Biodiversity Commons^™

Climate Change And Environmental Crises In Coastal Cities: Charleston Vs New York City, Nolan Rodriguez

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper addresses the increasing vulnerability that coastal communities face regarding climate crises and rising sea levels. Specifically, this paper investigates the environmental crises facing Charleston, South Carolina, and New York City. The geographical location of these cities places a more severe threat upon their environment, as opposed to urban collectives removed from the immediate effect of rising sea levels. A cross-examination of politics and economics is discussed in order to determine the causal relationship of each city’s engagement with its surrounding environment. This paper examines how each city is affected by climate change, what measures are in place to …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Marine Law Symposium: Can Offshore Wind Development Have A Net Positive Impact On Biodiversity? Regulatory And Scientific Perspectives And Considerations April 20-21, 2023, Roger Williams University School Of Law Marine Affairs Institute, The Nature Conservancy

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Conservation Easements: A Tool For Preserving Wildlife Habitat On Private Lands, Robin M. Rotman, Sarah A. Brown, Michael A. Powell, Sonja A. Wilhelm Stanis

Faculty Publications

Conservation easements are an essential tool for conserving private lands, and they have great potential for enhancing wildlife habitat and biodiversity. Private land conservation in the United States is likely to increase in the coming years, in light of Executive Order No. 14,008, issued by President Joseph Biden on January 27, 2021, which set a goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030 (Executive Office of the President 2021). There is, therefore, a need to evaluate the effect of conservation easements on wildlife habitat and biodiversity and to make recommendations for further enhancing the effectiveness …

A Call For The Library Community To Deploy Best Practices Toward A Database For Biocultural Knowledge Relating To Climate Change, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Abstract

Purpose – In this paper, a call to the library and information science community to support documentation and conservation of cultural and biocultural heritage has been presented.

Design/methodology/approach – Based in existing Literature, this proposal is generative and descriptive— rather than prescriptive—regarding precisely how libraries should collaborate to employ technical and ethical best practices to provide access to vital data, research and cultural narratives relating to climate.

Findings – COVID-19 and climate destruction signal urgent global challenges. Library best practices are positioned to respond to climate change. Literature indicates how libraries preserve, share and cross-link cultural and scientific knowledge. …

Intangible Cultural Heritage: A Benefit To Climate-Displaced And Host Communities, Gül Aktürk, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Climate change is borderless, and its impacts are not shared equally by all communities. It causes an imbalance between people by creating a more desirable living environment for some societies while erasing settlements and shelters of some others. Due to floods, sea level rise, destructive storms, drought, and slow-onset factors such as salinization of water and soil, people lose their lands, homes, and natural resources. Catastrophic events force people to move voluntarily or involuntarily. The relocation of communities is a debatable climate adaptation measure which requires utmost care with human rights, ethics, and psychological well-being of individuals upon the issues …

Earth Law And The Rights Of Nature A New Generation Of Laws Built For Nature, Lindsey Kayman, Paul Bartlett, Milena Popov, Grant Wilson

Open Educational Resources

Earth Law and the Rights of Nature: A New Generation of Laws Built for Nature

Wilson, Grant, Kayman, Lindsey, Bartlett, Paul, and Milena Popov John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Earth Law Center, Environmental Education Fund

Forget doom and gloom. Let’s educate students about the Rights of Nature, an inspiring, evolving legal development which is gaining traction in the US and around the world, and which can promote the cultural shift needed to address our overlapping intersecting environmental crises — climate change, accelerating species extinction, and ecosystem collapse. The Rights of Nature is one aspect of Earth Law. Some of …

Biodiversity 2050: Can The Convention On Biological Diversity Deliver A World Living In Harmony With Nature?, Michelle Mei Ling Lim

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) ‘2050 Vision’ aims to achieve, by 2050, a world that is ‘living in harmony with nature.’ Yet biodiversity is threatened globally to an extent never before witnessed in human history. The Global Assessment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES Global Assessment)—the largest ever assessment of the global state of biodiversity and ecosystems services—found that a sustainable global future for people and nature remains possible. However, this can only be achieved if we fundamentally redesign our economic, social, and governance systems. It is almost three decades since the CBD, the …

Thinking Like A Raven: Restoring Integrity, Stability, And Beauty To Western Ecosystems, John M. Marzluff, Matthias-Claudio Loretto, Cameron K. Ho, Georgia W. Coleman, Marco Restani

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Common ravens (Corvus corax; ravens) are generalist predators that pose a threat to several rare wildlife species in the western United States. Recent increases in raven populations, which are fueled by increased human subsidies—notably food, water, and nest sites—are concerning to those seeking to conserve rare species. Due to the challenges and inefficiencies of reducing or eliminating subsidies, managers increasingly rely on lethal removal of ravens. Over 125,000 ravens were killed by the U.S. Government from 1996 to 2019, and annual removals have increased 4-fold from the 1990s to mid-2010s. We contend that lethal removal of ravens, while capable …

When Water Isn't Wet: The Evolution Of Water Right Mitigation In Washington State, Rachael Osborn, Michael Mayer

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

What is water right mitigation?

The allocation of surface and ground water resources for out of stream uses via the western water rights doctrine of prior appropriation comes with serious environmental consequences – depletion of streamflow and aquifers. Over-appropriation by water rights has led to deleterious impacts on natural resources, including salmon survival, water quality, and public uses of state waterways.

Because of the over-appropriated condition of Washington’s rivers and aquifers, the issuance of new water rights has until recently required water-for-water or in-kind mitigation, with the goal to directly compensate for deleterious impacts. Historically, the Water Resources Program of …

Species Conservation & Recovery Through Adequate Regulatory Mechanisms, Sandra B. Zellmer, Sam J. Panarella, Oliver Finn Wood

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

The world is experiencing its sixth episode of mass extinction of life. In rhetoric typically used by bloggers rather than scientists, the National Academy of Sciences reports that this "biological annihilation" is more dire than previously believed,' and that the decimation of biodiversity and of the ecosystem services resulting from it is nothing less than a "frightening assault on the foundations of human civilization."2

Unlike previous episodes of mass extinction, this one is caused by human overpopulation, overconsumption, and anthropogenic climate change. The United States has been a world conservation leader for over a century, but its commitment to supporting …

The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary: An Exploration Of Changing The Discourse On Conservation, Arielle Ben-Hur

Pitzer Senior Theses

In 2015, the Northern Chumash Tribal Council submitted a National Marine Sanctuary Nomination to establish the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary– a means by which to ensure the protection of one of the most culturally and biologically diverse coastlines in the world. On October 5, 2015, John Armor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) responded to the nomination, adding it to the inventory of areas NOAA may consider in the future for national marine sanctuary designation.

In my thesis, I explore how the nomination of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary acts as a platform from which Traditional …

Cultural Heritage Preservation In The Context Of Climate Change Adaptation Or Relocation: Barbuda As A Case Study, Martha B. Lerski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This case study introduces an arts camp methodology of engaging communities in identifying their key cultural heritage features, thus serving as a meta study. It presents original research based on field studies on the climate-vulnerable Caribbean island of Barbuda during 2017 and 2018. Its Valued Cultural Elements survey, enabling precise identification of key tangible and intangible art forms and biocultural practices, may serve as a basis for further studies. Such approaches may facilitate future research or planning as climate-vulnerable communities harness Local or Indigenous Knowledge for purposes of biocultural heritage preservation, or towards adaptation or relocation. I report on findings …

The 2018 Agreement To Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries In The Central Arctic Ocean: A Critical Analysis, Valentin Schatz, Alexander Proelss, Nengye Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Following almost ten years of negotiations, the Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO F Agreement) was concluded on 3 October 2018 in Ilulissat, Greenland. The CAO F Agreement is the first regional fisheries agreement adopted prior to the initiation of fishing in a specific area, and it has already been lauded as a science-based measure and a manifestation of the precautionary approach by representatives of States and Non- Governmental Organizations. This article provides a critical analysis of the content of the CAO F Agreement. It gives an overview of the negotiations which led …

Property In The Anthropocene, E. Lees

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Intergenerational justice, community interests, and environmental protection are all goals sought through the imposition of the duties of stewardship onto owners of land. But such duties, when imposed by law, require justification beyond the morality of maintaining and preserving land in a good condition for its present and future use. The potential for sanction imposed by the state means that stewardship duties, if they are to be justified, must be grounded in established principles of justified legal intervention. Of those, the most convincing is, and always has been, the harm principle: intervention is justified where a rule prevents one person …

Carnivore-Livestock Conflicts In Chile: Evidence And Methods For Mitigation, Valeska Rodriguez, Daniela A. Poo-Muñoz, Luis E. Escobar, Francisca Astorga, Gonzalo Medina-Vogel

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Human population growth and habitat loss have exacerbated human–wildlife conflicts worldwide. We explored trends in human–wildlife conflicts (HWCs) in Chile using scientific and official reports to identify areas and species with higher risk of conflicts and tools available for their prevention and mitigation. The puma (Puma concolor) was considered the most frequent predator; however, fox (Lycalopex spp.) and free-ranging or feral dog (Canis lupus familiaris) attacks were also common. Our results suggest that the magnitude of puma conflicts may be overestimated. Domestic sheep (Ovis spp.) and poultry (Galliformes) were the most common species predated. …

Island Invasion: The Silent Crisis In Hawaii, Sophia Janssen

Pomona Senior Theses

Keeping out invasive species may, upon first review, seem like a trivial environmental cry from ecologists and deep environmentalists; a belated wish to return to an undeveloped world where nature was pristine. However invasive species create problems that impact all of us and can have far more severe consequences than changing a stunning landscape. These problems are heightened in islands like Hawaii, where the fragile ecosystems have developed over centuries of evolution and adaptation. The introduction of a disease-carrying mosquito can put the people of Hawaii at risk to many vector-born illnesses and create an epidemic, taking human life. The …

Microplastics In Full View: Birds As Bioindicators Of Malta's Coastal Ecosystem Health, Dalton Brauer

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Plastic pollution has recently become a widely studied topic, yet research on microplastics has remained lacking for specific geographic regions. Microplastics are small plastics resulting from degradation or the dumping of raw material and can lead to deleterious impacts on the coastal marine environment and its organisms. To assess Malta’s coastal environmental health, water birds (inshore, offshore and pelagic species) were used as bioindicators by assessing the presence and abundance of plastic within their stomach contents. The project hoped to fill some of the current gaps in knowledge on microplastics within Malta by creating a working baseline, as well as …

The European Union And The Establishment Of Marine Protected Areas In Antarctica, Nengye Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper examines how the EU can best use its powers to establish marine protected areas (MPAs) in Antarctica. It first discusses the EU’s role in Antarctic governance and legal basis for the EU’s actions, with particular focus on the pending Joined Cases C-625/15 and C-659/16 at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Secondly, the paper analyses the negotiation process of the EU’s MPA proposals in the Southern Ocean within the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. Thirdly, it provides suggestions regarding the EU’s potential actions that might help achieve proposed Antarctic MPAs.

Contemporary Sunday Hunting Laws: Unnecessary Economic Roadblocks, Ripe For Repeal, Seamus Ovitt

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

In America, Sunday closing laws, laws restricting what activities individuals could engage in, date back to the early colonial period; those early laws, like much of North American jurisprudence, trace their roots to the laws that existed in England at the time. Historically, however, laws restricting the behavior of individuals, specifically on Sundays, date back thousands of years; initially, their language was tied directly to that of the Old Testament. As God declared:

[s]ix days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day [is] the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: [in it] thou shalt not …

Reframing The Sustainable Development Goals To Achieve Sustainability In The Anthropocene — A Systems Approach, Michelle Mei Ling Lim, Peter Sogaard Jorgensen, Carina Wyborn

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Griggs et al. (2013) redefine sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present while safeguarding Earth’s life-support system, on which the welfare of current and future generations depend.” We recommend this as the end goal that the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) should strive to achieve. Integration across the SDGs is less than what is required from a science perspective. Effective implementation of the SDGs will require States to attend to trade-offs and overlaps. We argue that continuous failure to address integration within the SDGs will jeopardize realization of this ultimate end goal. Therefore, we adopt …

Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos, Arielle Brender

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper aims to shed light on the dissonance caused by the superimposition of Dominant Human Systems on Natural Systems. I highlight the synthetic nature of Dominant Human Systems as egoic and linguistic phenomenon manufactured by a mere portion of the human population, which renders them inherently oppressive unto peoples and landscapes whose wisdom were barred from the design process. In pursuing a radical pragmatic approach to mending the simultaneous oppression and destruction of the human being and the earth, I highlight the necessity of minimizing entropic chaos caused by excess energy expenditure, an essential feature of systems that aim …

Community Orchards And Food Security In Appalachia, Ursula Ramsey

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Will China Build A Green Belt And Road In The Arctic, Nengye Liu

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article aims to shed light on two questions: what are the implications of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for Arctic governance? And what are the environmental implications of the BRI for the Arctic? The article first discusses the interaction between China's BRI and Arctic policy, examining the vision that China would like to use the BRI to shape Arctic governance. The article focuses on the environmental components of the BRI. It explores whether China's current regulatory regimes are sufficient to help ensure a green Belt and Road in the Arctic.

Militarization Of Conservation, Daniel Ryan Michel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The world is facing biological diversity extinction of its wildlife solely caused by humans. One of the leading causes of the extinction crisis is attributed to poaching and the illegal trade of wildlife products. In search of finding suitable methods to curb the crisis, a dichotomy of overarching solutions has arisen: those who have advocated for community-based natural resource management and those who support militarized conservation. The focus of this paper is to delineate which method is, if any, the most appropriate when combatting poaching and the illegal wildlife trade. Concentrating on elephants (both African and Asian) and the rhinoceros, …

A Review Of Contemporary U.S. Wild Horse And Burro Management Policies Relative To Desired Management Outcomes, Keith A. Norris

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Legally defined “wild” horse (Equus ferus caballus ) and burro (E. asinus ; WHB) populations in the United States exceed established population objectives. The context of WHB policy and management can be categorized into ecological, geographical, legal, social, and political perspectives. Ecologically, all WHB populations in the United States are considered feral animals, but certain populations are afforded protection and management by the federal Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (WFRHBA) of 1971. The current policy and management paradigms under which the WFRHBA is being implemented has contributed to rangeland degradation, poor WHB health, and impacts to native wildlife. This …

Framing Contemporary U.S. Wild Horse And Burro Management Processes In A Dynamic Ecological, Sociological, And Political Environment, J. Derek Scasta, Jacob D. Hennig, Jeffrey L. Beck

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (WFRHBA) of 1971 established all “unbranded or unclaimed” equids on U.S. public lands as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West.” Today, >72,000 feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) and burros (E . asinus ; WHB) live on western U.S. public rangelands. The number of WHBs exceeds the Bureau of Land Management’s maximum Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 26,715 by a factor of approximately 2.7 and has nearly doubled from 2007–2015. The AML was set to balance WHB numbers with rangeland health and support other uses such as wildlife habitat …

Managed Relocation: Reducing The Risk Of Biological Invasion, Edward E. Clark Jr., Dan Simberloff, Mark Schwartz, Brent Stewart, John Peter Thompson

National Invasive Species Council

Key Finding

Any organism that is relocated to a novel ecosystem has the potential to become an invasive species or spread “hitching” invasive species, or both. Managed Relocation is not congruent with Executive Order 13112 to the extent that it might facilitate “economic or environmental harm or harm to human, animal, or plant health.” Consequently, the actions by federal agencies or those entities supported by federal funding to engage in managed relocation need to be addressed in a manner consistent with EO 13751 Section 3(3), which compels Agencies to:

Refrain from authorizing, funding, or implementing actions that are likely to …

Early Career Experts Essential For Planetary Sustainability, Michelle Mei Ling Lim, Abigail J Lynch, Álvaro Fernandez-Llamazares, Et Al.

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Early-career experts can play a fundamental role in achieving planetary sustainability by bridging generational divides and developing novel solutions to complex problems. We argue that intergenerational partnerships and interdisciplinary collaboration among early-career experts will enable emerging sustainability leaders to contribute fully to a sustainable future. We review 16 international, interdisciplinary, and sustainability-focused early-career capacity building programs. We conclude that such programs are vital to developing sustainability leaders of the future and that decision-making for sustainability is likely to be best served by strong institutional cultures that promote intergenerational learning and involvement.

Access To Genetics Resources In Indonesia: Need Further Legislation?, Emmy Latifa

Oklahoma Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.