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Wilderness has proven to provide a wide range of ecosystem services (ES). Wilderness have been shown to play an important role in preserving biodiversity and providing ES, which is indispensable to both nature and people. It is essential to integrate ES quantification into wilderness conservation and management. This study presents a method that combines the wilderness mapping and ecological indicators to measure ES of wilderness. The method was applied in 155,800 km2 of Shandong province in China, across 23 types of land use. First, relative wilderness value (RWV) and ecosystem service capability (ESC) were quantified according to Weighted Linear Combination (WLC). Then, spatial autocorrelation between RWV and ESC were tested and analyzed using GeoDa software. Finally, the Redundancy analysis was used to investigate the primary drivers of RWV and ESC in different landscape types. The findings showed that, there were 27,263 km2 of wilderness in Shandong province, of which 6,294 km2 were high-quality wilderness. The region with the highest RWV was the Yellow River Delta (RWV = 0.82), and the area with the highest ESC was Laoshan Mountain (ESC = 0.76). Spatial autocorrelation analysis showed a positive correlation between RWV and ESC (Pearson’s r = 0.637), both of which had significant spatial relevance (Moran’s I = 0.589, P

In recent years, there has been a gradually growing emphasis on the protection of wilderness in Iceland. This is highlighted in the current preparation of a new national park in the Icelandic central highlands, which will become Europe’s largest national park. However, in order to protect the wilderness, a mutual understanding, both on what it is and where it is, is needed. This paper seeks to evaluate Icelanders’ perception and understanding of wilderness. Furthermore, to assess the value of wilderness for the Icelandic public and determine what lies behind the valuation, an online survey aided by maps from Google Earth and photographic scenarios of different landscapes was sent out to a nationally representative sample of Icelanders. The survey respondents mapped their perceived scope of Icelandic wilderness and furthermore chose between several landscape scenarios they thought most and least suited to their perception of wilderness. The results show that nearly all land located above the 300 m elevation line is perceived as wilderness, reflecting the country’s uninhabited highlands areas. The results also show that for the general public in Iceland it is chiefly an open and vast landscape, uninhabited areas, and the absence of anthropogenic features that bestow an area with the status of wilderness. The results demonstrate that any sign of anthropogenic interference, aside from archaeological remains, decrease Icelanders’ perception of wilderness. Moreover, despite being mostly categorized as urbanists or neutralists according to the purism scale, the majority of Icelanders still consider services, such as petrol stations, hotels, shops, restaurants, and diverse leisure services, along with energy production, to negatively impact the value of wilderness. Most Icelanders thus seem to regard wilderness as a valuable asset from the economic, cultural, and environmental perspectives, which underscores its uniqueness.

In this paper I consider whether Mars and its associated environments qualify as wilderness for, if they do, then reasons pertaining to wilderness value and wilderness protection thereby extend beyond Earth. Through a critique, modification, and subsequent application of Mark Woods's (2017) wilderness ethic, conceiving of wilderness as an untrammeled, significant location of the value-adding properties of being natural, wild, and free, I argue that Mars, in qualifying as wilderness, ought to be protected as such. In response to this conclusion, I then consider a planetary park proposal put forth by Charles S. Cockell and Gerda Horneck (2004, 2006). Finding their proposal insufficient, I propose further parks and conditions for drawing boundaries, as well as explicate ways in which the preservation of wilderness values on Mars may constrain the construction of future settlements or scientific research outposts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• RWV have the potential to quantify urban ecosystem service capability (ESC) • In Shandong province, there is a significant spatial correlation between RWV and ESC. • PD is a key wilderness indicator that explains changes in RWV and ESC. • CS, HQ, and RD are key indicators in high-quality wilderness. Wilderness has proven to provide a wide range of ecosystem services (ES). Wilderness have been shown to play an important role in preserving biodiversity and providing ES, which is indispensable to both nature and people. It is essential to integrate ES quantification into wilderness conservation and management. This study presents a method that combines the wilderness mapping and ecological indicators to measure ES of wilderness. The method was applied in 155,800 km2 of Shandong province in China, across 23 types of land use. First, relative wilderness value (RWV) and ecosystem service capability (ESC) were quantified according to Weighted Linear Combination (WLC). Then, spatial autocorrelation between RWV and ESC were tested and analyzed using GeoDa software. Finally, the Redundancy analysis was used to investigate the primary drivers of RWV and ESC in different landscape types. The findings showed that, there were 27,263 km2 of wilderness in Shandong province, of which 6,294 km2 were high-quality wilderness. The region with the highest RWV was the Yellow River Delta (RWV = 0.82), and the area with the highest ESC was Laoshan Mountain (ESC = 0.76). Spatial autocorrelation analysis showed a positive correlation between RWV and ESC (Pearson's r = 0.637), both of which had significant spatial relevance (Moran's I = 0.589, P < 0.005). The RWV and ESC high-high clusters were found to cover 5,223 km2 of high-quality wilderness areas. Regression analysis (R2 = 0.744) showed that RWV can quantify ESC of urban area reliably. Population density (Explaining 33.9 %-49.3 %) was found to be a key indicator of RWV and ESC changes through the Redundancy analysis. In addition, we discussed key drivers of RWV and ESC of high-quality wilderness according to different landscape types. This approach can be used and adopted to support planning decisions dealing with wilderness conservation and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With urbanization accelerating, preserving and utilizing urban wilderness is crucial for sustainable development. This study focuses on Shenzhen, China, developing a framework to identify and manage urban novel wilderness areas. Using the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) method, MaxEnt model, and Geoda for spatial autocorrelation, it assesses wilderness value and recreational potential. High-value wilderness areas cover 693.14 km2, while recreational potential areas cover 149.26 km2. Key factors influencing these areas include water proximity, wildlife activities, residential density, and camping site accessibility. The study proposes strategies to integrate ecological and recreational values into urban planning and management.

Little is known about the values immigrant groups or U.S.-born racial and ethnic minorities attribute to wilderness. However, the views of these groups are important to wilderness preservation because of increasing diversity along ethnic, cultural, and racial lines in the United States. We examine the proposition that wilderness is a social construction (valued primarily by U.S.-born Whites) by comparing wilderness values for immigrants and U.S.-born minority respondents to Whites. Results from 10 wilderness value items show immigrants are significantly less likely to indicate on-site use value. Among U.S.-born racial/ethnic groups, Black respondents were least likely to indicate values associated with visitation and off-site use but as likely as Whites to indicate a value for continued existence of wilderness. U.S.-born Asians and Latinos were also less likely than Whites to indicate values relating to wilderness on-site use. Implications of findings for wilderness as social construction are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, the Philippines has established numerous protected areas aimed at preserving regions with distinct biological and ecological characteristics. However, transitioning towards a more comprehensive approach to managing these protected areas, one that effectively conserves biodiversity while also supporting the welfare of local communities, remains a formidable task. Understanding the sources of the goods and services upon which communities rely, whether directly or indirectly, and their perceptions of ecosystem services (ESs) is a crucial aspect that can inform decision-making for both protected area managers and policymakers. This research specifically examines the mapping of landscape values as perceived by local communities within Malampaya Sound Protected Landscape and Seascape (MSPLS) in the Philippines. Using survey questionnaires administered to 114 randomly selected participants, the study identifies the ESs within MSPLS and maps the associated landscape values. The respondents were tasked with assigning values to the ESs using a typology of 14 landscape values, and their willingness to pay (WTP) to enhance the ESs within MSPLS was also investigated. Analysis of socio-demographic data, the identified ESs, and the perceived landscape values was conducted to uncover significant relationships between the variables. Our findings reveal that the respondents prioritize provisioning services, particularly fisheries, agriculture, and agroforestry. Regarding landscape value preferences, economic value is most prominently perceived (37.4%), followed by subsistence value (30.8%) and life-sustaining value (6.8%). This study further unveils the socio-economic factors influencing the ranking of ESs and trends in WTP for ES improvements in Malampaya. Additionally, a potential payment for ecosystem services scheme in MSPLS is estimated at PHP 532,000, approximately USD 10,600. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research advances the understanding of the location of perceived landscape values through a statistically based approach to spatial analysis of value densities. Survey data were obtained from a sample of people living in and using the Murray River region, Australia, where declining environmental quality prompted a reevaluation of its conservation status. When densities of 12 perceived landscape values were mapped using geographic information systems (GIS), valued places clustered along the entire river bank and in associated National/State Parks and reserves. While simple density mapping revealed high value densities in various locations, it did not indicate what density of a landscape value could be regarded as a statistically significant hotspot or distinguish whether overlapping areas of high density for different values indicate identical or adjacent locations. A spatial statistic Getis–Ord Gi* was used to indicate statistically significant spatial clusters of high value densities or “hotspots”. Of 251 hotspots, 40% were for single non-use values, primarily spiritual, therapeutic or intrinsic. Four hotspots had 11 landscape values. Two, lacking economic value, were located in ecologically important river red gum forests and two, lacking wilderness value, were near the major towns of Echuca-Moama and Albury-Wodonga. Hotspots for eight values showed statistically significant associations with another value. There were high associations between learning and heritage values while economic and biological diversity values showed moderate associations with several other direct and indirect use values. This approach may improve confidence in the interpretation of spatial analysis of landscape values by enhancing understanding of value relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1998 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty is a milestone for environmental planning on the continent. A overview is given of events in the 30 years following the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, before an examination of the Protocol's requirement for parties "to identify within a systematic environmental- geographical framework … areas of outstanding aesthetic and wilderness value". It is concluded that the phrase 'wilderness and aesthetic value' links two disparate concepts, best handled by separation. Almost all of the Antarctic should be considered a wilderness, with the only exceptions being areas of permanent habitation, or areas showing permanent evidence of present or past human habitation. The phrase 'aesthetic value' should be seen as part of a wider process - landscape character assessment - a procedure unfamiliar to most in the Antarctic community. These approaches should be considered as practical routes to meet the Protocol's requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Holocene palaeoenvironmental history from the World Heritage Area of southwest Tasmania is reconstructed using an 8000-year palynological record from Lake Fidler, a small meromictic lake adjacent to the lower reaches of the Gordon River. The sequence indicates that cool temperate rainforest has remained dominant in the region for at least the last 8000 years, confirming the wilderness value of this important conservation area. There is little evidence for fire in the region throughout this period and no discernible evidence for anthropogenic impact until approximately 1815 when small-scale convict logging activities commenced along the Gordon River. The record demonstrates the long-term presence of stands of one of the world’s oldest living trees, Huon pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii), with significant increases in this species in the mid- to late Holocene. This expansion is evident in several Tasmanian records and is associated with declines in other important Tasmanian plant species. It is proposed that it represents a regional phenomenon possibly related to climate change. Examination of the climate signal from other Australian Holocene pollen records provides some support for this interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the geology of a small inland wetland in Hampton, Connecticut to determine its postglacial history and to assess the severity of human impact at this remote wooded site. Using stratigraphic evidence, we dernonstrate that the present wetland was created when sediment pollution from a 19th-century railroad filled a preexisting artificial reservoir, and that the prehistoric wetland was a narrow drainage swale along Hampton Brook. This same, severely impacted wetland was interpreted by the Pulitzer Prize-winning naturalist Edwin Way Teale as a beautiful wilderness area of particular interest. These conflicting perceptions indicate that artificial wetlands can be naturally mitigated in less than a century of healing, even in the absence of deliberate management. We also point out that the 'wilderness' value of the Teale wetland was in the eye of the beholder and that unseen human impacts may have improved the aesthetic experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Jeju Gotjawal Provincial Park provides visitors with opportunities for outdoor recreation and informs visitors of the environmental significance of the park's ecosystem. This study attempted to examine how the perceived restorativeness of park visitors influenced their place attachment. In addition, the moderating effect of environmental sensitivity on the hypothesized relationship was explored. Methods: Using the purposive sampling method, 408 surveys were collected at Jeju Gotjawal Provincial Park. The hypotheses were tested by confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis, and invariance tests using Lisrel 8.70. Results: The results indicated that perceived restorativeness had a positive influence on place attachment (place identity and place dependence). Further, the hypothesized relationship was stronger for the visitors with higher environmental sensitivity, compared to those with weaker environmental sensitivity. Conclusion: Park managers should consider ways to increase the perceived restorativeness of visitors as they experience the natural environment at the park. Also, since environmental sensitivity played an important role in shaping the perceived restorativeness-place attachment relationship, there is a need for educational programs that can inform visitors of the significance of the natural environment to increase their affection for nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Protection of Antarctica's biodiversity and ecosystem values is enshrined in the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, which provides for the designation of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) to areas with outstanding values. Concern has been raised that existing ASPAs fail to prioritize areas to maximize the likelihood of ensuring the long-term conservation of Antarctic ecosystems and biodiversity. The absence of systematic and representative protection is particularly acute for inland aquatic ecosystems, which support a disproportionate amount of inland biodiversity. This paper promotes the case for overt inclusion of inland waters as a critical component of a representative protected area framework for Antarctica, thereby addressing their current underrepresentation. We set out a structured approach to enable the selection of representative freshwater systems for inclusion in the ASPA framework that, with modification, could also be applied across other Antarctic habitats. We acknowledge an overall lack of information on the biogeography of inland aquatic diversity and recommend increased use of remote data collection along with classification tools to mitigate this, as well as the need for the consideration of catchment-scale processes. Changes that accompany contemporary and anticipated climate change make the need for the conservation of representative biodiversity increasingly urgent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing popularity of nature-based tourism means that the tourism industry is increasingly utilizing wilderness areas to provide visitor experiences. However, tourism activities negatively impact wilderness quality. Tourism service providers play an important role in shaping these impacts. Therefore, this study investigates their preferences regarding wilderness use and development. It focuses on the Icelandic Central Highlands, which contain some of Europe's largest wildernesses and are an important venue for tourism. The relationship between participants' preferences and environmental attitudes is also investigated, providing insights into the reasoning behind these preferences. For this study an online questionnaire was distributed among day tour providers and travel agencies operating in Iceland. The results revealed that the attitudes of over 87% of the participants were pro-environmental. Accordingly, most tourism service providers preferred basic tourism infrastructure in the Central Highlands, and they did not support further energy or road developments. However, their attitudes toward the Central Highlands National Park proposal were divergent despite the positive relationship with environmental attitudes. Concerns about regulations and access restrictions to the area played an important role in shaping the attitudes toward the national park proposal, demonstrating the importance of considering tourism stakeholders' interests for ensuring their support for wilderness conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines strategies by the Irish state to phase out the extraction and burning of peat as a carbon fuel source in relation to the growing energy demands of data centres. One of the major proposals within the 'just transition' for post-extractive peat boglands is to incentivise the construction of data centres and associated energy infrastructures alongside bog reclamation projects to encourage carbon sequestration. These entangled plans for data, energy and carbon 'storage', driven by large-scale and transformative relations to boglands, inherit colonial ways of valuing bogs as 'wastelands' that must be put to work for industrial capital. We argue that through paired digital and green industrial strategies, the transformative energy cultures and frontiers of capital continue to expand beyond the apparent sites of data and energy infrastructural development, penetrating deeper into the earth and its atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporations are failing to account for their impact on biodiversity despite accelerating extinctions. The value of biodiversity to business can be explained by an environmental philosophy spectrum, where perspectives range from anthropocentric (humans are prioritised) to ecocentric (all life is equal), made up of paradigms and values linked to biodiversity protection. We explore the biodiversity values conveyed by the 40 largest corporations responding to the CDP Forest Questionnaire using 28 specific yes/no criteria aligned with the environmental philosophy spectrum. Strong anthropocentric perspectives focused on economic contribution dominated, conveying a desire to protect company reputation, thereby legitimising operations. Corporations seemingly only protect biodiversity that hold material benefits for humans. Some biocentric/ecocentric perspectives were conveyed in terms of extinction risk and sometimes intrinsic value. This could be a response to the accelerating global biodiversity crisis, offering hope corporations can protect all forms of biodiversity and could evidence ecocentric leadership informing business strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest management typically concentrates on biophysical phenomena, while social dimensions are relatively neglected in China. This manuscript aims to develop a typology of forest landscapes based on the individual perception in a cultural context of China with a random sample of 210 residents by utilizing the landscape image sketching technique. The results demonstrated that the typology of forest landscapes could be classified into 'a recreational space,' 'an idealized homeland,' 'an untouched forest,' and 'a utopian forest.' These types of forest landscapes suggest new ways of working with the public to achieve management goals of protecting and improving forest education and experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No analysis of the extent to which the type locality criterion is being met can be undertaken without an inventory of species from the region; information on taxonomic changes owing to synonymy (merging of species names based on research) and removals from synonymy; and inclusion of new species and their type localities as a result of species discovery via new surveys or the outcomes of new methods, such as molecular systematics (e.g., Stevens et al., 2021). Locality verification will be particularly important for type localities with coordinates that are just outside the boundaries of the ASPAs (78 localities in 28 ASPAs, Appendix S4), to confirm that the species habitat is represented in the protected area. Keywords: biodiversity; evidence-based decision-making; nomenclature; systematic conservation planning; type localities; biodiversidad; localidades tipo; planeación sistemática de la conservación; nomenclatura; toma de decisiones basada en evidencias EN biodiversity evidence-based decision-making nomenclature systematic conservation planning type localities biodiversidad localidades tipo planeación sistemática de la conservación nomenclatura toma de decisiones basada en evidencias 1 10 10 08/01/22 20220801 NES 220801 INTRODUCTION The impacts of human activities on the Antarctic environment, particularly on its spatially restricted ice-free areas where most terrestrial biodiversity is located, have long been a conservation concern. Type localities representation in protected areas We overlaid the Antarctic type locality data onto spatial polygons of the current ASPA network to examine the number and distribution of localities captured in protected areas and to provide sites for new candidate ASPAs to conserve the type localities that remain unprotected. [Extracted from the article]

The Antarctic Treaty System provides the corpus of law that governs the obligations of its Parties to protect and conserve the Antarctic environment. The System consists principally of the Antarctic Treaty (the Treaty), the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CAMLR Convention), and the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Environmental Protocol). The Antarctic Treaty establishes the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting – the body that makes decisions under the provisions of the Treaty and Environmental Protocol. The CAMLR Convention establishes the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) – its decision-making body. Together, these two international bodies are responsible for the modern-day conservation and environmental management regimes for Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. This paper looks at the scope of law developed under the Antarctic Treaty System and its evolution; and at the interaction between the different components of the Antarctic Treaty System. The paper also forecasts some of the future challenges to conservation and environmental protection in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article is about the politics of wildlife management in Botswana. The existing literature on the origins of wildlife conservation in Africa has portrayed the formation of protected areas as an imposition of colonial state authorities. Preservationist policies are usually cast as the product of European conservationist ideas, and related notions of the ‘wilderness’ value of African landscapes. Many recent studies have emphasized the negative effects of such ideas and policies in a colonial context: they have drawn attention to the way in which they devalued local African ideas, undermined local management strategies, and criminalized access to important economic and cultural resources. The case discussed here, however, suggests that this interpretation needs closer scrutiny: the meaning and impact of global ideas and policies of wildlife conservation depends on how they are localized in particular places. The key actors in the foundation of Botswana''s Okavango/Moremi National Park in the 1960s were not state officials but local BaTawana chiefs and a network of hunters and adventurers turned conservationists. The initiative was conceived as a means of protecting wildlife from the depredations of illegal South African hunting parties and ensuring future local use, and was initially opposed by the colonial state. The article discusses why Okavango/Moremi was an exception, and why the initial coalition of African and local settler interests came to see preservationist policies as being in their interest. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Anthropocene emerges as a distinct narrative in Global Environmental Change (GEC) discourse that intertwines theories of geological significance with reflections on humanity and a heightened sense of urgency. As the Anthropocene integrates into governance lexicon, it simultaneously interrupts previously adhered to narratives and the institutional logic which follow. This article analyzes institutionalization of the Anthropocene in UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB). Through a discourse-institutional approach, I find an evolution of GEC discourse over the 50-year history of MAB guidance documents. The Anthropocene integrates into MAB's GEC discourse as a new philosophy, catalyzed by climate projections, but develops alongside historically dominant narratives of conservation and sustainable development. Significant cross-cutting themes between the three narratives are disentangled to provide an empirical understanding of the Anthropocene with three conclusions to support future research: (1) institutionalization of a narrative is not a clear-cut process; (2) the Anthropocene communicates introspection, urgency, and uncertainty in light of rapid ecological changes; and (3) the Anthropocene transforms MAB's philosophy but sustainable development continues to steer its guidance, revealing a gap between philosophy and practice as the Anthropocene is institutionalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the climate crisis intensifies, there is growing interest in policies that might supplement emissions reduction and adaptation, such as carbon removal systems and solar radiation modification. One newly prominent class of proposed interventions, which we call "radical adaptation," would aim to stabilize Antarctic ice sheets, the loss of which threatens significant sea-level rise worldwide. Ice-sheet stabilization does not fit neatly within the conventional taxonomy of climate responses. Like adaptation, it would target the consequences of climate change, not the causes. But it would do so through spatially concentrated, high-leverage developments to reduce harms worldwide, rather than by separate actions in thousands of threatened coastal regions. Furthermore, these interventions would have to be researched, assessed, and executed in the unique geopolitical, legal, and administrative context of Antarctica. This Article examines how radical adaptation might interact with the governance and geopolitics of the Antarctic Treaty System. It argues that early research into ice-sheet stabilization could readily proceed under the present system. Operational deployment would require substantial governance changes, but these may be less extreme than they initially appear and may even benefit Antarctic governance more broadly. Researching and developing ice-sheet stabilization could provide an avenue to sustain the System's core values of peace, science, and environmental protection, while also strengthening its global legitimacy. The governance challenges under the Antarctic Treaty System are substantial, but they are ultimately surmountable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I argue that the value attributed to coral reefs drives the characterisation of evidence for their regeneration or degradation. I observe that regeneration and degradation depend on an understanding of what an ecosystem looks like when undegraded (a baseline), and that many mutually exclusive baselines can be given for any single case. Consequently, facts about ecological processes are insufficient to usefully and non-arbitrarily characterise changes to ecosystems. By examining how baselines and the value of reefs interact in coral and algal reef examples, I argue that considering the value of an ecosystem is a necessity when describing processes like regeneration and degradation. This connects value as studied in socio-ecological and economic research with values as discussed in the philosophy of science literature. It also explains why such a broad range of processes may be considered regenerative, including those which introduce significant novelty, as well as pointing towards ways to mediate related debates, such as those surrounding novel and 'pristine' ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alberta’s history with coal development goes back to 1874, but 21st century social, economic and environmental factors demonstrate that it’s not in the public interest to pursue coal mining on the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains. This paper uses a multiple account benefit-cost analysis to compare the positives and negatives of a hypothetical coal mine in the eastern foothills of the Rockies. We provide estimates of the economic, social and environmental impacts, and evaluate how coal mining affects different stakeholders. The economic benefits — $440 million in undiscounted incremental tax revenues and $35 million in undiscounted incremental employment earnings — are overshadowed by the costs arising from the displacement of ranching, tourism and the negative environmental effects on water, vegetation, air and wildlife. Compounding these effects is the non-zero probability that the Alberta government will pick up the tab for reclamation costs, and the adverse social impacts on local communities and on Indigenous Peoples’ rights and interests. Therefore, any new coal mine development is unlikely to provide the province with a net benefit. Following on the heels of the federal government’s rejection of the Grassy Mountain coal project in southwestern Alberta, the provincial government should consider banning coal mining in the Eastern Slopes. Any future coal development policy should include a public-interest test that examines both monetary and non-monetary impacts. This paper finds an estimated undiscounted profit before taxes and royalties of $511 million to the mine developer. Discounting that value by a rate of eight per cent, which would approximate the opportunity cost of investors’ capital, shows coal mines are at best a break-even proposition from a private perspective. Only under optimistic price and activity assumptions does the mine earn a net profit. Tax revenues would be marginal and additional labour income would accrue to only a few individuals. These benefits would be vastly outweighed by the adverse effects on a much greater population, including Indigenous Peoples. Further, the Eastern Slopes already suffer the effects of current forestry, oil and gas, ranching, road development and recreational activities. Water quality and habitat for such wildlife as the Westslope cutthroat trout would be significantly compromised. With coal markets in a long-term decline due to coal’s impact on climate change and the focus on transitioning to alternative energy sources, new coal mine projects in Alberta would be counter-productive in many ways. The comparatively small economic benefits derived from a new coal mine could not possibly justify the large and possibly irreversible damage done to the environment, local communities and to the rights and interests of Indigenous Peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way we value the environment affects how we treat it. While public awareness of human impacts on the ocean is increasing, industrial activities in the deep sea are accelerating rapidly and out of sight.The underlying values we hold for the environment were increasingly recognised as an important factor in environmental decision‐making, and it was thus important to evaluate public values towards deep‐sea environments.Here, we explored people's care for the deep sea and related this to the perceived risks of seafloor mining by comparing the deep sea to three other remote environments: Antarctica, remote terrestrial environments and the Moon.We conducted an online survey to investigate symbolic values, which we define as the emotions, moods and meanings an environment evokes, as an element affecting people's care for the environment. In addition, we investigated the respondent's knowledge, worldviews and the perceived environmental and societal risk of mining in these four environments.We found that symbolic values shape people's environmental care and that the overall symbolic value attributed to each of the environments differs.People perceived it likely that mining will take place in the deep sea, and the majority of respondents (81%) stated to care a lot or very much about human activities harming the deep sea.In comparison to the other remote environments, in a general sense people cared less about the deep sea, and their self‐assessed knowledge of the deep sea was lower.These results suggest that it was fundamental to account for the underlying values and emotions towards the environment when evaluating the risks of human activities in remote settings.Our results further highlighted the need to improve public understanding and connection with the deep sea and its role within wider society to engender deep‐sea stewardship. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes that including the Khoisan will produce a more inclusive Blue Economy in South Africa. Presently, economistic perspectives of the ocean, low regard for knowledge pluralism and historical stereotyping of Khoisan peoples, risk their further exclusion from ocean management in South Africa. Drawing on secondary data on Khoisan history and ethnography in South Africa, the article indicates the potential contribution of the Khoisan to South Africa's Blue Economy, specifically, their contribution to a holistic and integrated environmental ethos. The authors also argue that South Africa is headed in the right direction by being a signatory to key UN conventions on heritage and the rights of indigenous peoples. However, government has yet to realize its commitments to the inclusion of the Khoisan in its ocean management efforts. The discussion has implications beyond South Africa, as it seeks to interrogate the place of First Peoples in global ocean management regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wilderness is vanishing. Despite explicit legislative protection of wilderness values for over half a century, rapid environmental degradation worldwide in recent decades has severely diminished the extent and quality of terrestrial and marine wilderness to the point where we must reassess the fundamental premises and future of wilderness law. With increased human demands on the natural world, and with climate breakdown looming, the very notion of "wilderness" itself may one day be considered meaningless or irrelevant. We examine legal developments in the United States, Australia, and Europe to critically evaluate the state of wilderness law. In this Anthropocene era, when humans control so much of Earth's resources, we examine whether the law should aim for a "purist" approach, in which wilderness areas are simply left untouched, or a "pragmatic"' approach, in which wilderness is actively managed to maintain its cherished values in the face of mounting adversity. A variety of intermediary positions are conceivable between these endpoints, and the best approach to wilderness management will likely depend on several considerations including who or what "wilderness" is meant to serve, the geographic and biological features of the landscape, environmental threats the area faces, the presence of Indigenous or other local communities, and the values that the guiding law means to serve. We offer recommendations to improve wilderness law to navigate the Anthropocene. We suggest proceeding with care and humility, staying as close to purism as possible, while acknowledging that sometimes we must take a pragmatic approach and intervene to preserve the wilderness qualities our laws are designed to protect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex human societies are best understood as ecologies whose members exist in the realm of culture, broadly considered. When this connection is made, concepts fundamental to biological ecological science will be seen to have equivalents in human societies. However, there is a challenging disconnection between the two, because cultural ecologies change more rapidly than biological ecologies, but depend on them for their survival. This permanent issue within human, and some animal, societies is made more intractable by capitalism. Addressing it requires that market interactions with natural ecologies subordinate profit to sustainability. This paper closes with examples of such institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent assessments of Earth's dwindling wilderness have emphasized that Antarctica is a crucial wilderness in need of protection1,2. Yet human impacts on the continent are widespread3–5, the extent of its wilderness unquantified2 and the importance thereof for biodiversity conservation unknown. Here we assemble a comprehensive record of human activity (approximately 2.7 million records, spanning 200 years) and use it to quantify the extent of Antarctica's wilderness and its representation of biodiversity. We show that 99.6% of the continent's area can still be considered wilderness, but this area captures few biodiversity features. Pristine areas, free from human interference, cover a much smaller area (less than 32% of Antarctica) and are declining as human activity escalates6. Urgent expansion of Antarctica's network of specially protected areas7 can both reverse this trend and secure the continent's biodiversity8–10. Historical records reveal that although 99.6% of Antarctica is defined as wilderness, areas undisturbed by humans comprise less than 32%, largely in regions of low biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cover description: Wolves (Canis lupus) on the island of Isle Royale, Michigan USA. Inbreeding depression, manifest as congenital bone deformities in the vertebral column, is present in Isle Royale wolves. One conservation policy choice in response to inbreeding depression is genetic rescue. Such a decision could involve at least four values: (1) a wilderness value whose virtue is non-interference; (2) the value of healthy populations and ecosystems; (3) the value of gaining more scientific knowledge about genetic rescue; and (4) an animal welfare value of possibly reducing the chance that future Isle Royale wolves experience pain associated with the observed bone deformities. We apply a novel empirical conservation ethics approach to explore: (1) ethical paradigms invoked in justifying policy choices; (2) objects of moral relevance related to choices; and (3) ascriptions of responsibility for action. The study published on pages 394-401 may help position the conservation community to better resolve and diffuse key human dimensions of conservation problems. Photo courtesy of John and Leah Vucetich. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Wilderness Act characterizes wilderness as "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man..." How crucial to the idea of wilderness is its location on our home planet? If an extraterrestrial community of life were discovered, it would certainly be untrammeled by man. Does it make sense to extend the idea of wilderness to encompass other planets and their potential ecosystems? Many values are associated with wilderness, supporting arguments for the need to preserve or protect it. Some arguments seem readily applicable to extraterrestrial habitats, while others may be specific to Earth. I offer an overview of values attributed to wilderness, and consider the extent to which these values may or may not apply beyond the Earth. Following Rolston's claim that nature is not only of value, but a source of values, extraterrestrial wildernesses can be esteemed as instances of a cosmic evolutionary process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The town of Montespertoli (Florence, Italy) is located in the Valdelsa basin, on a NW-SE-oriented ridge, which reaches the maximum altitude of 260 m a.s.l. The inhabited centre develops on Plio-Pleistocene continental, transitional and marine deposits. The study area is affected by a series of gravitational movements mainly induced by the complex geological setting, consisting in the interbedding of pebbly, sandy, silty and clayey deposits. Composite and complex landslides, flows and rotational and translational slides are the salient features of Montespertoli slopes. A detailed 1:10,000 scale geomorphological map has been produced based on field survey analysis coupled with remote multitemporal photointerpretation. Peculiarities and evolution of the main landslides affecting the proposed geosite of Volano have been described, since this area provides wonderful didactic examples of gravitational movements. The geomorphological itinerary is developed not only through the main streets of the town, from east to west, but also along the roads that lead to farms, castles and churches scattered in the neighbouring slopes with the intent of creating a path that combines geology, culture and knowledge of the territory. The aim of this work is to show the geomorphological evidences related to different types of gravitational movements, both actual and ancient, to increase the sensitivity and respect towards the landscape and lay the foundations for a critical analysis of the territory, encouraging the didactic purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, renewed interest on sites of geological interest, both in the nature conservation and tourism sectors, has been registered, as well as an interest in educational activities based on Earth Science topics. The geological knowledge is fundamental also in understanding the assessment and mitigation of natural risk. Multicultural trails, natural resources valorization, and educational activities based on concepts of Earth Science are increasingly approached, requested, and offered. Rich literature and data related to the geoheritage study, promotion, exploitation, and conservation are available, as well as guidelines for inventorying and managing it. In this work, a proposal on multicultural and multilevel management of geomorphosites is presented. The Vallo di Diano intermontane basin (Campania, Italy), the Val d'Agri intermontane basin, and the ghost town of Campomaggiore Vecchio (Basilicata, Italy) are here presented as case studies. The proposal envisages the creation of an incremental and updatable database; it is shown as mainly referred to educational target, but it can be exported to touristic and/or territorial management targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to formulate a conceptual framework for integrating landscape value assessment with planning. Concepts of landscape value, methodological approaches and their possible use for spatial planning are discussed by critically reviewing interdisciplinary literature on the subject. The author analyses 47 papers presenting landscape value assessments. The reviewed research was undertaken in 24 countries in the years 1986–2016. Research papers are analysed in terms of a number of values, calculation methods and use of expert opinion/public participation or combined as well as theoretical frameworks. Methods of enhancing spatial planning and sustainable land management by means of landscape evaluation based on natural, cultural and aesthetic values are critically reviewed as well. Finally, a conceptual framework, that highlights the approach to planning based on landscape value assessment is presented. The framework forms the basis for further interdisciplinary research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conceptualises astro-tourism as a nature-based tourism phenomenon and illustrates its positioning as a special-interest tourism (SIT) field using a phenomenological approach. In the process, this baseline research study contributes to this relatively new tourism field's foundational research aspects, such as developing a definition and, examining its articulation with destination image. It finds that astro-tourism is based on the interest of tourists in sky-related activities such as dark sky observation and astrophotography, most often in a nature-based context. The findings can be utilised to develop astro-tourism as a new medium in conceptualising tourism destination image by combining destination earth features as well as sky features. Targeting sky features of a destination combined with the earth facilities to attract tourists is one of the new opportunities to deliver unique tourism products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]