Showing items 1 - 20 of 433

Shifting from Development to Empowerment Through Eco-Creative Knowledge Transmission

- McConnachie, Boudina E, Porri, Francesca, Wynberg, Rachel

  • Authors: McConnachie, Boudina E , Porri, Francesca , Wynberg, Rachel
  • Date: 2025
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/480246 , vital:78410 , ISBN 9781003289838 , https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003289838
  • Description: Conventional definitions of development can be linked to socio-economic and cultural impositions of the Global North on developing societies. These development frameworks were inherited from the colonial system, which devalued local ways of knowing, being, and developing and continues to do so. Through a transdisciplinary or Boundary Crossing environmental case study that interrogates the use of heritage skills and knowledge for nature-based solutions relating to coastal shore regeneration, this chapter reflects on experiences of knowledge co-creation in the rural Eastern Cape Province setting of South Africa. Through the lens of African Musical Arts, which includes song and dance, storytelling, heritage skills, soundscapes, and more, this research seeks to shift the project perceptions of the scientists, engaged scholars, pracademics, practitioners and community researchers involved, from simple to multi-dimensional viewpoints. Using Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCEs) as catalysts, our goal is to emancipate transmission of knowledge from a developmental to an empowerment framework. Using the diverse disciplinary backgrounds of the authors, this chapter allows for a holistic examination of the development of an Audio Postcards exhibition, while interrogating the project centred on African theories, ecologies, and knowledge development.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2025

1stWeEat! The story of a food gardening intervention in Makhanda’s ECD centres

- Olvitt, Lausanne L, Green, Nicola, Ntlabezo, Sisesakhe

  • Authors: Olvitt, Lausanne L , Green, Nicola , Ntlabezo, Sisesakhe
  • Date: 2024
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/401198 , vital:69713 , ISBN 978-0-7961-2949-9 , DOI http://doi.org/10.21504/10962/401198
  • Description: No abstract yet
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2024

A New Social Contract Inclusive of Informal Workers

- Chen, Martha A, Plagerson, Sophie, Alfers, Laura C

  • Authors: Chen, Martha A , Plagerson, Sophie , Alfers, Laura C
  • Date: 2024
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478172 , vital:78161 , ISBN 9780198887041 , 10.1093/oso/9780198887041.001.0001
  • Description: When countries experience fundamental changes to their economy and society, there is often a call for a new social contract—a new bargain—between the state, capital, society, and labour.¹ The public health and economic crises brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the inequality between, and within, countries around the world. It has also exposed that, in many countries, the social contracts of the mid-twentieth century were never firmly in place and, in others, have broken down or are in serious crisis: both the social contracts between states and society (e.g. the welfare state) and between capital and labour (e.g. minimum-wage and collective-bargaining agreements).
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2024

Sound matters: Podcasting as a learning and teaching intervention to enhance reading and writing skills

- McConnachie, Boudina E, Ntshakaza, Yamkela, McCarthy, Holly, Mathebula, Praise, Mavuso, Bonelela, Makamure, Tinayeshe

  • Authors: McConnachie, Boudina E , Ntshakaza, Yamkela , McCarthy, Holly , Mathebula, Praise , Mavuso, Bonelela , Makamure, Tinayeshe
  • Date: 2024
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/480268 , vital:78412 , ISBN 9781991260468 , https://doi.org/10.52779/9781991260468
  • Description: In this chapter, a group of student-researchers and their lecturer discuss their findings relating to a podcasting intervention which took place in an Ethnomusicology third- and fourth-year class at Rhodes University in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, South Africa. As part of a larger project, in which the class explored podcasting in general, they experimented with the medium in order to ascertain in what role it could be used as a learning and teaching aid in tertiary pedagogy. Audio recordings of the lecturer discussing journal articles relating to the module were sent to students. They listened to and used them in different scenarios, orchestrated to research their effectiveness in diverse learning and teaching situations. Using a qualitative case study research design methodology, the student researchers and their lecturer present these findings through a participatory lens. They analyse the podcasts’ efficacy and limitations from various perspectives through coding responses. Finally, they discuss future usage of the medium as a way to enhance students’ understanding of academic readings.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2024

South Africa’s Informal Economy and COVID-19. COVID-19 and the Informal Economy

- Rogan, Michael, Skinner, Catherine

  • Authors: Rogan, Michael , Skinner, Catherine
  • Date: 2024
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478007 , vital:78146 , ISBN 9780198887041 , 10.1093/oso/9780198887041.001.0001
  • Description: Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been recognized that informal workers would be among the most severely affected (ILO 2020). This is a departure from the past, where it has often been assumed that the informal sector absorbs jobs which have been lost in the formal sector due to greater flexibility in the ability to respond to downturns and to make adjustments at the intensive margins (Ohnsorge and Yu 2021; Verick 2010). However, not only is the current crisis fairly unique in the way it has impacted on labour markets in particular and economies in general, but also the effects of the crisis have been experienced most acutely in the sectors of the labour market in which women, young people, and informalworkersaremostheavilyconcentrated.Togetherwithawell-documented gendered component to the crisis (Alon et al. 2020), this has meant that informal economies in middle- and low-income countries have been left exposed and with few resources to recover. The fact that the majority of employment in these economies is informal (ILO 2018; Ohnsorge and Yu 2021) then translates into a vicious cycle of reduced demandandlimitedfiscalspacetostimulatetheeconomy (Mhlana et al. 2023).
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2024

The Price of Simplicity: Skewed and Regressive Taxation in Accra’s Informal Sector

- Anyidoho, Nana A, Gallien, Max, Rogan, Michael, Van den Boogaard, Vanessa

  • Authors: Anyidoho, Nana A , Gallien, Max , Rogan, Michael , Van den Boogaard, Vanessa
  • Date: 2024
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478073 , vital:78152 , ISBN , DOI: 10.19088/ICTD.2024.044
  • Description: International and domestic policymakers have long assumed that informal economies represent an ‘untapped goldmine’ for government coffers. While recent research has highlighted that many informal businesses do pay a range of formal and informal taxes, there has, to date, been little systematic account of their tax burdens. Using a novel dataset of 2,700 informal enterprises in the Accra metropolitan area, we explore the nature and impact of taxation in the informal sector. We find that the majority of informal sector operators pay a range of taxes and fees, which together amount to a significant burden, especially for low earners. These payments are skewed and regressive. Two additional findings emerge in relation to the structure of these taxes. First, the incidence and burden of tax payments is strongly correlated with visibility to the state. Second, taxes and fees are highly regressive, with lower-earning operators paying significantly more in relation to their earnings. These findings have important implications for efforts to tax informal businesses in low- and middle- income countries. The regressivity of efforts to tax the informal sector is often framed as a price worth paying for simplicity. Our study provides both an estimation of this ‘price’, and an underlying argument for collecting this kind of data on taxation of informal enterprises in order to assess real policy impacts.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2024

The Sociolinguistics of South African Television: Language Ideologies in Selected Case Studies

- Aiseng, Kealeboga

  • Authors: Aiseng, Kealeboga
  • Date: 2024
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/455397 , vital:75427 , ISBN 978-3-031-54914-4 , DOI: 10.4018/979-8-3693-0477-8.ch021
  • Description: This book explores the interwoven relationship between language, media, and society in post-Apartheid South Africa. The author examines selected case studies from the sociolinguistic landscape of South African television, analysing dominant language ideologies and illuminating the challenges, opportunities, and potential for transformation. He argues for the power of television in shaping language ideologies, fostering cultural understanding, and advocating for more inclusive and equitable language usage in the media. This book contributes to the field of sociolinguistics by emphasizing the complexity of multilingualism in South Africa and inviting ongoing exploration and dialogue in this landscape. It will be of interest to students and scholars of Sociolinguistics, Media Studies, African Culture and History, and Language Policy and Planning.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2024

What Is Missing from National Economic Recovery Plans? COVID-19 and the Informal Economy

- Mhlana, Siviwe, Moussié, Rachel, Roever, Sally, Rogan, Michael

  • Authors: Mhlana, Siviwe , Moussié, Rachel , Roever, Sally , Rogan, Michael
  • Date: 2024
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478139 , vital:78158 , ISBN 9780198887041 , 10.1093/oso/9780198887041.001.0001
  • Description: At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020, there was nearuniversal acknowledgement that employment losses, globally, would be borne disproportionately by vulnerable workers, in general, and informal workers, in particular (ILO 2020a). Of the world’s 2.2 billion informal workers, it was estimated that 1.6 billion would be among the most severely affected by job losses and reduced working hours (ILO 2020b). The result of this impact has been the reversal of decades of progress in human development. For example, the number of people living in extreme poverty in emerging markets and developing economies was expected to increase by 100 million by the end of 2021 (World Bank 2021a). Similarly, the gendered burden of job losses has threatened progress towards gender equality, as evidenced by the highly uneven recovery of employment between women and men throughout 2021 (ILO 2021a). Country-level data on job losses provides support for the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) initial projections about the vulnerability of informal workers to the global ‘pandemic recession’. Most informal workers in the world are located in low-and middle-income countries and are in self-employment. Data from ILOSTAT shows that working hours in lower-income countries in 2021 were about 7 per cent below their pre-COVID (2019) levels, while the corresponding decrease was only about 4 per cent in high-income countries (ILO 2021c). Data from Peru in 2020 suggests that the difference in the decrease in labour income between employees and the self employed (who are largely in the informal sector) was 21 percentage points (ILO 2021b; see also Chen and Vanek, Chapter 2 in thisvolume).
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2024

Abortion Services and Reproductive Justice in Rural South Africa

- du Plessis, Ulandi, Macleod, Catriona I

  • Authors: du Plessis, Ulandi , Macleod, Catriona I
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434081 , vital:73030 , ISBN 9781776148738 , https://www.witspress.co.za/page/detail/Abortion-Services-and-Reproductive-Justice-in-Rural-South-Africa/?K=9781776148776
  • Description: Despite progressive legislation, abortion service implementa-tion and access in South Africa’s rural areas is challenging and directly affects low-income communities. This book urges an intervention for safe and accessible abortion services that does not compromise costs or confidentiality within a repara-tive reproductive justice framework. South Africa’s progressive abortion legislation was hailed as transformative in terms of reproductive health and rights. Despite this promise, many challenges persist resulting in a lack of services, especially in rural areas where distances and transport costs are a factor.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2023

Short Course Handouts Bundle for the Training of Trainers Course: Introductory course to facilitating social learning and stakeholder engagement in natural resource management contexts

- Weaver, Martin, Rosenberg, Eureta, Cockburn, Jessica J, Thifhulufhelwi, Reuben, Chetty, Preven, Mponwana, Maletje, Mvulane, Paulose

Supporting social learning and knowledge management withing the ecological infrastructure for water security project

- Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, Cockburn, Jessica J, Rosenberg, Eureta, le Roux, Liesl, Zwinkels, Marijn, Mbaniwa, Wenzile, Ward, Mike, Brownell, Faye, Sithole, Nkosigithandile, Makhaya, Zanele, Mponwana, Maletje, du Plessis, Pienaar

Transnational Activities of Women-Focused Civil Society Actors in Southern Africa

- Nedziwe, Cecilia L, Tella, Oluwaseun

  • Authors: Nedziwe, Cecilia L , Tella, Oluwaseun
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/445327 , vital:74376 , ISBN 978-3-031-29536-2 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29537-9
  • Description: Since the 1990s, the opening up of democratic spaces has been characterised by growing transnational activities and regionalisation of non-state actors. In Southern Africa, intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) began to recognise civil society actors and to integrate and prioritise gender and women issues within their policymaking structures. 1 This was assisted by the formulation of norms at a global level which could be diffused to regional and national policies, leading to greater non-state activity in the SADC area. It was achieved through, firstly, the establishment of an eminent group of commissioners in the early 1990s to review the situation of women across the region. Secondly, following the 1995 Beijing International Women’s Conference, a task force was created to draft a Regional Plan of Action to begin to address gendered insecurities across Southern Africa. Finally, the first meeting of the SADC Ministers Responsible for Women and Gender Affairs was convened in 1997 (Made and Morna, 2009: 34).
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2023

Using Citizen Science to Protect Natural Untreated Drinking Water Sources: Natural Springs in Rural Catchments and B3 Municipalities in the Eastern Cape

- Mtati, Nosi, Chetty, Preven, Norman, Yondela, Mvulane, Paulose, Libala, Notiswa, Weaver, Matthew J T, Wolff, Margaret M, Cockburn, Jessica J, Mazibuko, Thembalani

  • Authors: Mtati, Nosi , Chetty, Preven , Norman, Yondela , Mvulane, Paulose , Libala, Notiswa , Weaver, Matthew J T , Wolff, Margaret M , Cockburn, Jessica J , Mazibuko, Thembalani
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/425732 , vital:72279 , ISBN 978-0-6392-0550-2 , https://wrcwebsite.azurewebsites.net/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/3097 final.pdf
  • Description: Citizen science is a well-known mechanism used by researchers to col-lect scientific data working together with citizens. It can also be used by interested and concerned citizens (social activists regarding environ-mental threats) to protect natural occurring things like biodiversity, rare species that are threatened extension and much more. It can be a natu-ral occurring process that evolves with time but it can also have some guidelines of how to monitor, collect, analyse and disseminate data. In this project we used participatory action research processes to co-develop tools (co-create being one of the types of citizen science) with local communities, using their knowledge of their area to monitor and protect natural springs. Springs are useful for providing drinking water for people but also for livestock. In rural areas and small towns where service delivery is not reliable, natural occurring water sources become the reliable supply for these communities. Springs also provide ecosys-tem services as they are a keystone ecological infrastructure. These natural water sources can be threatened by pollution, especially that of livestock which is mostly unattended, because they are sometimes shared by people and animals. This poses health risks to the users. This study co-developed the “spring protection and sustainable use” tool/s that can be used to guide communities and local government on how to protect these important water sources. Citizen science also cre-ates opportunities for learning to take place among the participants as well as the researchers involved.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2023

Can Local Knowledge of Small-Scale Fishers Be Used to Monitor and Assess Changes in Marine Ecosystems in a European Context?

- Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina, Barrientos, Sara, Barreiro, Rodolfo, Aswani, Shankar, Pascual-Fernández, José, De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel

  • Authors: Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina , Barrientos, Sara , Barreiro, Rodolfo , Aswani, Shankar , Pascual-Fernández, José , De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel
  • Date: 2022
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391331 , vital:68642 , ISBN 978-3-031-01980-7 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-01980-7_24
  • Description: Significance Statement In the last decades, many coastal areas have observed dramatic changes in marine ecosystems, due to anthropogenic and environmental alterations. The general absence of long-term data sets in the marine environment and, more specifically, on benthic and demersal communities represents a severe issue for management and conservation. We propose to incorporate the small-scale fishers’ knowledge and science for better policy recommendations, both in terms of fisheries optimization and resource conservation. Based on two different cases of study with diverse ecosystems, we explore the combination of quantitative and qualitative tools, and participative techniques used to incorporate fishers’ local ecological knowledge. The results highlight fishers’ capacity to identify coastal and marine landscapes resources and changes, reinforcing and complementing the scientific assessment.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2022

Coastal fishes of the western Indian Ocean

- Heemstra, Phillip C. 1941-, Heemstra, Elaine, Ebert, Dave, Holleman, Wouter, Randall, John E

  • Authors: Heemstra, Phillip C. 1941- , Heemstra, Elaine , Ebert, Dave , Holleman, Wouter , Randall, John E
  • Date: 2022
  • Subjects: Marine fishes Indian Ocean , Marine fishes Indian Ocean Identification
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/310495 , vital:59157 , ISBN 978-1-990951-23-7 , ISBN 978-1-998950-35-5 , ISBN 978-1-990951-28-2
  • Description: The primary purpose of this book is to provide a means of identifying the more than 3 200 species of coastal fishes known to occur in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). Coastal fishes are those that inhabit waters generally less than ~200 m deep, the waters over continental and insular shelves, and upper continental slopes. The book also includes some oceanic species and species that live in deeper water, but are sometimes caught in trawls in less than 200 m, or that migrate into shallower waters at night to feed. The Western Indian Ocean (WIO), as treated in these volumes, is the area between Cape Point, South Africa, and 77°34' E, at Kanyakumari (formerly Cape Cormorin), the southernmost point of India, and to 40° S, just south of St Paul Island. Although considered as separate water bodies, the Red Sea and Persian/Arabian Gulf have been included. Some contributors have also chosen to include species from Sri Lanka. The region thus encompasses the entire east and southern coasts of Africa, Madagascar and the various island clusters of the Comoros, the Seychelles, the Maldive and Lakshadweep islands, the Chagos Archipelago and the islands and sea mounts of the Mascarene Plateau, to as far as 40° S, and thus some fishes from St Paul and Amsterdam Islands have been included. This large expanse, stretching from tropical waters of the northwestern Indian Ocean to the warm temperate waters of False Bay, South Africa, includes a number of poorly known biogeographic areas. A map of the entire Indian Ocean is placed on the inside front cover of each printed volume, with some areas in greater detail on the inside back cover. The book does not include distribution maps for species, but gives localities from which species are known, with emphasis on WIO localities; our understanding of distributions of many species is often incomplete. Fishes are the most abundant and diverse group of vertebrates and have colonised every aquatic habitat on Earth: the oceans, lakes, rivers and caves, from polar seas at –2 °C to hot, freshwater springs at 44 °C, and from tropical reefs and mangrove forests to the deepest ocean depths. Fishes are also the most poorly known group of vertebrates. In the 2006 edition of Joseph Nelson’s Fishes of the World the estimate of the number of species of extant fishes worldwide stood at about 23 000. This number is growing annually, and was thought to be about 33 460 species at the end of 2016 (www.fishwisepro.com). Between the years 2000 and 2015 an average of 150 new species of marine fishes were described each year – of which 10% of the total (156 species) were from the WIO. The WIO is home to about 15% of all the marine fish species in the world’s oceans. Another measure of the diversity of fishes of this area is its relatively high level of endemicity, particularly around southern Africa and in the Red Sea. About 13% of southern African marine fishes are endemic, most of these in only five families: Clinidae with about 44 endemic species, Gobiidae with 28, Sparidae with 28, Pentanchidae with 6, and Batrachoididae with 7 endemic species. In the Red Sea at least 170 of the more than 1100 species are endemic. The WIO region is also home to a large human population, representing a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The area includes the countries of South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, as well as the many island nations and territories. Many of the people living in coastal areas are dependent on fish catches and other marine resources for both sustenance and often a livelihood, as highly diversified artisanal fisheries make up the bulk of the fishing effort in the region. And, as elsewhere in the world, many of the fish resources have been compromised by commercial interests (including those of other countries), often leaving fish stocks in a poor state. This book has a number of purposes, all of which coalesce around providing users with a better understanding of the area’s fishes and their environment. Accordingly, it includes a number of background chapters covering subjects as diverse as the oceanography of the region, and the history and evolution of the bony fishes. In recent years genetic analysis has proved to be a powerful tool for taxonomists. In many instances molecular results have caused taxonomists to rethink both the definitions of certain taxa and the interrelationships of taxa. In some instances, what were long considered cohesive (monophyletic) taxa were found to include groups of fishes that are in fact not closely related (paraphyletic), while in other instances taxa thought to be distinct were found not to be, meriting their merging with other existing taxa. At times, long-accepted family groups have been divided into two or more distinct families, or separate families have been combined into a single one. Where possible such changes in our understanding of the relationships of fishes are reflected in these volumes. Where some contributors have taken a more conservative approach by awaiting more research and not adopting these changes, alternative taxonomies are noted (see also the introductory chapter on Naming organisms and determining their relationships). For each species in the book, the literature pertinent to that species in the WIO is given: the original species description reference, synonyms for the region and other important taxonomic and biological references. For many commercially important species or fishes of interest to anglers there is additional information on life history, size and capture, and for some but not all species, their IUCN conservation status if Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (in the first instance, valid at the time of writing. See www.iucnredlist.org for current information. Note: we have not included the IUCN conservation status where species are of Least Concern or Data Deficient). Most species are illustrated with photographs, drawings or paintings. Colour photographs and paintings are provided on plates for each volume. , 1st Edition
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2022

COVID-19 and informal work: Degrees and pathways of impact in 11 cities around the world

- Chen, Martha A, Grapsa, Erofili, Ismail, Ghida, Reed, Sarah O, Rogan, Michael, Valdivia, Marcela

  • Authors: Chen, Martha A , Grapsa, Erofili , Ismail, Ghida , Reed, Sarah O , Rogan, Michael , Valdivia, Marcela
  • Date: 2022
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478150 , vital:78159 , ISBN 978-92-9267-176-1 , doi:10.35188/UNU-WIDER/2022/176-1
  • Description: This paper presents findings from two rounds (2020 and 2021) of a study on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on informal workers in 11 cities across five regions of the world (Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and North America). The study, carried out by the WIEGO network in partnership with local organizations of informal workers in each city, included a survey questionnaire and key informant interviews, both conducted by phone. The study findings confirm that the pandemic recession severely undermined the livelihoods of informal workers with limited recovery by mid-2021. The study also examined the degree-and pathways-of impact between, and within, different sectors of informal workers and provides insights and demands from informal workers in their own words.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2022

Cultural Seascapes in the ‘Sea of Calms’ and La Restinga Coast

- De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel, Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina, Aswani, Shankar, González-Cruz, Carla, Domínguez, David, Ordóñez García, Paula, Santana-Talavera, Agustín, Pascual-Fernández, José

  • Authors: De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel , Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina , Aswani, Shankar , González-Cruz, Carla , Domínguez, David , Ordóñez García, Paula , Santana-Talavera, Agustín , Pascual-Fernández, José
  • Date: 2022
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391319 , vital:68641 , ISBN 978-3-031-07289-5 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07289-5
  • Description: El Hierro has been characterized by the balance between human development and environmental sustainability. The island was historically far from the mass tourism developments dominant on the other Canary Islands. Tourism accommodations in El Hierro are few compared to more developed coastal areas in the Archipelago, and recreational activities are mainly linked to cultural and natural sites and resources. This chapter focuses on La Restinga fishing village and its coasts, where the ‘Sea of Calms’ and one multiple-use Marine Reserve (MR) are located, both of which became popular over the last decade. The tourist development experience has promoted a new way of looking at the sea and conceptualizing its habitats and populations. In 2014, after the submarine volcano eruption occurred in 2011, we estimated that at least 25,391 dives had been carried out in the diving spots established by the MR and other diving sites close to La Restinga. Despite the difficulties experienced after the volcano eruption, a unique imaginaire has been consolidated, thanks to the image of the island's exclusive nature and iconic elements. In addition, the rapid recovery of the destination is an excellent example of how the tourism system can adapt and incorporate unexpected events such as volcanic eruptions.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2022

Fishes of Southern African estuaries: from species to systems

- Whitfield, Alan K

  • Authors: Whitfield, Alan K
  • Date: 2022
  • Subjects: Estuarine fishes -- South Africa , Estuarine fishes -- Africa, Southern , Fishes -- Africa, Southern -- Identification , Estuaries -- Africa, Southern
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/97933 , vital:31512
  • Description: South Africa, despite its relatively small size, is often called “a world in one country”. This phrase arises mainly from the range of oceanographic and climatic features; geological and geomorphological attributes, the diversity of human cultures, languages, races and religions; the mix of developed and developing economies; the wide range in political opinion and parties; the vast array of mineral resources; and finally, what biologists find most interesting of all, the richness of the indigenous flora and fauna. Although southern African aquatic scientists cannot boast an equivalent of the Cape Floral Kingdom, the stretch of coast between northern Namibia and southern Mozambique has a particularly rich marine biota, accounting for almost 15% of all the coastal marine species known world-wide. The richness of the ichthyofauna is due to a number of factors, including the variety of habitats around the subcontinent, ranging from coral reefs, kelp beds, sheltered bays, sandy beaches, exposed rocky shores, coastal lakes to estuaries. In addition, southern Africa is the meeting place of three great oceans and is thus the recipient of species from each of these separate faunas. In comparison to land vertebrates, the world’s fish fauna is by no means well-known, either taxonomically or with regard to the biology of the component species. Apart from the very large number of fish species (estimated to be approximately 40 000), and the difficulties posed by the medium in which they live, there are other reasons for the above state of affairs. An obvious and universal reason is the shortage of funding available for taxonomic, biological and ecological studies, with increasing emphasis being placed on aquaculture, mariculture and fisheries related work. This situation is unlikely to improve and many research institutions around the world are operating on shrinking rather than expanding budgets. The onus of responsibility to disseminate information on the world’s fish faunas therefore rests squarely on the shoulders of those who are fortunate enough to be employed in the fascinating field of ichthyology. This book, which is a major revision and expansion of an earlier monograph (Whitfield 1998), is an attempt to synthesize the available information on fishes associated with southern African estuaries and to highlight the importance of conserving these systems for both fishes and people of the region. Limited reference is made to international estuarine fish research due to space constraints and readers are referred to global ichthyological reviews in this regard. The estuaries of southern Africa (defined as south of 26°S latitude for the purposes of this book) are highly diverse, both in terms of form and functioning. They range from the clear Kosi Estuary entering the coral rich subtropical Indian Ocean waters on the east coast, to the turbid Orange River flowing into the cool upwelled waters of the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast. The estuaries of the subcontinent are fed by catchments with a wide variety of climatic and geological characteristics. For example, the cool-temperate west coast is characterized by good winter rains and relatively dry summers, whereas on the subtropical east coast the opposite rainfall pattern prevails. While most south-western Cape estuaries are fed by rivers with low suspended sediment levels, those of KwaZulu-Natal normally carry high silt loads during the rainy season. Between Mossel Bay and St Francis Bay, rainfall patterns show no distinct seasonal peak and relatively acidic waters with low nutrient levels enter a variety of estuarine types along this section of the coast. The Eastern Cape is a region of transition between the subtropical and warm-temperate biogeographic provinces, and is prone to both droughts and floods occurring during any season of the year. The southern African estuarine environment is an unpredictable and often harsh habitat to occupy, yet each year millions of larval and juvenile fishes enter and thrive in these systems. The fish species that utilize estuaries as nursery areas exhibit great diversity in size, body form, salinity tolerance, diet, habitat preference and breeding behaviour. There is also a complete gradation in terms of the dependence that each species has on the estuarine environment. These and many other issues relating to the biology and ecology of estuary-associated fish species in southern Africa are explored in the chapters to follow. It is my sincere wish that our improved knowledge of these species and their environmental requirements will contribute to the wise management and conservation of these valuable ecosystems. , 2022 Edition
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2022

Shrub Detection in High-Resolution Imagery: A Comparative Study of Two Deep Learning Approaches

- James, Katherine M F, Bradshaw, Karen L

  • Authors: James, Katherine M F , Bradshaw, Karen L
  • Date: 2022
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/440326 , vital:73766 , ISBN 9783030955021 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95502-1_41
  • Description: A common task in high-resolution remotely-sensed aerial imagery is the detection of particular target plant species for various ecological and agricultural applications. Although traditionally object-based image analysis approaches have been the most popular method for this task, deep learning approaches such as image patch-based convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been seen to outperform these older approaches. To a lesser extent, fully convolutional networks (FCNs) that allow for semantic segmentation of images, have also begun to be used in the broader literature. This study investigates patch-based CNNs and FCN-based segmentation for shrub detection, targeting a particular invasive shrub genus. The results show that while a patch-based CNN demonstrates strong performance on ideal image patches, the FCN outperforms this approach on real-world proposed image patches with a 52% higher object-level precision and comparable recall. This indicates that FCN-based segmentation approaches are a promising alternative to patch-based approaches, with the added advantage of not requiring any hand-tuning of a patch proposal algorithm.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2022

Social contracts and informal workers in the global south

- Alfers, Laura C, Chen, Martha A, Plagerson, Sophie

  • Authors: Alfers, Laura C , Chen, Martha A , Plagerson, Sophie
  • Date: 2022
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/478205 , vital:78164 , ISBN 9781839108068 , https://doi.org/10.4337/9781839108068
  • Description: This is an open access work distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Unported (This is an open access work distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Unported (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Users can redistribute the work for non-commercial purposes, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, as detailed in the License. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd must be clearly credited as the owner of the original work. Any translation or adaptation of the original content requires the written authorization of Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.). Users can redistribute the work for non-commercial purposes, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, as detailed in the License. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd must be clearly credited as the rights holder for publication of the original work. Any translation or adaptation of the original content requires the written authorization of Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2022
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Contact