Damage to black locust leaves (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) by the black locust gall midge (Obolodiplosis robiniae) (Haldeman, 1847) in the Włoszczowa-Jędrzejów Protected Landscape Area - research on strengthening and developing knowledge and awareness in environmental education

The prepared article by the team of authors aims to show research in the field of strengthening and developing knowledge and awareness from environmental education in the community of nature conservation services and the academic community. This paper is the result of research conducted in 2014–2015, in the Włoszczowa-Jędrzejów Protected Landscape Area, in the Świętokrzyskie Province. The material for the study was acacia robinia (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) leaves collected on two research areas, differentiated due to the influence of anthropogenic factors. As a result of the study, 5,000 black locust leaves were collected, 65% of which were found to be damaged. Research stands under the influence of strong anthropopressure were characterised by a higher number of lesions on leaves.

Identifying and Measuring Biophilic Planning Indicators in Riverside Neighborhoods

Biophilic planning is one of the important trends in achieving sustainability and nature conservation, especially in areas that contain natural elements. Since in the case of climate change and urban encroachment on natural habitats, taking care of nature and investing its components properly is a necessity, not a choice. As well as the agreement among many researchers about the social, economic and environmental benefits provided by biophilic planning, which is based mainly on the idea of connecting people with nature. This study aims to provide a guide to planners, urban designers, and decision-makers, including how to deal with residential neighborhoods that contain natural elements such as rivers by depending on a specific methodology based on previous literature and deriving effective indicators in this type of neighborhood. The results of the theoretical framework showed that there are eleven effective indicators, some of which are measured by descriptive methods and some by quantitative methods. These indicators have been applied in one of the neighborhoods of the Iraqi Kufa City overlooking the Euphrates River. The results showed that the study area lacks standards and indicators of biophilic planning. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-01-03 Full Text: PDF

Determinants of Recreational Activities Choice in Protected Areas

Conciliating nature conservation and tourism development is an increasingly important task for authorities in charge of managing protected areas and requires an adequate knowledge of visitors′ preferences and recreational behavior. In this light, we used data collected by means of a choice experiment to investigate recreational preferences at Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park, a protected area located in Northeastern Italy. More specifically, we analyzed the determinants of visitors’ decisions to engage with different activities in the park. This is important information for park managers, as different recreational activities have both different impact on the natural heritage and different capability to generate revenue for nature conservation and for enhancing the quality of life of local communities. The findings of our study suggest that the choice of recreational activities is mainly driven by the features of recreational sites and by visitors’ personal characteristics. Concerning park features, visitors’ choices seem to be mostly driven by features directly related to each activity, such as thematic trails for hiking and climbing routes for rock climbing. Among visitors′ characteristics, we found that both previous experience with the activity and socio-demographic characteristics had a significant effect on activity choice. Overall, the results of our study can help park authorities in developing management plans aimed specifically at attracting a larger number of visitors of a certain type, which is an important tool to foster the more sustainable forms of tourism.

Sacred groves – an ancient tradition of nature conservation of sthalavrikshas in coimbatore, tamil nadu, india

In India sthalavrikshas worship in temples was a religrous practice. In Tamil Nadu almost every temple is associated with a plant or tree connected to the history and mythology of the temple and or deity. The worshipper who comes to the temple attains a healty spiritua; enlighten. Sthalavrikshas is a natural tree found in the temple site brfore construction of the temple. The present investigation was carried out in coimbatore district to enumerate the sthalavrikshas associate with temple by field observation method. During the field visit temples were frequently visited and surveyed for the sthalavrikshas from the month of December 2019 - February 2020. The survey was conduced at 46 ancient temples of the coimbatore district and revelated the occurrence of 19 sthalavrikshas species were observed in different area of coimbatore district. These sacred plants are worshiped by the local people for getting the blessing of health and wealth by positive powers of nature. Sthalavrikshas are germplasm reservers and an indicator of socio-cultural conservation strategy. It is concluded that the Sthalavriksha worship is an age old practice, myths, beliefs and floklore play a major role in the exsistance of Sthalavrikshas worship and this customms help in plant conservation.

Improving kettle holes as habitat and reproduction areas for amphibians – a case study in organic farms in north-eastern Germany

Kettle holes are found in young moraine landscapes and serve as an important habitat for amphibians. The loss of amphibians has been dramatic in recent decades, mainly because of the increase in land use intensity and deterioration of habitats e.g., kettle holes in agricultural landscapes. We monitored amphibian species on three organically managed farms in north-eastern Germany to get an overview of their occurrence and proof of reproduction to develop effective protection strategies. From 2016 to 2020, we investigated 50 kettle holes in cultivated fields. In 2018, we implemented the nature conservation measure ‘cutting back dense wooded belts’ in six of these kettle holes. Here, we focused on seven species considering four highly endangered species. We found six to seven species in up to 17 kettle holes in the 44 kettle holes without the measure ‘cutting back dense wooded belts’. Bombina bombina occurred at the most kettle holes (57%). The number of kettle holes where amphibians reproduced differed strongly. On average, at least one species reproduced at 58% of the kettle holes. Many kettle holes become overgrown with negative effects for amphibians due to the reduction in solar irradiation and higher water consumption. The nature conservation measure increased the number of species on average from two to four and the number of species with reproduction from one to three. It is one of more than 100 measures in the ‘Farming for Biodiversity’ project that farmers can choose to receive a nature conservation certificate, which can be used for marketing purposes.