas. The variants were compared for two temporal periods: 1980-2010 and 2020-2050 (based on climate models).</p><p>We quantified the tradeoffs as a result of a given land use change. As expected, the future negative effects of climate change could be mitigated by increasing semi-natural areas. All ecosystem services would improve except for crop yields. At the same time, however, farmers would be deprived of significant yields in areas, which are excluded from agriculture. Our research highlights that the positive effects or tradeoffs due to land-use change will be needed in the future.</p>

scholarly journals Sports Pedagogy at the Time of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (44) ◽  
pp. 145-146
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Educational Challenges ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Education ◽  
New Education

Despite the dramatic and tragic situation that humanity is experiencing in these pandemic times, the crisis is shaping new educational challenges and horizons for humankind. Within these horizons, in the distance, we can already glimpse the future education: a new “education for the future,” in which definitely sport and physical education will play an increasingly relevant and essential role for human life and well-being.

scholarly journals "Lives Worth Living:" Theorizing Moral Status and Expressions of Human Life

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Moral Status ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Feminist Philosophy ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Cognitive Disability ◽  
The Social ◽  
Philosophy Of Disability ◽  
Conditions Of Possibility

<p>A growing body of work in feminist philosophy of disability, in particular, and philosophy of cognitive disability, more generally, demonstrates the discursive constitution of norms of intelligence and cognitive ability in order to undermine both the false assumptions about human ability and the gendered and racialized norms of rationality, independence, and competence that inform philosophical and bioethical theories about moral status. Many of these philosophical accounts of disability seem designed to&mdash;implicitly or explicitly&mdash;prove that, given some newly-valued norms, &nbsp;certain persons do indeed have these capabilities, rather than to transform the social conditions that create such demarcations in the first place. In this paper, I argue that feminist philosophy of disability and moral philosophy more broadly would benefit if they were to consider the social conditions of possibility in which these qualifications for moral status arise, rather than continue to focus on the qualifications themselves. In order to argue in this way, I consider how assessments of moral status and human life simultaneously foreclose possible expressions of "lives worth living." I suggest, furthermore, that feminist philosophers of disability in particular and feminist philosophers in general would benefit if they were to consider the risks that this normative theorizing involves. In turn, I propose a way in which feminist philosophers ought to orient themselves in order to create the conditions of possibility for the emergence of divergent expressions of human well-being and moral potential.&nbsp;</p><p>Keywords: personhood; intellectual disability; social justice; normative violence; feminist philosophy</p>

scholarly journals Effective Management of Scarce Water Resources: From Antiquity to Today and into the Future

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 2734
Author(s):  
Dominika Šulyová ◽  
Josef Vodák ◽  
Milan Kubina
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Ecological Change ◽  
Effective Management ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
The Future ◽  
Scarce Water ◽  
Monitoring Technologies

Water is a critically important element of human life. The best practice of effective water management comes from ancient civilizations that, despite their technologies and practices, were unable to prevent collapse from water scarcity. In the 21st century, in an era of climate change, pollution or population explosion, cities are looking for innovative ways to effectively manage scarce resources for future generations. Which elements should cities of the future follow to avoid water collapse? The following article aims to identify the key elements of effective management and to represent them graphically in the form of a recommended model, which will be verified in the future in Slovakia. The article uses case analysis of best past and current practices, comparison and summarization to identify the elements, creativity, and logic in the development of the model, including induction and deduction. The article serves as a basis for fellow researchers (analyses carried out) and strategic urban management (effective urban water management). The main finding of the article is that ecological change puts pressure on social elements and therefore it is necessary to focus on the area of strategic management. Cities should not only know how to manage resource abundance or short-term scarcity, but also long-term scarcity. They should use elements of trust, awareness and continuous improvement through modern monitoring technologies (UAVs, sensors) and prediction (machine learning). This is the only way to generate water sustainability in the urban concept of the future.

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