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In this study, we use PGIS to evaluate and map stakeholders' preferences for seven Marine and Coastal Ecosystem Services (MCES) in the Peniche-Nazaré region, located on the west coast of Portugal. We develop an alternative approach based on the Shannon index to identify conflict potential without questioning stakeholders directly about perceived conflicts. The Shannon index allows us to identify not only areas with highly valued ecosystem services and thus with current conflicting interests, but also areas providing several services that, although currently less valued, may hold existence, bequest, and option values that are important to consider in future decisions. Moreover, despite the increasing use of PGIS, there are still lacking benchmarks to assess PGIS positional accuracy. In this study, we also compare the spatial data collected from stakeholders on one of the services considered - Food provisioning, with spatial data on fishing areas collected from another survey of individual fishers to assess our PGIS positional accuracy. We surveyed 27 local stakeholders representing a wide range of interests. Our results show that stakeholders value more Food provisioning and Leisure and recreation and that the places perceived more relevant for Food provisioning by the interviewed stakeholders coincide with those places that are used by fishers, showing positional accuracy for this service. The Shannon index's application proved useful in indirectly identifying conflict potential that is of utmost importance for Marine Spatial Planning. By anticipating potential conflicts, policymakers may be willing to limit the use of maritime space for particular activities.
Carina Vieira da Silva; Margarida Ortigão; Tom Willaert; Renato Rosa; Luís Catela Nunes; Maria A. Cunha-E-Sá. Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS): Alternative approaches to identify potential conflicts and positional accuracy in marine and coastal ecosystem services. Marine Policy 2021, 131, 104650 .
AMA StyleCarina Vieira da Silva, Margarida Ortigão, Tom Willaert, Renato Rosa, Luís Catela Nunes, Maria A. Cunha-E-Sá. Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS): Alternative approaches to identify potential conflicts and positional accuracy in marine and coastal ecosystem services. Marine Policy. 2021; 131 ():104650.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCarina Vieira da Silva; Margarida Ortigão; Tom Willaert; Renato Rosa; Luís Catela Nunes; Maria A. Cunha-E-Sá. 2021. "Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS): Alternative approaches to identify potential conflicts and positional accuracy in marine and coastal ecosystem services." Marine Policy 131, no. : 104650.
The concept of Ecosystem Services (ES) defines the nature benefits in an anthropocentric way for sustainable development goals. However, a conservation dilemma arises from the question of how much the ES cost and which ES should be prioritized in effective landscape planning. Thus, we test how the balance of economic and ecological values can be useful for improved conservation outcomes. Under a comprehensive meta-analytical approach, we address the monetary values of ES and incorporate habitat quality maps for setting national conservation targets in mainland Portugal. As a practical pathway to achieve sustainability from local to macro scales, we design an integrative approach showing that prioritization models focused on ES can encompass economic and ecological values in balance with the landscape. We find 72 studies with 167 economic estimates based on biophysical, socio-cultural and environmental features. Our results indicate that ES values in Portugal can represent about 12% of its total Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which in turn can ensure key conservation sites for multiple ecosystems. Combining the trade-offs and synergies between ecological and economic benefits of ES, we suggest an integrative strategy to save ecosystems and protect services through cost-effective conservation models. Given the economic and ecological interface of this approach, our findings can be helpful to bridge the gap between environmental economics and conservation science, following three main components – most economic benefits, best habitat quality and less land requirements. This would bring market values on realistic scales, where stakeholders are expecting positive returns.
Felipe S. Campos; João David; Ricardo Lourenço-De-Moraes; Pedro Rodrigues; Bruno Silva; Carina Vieira da Silva; Pedro Cabral. The economic and ecological benefits of saving ecosystems to protect services. Journal of Cleaner Production 2021, 311, 127551 .
AMA StyleFelipe S. Campos, João David, Ricardo Lourenço-De-Moraes, Pedro Rodrigues, Bruno Silva, Carina Vieira da Silva, Pedro Cabral. The economic and ecological benefits of saving ecosystems to protect services. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2021; 311 ():127551.
Chicago/Turabian StyleFelipe S. Campos; João David; Ricardo Lourenço-De-Moraes; Pedro Rodrigues; Bruno Silva; Carina Vieira da Silva; Pedro Cabral. 2021. "The economic and ecological benefits of saving ecosystems to protect services." Journal of Cleaner Production 311, no. : 127551.
In this study, we tested a novel approach for indirectly detecting participation of the local population in illegal harvesting of Protected Areas (PAs) natural resources and its spatial distribution. The research was conducted in the Niassa National Reserve (NNR), the third-largest PA in Africa, and included a face-to-face survey to 339 households. The householders were asked about the importance of several threats to biodiversity conservation, including any illegal harvesting in which they may be involved. Non-recognition of these illegal activities as relevant threats to biodiversity is interpreted as likely indication household involvement in these activities. We also gathered evidence to support our inferences of participation in illegal resource harvesting, based on the respondents' perceptions of costs and benefits of living within the Protected Area (PA) and their opinions about conservation measures under implementation. The results showed that households that are more likely involved in illegal activities are poor, less educated, and mostly located near to the PA borders, where they bear higher costs while receiving fewer benefits than others of living in the interior of the NNR. Village respondents were more likely to admit participating in activities that they need to conduct to cope with their daily needs, activities not generally considered as a serious infraction by park authorities.
Aires Afonso Mbanze; Carina Vieira da Silva; Natasha Sofia Ribeiro; José Lima Santos. Participation in illegal harvesting of natural resources and the perceived costs and benefits of living within a protected area. Ecological Economics 2020, 179, 106825 .
AMA StyleAires Afonso Mbanze, Carina Vieira da Silva, Natasha Sofia Ribeiro, José Lima Santos. Participation in illegal harvesting of natural resources and the perceived costs and benefits of living within a protected area. Ecological Economics. 2020; 179 ():106825.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAires Afonso Mbanze; Carina Vieira da Silva; Natasha Sofia Ribeiro; José Lima Santos. 2020. "Participation in illegal harvesting of natural resources and the perceived costs and benefits of living within a protected area." Ecological Economics 179, no. : 106825.
The data of this article is related to the original article entitled “An expert-based approach to assess the potential for local people engagement in nature conservation: The case study of the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique” [1], published in Journal for Nature Conservation. The dataset is from an online and self-administrated survey with 55 experts aware of conservation policies and incentives under implementation in the Niassa National Reserve (NNR), the largest protected area in the country and third-largest in Africa. The survey included four sections of both compulsory and non-compulsory questions, mostly in closed-ended Likert-scale. In the first section, experts were asked about the main practices that threaten biodiversity conservation in the NNR, the actors who are directly and indirectly responsible for each practice, and the reasons for local people's involvement with those practices. The second section was about the effectiveness and limitations of the current compensation measures to engage local residents with conservation-friendly practices. In the third section, respondents were asked to select new measures to enhance the current conservation status and engage local people more effectively in conservation. The last section was about the socio-economic profile of respondents. The survey was conducted from June to September 2017. The paper includes the survey itself, raw data in an Excel spreadsheet, descriptive analysis, crosstabulation and Post Hoc cellwise tests (goodness of fit). Data are provided for public use and can serve as a benchmark for collaboration in order to conduct more comprehensive research, comparative analysis as well as panel data can be derived. This data can also have applications in other fields such as mathematics, statistics, and computation.
Aires Afonso Mbanze; Natasha Sofia Ribeiro; Carina Vieira da Silva; José Lima Santos. Dataset from 55 experts engaged in nature conservation in Mozambique. Data in Brief 2020, 28, 105080 .
AMA StyleAires Afonso Mbanze, Natasha Sofia Ribeiro, Carina Vieira da Silva, José Lima Santos. Dataset from 55 experts engaged in nature conservation in Mozambique. Data in Brief. 2020; 28 ():105080.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAires Afonso Mbanze; Natasha Sofia Ribeiro; Carina Vieira da Silva; José Lima Santos. 2020. "Dataset from 55 experts engaged in nature conservation in Mozambique." Data in Brief 28, no. : 105080.
Implementation of new conservation measures without consistent consultation with key stakeholders has resulted in multiple failures that have been replicated elsewhere. In this study, we propose and test an improved method to identify: (i) the role of conservation actors (including local people), in major threats to conservation in a particular Protected Area (PA); (ii) the underlying drivers for the involvement of local people in conservation-threatening practices; and, (iii) appropriate policies to address those drivers. The method was developed and tested in the context of the Niassa National Reserve (NNR), the third major PA for the conservation of Miombo woodlands, savannah keystones and umbrella species in Africa. Experts’ answers were grouped according to opinions related to threats for conservation and current and proposed compensation schemes to improve conservation in the NNR. The results show a high degree of consensus among experts in relation to the current practices that threaten conservation in the reserve (poaching, illegal logging and mining). Local people were held responsible for activities that they carry out to meet their daily needs. While, outsiders carrying out illegal activities, were also responsible for practices that represent the top threats to conservation. The proposed new incentives, such as assisting local people with conservation agriculture, providing alternative sources of animal protein and providing scholarships for their children, may greatly improve the support of local people for biodiversity conservation in the reserve.
Aires Afonso Mbanze; Natasha Ribeiro; Carina Vieira Da Silva; José Lima Santos. An expert-based approach to assess the potential for local people engagement in nature conservation: The case study of the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique. Journal for Nature Conservation 2019, 52, 125759 .
AMA StyleAires Afonso Mbanze, Natasha Ribeiro, Carina Vieira Da Silva, José Lima Santos. An expert-based approach to assess the potential for local people engagement in nature conservation: The case study of the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique. Journal for Nature Conservation. 2019; 52 ():125759.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAires Afonso Mbanze; Natasha Ribeiro; Carina Vieira Da Silva; José Lima Santos. 2019. "An expert-based approach to assess the potential for local people engagement in nature conservation: The case study of the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique." Journal for Nature Conservation 52, no. : 125759.
The protection of nature and biodiversity has been gaining importance in public opinion. Nevertheless, the implementation of conservation policies has experienced some public resistance, along with low levels of public involvement. This lack of public interest in and support to conservation may be related to citizens’ images of nature.In this article, we examine the commonsensical image of nature and its conservation according to two dimensions: cognitive beliefs and normative ethics. This image of nature was examined through a series of focus-group discussions with members of the general public in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area – Portugal and reflects the commonsensical perceptions of what nature conservation is.The results suggest that, although the participants were not familiar with scientific terminology, they hold rich, mental and social representations about nature and biodiversity. We present a conceptual framework that reflects participants’ overall image of nature as the basis of human life and, above all, as a source of multiple goods that ensure human beings’ survival, which characterizes the common-sense view of nature as largely anthropocentric.Our work provides policy-makers, planners and managers with a framework that reflects lay people’s perceptions of nature and biodiversity conservation that are instrumental in identifying conservation priorities, appropriate goals and suitable measures while ensuring communication between science and society.
Carina Vieira Da Silva; José Lino Costa; José Lima Santos; Livia Madureira. What is nature conservation for the Portuguese public? Understanding the commonsensical image of nature to engage the general public in conservation efforts and to improve the communication between science and society. Portuguese Journal of Social Science 2017, 16, 101 -116.
AMA StyleCarina Vieira Da Silva, José Lino Costa, José Lima Santos, Livia Madureira. What is nature conservation for the Portuguese public? Understanding the commonsensical image of nature to engage the general public in conservation efforts and to improve the communication between science and society. Portuguese Journal of Social Science. 2017; 16 (1):101-116.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCarina Vieira Da Silva; José Lino Costa; José Lima Santos; Livia Madureira. 2017. "What is nature conservation for the Portuguese public? Understanding the commonsensical image of nature to engage the general public in conservation efforts and to improve the communication between science and society." Portuguese Journal of Social Science 16, no. 1: 101-116.
The conservation of biodiversity depends on the implementation of policy with limited financial resources. Due to this shortage of resources, conservation activities must be prioritized so that scarce funds are used rationally to prevent long-term biodiversity loss. To assure funding continuity, since it is the public that pays a significant part of conservation costs, it is imperative that managers and policymakers apply limited conservation funds in a way that makes people feel that their concerns about biodiversity loss are addressed. Here we argue for public preferences to be incorporated in species conservation decision making through criteria weighting. Public preferences were analyzed in two different contexts (abstract vs. concrete) to understand how stable public preferences are across different elicitation procedures. Our results show some resilience in criteria ranking, with functional importance being considered as the top criterion across different ways of questioning.
Carina Vieira Da Silva; Livia Madureira; José Lino Costa; José L. Santos. Using Public Preferences to Weight Species Prioritization Criteria in Conservation Decision Making: A Case Study to Explore Potential Strengths and Weaknesses. Society & Natural Resources 2016, 29, 1517 -1532.
AMA StyleCarina Vieira Da Silva, Livia Madureira, José Lino Costa, José L. Santos. Using Public Preferences to Weight Species Prioritization Criteria in Conservation Decision Making: A Case Study to Explore Potential Strengths and Weaknesses. Society & Natural Resources. 2016; 29 (12):1517-1532.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCarina Vieira Da Silva; Livia Madureira; José Lino Costa; José L. Santos. 2016. "Using Public Preferences to Weight Species Prioritization Criteria in Conservation Decision Making: A Case Study to Explore Potential Strengths and Weaknesses." Society & Natural Resources 29, no. 12: 1517-1532.