Identifying the characteristics of conservation areas that appeal to potential flagship campaign donors

The conservation flagship approach is a valuable tool for raising funds and awareness, but species-based campaigns have been criticized for providing little benefit to wider biodiversity. One possible solution is to use conservation areas as flagships, but we lack data on the types of area that most appeal to potential donors. Here, we used an online choice experiment involving hypothetical overseas conservation areas to investigate how respondents value a series of conservation area attributes. We calculated the average willingness to pay for each attribute and assessed preference heterogeneity. Our results suggest that community ownership is valued the most, followed by the presence of threatened bird species, low current funding in the conservation area, the presence of charismatic mammals, and charity ownership. Respondents could be divided into three groups, based on their education, environmental organization membership and income. The group of respondents who were less wealthy and were members of environmental organizations were not willing to pay for this kind of conservation action, suggesting that flagship area campaigns targeted at them should encourage other types of involvement. The other two groups, which included respondents who were less engaged in conservation (neither group included environmental organization members, with one group less wealthy and less educated, and the other wealthier), found community ownership particularly appealing, suggesting that many potential donors may be driven by social concerns. This is a key finding and suggests flagship conservation areas could attract a new audience of donors, helping to support current global efforts to increase the management effectiveness, connectivity and extent of protected areas and land under other effective area-based conservation measures.

Relationships Among Belief in God, Well-Being, and Social Capital in the 2020 European and World Values Surveys: Distinguishing Interpersonal and Ideological Prosociality

Analyses of the 2020 combined European and World Values Surveys (124,958 respondents from 77 countries) found that people who believed in God tended to be happier, more satisfied with lives, and healthier than non-believers. Believers trusted people close to them (e.g., neighbors) more than non-believers, although non-believers tended to trust people in general and trust people from other countries more than believers. Non-believers tended to be more ideologically prosocial than non-believers (e.g., belonging to an environmental organization, advocating freedom of speech vs. control). Such differences were stronger in countries in which there were more vs fewer believers. Moreover, these differences remained after controlling for individual differences in sex, age, education, income, and left–right political orientation.

A UN Specialized Agency for the Environment

The issue, international organization for the protection of the environment perhaps more than those in any other area of international law, is characterized by the contestation of the policies and aspirations of developing and industrialized countries. The discussions which preceded the 1972 Stockholm Conference concerned partly the type of international institutional arrangement required for addressing the environmental problems. As regards the institutional reforms with respect to international environmental governance (IEG), the main question is whether to focus on the existing global institution, i.e. UNEP, or to create a new functional international organization. After almost five decades of existence, turning UNEP into a ‘specialized agency’ within the UN system is a reasonable move. It would meet the long-felt need to elevate its status and equip it with the necessary competence and financial stability for the demanding task it should have as an efficient global environmental organization.

“Se tutti gli uomini sono responsabili per l’ambiente, i medici lo sono due volte”. Il pensiero dell’International Society of Doctors for Environment – ISDE

The Italian Society of Doctors for the Environment – ISDE Italy is an environmental organization of medical doctors. It is an independent, non-profit organization affiliated to the International Society of Doctors for the Environment – ISDE (which has a Consultative Status with WHO and a Consultative General Status with ECOSOC and fosters co-operative efforts with different other international organizations and many NGOs). The main purpose of ISDE Italy is to help defend environment both locally and globally to prevent numerous illnesses, ensure the necessary conditions for health, and improve the quality of life. It aims to educate and update physicians and the general public and stimulate awareness and initiatives by public and private bodies. ISDE Italy collaborates with different national, regional and local organizations, networks and NGOs as well. All ISDE Italy projects follow an integrated model finalized to actions which are generally preceded by training moments.

The International Legal Principles of Environmental Protection in the Application to the Formation of the International Environmental Organization of the Caspian Sea

Introduction: in the paper, the author aims to analyze the content and legal significance of the international legal principles of environmental protection in the context of the prospects for the formation of an international environmental organization in the Caspian region. The author focuses on the principles that have already been enshrined in the international legal treaties concluded by the Caspian Sea States: the precautionary approach, the “polluter pays” principle, the principle of accessibility of information on marine pollution, and the principle of the ecosystem approach. Methods: the methodological framework for the study is the methods of analysis and synthesis, the empirical methods of comparison, interpretation, as well as such specific scientific methods as the legaldogmatic method and the method of interpretation of legal norms. Results: the results of the study show that the development of the regional environmental protection institutions in the Caspian region should take into account the international legal principles of environmental protection. In particular, based on the analysis of the abovementioned international legal principles, the author justifies the need to give a possible regional interstate environmental organization the functions of monitoring, tracking the causes of harm, the function of a center for collecting, processing and distributing information, as well as coordinating the activities of all existing international and national structures to improve the efficiency of their cooperation. Discussion and conclusions: the development of the regional environmental institutions is impossible without taking into account the international legal principles enshrined in the regional international treaties. The author concludes that it is necessary to apply the content of such principles in the formation of a regional interstate environmental organization.

Assessment of the environmental organization development strategy

Assessment of feasibility of applying the chosen organization development strategy should be based on assessment of its effectiveness. The proposed methods for assessing the development strategy provide for defining indexes that, in accordance with set strategic goals, should take into account an entire set of target strategic indexes. The methodology consists in calculating integral indexes characterizing achievement of set strategic goals. As such indexes, which take into account key strategic parameters, estimated development indexes and assessments of the organization sustainable development potential are proposed. These indexes should be used as an indicator of the development strategy and achievement of strategic goals.

Ego or Eco? Neither Ecological nor Egoistic Appeals of Persuasive Climate Change Messages Impacted Pro-Environmental Behavior

Based on the ‘Inclusion Model of Environmental Concern’, we tested whether daily messaging intervention increases participants’ pro-environmental behavior (PEB). In a two (time: pre vs. post, repeated measure) × three (condition: egoistic appeals, ecological appeals, control group) experimental design, two hundred and eighteen individuals received either daily messages containing egoistic appeals for action to prevent climate change (e.g., preventing personal consequences of released diseases in melting arctic ice), ecological appeals (e.g., ecological consequences of melting glaciers), or no messages (control). PEB was assessed via self-reports and donations to an environmental organization. Neither of the appeals had an effect on the two dependent measures. Irrespective of experimental conditions, self-reported PEB was higher in the post- compared with the pre-test. Overall, the present results do not provide support for the effectiveness of a daily messaging technique. Instead, it appears that ‘being observed’ is the more effective ‘intervention’. Implications for how to foster PEB are discussed.