The ongoing biennial environmental perceptions survey has been used to consider issues when setting future directions for rural New Zealand in the 21st Century. The overall state of the environment is very good, although freshwater rates the lowest of all resources considered. At a more local...

MoRST is evaluating the Environmental Research output class of the Public Good Science Fund to identify inter alia the impacts of Environmental RS&T spending. Three specific questions are: How effective has the funding on Environmental RS&T been? Is Environmental RS&T having a positive effect by...

In New Zealand, regional councils have the task of sustainably managing rivers and their flows. In trying to achieve this task they face enormous challenges including the need to allocate flows amongst often highly disparate in- (e.g., angling, kayaking, native fish and birds) and out-of-river...

Management of many Nepalese forests has been devolved to local communities. Forest products, which are used by the community and which may also be traded, are essential contributors to community well-being. Forests are also important contributors of ecosystem services, such as flood protection...

Conservation biological control (CBC) aims to improve conditions for natural enemies in agricultural landscapes and has the goal of reducing pest species below threshold level to thus avoid the need for synthetic chemicals. The CBC approach has been introduced in several counties, including New...

Nationwide mail surveys implemented in November 2004 report New Zealand residents‟ willingness to pay for improvement in ecosystem services and support for organic farming on arable land. The surveys were split into two subsets: Canterbury, which is the region with most arable farming in the...

Common forests in developing countries are valuable sources of raw material supplies, employment and income generation, particularly for low income households. This paper looks at the effect on income and employment when common forest resources have external policies that constrain their use....

Researchers have estimated the total economic value of global ecosystem goods and services showing that a significant portion of humanity's economic well being is unaccounted for in conventional GNP accounting (Constanza et al., 1997). To demonstrate this point, authors have conventionally used...

This research estimates the commercial costs and benefits associated with selected aquaculture projects in the Canterbury region. Mussel farming employment will most likely be generated in coastal communities that at present have few employment opportunities. These communities are likely to...

The effectiveness of biosecurity measures at national borders is influenced by the behaviour and levels of involvement of travellers. Involvement is the importance or relevance of an object or situation to an individual. Involvement helps regulate the way in which people receive and process...