Public preference for sustainable land use policies – Empirical results from multinomial logit model analysis

Public preferences for sustainable land use policy instruments and the motivations behind such preferences are important to make appropriate policies. Based on survey data (n = 309) from northeastern Somalia, we examined preferences for a set of land use policy instruments relative to no policy (i.e. the current status quo) and how cultural worldviews predict such preferences. We used a multinomial logit model to analyze the comparative evaluation of choices due to its interpretability and robustness to violations of normality. Overall, the results show that the respondents are likely to consent to all types of land use policy instruments relative to no policy and are more inclined to market-based and informational policy instruments. Specifically, preferences for regulatory policy instruments are positively associated with hierarchy and egalitarian worldviews and are negatively associated with fatalism and individualistic worldviews with only hierarchy and fatalism are significant. The market-based policy instrument is desirable to all cultural worldviews except fatalism, but only egalitarian and individual worldviews are significant. Preferences for informational policy instruments are positively associated with all cultural worldviews but only egalitarian worldviews showed a significant effect. Although there are some contradictions, these results are broadly consistent with the proposition of the cultural theory of risk. This study highlights that preferences for land use policies are heterogeneous with cultural worldviews mainly explaining the sources of this heterogeneity. It is evident that the respondents were willing to consent to land use policies relative to the status quo of no policy and indicates the need for concerted effort to reduce land degradation and deforestation in the country. We, therefore, recommend that policymakers incorporate the different ways that humans perceive and interpret social-environmental relations into policy decisions to achieve sustainable policy outcomes.

Land-Use/Land Cover Changes Contribute to Land Surface Temperature: A Case Study of the Upper Indus Basin of Pakistan

Land-use/land cover (LULC) changes have an impact on land surface temperature (LST) at the local, regional, and global scales. To simulate the LULC and LST changes of the environmentally important area of northern Pakistan, this research focused on spatio-temporal LULC and associated LST changes since 1987 and made predictions to 2047. We classified LULC from Landsat TM and ETM data, using the maximum probability supervised categorization approach. LST was retrieved using the Radiative Transfer Equation (RTE) methodology. Furthermore, we simulated LULC using the integrated approaches of Cellular Automata (CA) and Weighted Evidence (WE) and used a regression model to predict LST. The built-up areas and vegetation have increased by 2.1% and 11% due to a decline in the barren land by −8.5% during the last 30 years. The LULC is expected to increase, particularly the built-up and vegetation classes by 2.74% and 13.66%, respectively, and the barren land would decline by −4.2% by 2047. Consequently, the higher LST classes (i.e., 27 °C to <30 °C and ≥30 °C) soared up by about 25.18% and 34.26%, respectively, during the study period, which would further expand to 30.19% and 14.97% by 2047. The lower LST class (i.e., 12 °C to <21 °C) indicated a downtrend of about −41.29% and would further decrease to −3.13% in the next 30 years. The study findings are useful for planning and management, especially for climatologists, land-use planners, and researchers in sustainable land use with rapid urbanization.

Comparative geomorphometric approach to understand the hydrological behaviour and identification of the Erosion prone areas of a coastal watershed using RS and GIS tools

Assessment of the geomorphometric parameters using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools forms an important part in routing the runoff and other hydrological processes. The current study uses a geospatial model based on geomorphometric parameters for the categorization of surface runoff and identification of the erosion-prone areas in the watershed of the Kuttiyadi River. The 4th order Kuttiyadi river is dominated by a dendritic to semi-dendritic drainage pattern in the subwatersheds. The linear aspect of the subwatersheds indicates towards the presence of permeable surface and subsurface materials with uniform lithology. The aerial and relief aspects of the subwatersheds shows fine drainage texture, gentle slopes, delayed peak flow, flatter hydrograph, and large concentration time which shows that subwatersheds are quite capable of managing flash floods during storm events. The estimated values of surface runoff (Q) and sediment production rate (SPR) are range from 2.13 to 32.88 km2-cm/km2 and 0.0004–0.017 Ha-m/100km2/year respectively and suggest that Subwatershed 1 (SW1) will generate more surface runoff and is prone to soil erosion followed by subwatershed 2 (SW2) in comparison to other subwatersheds. This paper aims to fill the knowledge gap regarding categorization of flow and erosion dynamics in a coastal river watershed. We believe that our work may work help in providing the crucial information for decision-makers and policymakers responsible for establishing suitable policies and sustainable land use practices for the watershed.

Urban Flood Management Under Changing Climate

Climate change and the associated phenomenon have put major cities and their surroundings at multi-dimensional risk patterns because of hazards, with flooding being a major hazard in the Asian Peninsula. With authorities such as National Disaster Management Authority, India reporting multiple urban local bodies to be under flood risk, it is essential to prioritize flood risk management in the urban planning process in India. Kochi, the commercial capital of Kerala, India has been frequently affected by flooding events. Various factors have been attributed to the flood risk of Kochi Corporation, which requires validation. Against this backdrop, the study focuses on comprehending significant factors attributed to the vulnerability of settlements in the study region and promoting a way forward based on lessons learned and good practices across the world. This is achieved by analyzing significant databases and computations using GIS. The research outcome would help define strategies for sustainable land-use-based development, promoting effective flood management in the Kochi urban area.

Urban Management of City Centers the Road to The Sustainable Development (Sustainable Land Use Management)

The urban management, municipal councils and their local committees, in addition to the laws, and regulations enacting them, play an important role in defining economic, social and environmental scenarios, and directing them towards achieving sustainable development. Sustainability in all its forms. The research seeks to identify the mechanisms and concepts of urban management in general and the management of urban land uses in city centers in particular, and how to use them optimally and achieve the best distribution of their uses in order to be sustainable and achieve sustainable development in the city center by integrating the principles of sustainability in the urban management process to become As a result, we have a vibrant sustainable center. In the theoretical framework, concepts related to the city center, its importance, characteristics, components and limits were presented. The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development were also presented, and what are its objectives, dimensions, standards, and approaches, in addition to defining the sustainable city center and its components and how, and through the theoretical framework, indicators of sustainable urban management were extracted. On the practical side, the researcher used the field surveys of the study area (the old Rusafa Center) in addition to distributing the questionnaire form to the specialists from the planning and executive departments of the study area to show the extent of their agreement and disagreement about the extent of the application of sustainable urban management indicators within the context of the work of the current urban management system. The results of the research showed a shortcoming in the adoption of the principles of sustainability within the context of the work of the current urban management, as the results of the questionnaire showed the non-conformity of most of the indicators that were applied to the current urban management system.

Climate Change and Diseases of Plants and Animals

Home Garden is a complex sustainable land use system that combines multiple farming components of the homestead and provides environmental services, household needs, and employment and income generation opportunities to the households. Predicted climate changes have serious implications for crop and livestock yields particularly in tropical regions. Home garden may act as a cushion to the adverse climate shocks. There is dearth of in-depth study of home garden ecosystem in India. Authors selected 100 households in Garhbeta-1 block, which is in the dry zone in the district of Paschim Medinipur in West Bengal for this study. The main objectives of this chapter include: (a) identifying key characteristics of the home garden, (b) identifying the pattern of climate change from the household perceptions and the changes made in the home gardens. (c) identifying different diseases of plants and animals in home gardens in the study area (d) managing diseases of plants in home gardens, (e) identifying different problems/ constraints in home.