Now showing 1 - 10 of 16
  • Publication
    Red deer culls, Scots pine and the stalking client
    (Scottish Natural Heritage, 2001)
    1. This study examines the prospects for changes in deer management which meet the needs of both the stalking fraternity and conservationists. 2. We approach the problem from a less familiar angle, namely that of the needs of people who pay for stalking and of deer managers. 3. The study applied an economic method called choice experimentation to establish the weight and the monetary value that stalkers attach to attributes of their stalking trip. Attributes include such factors as “numbers of stags“, “trophy value“ and “the stalking landscape“. Their respective parameters can be combined to arrive at paying amateur stalkers’ valuation of alternative stalking packages, including such factors as higher quality stags typical of better deer management or more forested environments.
      365
  • Publication
    When the public good conflicts with an apparent preference for unsustainable behaviour
    (Elsevier, 2011-03-15) ;
    The example of peatlands is used to demonstrate the challenges facing the sustainable management of natural resources in situations where the fragility of an environment is not appreciated by all stakeholders. We reveal, through the use of a survey applying both contingent valuation and discrete choice experiments, that many local people and others within the wider population, value peatlands as an example of a cultural landscape. However, there is a reluctance to stop extracting peat for domestic fuel even though the activity is undermining the ecological sustainability of this same landscape. This resistance is shown to arise because the cutting of peat is a well-established land use and a cessation of peat cutting is perceived to require the abandonment of traditional rights. In addition, the activity is widely regarded as more benign than industrial scale cutting for energy. The value attached to the landscape is an opportunity for conservation policy, but for this to succeed there must be an acknowledgement of local interests.
      650Scopus© Citations 21
  • Publication
    Peatlands, their public good value and priorities for their future management - the example of Ireland
    The threat of climate change has focused attention on those environments with high capacity for carbon storage. Peatlands are one such environment in that they both sequester CO2 from the atmosphere and are also a major store of carbon. However, the world's peatlands are everywhere under threat. This includes in Ireland where, while still a feature of many rural areas, less than third of the country's original area of peatland remains intact. The sustainable management of the remaining peatland necessitates an action plan including the evidence by which to evaluate choices. It also requires an articulation of a vision for peatland in the decades to come. In this respect, peatlands are an environmental asset, but also a social and economic resource. Any framework for their management and restoration must be able to deal with the social and political decision making process and demonstrate a respect for the diverse range of public and private goods that peatlands provide.
      3200Scopus© Citations 58
  • Publication
    Valuing urban green space : hypothetical alternatives and the status-quo
    (JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science), 2006)
      1142
  • Publication
    Study to identify and assess relevant instruments and incentives to reduce the use of single-use and other items, which impact the marine environment as marine litter
    (Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, 2018-01) ; ;
    Marine litter is a serious and global environmental problem that is amongst the most challenging to address. This challenge arises from the various types of marine litter, the range of sources and the inadequacy of single options to address the problem. Regionally, the composition of marine litter varies, but its sources can be sea-based, coastal or exist well inland with litter carried by rivers to the sea where ocean currents transport it around the globe without respect for national borders. The ocean is a free access resource as regards its capacity to act as a sink for waste. Therefore, just as liquid pollutants have been piped out to sea without cost to the polluter, so marine litter can be associated with poor regulation or policing of the fishing, marine transport and cruise ship industries. However, marine litter is also a product of our consumer society and so is a problem that increases in severity with economic growth, development and wealth. This problem presents significant economic and environmental costs in terms of the evident and potential impacts to wildlife, tourism, functioning ecosystems, fish catches and human health. This report examines the particular contribution of single-use consumer items to marine litter. In beach surveys, these items are very prevalent and include bottle tops and caps, bottles, cans, food containers, crisp packets, sweet wrappers, sanitary products and balloons, amongst other identifiable items. The small size, colour and durability of these items means that they each present distinct environmental and ecological costs. One characteristic of this litter is that a very high proportion is comprised of plastic, typically different types of plastic polymers with varying levels of additives. Another characteristic is that much of this litter is represented by packaging, including its use as containers for food and drinks. There are measures that can be taken to address marine litter. These include some obvious candidates such as raising awareness of the problem and its environmental cost, enlisting the support of coastal communities to deal with the problem, and providing a sufficient number of bins to reduce the temptation to littering. These measures can be targeted to locations where there is a particular risk of litter finding its way into the marine environment, namely coastal resorts, but also areas beside rivers.
      625
  • Publication
    ESManage Programme: Irish Freshwater Resources and Assessment of Ecosystem Services Provision
    Freshwater is vital for all forms of life and it is a key requirement in almost all human activities. The societal importance of water has been highlighted by the United Nations, with access to clean water and sanitation regarded as a universal human right. Consequently, the sustainable management of freshwater resources has gained importance at regional, international and global scales. However, the activities of humankind affect freshwater resources extensively, in terms of both quantity and quality, through a variety of activities ranging from abstraction of water for drinking and irrigation to waste disposal. Today, worldwide freshwater ecosystems are undergreat pressure and are one of the most endangered ecosystems. Furthermore, climate change, especially in relation to precipitation patterns and flooding, will result in the traditional norms being replaced with increased variability and unpredictability, with knock-on effects for human societies and well-being.
      2740
  • Publication
    Measuring the public benefits of landscape and environmental change : a case of upland grazing extensification
    (Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO), 1995)
    The research attempts to quantify the public benefits of landscape and environmental change that may arise from new land-use policies. The case of upland grazing extensification is examined for which the associated vegetation change could be diffuse and complex. These problems will require carefully designed environmental valuation methods to communicate the change.
      280
  • Publication
    Mobilising Finance for Biodiversity: A policy and institutional review of finance arrangements for biodiversity conservation in Ireland
    (University College Dublin, 2020-03) ;
    This Policy and Institutional Review (PIR) for Ireland is intended to characterise biodiversity spending and the context in which it is made. It examines direct spending and indirect spending in areas of environmental protection. It also looks at the extent to which Government Departments and Agencies consider biodiversity in their core policies, whether the sectors for which they have responsibility are supported by biodiversity and ecosystem services, and whether some of their policies conflict with biodiversity. The PIR complements the national biodiversity expenditure review (NBER) undertaken in 2017 and will inform the financial needs assessment now being undertaken to determine thetype of expenditure needed to implement the National Biodiversity Action Plan 2021-2025, along with the question of how to mobilise these resources.
      478
  • Publication
    Challenges in using hydrology and water quality models for assessing freshwater ecosystem services: A review
    Freshwater ecosystems contribute to many ecosystem services, many of which are being threatened by human activities such as land use change, river morphological changes, and climate change. Many disciplines have studied the processes underlying freshwater ecosystem functions, ranging from hydrology to ecology, including water quality, and a panoply of models are available to simulate their behaviour. This understanding is useful for the prediction of ecosystem services, but the model outputs must go beyond the production of time-series of biophysical variables, and must facilitate the beneficial use of the information it contains about the ecosystem services it describes. This article analyses the literature of ad hoc approaches that aim at quantifying one or more freshwater ecosystem services. It identifies the strategies adopted to use disciplinary-specific models for the prediction of the services. This review identifies that hydrological, water quality, and ecological models form a valuable knowledge base to predict changes in ecosystem conditions, but challenges remain to make proper and fruitful use of these models. In particular, considerations of temporal and spatial scales could be given more attention in order to provide better justifications for the choice of a particular model over another, including the uncertainty in their predictions.
    Scopus© Citations 20  453