An Integrative Argument for Public Participation in Environmental Policy

A final paper submitted to the School of Psychology in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Science

University of Oregon

Eugene, OR 97401

Zintars Beldavs

March, 2005

Committee:

Paul Slovic, chairperson

Sara Hodges, member

§Acknowledgments

As with any large project there are far too many to acknowledge all of those who helped shape my work. If I fail to mention any particular name, it is not because of a lack of appreciation, but a difficulty in keeping track of so many wonderful and helpful people.

I am forever indebted to my family, Vid, Aija, Aris, and Raitis Beldavs. From the very beginning to the end of this sometimes difficult, always fascinating process they have always been loving, caring, and willing with their sagely advice. I also give thanks to my long time friend Noelle Elliott who was extremely helpful throughout the writing of the first section of this paper.

I give many thanks to both my graduate committee of Paul Slovic and Sara Hodges and my undergraduate committee, both initial and final: Charlene D’Avanzo, Brian Schultz, and Herb Bernstein. I am grateful for their critical examination, statistical knowledge, sound comments, and readiness to help throughout the construction of my work.

I thank all of the Fulbright staff, both in Latvia and in the US for the opportunity to continue the work as a graduate student, which I’d begun at Hampshire College. I also maintain my thanks to Clay Hubbs, the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP), and the Institute for Central American Development (ICADS) for providing a means for me to do my field research. I am undeniably grateful to the friendship and advice of Mellissa Johnson who found me the incredible opportunity to work at the Belize Center for Environmental Studies (BCES). I thank the BCES, particularly Will Heyman and Terrence, for providing me a wonderful opportunity to work on an exciting and important project (the Port of Honduras marine protected area), the opportunity to use data that has been collected over a much longer period than I personally was involved (data for the paper presented on the Port of Honduras project in chapter four), and for the enchanting conversations and remarkable trips.

It’s almost impossible to thank all of the other amazing people who helped me with friendship and advice during my time abroad in Latvia, Belize, and Fiji. All of the people, especially Janis at the Green Library and the NGO Green Liberty, as well as the Institute for Social Policy for were particularly helpful for opportunities to work on various projects, including translations, conferences, and seminars. It was particularly pleasing to work with Guntra Aistars on a project with the Institute for Social Policy where we were able to put some of the ideas into practice with our benefit concert, combining my interests in ecology, increased public participation, as well as my love of music. I also thank Savenaca Madanavosa, and the entire staff of the University of the South Pacific who were generous and caring during times that would be difficult and trying for anyone. I graciously thank the Locario family of Belize and Dona Isabel of Costa Rica for providing me a home, food, and friendship during my time in Central America. I plan and hope to live up to my promise to visit the Solomon Islands to re-establish my close friendship with my best friend while in Fiji, George Asitewa; thank you! I profusely thank Semi Leweniqili, Viliame Rabici, and Pau for their collaboration on the study presented in this thesis on the benthic distribution of the Suva Barrier Reef flat (chapter 3).

A million thanks to all of my friends I met traveling from nearly every country in Latvia, the South Pacific and throughout the rest of the world, including (in no particular order): Bobby Naimawi, Andi Wagner, Ali Rilwan, Dominic Ruwemai, Jos Allersma, Fergus Cleverly, John (from PNG), Stan Ariah, Patrick Arahatara, John Pule, John Maetia, Nathaniel Nhapps, Hugo Bugoro, Dako Nating, Katy Soapi, Fereti Pue, Toni Ma’asi, Viliami Fifita, Vili Pele, Gabe Whetmore, Emily Shavers, Shamenna Gall, Shem Ganileo, Karlos Pakoa, Gerard Williamson, Goose Jungblut, Fereti Pue, Butch, Josef Israelsstraat, Wonter Olsthoorw, Elizabeth Peters, Tiroam Kneeri, Richard Hargrove, Henry Murphy, Jason Marurai, Sam Spurret, and everyone I missed!

§Forward

This paper summarizes my Bachelors and Masters multidisciplinary work on environmental policy and management from a bio-psychological perspective, encompassing a diverse spectrum of fields and an array of countries.

Along with the work directly presented here based on an international exchange to Fiji, an international internship in Belize, and a Fulbright scholarship, I was involved in a number of other projects during these experiences which, while not directly related have helped in the process of completing this work.

During my Fulbright in Latvia, in addition to the specific goals outlined in my Fulbright proposal whose result is presented here, as part of my Fulbright project extension, I translated into English the 73 page Latvian NGO Report to the 2002 World Sustainable Development Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, worked with several organizations to organize multimedia events which used music as a forum to draw the public to provide an interesting avenue for their participation, and participated in numerous seminars and conferences on environment and development related issues.

Latvia can be a challenging place to adapt to, not only due to the long, dark and cold winter, but also due to cultural issues. I found that it took significant effort before many local people felt comfortable interacting with me as an expat Latvian-American. The positive side of this is that I found that once I had put the effort in, I was often rewarded with a strong commitment to further our relationships. Doing a Fulbright in Latvia was very important to me. Latvia is an important part of my cultural heritage and I speak Latvian from birth and have participated in many cultural events as well as basic Latvian education. I was born and grew up in the United States and did not visit Latvia until after I had graduated from Hampshire College, taught English in Korea and begun a career as a social science researcher in Eugene, Oregon. I saw the prospect of working in Latvia as an exciting opportunity to integrate my own Latvian American background while contributing to the development of a better relationship between Latvia and the United States.

The experience outlined in this paper has been invaluable in terms of my personal and professional growth. My year-and-a-half experience in Latvia provided me with the knowledge and contacts to write a serious grant proposal involving ten researchers from multiple institutions in the US and Latvia to the Global Development Network (GDN – http://www.gdnet.org/). GDN is a global network of research and policy institutes working together to address the problems of national and regional development. I prepared and submitted the “Understanding Reform in Latvia” proposal on behalf of my host organization in Latvia to build on the work begun with my Fulbright. GDN indicated satisfaction with the strength of the proposal but were limited to only one project from the Baltic region with a very strong proposal from Estonia. Even though we did not win the grant, I now have a much better sense of how to design multidisciplinary projects, which involve public policy issues whether in the Baltic region, the United States, or elsewhere in the world.

My Fulbright experience was challenging – often in ways that I could not have anticipated. I have been significantly enriched by the experience, the knowledge that I have gained and by the people I have befriended. I see the need and am excited by the prospect of further work with the issues I examined in Latvia, Fiji, and Belize, including developing more effective methods for facilitating public participation in decision-making. I arrived primarily with an academic interest overlaying a deep curiosity about the place where both of my parents were born. I became somewhat frustrated when seeing how little of the potential beneficial impact from academic research was realized in the everyday lives of people. I have become both more interested and more aware of ways to foster practical mechanisms of change. My Fulbright experience has also introduced me to some of the complexities involved in achieving real world results – especially with limited resources. I am now motivated to work to find funding to achieve some of the more ambitious goals which I found too difficult to achieve with the limited resources that were available.

§Abstract

The project is an outgrowth and extension the thesis I wrote as an undergraduate at Hampshire College, An Integrative Approach to Environmental Management in the Suva Barrier Reef, Fiji, and the Port of Honduras, Belize. In this paper, I use psychological and ecological fieldwork, cultural experience, and literature to address the importance of the integration of cultural, socio-economic, and scientific factors for eco-system management. This summarizes work conducted at the University of Oregon the Green Library and Social Policy Institute in Riga Latvia, Hampshire College in Amherst Massachusetts, the University of the South Pacific in the Fiji Islands, the Institute for Central American Development Studies in San Jose, Costa Rica, and the Belize Center for Environmental Studies, in Punta Gorda, Belize. This paper is divided into two sections of five chapters each. The first section provides analysis of two case studies of tropical marine biozones and the second section provides a case study of a temperate Northern climate.

In the first section, stemming from my undergraduate work , I examine the environmental status of two areas through ecological studies based on my collaborative fieldwork. Following this, I examine specific cultural and socio-economic variables associated with these areas, in attempt to devise appropriate management strategies that are environmentally, culturally, socially, and economically sustainable.

The second section provides five chapters based on my graduate Fulbright work in Latvia where I provide another case study to advance the theoretical framework established in the earlier chapters by examining and using methods for public involvement developed in the literature of decision making psychology. While the first section provides an ecological argument for the need for public participation, the second provides psychological arguments as well as an examination of how to best incorporate the views of the public. This project is an outgrowth and expansion of my earlier work, which focused on ecological research and presented participation in more theoretical terms. My aim is that all of these sections work together to provide a multidisciplinary argument for both the need and possible methods for public participation.

Key Issues: Integration of scientific, cultural, psychological, and socio-economic factors for environmental management; importance of local involvement in environmental management.

§Introduction

What are the key elements to environmental management? How can socio-economic and environmental factors be best considered to establish workable and effective management? In this thesis I address these broad questions by first displaying broad theoretic ideas, second focusing in on two specific scientific case studies with a discussion of relevant cultural background, and then attempting a synthesis of theory and practicality by discussing how the broad theoretic ideas might be specifically applied to the case studies in the form of recommendations for environmental management . To clarify this summary, an outline of each chapter follows.

I begin in chapter 1 with an essay titled, Humans as Part of Nature and the Implications for Workable Environmental Conservation. I use this essay to examine the relevance of the question of, “what is nature”. I draw on many sources from diverse disciplines to forward the argument that industrialized society faces a fundamental problem in considering that there is a basic difference between nature and culture. This dichotomy, results from a colonial exploitative mindset, which considered that there are always new lands to conquer with no need for investing in sustaining immediate surroundings. This exploitative mindset leads to unsustainable environmental destruction. The view of our natural environment as an unending resource base is fundamentally opposed to basic ecological and physical principles; matter can not be created or destroyed and thus there must be a finite amount of matter. Through inference of this argument, it is obvious that the resource base on the earth is limited and that environmental conservation must naturally follow with consideration for this natural connection.

In chapter two, I present a comparative examination of the contextual elements necessary to understanding the first two case studies. I look at the cultural and economic histories of these two countries. I particularly focus on the impact of colonialism and the relation of all of these socio-economic factors to environmental attitudes and policies. This is all related back to the essay in chapter one to examine attitudes towards nature and the impact of colonialization on these attitudes.

I use chapter three to present the case study of the Suva Barrier Reef off of the Fiji Islands as an examination of potential effects of nearby development and what, if any, management strategies should be used in areas which are regularly subjected to industrial pressures and already appear highly damaged. In this ecological study, I examine the factors influencing the benthic distribution of the Suva Barrier Reef flat to attempt to better determine the condition of the reef and furthermore, the possible reasons for the observed conditions. This was done by laying line-intercept transects (long tape measures) on 5 areas of the reef and determining what lay under the tape measure; this data was then analyzed to determine the nature and potential causes of reef distribution patterns. Salinity, and temperature measurements were conducted synchronously with a localized literature search of the Suva area to help determine potential causative factors.

I hypothesize that sewage effluent and industrial pollutants, along with natural stressors including low salinity and hurricane damage are responsible for the apparently disturbed environment. Are these valid hypotheses? If so, how can this be determined? Possibly examination of distribution patterns can be helpful; certain species are known to respond to certain stresses in different ways and thus their patterns of distribution might implicate certain chemical or environmental conditions. I present analysis used to determine whether the species I found are new colonizers or old survivors in order to help determine the potential future direction of this reef.

In conclusion and discussion section, I briefly tie results to management and interactions with human environment. Is there a solution, marine or terrestrial, to the degradation of this reef. Is the reef degraded by natural or anthropogenic causes? Should management be considered if natural causes are most implicated?

In chapter four, I present the case study of the Port of Honduras, Belize. This serves as an example of an area in a “pristine state”. Furthermore, in this area, the local scientists, along with NGO’s are currently working on implementing some of the interdisciplinary ideas presented in this paper. I use this study to examine the potential effectiveness of such implementation and see where these organizations might want to go in the future to realize sustainable management objectives.

The paper presented is a scientific study on the ecological interaction between freshwater inflow, mangrove swamps, and sea grass secondary productivity. The study focuses on the specific interconnections between mangroves and sea grasses and differences between their productivity and growth on two different rivers. Are the flora closer to one river more productive than the other? If so, why? Is freshwater inflow, or watershed size a factor in this difference in productivity?

The purpose is to extend the four terrestrially protected corridors from onshore wetlands to a marine protected zone encompassing much of Port Honduras. There exists the potential to establish such a zone that would enable eco-tourism and sport fishing in the marine area. The marine area would exclude large scale commercial fishing using nets or long lines and impose limits on small scale fishing. Currently a management plan is being constructed which incorporates socio-economics, local interaction with science. In this paper, I will help develop this plan, and use its multi-integrative management approach for a model to critique and possibly support. In this chapter, I am primarily introducing the scientific study with the integration and critique in the following chapters.

In chapter five, I present an integration of the cultural/socio-economic analysis of Fiji and Belize outlined in chapter two, with the scientific studies of chapters three and four examining relationship to environment. How are the complexities of multi-ethnic countries like Fiji, Belize, and Latvia related to environmental management? How can an integrative approach be used to meet the needs of peoples of diverse backgrounds?

I use this the socio-economic context and specific scientific studies to synthesize recommendations for management options incorporating different human and environmental factors. I further examine the role that local involvement should play in management of these areas. How can the imperialistic colonial legacy be broken to allow for a real sustainable future. If the legacy continues, the environment will remain considered as something to be exploited.

In this chapter I integrate the broad ideas of chapter one by displaying my argument that the specific management strategies for the two case studies should reflect a connection with the environment. I argue that this connection is most likely to be present through localized grass roots controlled management; the people most affected by the environment (i.e. representatives from all local groupings) must be the primary decision makers. I believe that locally controlled environmental management strategies will tend to be environmentally and socio-economically sustainable.

I conclude this chapter with a discussion of the potential benefits and concerns for eco-tourism in both study areas and elsewhere. Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in Belize, Fiji, and the world as a whole. I argue that sustainable tourism might be possible in Belize if it is planned for beforehand. I believe that sustainability is ultimately dependent on the degree of local involvement; the locals must be in control of all fundamental environmental and economic issues.

In chapter six, I begin the second section of this work by presenting evidence from decision making psychology both to further support the need for public participation and to point to potential biases which must be addressed in effecting decision making for policy. This chapter goes into more depth on some of the issues outlined in earlier chapters by examining the specific processes and biases which are necessary to consider in any effective decision making process and provides more reasons for the need for including a wide grouping of the general populace.

In chapter seven, I review the literature examining cultural effects on group decision making to further build the theory for potential impact in the case studies. This chapter examines specific literature from cross cultural and decision making psychology to provide support for the earlier ideas where I stated that culture was an important factor to consider. In this chapter I use a brief literature review of empirical research to demonstrate the importance of accounting for cultural differences in individual cognition, group dynamics, and decision making processes.

In chapter eight, I present a comparative examination of the contextual elements necessary to understanding the Latvia case study. I look at the cultural and economic histories of Latvia. I particularly focus on the impact of the Soviet Union and the relation of all of these socio-economic factors to environmental attitudes and policies. As examined in the Fiji and Belize chapters, I delve into the issues surrounding a multi ethnic society with a long history of being a colonial satellite and their implications for environmental management and policy. This is all related back to the essay in chapter one to examine attitudes towards nature and the impact of Soviet policies and on these attitudes.

I use chapter nine to present my survey of public perceptions in Latvia. This chapter is used to provide preliminary examination at how certain groups differ in perception in Latvia and what potential implications there are for both policy and future research. In this chapter I use exploratory post-hoc analyses to determine areas potentially fruitful for future research. Analyses, including factor and reliability analyses as well as visual presentation, analysis of variance, and multiple regression are used to look at group, age, gender, ethnic, income, and other potential differences within a sample of employees of the Environmental Ministry, three schools in geographically differing regions, farmers, expats, and a sub sample of the general populace of Riga.

In chapter ten I complete this paper by providing a summary and conclusions of how an integrative approach to policy should be used to best meet the needs of various stakeholders. In this chapter I first propose a model that incorporates all of these interests groups as well as the need for facilitators trained in psychological biases. Following this, I consider and develop ideas for potentially innovative and exciting methods to incorporate the public in decision making. I conclude this chapter and this paper with a brief discussion of the possibility of using this process in Latvia and statement on the consideration of such methods in general.

§Abstract

One of the areas examined, the Suva Barrier Reef, off of Laucala Bay, Suva, Fiji, is a highly damaged environment that is hypothetically highly affected by natural stressors, as well as large amounts of anthropogenic inputs including sewage and industrial pollution. Initial inspection of the largely barren, bleached reefs shows that this area is suffering from stressors. For quantitative analysis, I used line intercept transects to determine patterns of benthic cover. Potential causes for patterns in benthic cover were examined using an area map, salinity, and temperature measurements.

The second case study is used to examine an area of the Port of Honduras off the coast of Belize. The Government of Belize has identified this area for potential protection due to its unique habitats, contribution to ecological trophic webs, scientific, economic, and social importance, as well as its direct connection to a series of terrestrial protected areas. This area is in a much more pristine state than Laucala Bay in Fiji. The reefs are healthy and unbleached, numerous nesting sites for turtles abound. Furthermore, numerous Ancient Mayan sites found on the Cayes remain relatively undisturbed. The area does not include any extensive population or industrial centers and does appear, by cursory visual analysis, to be “ecologically healthy”. If this area gains protection, the fact that it would be the final in a series of protected biologic corridors would effectively magnify potential beneficial effects for bio-diversity through large scale habitat conservation.

The need to evaluate the implementation of protective management strategies is dire. Recently tourist visitation has increased and will likely exponentially continue due to a new large highway being constructed in the area, which was formally accessible, only by a rough road. The potential environmental change is further magnified by increases in unregulated fishing, particularly by natives of the surrounding countries Honduras and Guatemala. The implications of this increased environmental pressure could be massive changes in ecological functionality and a potentially rapid decrease of biologic diversity.

To establish baseline data for this area I present a case study of the interaction of freshwater input from rivers, mangroves, sea grasses, and secondary productivity.

The planned management of this area factors in ecological principles such as island bio-geography and the importance of conservation of bio-diversity, along with physical principles of hydrology. This study is important to see how such integrated approaches are currently being used and to determine how management should differ from that in Fiji, each being tailored to its own cultural, socio-economic environments and individual ecological intricacies.

To question and possibly increase the validity of conclusions drawn from these scientific studies in establishment of management and protection in these areas, “external factors” such as directness of dependence and cultural interactions and beliefs on the environment are examined. Other important factors considered are the impact of the level of development and the level of evident environmental degradation and their importance in structuring management plans.

To conclude this section, I compare and contrast the external factors in both study areas to determine possibilities for management strategies. I examine the need for grassroots involvement and management for achieving realistic, continuing, sustainable, economically, and environmentally sound management. Belize, for example, receives major aid from USAID and other external sources. Often this aid is plugged into certain projects for a fairly small number of years. Projects can fail if sufficient local managerial and basal structures are not emplaced. Furthermore, management must contain local involvement from the earliest stages if the needs of the community are to be met. Following this discussion, I extrapolate generalities from my examinations that can be applied to the shaping of future studies and management strategy in other areas.

§Introduction

The natural order that binds organisms to each other and their environment is essential for the survival of species on Earth. I believe that humans are no exception. All members of a complex system are essentially interrelated. Advances in technology and changes in cultural perception have fostered the illusion of independence from the natural order. With increasing detachment from their environment, industrialized humans have adopted an anthropocentric view, where nature is considered only as a resource to be mined for the good of the “more deserving” species Homo Sapiens. I believe that the cumulative consequences of this myopic attitude are more than destructive on the short term. If prolonged, this separation from nature, resulting in widespread and irreversible environmental destruction, could well cause our own extinction by creating an environment unfriendly to humans.

Ehrlich (1986) ominously begins his discussion of current extinctions by stating that we are entering an era of mass extinction, rivaling, or even surpassing the scale at the end of the Cretaceous period. Myers (1992, p.1) summarizes: “Earth’s biodiversity is being overtaken by a mass extinction which, if allowed to proceed unchecked, could well eliminate between one quarter and one half of all species.”. One might assume that looming catastrophe would move people to make note, change attitudes, and take swift action. But all are not moved or even convinced. In an essay “Sorry, but the Earth is not Fragile” Rush Limbaugh attacks the “long-haired maggot-infested FM-type environmentalist wacko (Limbaugh 1992: 161) who goes “catatonic” when Limbaugh (1992: 181-182) says, “if the owl can’t adapt to the superiority of humans, screw it.” The scientist may rightly dismiss uninformed ravings as irrelevant, but they can not afford to dismiss the large popular audience to whom mongers appeal. They need to seriously respond to those scientists who give ammunition to those who question the evidence for massive extinction or doubt that it matters.

In that line I will respond to attitudes such as those of Norman Levine (1989), who portrays anthropogenic species extinction as evolutionary, and Charles Krauthammer (1991), advocate of a limited model of anthropocentric conservation, to confront the questions: Should we as a species with the infinitely malleable tool of culture even care about species loss? Can’t we simply preserve species that directly benefit us and use our cultural tool to manipulate our environment to fulfill our needs?

In this essay, I provide evidence that species extinction has dramatically increased with progressive isolation from our natural environment. Natural as a concept is explored and evidence is provided that humans are using tools of culture and industrialization to increasingly isolate themselves from their environment. This increasing isolation is shown to be unsustainable; if the foundations of society are not restructured, we face the possibility of forcing ourselves into extinction. A paradigm shift needs to take place in which we view the world using a holistic, context based approached. I will show that, contrary to reductionistic approaches, this might be the only sustainable way to interact with the incredible complexity that surrounds us.

§Evidence for Extinction

§Past Anthropogenic Extinctions

12,000 to 40,000 years ago, when North America had a biological landscape rivaling the Serengeti Plains of Africa, approximately half of all large mammal species world-wide, including Saber tooth cats, mastodons, and dire wolves became extinct. Because extinction occurred at the same time as the expansion of humans, one primary hypothesis for the synchronous extinction is that humans, through over hunting, habitat alteration, and species introduction, caused the demise of these animal groups. The other major hypothesis of climate extinction has recently lost favor; many of these animals had survived through more than 20 major shifts from glacial to interglacial conditions over 2.5 million years only to succumb at the same time as early human expansion (Burney 1993).

Richard Klein (in Burney 1993) believes that the extinctions were triggered by human hunting and habitat alteration. The best evidence for this comes from examination of extinction patterns in oceanic islands at the same time period as the initial spreading of humans. Oceanic islands are generally considered fragile habitats because the founders are descended from a small founding population that, primarily by chance, came to the island. Despite climatic variation, diversity on these islands remains high until the approximate time of human introduction when species such as the dwarf elephant and pygmy hippopotamus of the Mediterranean islands, and giant rodents and dwarf ground sloths of the Caribbean suddenly disappear from the geologic record (Burney 1993).

In line with this pattern, the last places of human colonization also hold the most recent record of rapid extinction. Notably, more birds have become extinct in the Hawaiian Islands since the arrival of Polynesians than currently survive. These birds were hunted, killed by competing introduced species, and destroyed by habitat alteration of early agricuralists (Howarth 1988; Burney 1993).

These same groups of early human inhabitants deforested fairly large areas in Mesoamerica with slash and burn agriculture, but the damage was limited. This early extinction and environmental degradation could be taken as an early warning indication of human inadequacy as to stewardship of his environment. Unfortunately the inadequacies have been cumulative with every increasing rates of extinction and degradation (Zube 1991; Burney 1993).

§Current Trends in Extinction

Burney (1993) believes that the rapidity and extent of late historic anthropogenic extinction should provide a warning call for current and future extinction. If, as he says, early humans were largely responsible for the extinction of over half of all large mammals and assumingly countless smaller organisms that leave less geologic evidence, then our current capacity for causing extinction with tools of modern technology must be exponentially greater.

To quantify rates of extinction, a comparison of past and present global species richness is useful, if not necessary. Unfortunately, because we have so little information, a consensus on the issue is lacking; global estimates of species richness range from 5 (May 1990) to 80 million (Stork 1988; Gaston 1992). Myers (1993) considers our lack of knowledge scandalous; we have the ability to make extremely precise measurements (within half a centimeter) of distance from a given spot on the moon to a spot on the earth, yet we are far from determining the number of life forms, the most distinctive feature in the known universe, on our own planet.

Ehrlich (1986) feels that the global overshoot of the carrying capacity of Homo Sapiens is likely to cause extinction on the level of the Cretaceous period, where entire groups of reptiles, corals, bivalves, and foraminifera went extinct (Kauffman 1984). Due to the lack of information concerning number of extant species, direct estimation of extinction rates are impossible. Instead, estimates must be indirect, based on population declines resulting from habitat destruction. Ehrlich (1986) also points out that narrowly looking at species extinction alone can be dangerous - extinction of subspecies, ecotypes, and genetically distinct populations might be much more threatening to the functioning of ecosystems and, temporally to their constituent species.

Butterflies are examined as a display case of extinction rates (Ehrlich 1986). They are representative of the most numerous terrestrial animals, herbivorous insects, and they are either monophagous or oligophagous and thus closely related to plant diversity. Ehrlich (1986) shows, using qualitative analysis, that population loss among butterflies is occurring at a dramatic rate, synchronously with habitat loss. Though Ehrlic’s analysis is primarily qualitative, large population and habitat decline can provide the necessary foundation for species extinction. If a species’ survival requirements are not met due to destroyed habitat or a weakened genetic pool due to reduced population size, obviously the possibility of extinction increases.

Loss of habitat in the long term is likely to be much more dangerous than loss of species because habitat loss is likely to result in destruction of all species endemic to that habitat. On the other hand, species loss also has dramatic influence on the habitat. For example, extinction of several grass species could result in extinction of animals, which use the grass for habitat and food. Eventually such spiraling reactions could lead to desertification of a grass based eco-system. Such codependent interactions reflect the complex cybernetic nature of human altered ecosystems.

Ehrlich (1986) provides some quantitative analysis by proposing that species extinction rates are currently 100 times higher than in the past 50 m.y. He believes this figure will jump 4 to 40 times by the end of the century. These rates are generated through examination of current known bird and mammal extinction in comparison to fossil records. Myers (1993) says that current extinction predictions are based on a previously estimated 10 million species and thus, considering current estimates of 30 million for total population (Erwin 1988), there must be 3 times the projected number. He projects extinction rates of 1000 species a day by the year 2000.

Terborgh (1974) uses island biogeographic theory to show dramatic effects of isolation on species extinction. This kind of study is relevant due to the increasing fragmentation caused by anthropomorphic actions. Terborgh (1974) examines fauna occurring on land-bridge islands, formed in the Pleistocene, in comparison to fauna on the mainland. However, use of this estimate assumes the arguable hypothesis that continental species densities have not changed since the Pleistocene. Terborgh (1974) estimates rates of 20 per-cent extinction, after only 100 years of isolation for five neo-tropical land-bridge islands. Since Terborgh’s perspective is limited by examining only the effects of fragmentation, the rate of species loss would certainly be much more dramatic with inclusion of other anthropomorphic variables, such as pollution or sedimentation induced from deforestation. Though all of these methods of estimation involve a fair amount of guesswork, simple observance of human effects on the environment show that local species extinction must be increasing dramatically.

This is most evident in the greatest storehouses of biodiversity, tropical forests. In the past 40 years, many areas previously covered by tropical forests have been depleted to the point where recovery seems impossible. Haiti has lost over 70% of its forests (Hatshorn et al. 1982). Certainly this is not a sustainable way to interact with our environment!

Furthermore, species of low visibility, which are difficult to count, such as Arthropods that make up most of the Earth’s biota might be at most threat of rapid extinction. Kim (1993) argues that these species are necessary for human survival, because they provide services such as pollination, decomposition, and biological control.

He also believes that conservation is necessary not only for their importance in ecosystem dynamics and possible biotechnological advantages, but because, humans draw their spirit from nature. Kim (1993) claims that biodiversity is the source of human spirit, inspiration, and possibly intelligence. He states that Western culture has ignored both the directly practical and the more spiritual arguments for conservation of biodiversity.

Kim (1993) believes that deforestation is resulting in extinction rates of arthropods and other small species, which are in excess of 10,000 times greater, the rate of natural extinction prior to the appearance of humans. Arthropods, the most abundant source of biodiversity, are also the most threatened among living groups of organisms, precisely because of their ubiquitous nature and species richness (Kim 1993).

If we are currently either in, or on the brink of a mass extinction, the most frightening aspects of this are the rate, and the diverse groups affected. Global warming could cause species to migrate ten times faster than in the last Ice Age. Such a dramatic change is likely to wipe out most, if not all living species due to the effects of species introductions and inability for species survival in rapidly shifting environments (Myers 1993).

All of the Earth’s habitats are being dramatically affected anthropogenically. This is most evident in depletions of tropical coral reefs, wetlands, estuaries, and other biotypes housing exceptional abundance and complexity of species and ecological workings. Examining the huge diversity of effects on populations of all of these systems shows that nearly every group of species is, or will be, affected detrimentally, if not completely extinguished (Myers 1993).

§Why We Should Care About Species Extinction

§Is Species Extinction a Problem?

Levine (1989) argues that anthropogenic extinction is a natural part of evolution; species preservationists can not and should not stop the evolutionary clock. Levine makes several statements in support of his arguments that appear to undermine his motives. In his own words (Levine 1989: 38): Manmade environments are artificial...variety has turned into uniform monotony...most wild animals have disappeared” “Adjustment to manmade environments may be just as difficult as adjustment to new continents” (Levine 1989: 38). Species considered “pests” do quite well in an anthropomorphic environment and “people may be replaced someday” (Levine 1989). Levine doesn’t really seem to challenge biologists alarmed at the rapid decline of biological diversity, but his detached stoicism suggests fatalistic apathy. If we are comfortable with a monotonous a-biotic world in which our own species doesn’t exist, then let us march on to extinction! On the other hand, if we want to preserve our species, then we should be alarmed that plant and animal diversity seems to be diminishing at ever increasing rates.

Levine (1989) fatalistically asks what we should do about the anthropomorphically altered habitat; “should we all commit suicide?” This fails to take the species survival imperative seriously. I argue that current industrialized actions are, in effect, already potentially pronouncing and supporting a worldwide death sentence. Support for this argument, comes from the next section which provides an example of the impact that anthropogenic extinction can have on humans.

§The Impact of Anthropogenic Species Extinction on Humans

One of the primary ways humans alter eco-systems and cause extinctions is through the introduction of exotic species which out-compete indigenous varieties. I believe that this is primarily due to our lack of knowledge of the extreme complexities of interaction involved in eco-system dynamics. As I illustrate below, such anthropogenic extinctions have had dramatic effects on the lives of humans.

Exotic species usually become permanent and affect environments in unexpected ways. Often biodiversity in the systems to which they are introduced is adversely affected (Coblentz 1990). One graphic example of the unexpected impact of an exotic species is the Nile perch (Barel et al, 1985). Its deliberate introduction in Lake Victoria, East Africa caused the decline and virtual disappearance of almost all the commercially important indigenous fish. The Nile perch now compromises over 80 per cent of the biomass of the Nyanza Gulf.

Though already disastrous, the consequences of this introduction are yet to be fully realized. Considering the large percentage of this predator at the top of food web, and the near depletion of its food sources, it is likely that the lake will become even more biotically simplified. As a result of rapid biologic simplification resulting from over-competition by this introduced predator, a massive decline in fisheries has forced local people into a drastically worse state of existence. Socio-economically, the price attained by the Nile Perch is now very low due to its abundance. Also, the nets required for the Perch are stronger and more expensive; as a result, local individuals have been pushed out of business and now only the wealthy can afford to fish commercially. Further adding insult is the local dislike for the taste of this fish, which, out of necessity, has become the new staple. Other environmental consequences have resulted from growing deforestation due to required lumber for smoking the introduced fish. This is just one example where large numbers of people have suffered in standard of living due to anthropogenic alteration (Barel et al. 1985). Zaret and Paine (1973) show how the introduction of another piscivore to a tropical lake has produced population changes in a wide range of trophic levels in similar unanticipated ways.

The same kinds of patterns and destructive consequences have been found terrestrially as well. In Hawaii, introduced kudzu, insects, goats, rats, and pigs have caused serious immediate problems for humans. These introduced species have had serious detrimental effects on the viability of tropical forest eco-systems by eroding soil and attacking un-prepared vegetation with disease and consumption. This rapid degradation has decreased the viability of watersheds and resultantly, the sustainability of potable water. Introduced pests have also seriously impacted un-acclimated agricultural systems. Hawaiian culture is also currently threatened by the loss of bio-diversity, which it is integrally interlinked to (The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii 1991).

Primack (1992) argues that species introduction is the primary cause for environmental degradation and species extinction following arrival of Conquistadors in the US. Other examples of similar destructive anthropogenic introductions exist throughout the conservation literature (Amaraskare 1993; Carlton and Geller 1993; Gillis 1992; Howarth 1988; Cagne 1988; Juvik and Juvik, 1984; Moyle 1976).

Zaret and Paine (1973) also show the dearth of our knowledge of ecosystem dynamics:

Even in the field of biological control, where serious studies of this nature have been continuing for more than seven decades, accurate predictions of a new species on a given ecosystem are, even at a most basic level, not yet possible.

Zaret and Paines’ quote becomes very interesting when considering that Homo Sapiens is a self introducing species which has pushed itself into much of the world’s habitats. We are altering the world, our own meta-ecosystem, in ways we do not understand, that could be detrimental, if not deadly, for ourselves. Possibly comparison between small scale species introductions and the magnitude of industrialized actions throughout the world could provide a sobering lesson for the present populations of Homo Sapiens

§Ethics of Species Extinction

Does a species have a right to exist? What about an ecosystem? What benefit does species conservation have for us? Which species, if any should be preserved and do we have a moral right to ask such questions in the first place? The answers to these questions can come from different levels. One answer requires entrance into the realm of deep ecology, perhaps the epistemology of ecology.

Johnson (1992) believes that species and ecosystems are living systems and thus have morally significant interest in their own rights. He states that species and ecosystems are both composed of constituents, which contain genes and genotypes, that manifest their interactions with the environment on higher levels and thus must be considered living entities with their own interests and own right to exist. If species or ecosystems are acknowledged to have moral standing and interests in their own right, species extinction and ecosystem destruction are ethically wrong. From an ethical frame or level, we have no right to “play God” or to destroy living entities if avoidable. Obviously these ethics hold true for all of humanity as well; we have no right to similarly destroy human populations through environmental degradation, species introduction, cultural disruption, or other detrimental impacts.

But, while this frame can be kept in mind, particularly for those whose perspective is strongly religious, the moral stance is not necessary for belief that we exist in an unsustainable industrial society. The ethical and epistemological stances are ways to express a deep, perhaps intuitive, sense of biological interconnectedness. But one does not have to be religious or philosophical. All that is necessary is a belief in our own right to exist.

§Reductionism and the Need for a Paradigm Shift

Cheetham (1993) acknowledges a general antipathy towards a reductionist scientific world view entrenched throughout the general public and even the intelligentsia. But the anti-technological and anti-scientific extremists that suggest a simple return to pre-industrial Eden are misguided if not dangerous in their oversimplifications. Most obviously pre-industrial means of production can not sustain current population density. Similarly, reductionists, mechanists, and apologists for exploitation live in a false ideal that is dangerously inadequate to explain the intrinsic complexities of our natural surroundings. Science should be viewed as one of many human activities, none of which has access to the truth. Attempts to view conservation, or any biology, in a reductionist setting stemming from physics have also been prevalent in the form of “physics envy”.

Reductionism has only recently been undermined with acknowledgment of uncertainty in the quantum revolution of physics early in this century. Natural objects and human values have to be seen as embedded in their temporal context if we are to evolve to a sustainable ecological society. Cartesian dominance since the 16th century has been ineffective in dealing with the complexity, context, history, or contingency relevant and necessary for the study of biology. Until recently, it was assumed that materialistic reductionism was the only science that was valid for formalization and quantitative vigor. Cheetham shows how recent work in theories of complex systems allow the use powerful tools of quantitative analysis without a strongly reductionist approach.

Investigating biological systems in complex terms also allows for the sense of wonder and excitement natural in the presence of new phenomenon that is considered nearly antithetical of traditional reductionist approaches (Cheetham 1993). Contrary to classical views, a sense of “amazement” is necessary to the construction of complex science and systems with contextual elements, including academic disciplines such as psychology, history, politics, and economics. The paradigm shift appears to be from a classical focus on “truth” or “real knowledge’’ to a universe of many temporal and contextualized but interrelated systems. To see the universe as structured on the basis of certain divine truths is to treat it as static and dead. Treating the universe temporally provides for its consideration as embodying a knowledge system, one that is alive and malleable. A central focus on the universe as concrete and static coincides with a separation from our natural world. To grasp reality, we must participate in it (Cheetham 1993).

§An Anthropocentric Approach to Conservation

In his plea to, “save nature, but only for man” Krauthammer (1991) reflects the dominant but unnatural anthropocentric view of industrialized society. However, an approach to conservation centered on survival and health of our own species is not antithetical to conservation. In fact, I propose that a weak form of anthropocentrism is not only the easiest, but possibly the only realistic approach for biosphere conservation. I believe that the paramount goal of preserving Homo Sapiens can only be accomplished through respect for the right for all species to exist. That we are debating which species to conserve is an indicator of the strong anthropocentric mind set that encompasses industrialized society. Unfortunately, due to past and present actions, we have placed ourselves in a position where we have no choice but to play God; many species will go extinct entirely due to our meddling and it is impossible to save them all. If there can be agreement that conservation is necessary for human survival, then the problems of unavoidable stewardship can better be addressed.

Krauthammer (1991) readily admits that his “sane environmental” approach is blatantly anthropocentric:

“The important distinction is between those environmental goods that are fundamental and those that are merely aesthetic. Nature is our ward. It is not our master. It is to be respected and even cultivated. But it is man’s world. And when man has to choose between his well-being and that of nature, nature will have to accommodate.”

The sound basis of his argument is overtaken by anthropocentric bias where nature is viewed as conquerable chattel. Failing unheard-of-technological advancement, this perverted view of nature will cause our destruction. To understand the inherent unsustainability, it is important to address nature and our relationship to it.

§Our Relationship with Nature

We are born of nature and inextricably bound to nature, yet what is it? Any definition of “natural” is a cultural construction and thus our definition reflects our relationship with what we are defining (Wright 1992). Hvalkof (1989) showed that the Asheninka Indians have no definition or concept of “nature” as an external element. They consider what we call the “natural environment” as a fundamental aspect of their own being; local plants, animals, and geologic features are considered relatives -- not external entities. They also have no concept of Development, sustainable development, or environmental protection. The Asheninka are objectified and defined as lesser “natural” peoples who live with nature by settlers. Hvalkof (1989) contrasts the Asheninka with the settlers who have a more “Western” externalized view of the environment. He shows that the settlers have attempted development practices and have caused environmental degradation, while the Asheninka live what we would call “sustainably” with their environment. Hvalkof (1989) believes that recent interest in sustainable development and environmental protection is ultimately hypocritical because the very definition of nature as a separate entity to be conserved reinforces the dichotomy between nature and culture. As he states (Hvalkof 1989):

“Without ‘nature’ there will be no expansionist civilizing dream to realize the process of which is vital for the sustenance of Occidental culture. Nature has become a cultural necessity. Without Nature, no Development.

In line with externalizing views proposed by Hvalkof (1989), Anderson (1991) proposed three ways to evaluate the naturalness of a system. All of his criteria are based on human involvement in a system:

1) The degree to which the system would change if humans were removed.

2) The amount of cultural energy required to maintain the functioning of the system as it currently exists.

3) The complement of native species currently in an area compared with the suite of species in the area prior to settlement.

Is Homo Sapiens as a species natural itself? Can the ultimate self introducer (Coblentz 1990) and alterer of all habitats be natural? According to Anderson (1991), Homo Sapiens are, by definition, the indicator that is inversely proportional to the degree of naturalness of a system. That humans can create a natural system through unnatural alteration of existing natural systems, such as California’s annual grasslands or bracken dominated deforested areas (Anderson 1991) is a fascinating, if not frightening conundrum. Classically, humans are defined as the antithesis of nature. Anderson says that it is possible that no natural systems exist on Earth. Anderson argues that if a system is natural, removal of humans should have no impact. On the other hand, he points out that much of our environment has been so degraded by human activities that it might take millennia for natural processes to resume. It is no simple task to define what is natural or unnatural. Perhaps one form of unnatural system is an inherently unstable or unsustainable one, created by humans as short-term responses but failing to address the unknowable variables.

A crucial issue is that industrialized humans are constantly introducing themselves into new environments, which they alter until the environments become dependent upon them. Are we in turn dependent on these altered environments? Once we’ve established ourselves in an ecosystem and milked it of our needs, can’t we just leave it to the hands of evolutionary processes to deal with? After all, habitat alteration is a natural part of evolution. Can we just continue exploiting new environments to fulfill our own needs? Some would argue that once the Earth’s resources have dried up, it will be time for us to stretch our wings into space and colonize the universe anyway. These same people might argue that those babbling about conservation are just too naive; faith in technology and a healthy concern for the environmental issues directly affecting man is the key.

Thus, Krauthammer (1991) feels that it is important to deal with environmental issues, but only if they directly threaten man. According to Krauthammer (1991), these pertinent issues include ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect. Unfortunately we don’t know all the variables involved in ozone depletion or the greenhouse effect. Decreased CO2 consumption resulting from deforestation could exacerbate these phenomenons. Due to the cybernetic and complex nature of many natural systems, one problem may result in imbalance, causing a continuing cycle of degradation and destruction. For example, tree loss caused by greenhouse effect induced increases in ambient temperatures could initiate a cycle in which trees continue to perish, thus causing increasingly rapid exacerbation of the greenhouse effect, eventually transforming the entire biosphere into a desert wasteland.

Similarly, many of the world’s coasts are now plagued by eutrophic conditions due to anthropogenic nutrient enrichment (Lee and Olsen 1985, Rosenberg 1985, Walton 1982). Increases in nutrient enrichment over the past 30 years are causing low light, hypoxic, and anoxic conditions which result in massive losses of submerged vegetation (Price et al. 1985), fish, and other organisms (Rosenberg 1985). The continued increases of nutrient input, as well as the resultant organic pollutants from the dying organic matter, cause these systems to spiral down until massive biotic simplification, if not complete extinction results (Rosenberg 1985). The effects of industrialization on our oceans is enunciated by sediment layer analysis in Chesapeake Bay where it has been shown that the wholesale extinction of grasses that occurred in 1970 is unique for, at least, the last 1000 years. Fish and other species that we use are dependent on these grasses for habitats. If we continue in this vein, we lose the fish and other species dependent on grasses for food. Such spirals could result elsewhere, (as in the discussion of species introduction on pp. 36) eventually resulting in unknown consequences, which might include wholesale biotic simplification and even desertification (Allen 1985).

Using Krauthammer’s advice, we might not even look at the second order causes/effects such as deforestation, instead focusing on the problems, “directly threatening us”. The “problems directly affecting us” are more likely to be effects rather than causes. To deal with these issues and to address what is “directly threatening us” it is necessary to address the problem as deeply as possible. I believe that the problem lies in the isolationist mind-set that has accompanied, if not resulted in the type of industrialization we now have.

§Isolationism and Industrialization

An isolationist mind-set is not intrinsic to humans. But such a mind-set is becoming inexorably interwoven every time we place another stitch into the artificial fabric of our society. Previously, humans were in direct contact with nature and grew up respecting and understanding the complexity and importance of it. Humans were, “taught directly and sometimes painfully the relationship between...daily bread and soil, rainfall, animals, biological diversity, and natural cycles” (Orr 1991). Studies of peasant agriculturists living within their own habitats show that on balance they protected biological diversity, and exhibited ecologically sound methods.

Zube (1991) uses comparative environmental psychology to show that a destructive attitude towards nature is not innate in humans, yet has in fact been evident since early European expansion. The human-landscape interactions of two cultures, American Indians and early English colonists, are examined in the same general area during the 17th century. Zube shows that the Indians had created a mosaic landscape in which they maintained large sections of forest containing small patches of land, some for agriculture, and some burned to provide grassy opening to attract wildlife. The Indians built temporary villages so that they could move to a new location every few years, which allows the soil time for nutrient replenishment. This method of landscape interaction was sustainable because the areas that were used by the Indians quickly restored themselves when the Indians left. In this part of the world slash-and-burn agriculture was sustainable because of high forest regeneration capacity unlike other areas, such as the Mediterranean, where similar methods would destroy the landscape.

When the English colonists arrived, they viewed the Indian practices as primitive and, because of the burned patches, environmentally destructive. But slash and burn for the Indians was limited as they eventually returned to the recovered land; a balance of man and nature had developed. But the colonists, living in permanent settlements, felt they could always find new resources and new land. Where the Indians had felt they were part of their environment, the English decided to conquer it, for which they felt they had Biblical mandate. Their permanent settlement pattern did not allow the land to recover, and they continually harvested wood for export, rather than their own use, and hunted wildlife with no respect to the depletion they were causing (Zube 1991). The colonists treated their environment as a producer to be exploited for their own needs. Their expansion to a new environment had resulted in a disconnection from any one environment, thus a diminished respect for natural environment in general. The colonists were not a long-standing part of the system, and additionally they reacted to the system as if it were an inexhaustible source to supply their desires. Respecting the systems was not an important issue; even seen as naive.

With continued expansion and separation, respect for the environment has continued to dramatically decrease, while the actual need has proportionately increased. The capability for damaging the environment has increased exponentially. It is interesting to compare the response of a 1989 UNEP survey with statements made by Miantonomo, chief of the Narragansett tribe in 1642. UNEP’s 1989 survey respondents predicted that continued exploitation will soon make the Earth hardly fit for human use, while Miantonomo, prompted by destruction resulting from English colonization, made very similar statements about the land of his people. The English turned a natural landscape into something that works only in the presence of humans; it could only be sustained with continual investment of supplementary resources and increasingly sophisticated technologies (see discussion of naturalness on pp. 43).

As transformation of this type increases, systems become more unsustainable. Resources are limited, so eventually input sources will dry up. Resource depletion is much more of a problem than might be predicted when simply looking at the resources directly harvested. An exponential decrease occurs whenever resources are harvested from complex intertwined systems. When certain necessary elements are removed from a system, the whole system will collapse, depleting all of the constituents. Some of these constituents might have been beneficial as well. These complex systems might have meta interactions with other complex systems, possibly causing systems level depletions. Our understanding is extremely limited and yet we treat the Earth as a resource designed for our own consumption and described by a simple group of static variables (as discussed in regarding reductionism on pp. 40).

Due to their close interactions with natural processes pre-expansionist humans were usually aware of the importance of a respect for their environment. This kind of respect was still evident to some extent even in the recent past, where most people either grew up, or periodically visited farms. Farms, though not entirely “natural” still provided a window into history, ecology, soils, seasons, wildlife, animal husbandry, and land use (Orr 1991).

The rapid decline of ecologically diverse farms caused by industrialization has nearly shredded these last threads connecting humanity to its environment. In the Third World, imposition of high yield agriculture has destroyed an intimate relationship between the cultures and nature that has co-evolved over millennia. With increasingly limited interactions with nature, humans have lost an understanding of their connection to nature and the destruction caused by their economic growth and personal consumption. This is quite dangerous to our own livelihood, as Aldo Leopold states, “stability seems to vary inversely to the mental distance from fields and woods” (Leopold 1991:286).

Currently, industrialization has the very basic flaw of production at any cost. With all of the different components of industrialized society attempting to produce, while simultaneously ignoring each other and the rest of their environments, the sustainable social, philosophical, political, and ecological context is undermined or even destroyed. Without a more holistic, context-based approach, sustainability is impossible.

Krauthammer (1991)’s arguments all have the same flaw; a presumption of some omniscient knowledge of how the incredibly complex biota of the earth interact and are interdependent. The Earth is far too complicated for us to understand what is directly affecting us (the pertinent knowledge according to Krauthammer), let alone the indirect effects, which can be just as important. As examined in the discussion of anthropogenic introduction of exotic species (pp. 36), often for bio-control measures, our knowledge of eco-system interactions remains limited.

§Summary and Conclusions

There is hope for mankind and his environment. In a world dominated by industrialization and the anthropocentric mind-set, some sense of environmental importance is beginning to take hold. Clapham (1983:273) states that a “...clean and safe environment has entered the value structure of industrial societies, so that decisions can be made to protect the environment on a value basis even if we can not always point to obvious economic benefits.” Humans are self satisfying agents and often that means attention to the short-term only. But it is difficult to understand how a corporation, or society as a whole, could be so short-sighted as to ignore the “economic benefit” of its own long term survival. Certainly it is possible to argue nearly any side, but the evidence for the effects of destruction of biodiversity and its impact on us should tell us that something about our actions is disturbing. I can only hope that Clapham (1983) is correct; that decisions can, and will be made to protect the environment on an informed value basis.

The mind-set of industrialization can, and must, change if we are to survive as a species. This will only occur if we learn to understand our connections to the environment through interaction with it. Education is a key factor and the children of industrialized society should be given the opportunity to see nature and our impacts, both beneficial and detrimental. As Cheetam (1993) argues:

...a more adequate conceptualization of our place in the natural world can be erected if the central metaphors for our understanding are grounded in notions derived from the sciences of life. The key concepts must include contingency, historicity, evolution, organism, and imaginative interaction with concrete reality in individual human beings.

Science must be viewed in the natural context(s) relevant to it; current reductionism causes it to be viewed as “...difficult, technical and stifling...”, while the humanities are the realm of, “...poetry, individuality, and easy relativism...” (Cheetham 1993). Such dichotomies are one of the primary reasons for separatist attitudes evident throughout the fiber of society. A similar dichotomy, which must be crossed for our well being, exists pitting the “naturalists” against the “technologists”.

Any such extremes are gross oversimplifications of reality and result only in barriers towards understanding of knowledge. Every species and ecosystem has the moral right to exist and we should attempt to prevent expansion that results in their extinction whenever possible. Unfortunately, we have placed ourselves in a position where “playing God” is necessary. Hopefully this position will no longer be abused and our decisions will be made in terms of informed stewardship, not some kind of ephemeral economic viability. If only it isn’t too late...

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§Introduction

I debated at length whether to write this chapter. It seemed that, if not written carefully, I could fall into a hypocritical trap where I would be doing exactly what I am arguing against in this thesis. My primary objective is to establish the need for bottom up management and argue that this stems from the need for a paradigmatic shift towards considering ourselves a part of our natural environments. I am arguing that this requires a multi-disciplinary, non-reductionist approach. My fear, when initially contemplating the outline for this chapter, was that I would state a few of the cultural and historical issues that I personally felt were important, establish those as management priorities, and in effect, display a subversive, yet readily apparent extension of historical colonialist perspectives that, I argue, result in environmental separation and destructive environmental practices.

Upon further contemplation, I decided that, as long as I clearly state that I am using my understanding of historical patterns as examples to look at how one might approach incorporation of such ideas into a management plan, not necessarily as some inclusive depiction of the correct path for the specific sites I’m considering, then this chapter could serve to help clarify my position and management methodology. In no way do I intend any of this actual paper to provide the specific historical or cultural basis for management in either of two areas mentioned. This would be a hypocritical, short-sighted mistake that would destroy the very foundation of my ideology. As I will clarify in the chapter on management, I believe that it is important for a truly representative group of the regional population to decide all aspects of the management of any area from the very beginning. Outside sources can be used, as is deemed appropriate by the indigenous population, but I believe that the affected population must do the ultimate decision making.

When I speak of indigenous populations, I consider any population, including that of the Eugene, Oregon area that I currently inhabit, as the appropriate decision making population for its specific environmental management strategies. Extending this concept, global environmental issues would be handled hierarchically by representatives of each region. Obviously with such issues it is more difficult to attain a truly representative population and thus the needs of many might not be met. My hope is that with a greater focus on regionalism, global environmental concerns would become less of a concern. Ultimate extension of this concept would focus on bioregionalism and ecologically based development of products where boundaries would be defined ecologically and not politically. These areas would then deal with their own waste management problems as much as possible. This, in turn, would foster development of “life-cycle” products based on natural ecological recycling principles where “waste” as it’s known today would be greatly limited.

In no way do I intend to espouse some fantasy of the “noble savage” that lives in key with his environment harmoniously, attempting some gross generalizations about all indigenous populations in the world, which, again, would define me as over-simplifying and destructive. I do believe that the traditional colonial mind-set which deals with environmental and cultural issues from afar will be inherently ineffective precisely because the environmental issues do not directly affect the colonialist governing bodies - the colonized environment is simply another area to be used - not one in which the colonialists have a direct, easily visible, environmental dependence and understanding of cause and effect relationships. As a result, I believe that the core management ideology which I defend in my paper would be just as relevant in the Fiji Islands as in Amherst MA.

Following a few more comments, I present some culturally and historically contextual information that might be relevant to environmental management in Fiji and Belize. As a note to the reader, throughout this paper I refer to personal observations drawn from my experiences living in Fiji and Belize for one year. I begin with a general historical background of both Fiji and Belize, specifically examining differences before and after colonial influence. While both Fiji and Belize became established as major producers of sugar and more recently have become prime tourist destinations, from my analysis I realized that the most important element of colonial influence for both countries is that a created society and culture has arisen. Both countries are now dominated by people of non-indigenous descent. Both countries also have complex political, economic, and class boundaries that strongly follow racial lines. Tensions are high in both countries and Fiji has already had two coup d’etas. Furthermore, despite the recently gained “independence” for both countries, they remain a part of the British commonwealth and are indirectly dominated by multi national interests. I believe that the continuation of colonialist practices and their resultant complexly constructed societies must have serious environmental implications.

To conclude this chapter, I briefly allude to some ideas regarding the presented historical and cultural context. The fifth chapter of this paper, regarding management recommendations contains my deeper analysis of the relevance of colonial influence for grass-roots bottom-up environmental management in both of the specific study areas.

As a final word of warning, one must be cautioned that most of the sources used are written by people from the “colonialist” background, not the indigenous inhabitants. A brief episode of which I was informed recently might help to demonstrate the potential (ir)relevance of much of this material: A student was in the island of Nauru in the South Pacific when she asked some local people about a festival she had read about in a book. The person she asked looked at her quizzically, then laughed heartily and said, “You read about this in some book right?” This student informed her that she had, in fact, read about the festival in a book that is widely quoted and considered, “the source for general history of the South Pacific islands.” The islander then said, “...we lied to that guy for years! He was obnoxious and everyone here hated him. There isn’t any festival like that!” Though the islander might potentially have been lying to the student, this example points to the difficulty of non-indigenous peoples speaking for others on any issue. It is very difficult to determine what is correct. Of course even indigenous populations might experience a further complication of this problem; for example the people of Nauru could have so many tourists coming to the island who are interested in this supposed festival that the Board of Tourism decides that it would be a good way to increase money to the economy. The festival might eventually become a real part of the culture. All of this shows that the issues presented are very complex.

Despite these complexities, I believe that the most viable management options will incorporate socio-economic and historical perspectives automatically if the regional population determines them. Furthermore, those perspectives will come from within the populations, who have a stronger grasp of the relevant socio-cultural issues than external sources. In the following, I examine potential areas to look at, as possibly relevant, but ultimately feel that the affected population will best decide relevant issues.

§Brief History of Colonial Belize

§Geographical Context of Belize

Belize is located in Northern Central America in the subtropical belt. On it’s immediate borders are Mexico to the North, Guatemala to the West and South, and the Caribbean Sea to the East (Figure 1). This small country, including the 20 km offshore and extensive inland lagoon systems is only 49% land and consists of a mere 46,620 km2. Reflecting this oceanic importance is the extensive reef system in the near coast of Belize. The 132 mile reef extending 25 miles off shore is the second largest barrier reef in the world. Further exemplifying this importance is the catastrophic impact of the rare cyclone that hits Belize; massive hurricane damage to this low lying country resulted in a move of the capitol from Belize City to Belmopan in 1971 (Ministry of Tourism and Environment 1994).

§Arrival of Europeans

Most Belizeans are not the indigenous Maya, but descendants from immigrants brought by different colonial powers (Shoman 1994). Throughout the colonial history of Belize, most of the Mayans were either killed off, through warfare and disease, or driven off of the colonial frontiers. Belize has become a nation of immigrants who have been decultured and re-oriented to British and United States identity (Spear 1990).

Initially English settlers arrived and used cayes, the southern coast, and mouth of the Belize River as bases from which to loot Spanish ships and harvest logwood for use in dye. Due to logwood related conflicts, British and Spanish relations were strained. Eventually peace treaties in 1783 and 1786 resulted in definition of natural resource concessions, including logwood and mahogany. Furthermore, no formal government, agriculture, or productive economic activities, other than wood cutting, were permitted. Though these concessions established that sovereignty was to be retained by Spain, settlers, including African slaves, beat off the Spanish attempts to capture St. George’s Caye in 1798. Following their victory, the English settlers formally requested British colonial status (Waddell 1981; Bolland 1977, 1988).

§Slavery, Racism, and Development of Colonial Dependence

African descended slaves were brought from the West Indies early in the 18th century. The slaves, brought primarily for cutting Mahogany, soon outnumbered the colonists (Dobson 1973). Though considered “slaves by name only” because work conditions were different than those on plantations, the number of runaways, abortions, suicides, murders of whites, and cruelties to slaves show that this myth is skewed and that slavery existed similarly to other areas (Bolland 1977, 1988).

This belief of non-slavery is found throughout oral histories and historical counts, resulting in a false context of the Creoles as British allies, resulting in separation from other colonially influenced cultures. Furthermore, this works to further the ideology of white supremacy; the Creoles do not consider the British as having inflicted any injustice. There is a sense that the Creoles freely denied their traditional African cultures, traditions and languages in preference for the British ideology that masks the true history of imposed slavery. Slavery, with little contact of those from the same geographic areas of Africa, prevented free use of language and preservation of cultural and traditional values. As a result, the British are not held responsible as separate entities for the evident poverty and underdevelopment; the Creoles consider themselves British so to them there exists no separate entity (Mintz and Price 1977).

When living in the Toledo district, Belize, I found pro-British attitudes to be common among the Creoles I spoke with. Many people considered themselves proud citizens of Britain and some of the older people I spoke with seemed genuinely angry about Belize’s independence. British products were often favored above others and there seemed to be a common false sense of the relative power of modern England; at one point I was speaking with some children in my middle class host family when they started arguing with me how England is the most powerful country in the world. The children eventually asked their parents. The father looked genuinely sad and reticent when he concurred that maybe England wasn’t quite the most powerful country any more. I also found that, along with an imposed internal color hierarchy, the Creoles deemed those with the least English influence as less sophisticated. Those that spoke primarily Creole or other languages, with a lack of ability in English, were considered less intelligent.

Though slavery was abolished in 1833, freed slaves were rapidly incorporated as indentured servants. The inaccessibility of available land due to British monopolization and the use of advances and truck systems kept the former slaves dependent on the British (Bolland 1988). In the late 1800’s many former slaves were incorporated as indentured servants for the increasing business of sugar production. Rapid growth in this industry and rice production caused the British to look to East India and China for new sources of labor. The British encouraged the Chinese and Indians to retain their traditions, which were considered conducive to hard work and revolutionary suppression. Ultimately, this retention of tradition by Asian groups, as opposed to disavowal by African groups resulted in further separation of the different peoples of Belize (Bolland 1986).

Another slave derived people, the Garifuna constitute a small population with a dominant influence in modern Belizean society. In the 17th century slaves escaping from shipwrecked European boats escaped to the Lesser Antilles. On these islands the former slaves mixed with the indigenous Caribs to produce the Garinagu people, most often referred to today as Garifuna. The Garifuna are generally darker than Creoles because of the limited European influence on their genealogy. Their language is primarily based on a Carib Indian language. In 1795 a Carib rebellion against British authority on St. Vincent resulted in deportation and exile to Honduras. Eventually many of these Garifuna migrated and settled on the coast of British Honduras. Despite their generally common descent, the Garifuna have never been accepted within the Creole community, which deems them inferior (Glassman 1989). Gonzalez (1988) postulates that this lack of acceptance is due to false rumors spread by the English settlers that depicted the Garifuna as evil devil worshippers. According to Gonzalez (1988), the Creoles who were faithfully attending the English missionary schools, appropriately reacted as good British Christians and joined in branding the Garifuna, some of whom might actually have been related to the Creoles.

Belize formally became the colony of British Honduras in 1862. This decision allowed the colony to serve as a major source of wood throughout the expanding empire. To retain their dependence, Britain required that the settlers import nearly all life necessities. Due partially to the early colonial treaty with Spain, Belize stayed relatively undeveloped; little land was used for roads and agriculture. Only women, young children, and the elderly within the slave population were allowed to farm small plots of land for personal consumption. These general patterns resulted in little development or environmental degradation (Dobson 1973).

The British settlers had little contact with the indigenous Mayan people until coastal logwood supplies were exhausted and woodcutters began moving into their forests (Bolland 1988). The Maya quickly responded to encroachment with military action. This action was quelled by British troops and the Maya were hence considered a serious threat to logging operations. Following continued Mayan resistance and fighting, ultimately they were adopted into the British colonial structure. In the second half of the 19th century, the relations between Mayans and English settlers improved as resource use shifted from forestry to agriculture (Jones 1989).

Despite external assimilation of the Mayan people, socially and culturally they remained remarkably autonomous. To govern them, the British implemented the Alcalde system, which consists of regional town council with mayors. This system, which uses a central mayor figure termed an Alcalde, was designed to meet the British conceptions of the Mayan people as primitive and weak, thus requiring a small de-centralized government (Bolland 1988). The Alcaldes were approved by the British and served to allow indirect control of each Mayan village. Despite British approval, the Alcalde system provided a means by which the Mayans could remain relatively independent of further colonial influence for a brief period of time (Jones, 1989).

This autonomy was quickly shattered when an increased interest in agriculture caused the British to look to the Mayans as a potentially large labor force. In the 1860’s the colonial authorities withdrew land rights from Mayans. From that point, Mayans could live on reservations or rent land from the “rightful owners”. The British felt that Mayans land ownership would threaten British dominance because of increasing independence and decrease Mayan incentive for laborious plantation work. Mayans were also goaded into labor by imposition of high land rents. To further add insult, the British set up these plantations on the land that was already in use by Mayans for subsistence farming (Bolland 1988). In effect, the British had observed the Mayans as farmers, stereotyped them as a people suited for agricultural conditions, then forced them into a situation where they had few options but to work on land that they had used for thousands of years. All of this so that they could pay high taxes to live on land that they had previously owned!

This same system of indirectly forced labor was used for the Mestizo population as well. Most of these genealogically Mayan and Spanish mixed immigrants arrived in the 1847 War of the Castes of Yucatan. Though allowed to own land, land availability for these populations was rare (Bolland 1977). This colonial dependence continued through later wage reductions and constant demands for increasing rent payments (Bolland 1988). The use of Mestizos and Mayans for agriculture and African descended Creoles for wood cutting worked in sync with linguistic and cultural differences to create a hierarchical structure with Europeans at the top, Creoles of mixed descent second, then those of pure African descent, and finally, the “savage” Amerindians at the bottom (Jones 1989).

§The Arrival of Refugees and Mennonites

The last large influxes of people into Belize were refugees and Mennonites. Refugees have historically come to Belize from surrounding Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras to escape social repression and political volatility. Though today these refugees are allowed to own land, this has resulted in disgruntlement and accusations by other groups that these “aliens” steal land, which rightfully belongs to the “true Belizeans” (Dobson 1973).

Many Mennonites came to Belize in the late 1950’s when trying to avoid inclusion in the Mexican social security system. The Belizean government established conditions that allowed them to freely practice their religious and educational beliefs. The Mennonites generally segregate themselves from the rest of society and have thus avoided large-scale inclusion in most political or racial conflicts (Sawatzky 1971).

§Recent History and Current Problems

§Industry: Sugar, Citrus, Tourism and Fisheries

By the late 1970’s, sugar became Belize’s prime industry. Due to pressure from organizations such as USAID, Belize has put so much effort into expansion of the sugar industry that thousands of jobs would be at stake if sugar demand falls. In attempts to diversify Belize has begun investing in citrus, bananas, and various other food crops, including corn, rice, kidney beans, beef, poultry, and honey. Most recently, tourism and fisheries have become very important for Belize (Spear 1990).

§Independence and the Continuation of Colonialism

Despite recently acquired independence in 1981, the tight fist of colonialism has yet to completely loosen its grip. Along with evident connections to Britain in being a member of the Commonwealth, more subtle holdovers are evident in surviving racial and class barriers. As Waddell (1961) states, class distinctions in Belize are closely tied to color for most populations. Those with lighter skin are generally from higher classes and thus benefit from increased opportunities in education and, as a result, employment. The United States exerts direct influences on Belize in terms of tourism, agriculture, and Belizean emigration. Belize has become a prime spot for tourism, particularly from the United States. The eventual effects on the beautiful reef and forest systems are yet to be fully understood. Partially due to a treaty that England signed with Spain hundreds of years ago, agriculture and large scale deforestation has never directly impacted Belize. As a result, Belize is still nearly 90% forested and, compared to its Central American neighbors, agricultural development has not had much impact. I further examine these issues in the chapter on management (Spear 1990).

§The Growth of Gang Violence and Drugs

Spear (1990) states that many Belizeans leave their country in search of greater economic possibilities in the United States. Unfortunately, most of them can’t find good employment opportunities and many join gangs and sell drugs. Inevitably, these youths are deported and, as a result, they have brought the gangs and drugs of the U.S. with them. Now it’s common to see signs of the “Bloods” and the “Crips”, the two largest L.A. gangs, especially in Belize city. Violent street crime is rapidly increasing (Shoman 1994).

§Television and the View of Colonialism Today

The direct impact of colonialism still in effect is best summed up by a quote from Caribbean novelist George Lamming speaking in reference to Caribbean states (Shoman 1994: 308):

They Govern but they do not rule. The transnational corporation has assumed a novel dominance in all regional affairs. Domestic policy is determined by international lending agencies. Independence has not yet won the right to sovereignty.

Today the biggest threat of colonial impact might be subtler yet. The United States continually broadcasts tens of channels of television to this country. The impact of constant barrages of advertisements and television programs which are filled with products and people that are irrelevant to local surroundings can only be guessed at. Many people in Belize that I knew watched just as much television as any United States families that I know of. Furthermore, they strive to be able to purchase the products advertised and alluded to in television programs. I spoke to one man that said that it was common for people to spend large sums of money on clothing items, which clearly were not designed for tropical environments, only to have them quickly ruined in the excessive heat and humidity.

Shoman (1994: 307) exemplifies the impact of television with another quote from George Lamming which states, “....the massive insult of imported television...is...not only imported...not only bad, it is the garbage of another world unloaded on a mesmerized and uncritical populace.” Shoman continues by saying, “Television is very much part of the global capitalist system, controlled by huge transnational corporations which make phenomenal profits by promoting false needs to multiple millions of people...if the market system is creating great expectations while at the same time poverty is increasing and the gap between rich and poor is getting wider, the social outcome is increased crime.”

I personally had a dramatic experience with the effect of television when a man stopped me on the street and spoke to me for over an hour about television. He told me that if I have any compassion for his country, I should go and change the television being broadcast to Belize; he believed that it was ruining the minds and spirits of the children of his generation.

§Brief History of Colonial Fiji

§Geographical Context

As in Belize, Fiji is a country dependent on its oceanic surroundings. Fiji is a group of over 320 beautiful tropical islands in the South Pacific. The 18,200 sq. km. of land is spread over 100,000 sq. km. of ocean. Fiji is the center of the cultural crossroads of Melanesia and Polynesia. Due to its proximity to Australia, New Zealand, and other Pacific countries, Fiji is a staging-post for airlines and shipping (Tinker et al. 1987). See Figure 2 for a map of the Fijian islands.

§Pre-Colonial Overview

Thousands of years ago, people from Asia moved in small bands into nearly every inhabitable island on the South Pacific. Each group of people inhabiting different islands developed languages, cultures, and societies which were carefully and skillfully balanced to adjust to their particular physical setting (Oliver 1989b: 1-5). Approximately 3500 years ago, groups that had already colonized more purely Melanesian countries such as Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands ventured further East into Fiji, a group of over 300 islands in the center of the South-West Pacific. These people brought root crops, animals, and Lapita pottery to aid in establishment of a culture primarily based on their Melanesian roots. The incorporation of Micronesian and Polynesian cultural traits in Fiji shows that, early on, this group of islands was the foundation of the cross-roads of the pacific (West 1961: 1-3; Howe 1984: 10-13; Oliver 1989b 14-25).

Howe (1984: 53) states that at the time of European arrival in the South Pacific, most islands societies had achieved a balance between population and essential natural resources. If such a general balance is true it might be explained by social-grouping systems such as those used by the Australian Aborigines. Many tribes of Australia extend social groupings to include plants, animals, natural forces, and natural objects. This universally inclusive social system allows the conception that all human beings are interrelated with all aspects of “nature” (Oliver 1951: 28).

Fiji held a large stratified chiefly society where the eldest males, were directly descended from the founding fathers of the chief clan or community of their tribe (Howe 1984: 62). Each tribe was divided into between 2 and 7 groups or “communities” to relegate responsibilities such as fishing, hunting, farming, crafts, fighting, and medicine. Those born into a specific community enacted duties associated with it. For example, if one were born of a chiefly clan, they would act as ministers, advisers, and councils. Sons of the chiefly clan are expected to act as a repository of tribal knowledge and must assume responsibility for the well-being of the entire tribe (Roth 1953: 59-64; Howe 1984: 62, 256; Personal Communication with a minister of a chiefly family in Savu Savu, Fiji). The actual chief is selected from the chiefly clan based on his ability and merit. The number of large tribal units in Fiji fluctuated, but immediately before European influence the number was probably at least 7 (Howe 1984: 256-258).

§Rapid Change - the Colonial Impact

Within the past few centuries, nearly all of these islands were rapidly altered by “Occidentals and westernized Orientals” who “transformed them into pastures, plantations, mines, and Sunday schools....whatever...they touched...they altered or destroyed”. (Oliver 1951: 3). Oliver (1951: 3) continues to briefly summarize the changes brought by the colonialists:

Missions needed converts, so savage exuberance was reduced to drab sobriety. Grazing required land, so the inhabitants were pushed off it. Copra required labor, so villages were ransacked for semi-slaves. Cane Growing demanded more monotonous efficiency than the masters could inculcate , so natives were shoved aside and Asiatics brought in in such numbers that they overwhelmed what was left of island life.

The sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries are termed the “Era of Discovery” in the Pacific. During this time Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and English charted out the islands of this ocean. Interestingly, at the same time that these “discoverers” of the Pacific Islands were barely able to escape the confines of the small land-locked Mediterranean sea, the “primitive” islanders had used their precocious navigational and seamanship skills to explore and populate most of the islands of the Pacific (Oliver 1951: 63). Though initially deemed “primitive” by Europeans, their ocean-going outrigger canoes were made to massive proportions, some 24 meters in length. Furthermore, they incorporated “modern” design features such as deep vee hulls, planking, ribbing, specialized caulking features, and sails designed to reduce drag and increase speed (Howe 1984: 22).

§The First Settlers: Whalers, Traders, and Missionaries

The first groups of Europeans to go to the Fiji Islands were whalers, traders, and missionaries. The rich schooling grounds of whales in Oceania were discovered in the late 18th century. This initial spawn of whalers had serious environmental and cultural consequences. As Oliver (1951: 77) describes it, “Picture the scene of a thousand lusty fellows suddenly turned loose...after months of poor rations, hard discipline, and body breaking work, away from the sight of women and the smell of rum....the science of a geneticist [would be] needed to appraise its lasting consequences”. Fortunately such scenes were apparently rarer in Fiji than in the more Polynesian islands due to the treacherous reefs and hostile inhabitants (Legge 1958: 10; Howe 1984: 258).

The first sustained impact was incurred by the various traders and merchants who came to Fiji, initially during the sandalwood rush of 1804 to 1810 (West 1961: 13). Following sandalwood, Beche-de-Mer, coconut oil, pearls, nacre, and tortoise shell were extracted; many to near complete removal or extinction. Exceptionally grotesque was the fascination with dried preserved human heads held by curio-hunters. Apparently the demand eventually led to an alarming increase in deaths of natives and reportedly some chiefs would even allow white traders to pick the heads to be dried from among the living (Oliver 1951; 78-79).

These traders exploited the native populations to their advantage. Exempt from governmental control found in their European homelands, they lied, cheated, and frauded to the best of their ability. Often this resulted in retaliation and counter retaliation, giving the Fijian islands a reputation for violence enshrined in the name “Cannibal Islands” (Oliver 1989: 46-59). Some of the first colonists arrived at this time in the form of deserters from ships and escaped convicts from Australia. Often these “beachcombers” were tolerated and even adopted due to benefits of their knowledge of firearms in native wars (Legge 1958: 10-11). Unfortunately, the exploitations of traders existed at least until 1951 when Oliver (1951: 79) wrote, “...even today in places like New Guinea one can hear traders complaining that natives are being ‘spoiled’ by too openhanded whites who barter goods or currency valued at fifteen cents for the product of a single day’s work.”.

Along with the obvious direct environmental impact, trading was particularly disastrous because it initiated Bau as the center of Fiji. The natives of this island were given large quantities of firearms and encouraged to use this new technology to take over a large area of Fiji. Eventually Fiji was thus transformed from a system of many loosely linked, yet constantly warring chiefdoms to a short lived kingdom with Cakobau (pronounced “Thakombau”) as the first ruler of all of Fiji (Howe 1984: 258-266).

The environment land culture changing acts of the traders and whalers were certainly great, but perhaps the most profound initial effects were felt by the large scale introduction of missionaries. Nearly as soon as the Europeans arrived, missionaries were used to colonize and control these countries. The English were particularly mischievous in these ventures in that they devised a scheme of control that required little expenditure from Her Majesty’s pocket-books. Britain avoided annexation due to high monetary and military costs, choosing instead to allow the government to develop itself as long as it heeded the advice of missionaries (Legge 1958: 1-10; Oliver 1951: 74).

Part of the success of missionaries might be explained by their relatively unimposing nature; these were the first white settlers that neither took the local women or goods and who maintained that they were solely there to help. Another obvious reason was the abundance of western goods accompanying any group of missionaries. Initially many Fijians did not convert but welcomed these Europeans primarily because it increased their contact with trader vessels and their desirable articles, such as firearms (Howe 1984: 268). This Christian influence was generally used for political as well as capital gains. Only when Cakobau had fallen from power and was in immediate threat from the US and England for alleged deeds against settlers did he welcome conversion to Christianity (Legge 1958: 12; Howe 1984: 269-273). Due to Cakobau’s high status, his conversion resulted in a nearly nationwide adoption of Christianity (West 1961: 16).

The missionary influence was thus subtler; power gained through conversions of chiefs and influential elders. Eventually of course, all aspects of Christianity were brought to the islands, including the eventual pitting of different island peoples against each other due to differences in beliefs of which Christian based sect was correct. The culmination of such religious differences are exemplified by the acts of Bouganville Island in 1931, where Methodist and Catholic converts were actively burning each others’ temples (Oliver 1951: 81-83).

When missionaries came to Fiji, they were appalled by the “un-Christian” displays of naked flesh and thus rapidly informed the local heathens that God would not tolerate such behavior. Following much prodding, and convincing of religious superiority due to greater military ability, the islanders decided to adopt the Europeans’ ways and began thoroughly covering their bodies, despite the repressive heat and humidity (Roth 1953: 14; Oliver 1951: 81). When I was at the University of the South Pacific, one student from the Solomon Islands pointed out the irony of this situation when he stated, “Nothing personal, but Europeans must be crazy -- first they come and tell us to cover our bodies with all of these clothes. As soon as we agree...they come back and want to walk around our beaches naked!”

A similarly impractical trend has resulted in housing construction. Traditionally Fijians used thatched houses but today most houses in Fiji are made of corrugated metal. Though now widely accepted, Roth (1953: 11-15) states that initially Fijians prided themselves on houses based on those of their colonists but apparently were also aware of their inappropriate nature for their tropical environments. Corrugated metal houses are intensely hot during the day and uncomfortably cold at night. Before a near universal change to this style of housing, many islanders who had adopted it would escape to their neighbors’ huts constructed of traditional housing material during exceptionally hot days or cold nights. Though traditional housing had many benefits, increased longevity and manufacturing time for metal roofs may have been the primary deciding factors for the wide-spread shift to this building material.

§Cultural Transformation from Colonial Agriculture

Following initial impact by small groups of whalers, traders, and missionaries, agriculture began in Fiji, eventually resulting in the profound transformation into the colonially constructed society existing today. Though each of the early European groups caused definite change, they joined together to set the seeds for real British growth in Fiji through the cotton and sugar industries. These industries eventually resulted in uncontrolled colonization by British nationals, the adoption of Fiji as a British possession, and two coups in 1987 and 1991 (Legge 1958, 12-13; Kaplan 1995: 188, 210).

In 1858, along with the arrival of the first British consul, came the cotton planter in need of large amounts of land, labor, and ordered conditions. A large scale need for cotton arose following the Union blockade of US cotton after the Civil War. This demand allowed Europeans to exploit the resources of Fiji, eventually causing it to be the center of the South Pacific cotton boom (Oliver 1951: 90). In 1858 there were only thirty or forty European settlers. Within eight years this number had multiplied to well over one thousand. In that same time period, Europeans had laid claims to 235,000 acres of land, nearly twenty thousand of which were already being used for the production of cotton (West 1961: 16-17).

This claim of large amounts of land certainly caused problems for the Fijians who traditionally probably didn’t even believe in the concept of land-ownership. They considered that they were selling land usage rights to the foreigners, not the physical land. Furthermore, often land sales consisted of vastly unbalanced trades of trinkets or guns to the local chief. Chiefs sometimes sold land many times, thinking that land use was in negotiation and that, of course, more than one group could use a single piece of land (West 1961: 17-18).

Surely the biggest change came about because the colonists had difficulty enticing local Fijians to do their plantation work. They had no great need for money from the colonists; nearly all of them lived a subsistence life, fishing and farming. If one ever fell sick, their village would take care of them. As a result, Fijians had no incentive to work under colonial masters in cotton and sugar plantations.

In the beginning, labor primarily came from surrounding South Pacific Islands in the evil practice of blackbirding. Blackbirders would go to other South Pacific islands where often illiterate natives were either enticed through lies, or forced at gunpoint to “sign” contracts of labor which they usually weren’t even capable of reading (Oliver 1951: 94-96; West 1961: 18).

§A Plea for Fijian Cession

It was at this time that serious discussions of Fijian cession began. William Thomas Pritchard, formerly Acting Consul at Samoa was determined to establish Fiji as a legitimized British colony. He saw Fiji as a, “‘highway of commerce’ between Australia and Panama...a base...for the development of trade in the south seas as a whole...[with]...great possibilities as far as soil, climate and native labor...for the growth of cotton” (Legge 1958: 29). Cakombau, the self appointed King of Fiji was easily convinced by Pritchard to promote a British cession. Cakombau had been increasingly worried about how to pay the grossly overestimated debt that a settler had requested in reference to Fijians stealing items from the settler’s house following an accidental house-fire. Since Cakombau had no way to pay the large sum of money requested, he believed that joining the British Empire would relieve him of his Kingly responsibilities for his people’s ill deeds. Following Cakombau’s approval, Pritchard was able to get all of the most powerful chiefs of Fiji to agree to allow the annexation of Fiji (Legge 1958: 32).

Pritchard brought samples of high quality Fijian cotton with the information of requested cession to the Colonial Office in Britain. Due to a variety of complexities, based primarily on lack of certainty of easy control and economic incentives, Britain chose not to annex Fiji for nearly twenty years. Though initial promise with the cotton industry resulted in much interest, rapid increase in sugar production and a rising settler population experiencing difficulties with Fijian governance were probably the prime incentive for the official annexation of 1874 (Howe: 276-277; Legge 1958: 2-3, 284).

§The Sugar Industry and the Arrival of East Indians

The onset of the sugar industry was also the genesis of Fiji’s primary political problem today. From the initial stages, the sugar industry was completely monopolized by British and U.S. companies - the islanders had no claim to either operation or profits taken in by the nation’s prime source of profit. As previously mentioned for cotton, the Fijians had little interest in working for the sugar companies and thus a massive import of labor from East India began (Oliver 1951: 91).

§Breakdown of the Traditional Communal System

The mixture of East Indian and Fijian culture has caused a variety of problems, unresolved even today in 1996. Coulter (1942: 3) described how the infusion of individualistic Indians resulted in breakdowns of the traditional communal system. The traditional communal system that provided a Fijian with life necessities such as food, clothing, and housing gave no initial incentive to adopt individualistic lifestyles used by the incoming Indians and Europeans. At least currently, this system seems to extend even beyond one’s village.

When in Fiji recently, I witnessed a general lack of respect for private property. People warned me of this initially because once something is lent, there is no expectation that it will be returned. For example, several different people commented on my guitar saying, “I had a guitar once...”. When asking where each individuals guitar was, I inevitably ran into a long story of how it was initially loaned to a relative or friend who loaned it to someone else, who loaned it again, until eventually the person had completely lost track of the object.

Throughout my six month stay, this system was constantly evident; one would not smoke a cigarette, drink, or eat without sharing it with everyone present. In fact, when drinking alcohol, the same glass was used by all present. A single person would fill the glass from the communally purchased liquor, then hand it out to the first person on the left who would down the whole glass and hand it back. This person would then return the glass and it would then be filled and handed to the next in line until everyone had a shot, after which the circle would start again. Everyone was expected to drink the exact same amount. It was further considered very rude to hold ones pack of cigarettes or food item and consume it if others present were interested in partaking.

I found this system to be intriguing and still firmly entrenched but with increasing western pressure, the future seems to be yielding definite change. One of the biggest threats is probably the imposition of Western materialist based class structures. As certain people acquire Western items, a refrigerator or TV, for example, which are not commonly held by the society at large, an uncharacteristic greed begins to set in. Suddenly people lose their interest in loaning out their newly acquired valuable possessions because they realize that it’s highly unlikely that they will get an equivalent item back in the future. This communal system traditionally worked partly because Fijians have ready access to a constant supply of enough healthy food due to large amounts of fertile soil and fishing grounds. The Fijian climate is also always characteristically tropical and thus no need exists for work spent heating or insulating shelter (Coulter 1942: 1-14). Hopefully Western influence won’t change the fact that (Coulter 1942: 20), “...an economic structure that lets one man starve while another plows under his corn must seem very cruel to a Fijian who gave freely of his yams and bananas to a neighbor who was in need.”

§Problems of Introduced Labor: Fijian and East Indian Conflicts

As a result of abundant food and space, the traditional life style has been relatively laid back. As Coulter (1942: 40) states, “...no one is called on to labor diligently and regularly; all are fed and sheltered and have plenty of time left over for social gatherings, recreation and lying in the shade. No one lives below a comfortable subsistence level...” This still persists throughout much of Fiji and other South Pacific Islands; several friends of mine regularly questioned why they bothered attending the University due to the excessive work pressure compared to traditional subsistence living on the islands. One of them said, “All I do when I’m home is go fishing every once in a while and maybe grow some Taro...Most of the day I just hang out and talk to my friends and family. I really have trouble motivating myself sometimes because the way I usually live seems so much easier and more fun than being in school.”

To create incentive for work, in light of this communal system, the Europeans began imposing a system of tax burdens. Fijians had no other way to pay these taxes and thus some form of occasional work became more common. (Coulter 1942: 3-6). As more indentured Indians were brought to Fiji and decided not to return to India following their stay, the population and resultant effects of Indian immigration grew. Many Indians were overjoyed to arrive in Fiji whose largely untapped resources marked a strong contrast to the competitively dominated society and the continual want and poverty of their homeland (Coulter 1942: 24).

As a result of this pleasant contrast and open possibilities for financial security, the hard labor involved in sugar cane cutting was a small price to pay for the independently minded Indians who soon flocked in large numbers to Fiji. By 1916 Indians were firmly in place economically and were demanding more political and property rights. Soon after, in 1926, sugar cane was the biggest business concern (Coulter 1942: 25-26). The Indians also rapidly reproduced, quickly becoming the dominant population financially and numerically. The reasons for this quick rise to a higher population of Indians than Fijians consist of lower reproduction rates among Fijians, higher mortality among Fijians, earlier average age of child-birth among Indians, and apparently a lower average number of female children borne to Fijian women (Roth 1953: xiv).

Fijians soon became worried that the Indians would take over their economy, land, and political rights due to their rapid rise in the sugar industry and growing independently spawned businesses. Though there were exceptions, Fijians usually had great difficulty competing because they had little direct economic incentive. Furthermore, their communal culture was nearly antithetical to individualistic market based capitalistic competition; traditionally one who had many things would give more items away to others and would not generally remain wealthy for long. Those that didn’t were frowned upon by others. As a result, a Fijian shopkeepers first priority is taking care of any people that come in and ask for his goods, whether they are able to pay for them or not. Obviously such a shopkeeper will do poorly economically when trying to compete with someone who doesn’t give away most of his stock for free (Oliver 1989: 133). The failure of Fijians to become directly important economic constituents is demonstrated by their 5 percent contribution to the national tax between 1965 and 1967. In these same years, Europeans contributed 49 per cent and Indians 40 per cent (Norton 1977: 10-11).

Indians continued to rise economically in power until they controlled nearly the entire smaller economic infrastructure. As Indians prospered economically, they were also more capable of paying for education. This educational advantage further added to their ability to secure high paying jobs. This resulted in a system where, like Belize, major social and economic divisions follow racial lines. The Europeans were on the top with control of all major economic and political position, the Indians secondary, and the Fijians on the bottom, controlling only their own property (Norton 1977: xiii, 10-11).

§The Rise of Cultural Tension and Resultant Coups

Following independence in 1970 (Central Office of Information 1970: 1), tensions continued growing between Fijians and Indians until in 1987 a military coup, replaced the “multi-racial” Labor party with an entirely ethnic Fijian chauvinist government and constitution . Following this coup, Indians were regarded as second class citizens with no land-holding privileges and reduced economic and political rights. During the time of the coup, many Indians were beaten and castigated. As a result of an uncertain future, a mass emigration was enacted which resulted in a population reduction to 48% Indian, down from well over 50% prior to the coup (Kaplan 1995: 11, 158, 188-189). Today, though less obviously volatile, the situation remains uncertain; many Indians I spoke with are worried and are still hoping for an opportunity to move to Australia, New Zealand, or the US.

§Current Colonial Control

As in Belize, direct impacts of colonialism are evident. Traditionally islanders subsisted on wild taro, yams, fish, turtles, crabs, lobsters, shrimp, clams, and sea cucumbers (Oliver 1951: 12). Though this kind of diet is still common today, I found increasing usage of canned products from Australia, Japan, Europe, and the United States. Particularly ironic was seeing people purchase canned fish for high prices, which was caught in Fiji by a multi-national corporation based in Japan or the US.

Though much less obvious and even subtler than in Belize, television is beginning to impact Fiji as well. Only in the last two or three years has Fiji had television. Only a small minority of the population currently receives the one television channel consisting of a strange blend of US, European, and, Australian programming. Though the effects of television will not be felt until the future, going to the University of the South Pacific slightly over a year after its introduction provided me with a window into some of the possible effects of this powerful technology.

Each of the rooms formerly set up as a common space for a certain area of dormitories had been remodeled with a television set. Students would flock to these rooms and watch the one station for hour upon hour, transfixed, watching the inane shows that had, as far as I could see, little direct relevance to their lives besides presentation of a trite, falsely depicted future that doesn’t even present life in the countries the shows are filmed in with any reality. The television images are becoming grained in a perverted display of caricatures of the wealthy and the beautiful that parade around in dazzling lights, taunting the islanders of a future that no one, not even the actors in their shows could hope to attain. Nearly everyone I met assumed that everyone in the United States is vastly wealthy, incredibly beautiful (probably largely because colonial imposed racial identity but possibly also to the generally implicit handsomeness of television actors), and possessing of large amounts of guns.

It was amusing and interesting to answer questions about the composition of my village and how Madonna or some other famous personas were doing. It was less amusing to have countless people tell me that their biggest dream is to go to the United States because of the apparently golden paved streets, racial harmony, and beautiful people. One person told me that his one requisite to happiness was whether he set his foot in the US before he dies. One of the more disturbingly dangerous misperceptions I encountered was an over-weight Samoan transvestite that had been accepted as an exchange student to a large state school in the southern US. S/he couldn’t wait to go to the incredibly liberal and accepting US atmosphere that would allow escape from the traditional teasing and taunting that Polynesians sometimes indulge in for their relatively common transvestite population. I can only pray that such teasing has been the worst thing encountered here in the US.

§Colonial Impacts and Implications for the Environment

§Summary and Comparison of Colonial Impact

People of any “third world” country are intrinsically tied through a socio-economic system that fosters the development of one part of society at the expense of another. They share a history of continuing social and political exploitation by other countries. By definition, colonialism implies a relationship of social inequality whereby the colonialists exploit the human and natural resources of the colonized area. In European colonialism this created a common exploitive root that resulted in an intrinsic relationship between all exploited peoples of a colony, regardless of cultural or ethnic background (Depres, 1967). Colonial societies are typically composed of many different groups because they are used and exploited for their specific cultural and physical make-up at different times depending on the economic or functional needs of the colonies (Wadell, 1961).

This has resulted in a common fragmentation of the majority poor working class based on ethnic and racial differences that prevents unification and results in a continuance of foreign dominance. Different races or cultures are considered ideal for different kinds of work (Williams 1991). For example, in Fiji, and to a lesser extent in Belize, a vast number of East Indians were brought to the islands to plant sugar; the Fijians could not be coaxed into this work because their communal system and relatively relaxed tropical life-style gave them no incentive to work for hard hours for money which they had relatively little use for (Coulter 1942, pp.). This class and race stratification has resulted in a framework for which the “independent” post-colonial societies are still based upon (Williams 1991).

Inherent difficulties have resulted for those whose life depends on low-wage work in colonial societies. As a result of racially based class distinctions, many people descending from colonial rule are still working in serf-like conditions. Despite surface level changes in labor structures, laboring people have found it difficult to free themselves from this influence. Until at least 1940, ex-slaves and their descendants in Belize were still locked in colonial labor constructs (Dobson 1973).

§Colonially Induced Racial Boundaries

The colonial system has further created strongly delineated racial boundaries for intellectual and moral abilities; invariably those with the lightest skin color, which is closest to that of the colonialists, are deemed superior to those of darker shades (Dobson 1973). When studying in Belize and particularly in Fiji, I continually experienced the “white man advantage”. I was permitted to enter clubs that the bouncers would find some reason to deny my friends. I continuously witnessed that lighter shaded people were considered more attractive; people would actually use skin color as a designation of attractiveness. Some students from the Solomon Islands told me that they considered themselves ugly due to their very dark coloration. Furthermore, I was informed that the most attractive people were those of “white” descent, the “Europeans”. Many students I spoke with would use racial terminology to speak of the other students at the University of the South Pacific of different ethnic backgrounds (USP is the university for 12 South Pacific Island countries).

Racism might be a prime causative factor for the riot that I witnessed when I was at the USP. In this fight, many Solomon Island students were severely beaten by Fijians to the extent that one of my friends was in a coma for six months and another had nearly every bone in his body broken. The fight lasted for hours and the one lone security guard was a Fijian who made no action to halt it; aimlessly waving a flashlight around. My reason for linking this to racism is partly based on my experience hearing Fijians speak in racist terminology of the Solomon Islanders, the darkest of the people of the Pacific islands. Certainly these islands might have tension for other reasons and this is a subjective opinion. These racial boundaries that proclaim “white” as the most desirable shade create a system in which colonially influenced indigenous people are pitted against each other while the colonialists continue exploiting them and their resources.

§Colonial Control Through Education

This has even permeated into the educational systems where schools and churches were used by missionaries and teachers to internalize virtues of humble work, social order, and obedience to authority, allowing the perpetuation of British superiority (Bolland 1988). Education in both countries is based on the English system where the children are taught to sit and take in the teachers’ words of wisdom, memorize, and spit the knowledge back.

In my experience of one semester at the University of the South Pacific, I encountered nearly no student based questions and little demand for critical thinking skills. The classes seemed to be largely structured to see the quantity of material that students could memorize. This material to be memorized is sure to have a significant British influence. Most of the students would religiously copy down every word the teacher said, re-write their notes as many times as possible, and often do poorly on the exams; despite the huge amount of effort put in by most students, it was nearly impossible to memorize such vast quantities of information.

Furthermore, many of the primary schools, and at least in Belize, all secondary schools (Waddell 1981) are run by churches with denominations in rough proportion to the total number of adherents. This results in schools functioning to further segregate the population into different religious groupings instead of focusing on issues dealing with unity. In Fiji schools were often mono-racial (usually Fijian or Indian) resulting in an early age separation of the two cultures (British Central Office of Information 1970: 27):

There is no racial segregation in schools, but because of problems of differing backgrounds and languages, primary schools are usually attended by children of the same race.

Further separation and marginalization might occur because school is taught in English in both Belize and Fiji, which is, in fact, the national language for both countries. Students of a background in which English is not their first language would be exceptionally disadvantaged. In Fiji this might have been particularly pronounced as a class dividing mechanism because primary schools were sometimes taught in the vernacular but secondary school was always in British. Those students that didn’t go on to further education would be disadvantaged in their own society in which the educated elite primarily use English (British Central Office of Information 1970; Waddell 1981).

§Conclusion and Implication for Environmental Management

As I stated initially in this chapter, I am hesitant to draw strong conclusions regarding which historical and cultural issues are the most important for environmental management. I am even more reticent to state definitive specific management priorities based on this historical data because I am not a local constituent and therefore my declaration of such a specific agenda would be counter to my very thesis.

As I will argue in the last chapter, I believe that there is a definite need for the industrialized world to help these countries become truly sovereign nations with less dependence and certainly less control. If not for them, Belize and Fiji would not exist in their current colonially constructed state. I believe that environmental protection can only work in these countries if all of the local people are empowered politically and economically to guide their own protection strategies. Economically advantaged countries, particularly those that have had profound impacts, should provide themselves as a scientific and economic resource. If given the opportunity to use these resources, the local populations will hopefully be able to secure an environmentally sound future. Otherwise, the colonial practice of resource exploitation is bound to continue. Furthermore, if local people are in a forced state of poverty, they will have no option but to use their resources in the cheapest easiest way, with little regard to future implications of resource degradation, which might well result in a complete inability for economic independence.

§Literature Cited

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• Bolland, O. 1988. Colonialism and Resistance in Belize. Belize: Cubola Productions.
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• Oliver, D. 1951. The Pacific Islands. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 313 pp.
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• Roth, G. 1953. Fijian Way of Life. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. 176 pp.
• Sawatzky, H. 1971. They Sought a Country: Mennonite Colonization in Mexico (With an Appendix on Colonization of British Honduras). Berkely: University of California. pp. 331-367.
• Setzekornm W. 1981. Formerly British Honduras: A Profile of the New Nation of Belize. Ohio: Ohio University Press.
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• SPEAR. 1990. Spear Reports 3: Profile of Belize. Belize: SPEAR (Society for the Promotion of Education and Research). pp. 1-35
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• Figure A: Map of Belize and the Port Honduras Area
• Figure B: Map of Fiji

§Introduction

Management and conservation of coral reefs is necessary due to their potentially important roles in erosion control, food production, tourism, biomedicine, and global warming (Baker and Williamson 1986; Williams and Williams 1990; Sheehan 1985; Spurgeon 1992). Management of coral reef systems requires careful monitoring. Periodic determination of species composition and distribution of a coral reef allows for some understanding of its natural state. An understanding of natural fluctuations allows determination of “unhealthy” conditions that might damage a reefs natural geologic or biologic state. The system must be understood well enough to establish general guidelines for differentiating natural fluctuation from anomalous disturbance (Rogers et al. 1983). This is a difficult task because natural systems change much over time. Currently management based primarily on qualitative short term studies.

A normal baseline is not easily definable and determination that systematic fluctuation is unnatural or potentially degradative should always follow rigorous study and statistically significant correlation with the hypothetical causative agent. Reefs, like other ecosystems, are dynamic; alteration of the eco-system may be natural and does not necessarily indicate that the system is being unnaturally stressed. Reefs can shift greatly in a 10 year span of time, even in areas without obvious anthropogenic impact. Confident establishment of a baseline is difficult (Rogers et al. 1983).

To allow for timely conservation, action must sometimes be undertaken with limited available knowledge (Rogers et al. 1983). Due to our limited knowledge, potential impact of future anthropogenic effects should be considered severely. Exercising pre-caution may prevent unexpected destruction. As shown by chaos theory, a very small action can have unpredictable large reactions (Waldrop 1992).

In this paper I examine the state of the Suva Barrier Reef using line intercept transects. I begin by briefly discussing natural and anthropogenic stressors that may be affecting the Suva Barrier Reef. Following this I discuss the use of different reef measurement techniques for establishment of a baseline. The rest of the paper is then devoted to presentation and discussion of the results of this transect study.

§Natural Impacts on Benthic Distribution

Though many natural factors, including temperature fluctuation, competition, predation, and sedimentation affect coral distribution for purposes of this study examination of effects of hurricane and light absorbance appear most relevant (Burns 1985; Sammarco et al. 1985; Knowleton et al. 1990; Wittenberg and Hunt 1992).

§Hurricanes

While storms “damage” reefs through wave impact, scouring, sedimentation, and reduced salinity (Moran and Reaka-Kudla 1990), and cause significant changes in cover of live and dead coral (Rogers et al. 1983), recovery for some species is rapid (Moran and Reaka-Kudla 1990) and impact on diversity appears minimal (Rogers et al. 1983).

Rogers et al. (1983) used line transects to monitor reefs in the Virgin Islands both before and after the 1979 Hurricane David. Because hurricane damage was not species specific, even though the number of dead coral was significantly greater following the storm, diversity and evenness did not suffer. Complicating the issue, Rogers et al. show that diversity is not necessarily indicative of reef health, citing Caribbean reefs with very low diversity that are very actively growing and appear very healthy. Similarly, Moran and Kudla (1990) found that, though Virgin Island reefs experienced “...severe and sustained damage from waves, sand scouring, and moving debris”, benthic invertebrates increased above pre-hurricane densities. Furthermore, Moran and Kudla (1990) hypothesize that the colonizing life history of some corals allows them to prosper in disturbed habitats. Though hurricanes certainly alter reef structures, the rapid recruitment of certain organisms and long history of hurricane impact indicate that reef organisms are, at least moderately, adapted to, and possibly dependent on this particular stressor.

Light is also a particularly important factor for coral distribution. Light absorbance is affected by many natural and anthropogenic sources, including sedimentation, depth, interspecific competitive exclusion, and algal overgrowth. Corals require light due to their associated symbiotic algae, zooxanthellae. Low light levels prevent zooxanthellae photosynthesis, potentially resulting in coral death from lacking nutrients. Titlyanov and Laptypov (1991 ) found that corals are strongly affected by differential light levels, experiencing a general flattening for greater surface area with increased depth. Furthermore, they found that only encrusting and explanate plate forms of corals are capable of surviving in very low light levels (Titlyanov and Laptyov 1991).

In an examination of coral distribution on four South Florida reefs, Burns (1985) concluded that the low diversity, cover, and abundance, synchronous with few Acroporids, resulted from surface water cooling during severe winter cold fronts. Hard corals are highly temperature sensitive with lower limits of 14-16° C.

Examination of Burns (1985) study points to some of the complexities in determination of causative agents for changes in coral distribution. Burns found that certain massive coral forms, including Montastrea Anularis, were relatively abundant, especially in deep water zones. Burns used this information to conclude that, though the reef was generally depleted due to cold surface waters, other factors, including hurricane damage and anthropogenic sedimentation, had kept all but a few species from significant establishment. Burns states that massive forms are less prone to sediment damage and thus the reduced impact of hurricanes in deep waters allowed moderate colonization in these areas.

§Anthropogenic Impacts on Benthic Distribution

Anthropogenic stresses range from the occasional coral dislodgment or destruction from anchor or diver damage (Rogers et al. 1983), to massive eutrophication and sedimentation from sewage, agricultural, and industrial pollution (Wittenberg and Hunte 1992). Wittenburg and Hunte (1992) found that juvenile abundance and mortality decreased on reefs exposed to sedimentation and eutrophic conditions. This is further exemplified by Titlyanov and Latypov (1991) who show that corals are greatly limited by light. Sediment loading decreases light absorbance and eutrophication causes increased zooxanthellae growth, eliciting overshadowing. As shown by Wittenberg and Hunte (1992), this affects distribution by favoring few, large, resilient coral species and algae. These large algae and corals overshadow species less adapted to low light levels. Eventually, with sufficient reduction in light absorbance, pollution could cause wholesale reef destruction.

§Methods for Monitoring Reef Distribution

Accurate, fast methods to determine the current state of a reef are necessary to establish effective monitoring programs for management of reef systems. Chiappone and Sullivan (1991) state that, while many techniques have been used for monitoring reef systems, the accuracy of these methods is not well understood. Certain common devices, such as quadrat sampling, have been criticized as being un-representative of the three dimensional reef community; Chiappone and Sullivan (1991 ) state that such methods are most practical on the reef flat.

Rogers et al. (1983) successfully used linear transects to examine the effects of Hurricane David on coral reefs in the U.S. Virgin Islands. They found transects to be more effective than quadrats for generalized monitoring of coral cover and obvious changes in reef structure. Transects allowed much more time efficient determination of reef structure and the increased resolution of quadrats was not necessary because morpho-dynamic changes were found to generally occur over a large area. Furthermore, Rogers et al. (1983) feel that linear transects provide a useful method that can be adapted for monitoring other types of reef alteration. The accuracy of this technique was supported by the finding that remarkable consistency was observed by different people examining the same transects over time. Exemplifying the spatial versatility of linear transects, Burns (1985) found linear transects efficient for determination of hard coral distribution in relation to cold water disturbance. Burns (1985) used linear transects to monitor the reef face at increasing depths, showing that this method can account for some of the three dimensional complexity of a reef system.

Chiappone and Sullivan (1991) compare three survey techniques, including species presence and absence lists, linear percentage, and line transects using 1 M by 1 M grids. Following comparison, Chiappone and Sullivan (1991) conclude that quadrat modified line transects were the best quantitative technique because they allow for assessment of both colony numbers and colony sizes. Furthermore, they state that their modification of transect sampling, unlike simple quadrat sampling, takes into consideration the three dimensional complexity of the reef area. All dimensions are accounted in this method because the line transect is a continuous malleable strip ideal for determination of vertical differences, while the quadrat is good for accounting horizontal variations. Quadrats alone are not adequate because of their rigid one dimensional structure. The versatility of the quadrat-transect hybridization was demonstrated by Titlyanov and Latypov (1991) in their three dimensional examination of the light dependence for coral distribution in the South China Sea Islands.

§Purpose of This Study

In this study we used line intercept transects to survey the Suva Barrier Reef, off of Laucala Bay in Suva, Fiji. The Suva Barrier Reef is likely to be affected by low salinity levels due to the high annual rainfall (2800-3500 mm) and high freshwater input from the rivers and creeks including the Rewa (the largest river in Fiji). Temperature levels may be very high during the warmer months, possibly resulting in damage to the temperature sensitive reef biota. Furthermore, sedimentation from these rivers may have detrimental effects on the reef. Hurricanes occasionally impact the area and potentially affect the reef. Anthropogenic Natural Impacts on Benthic Distribution might include effluent released from the industry of Suva, as well as anchor and diver damage.

Distribution patterns, salinity, and temperature were recorded at all sites. In this study we attempt to determine the current state of the Suva Barrier reef and assess potential causes for distribution patterns. To conclude, areas beneficial for further study are explored.

§Methods

§Overview, Site Selection and Transect Placement

Five 100 M line intercept transects (LIT) were used to examine the status of the Suva Barrier Reef near Suva, Fiji (see figure 6 for map of sites). Salinity and temperature were measured at each location to examine possible causes for distribution patterns. The study was conducted on the reef flat during low tide from mid August to mid October on Thursday mornings. Sites were qualitatively selected to allow for optimum examination of the representative distribution of benthic fauna over a relatively large area of the reef. Ideal representative site locations were chosen by a local marine specialist with expert knowledge of the Suva Barrier Reef area.

Upon arrival at each site location, area for analysis was randomly chose to deter distribution bias. Random location was accomplished by anchoring the tape immediately following exiting the boat, thus discouraging a visually biasing estimate of the immediate reef conditions. Two continuous 50 M fiberglass measuring tapes were used for census. Tape ends where attached to iron pegs which where hammered into the coral substrate to prevent movement confounds. LlT’s were placed roughly parallel to the reef crest. Slates with pencils where used to record data.

§Survey and Determination of Per-cent Benthic Cover

Following placement of tapes, we walked slowly along the transect, recording each change in benthic cover observed under the tape. Transition points were recorded in centimeters. Identification was based on morphological characteristics. Identification was limited to morphologically distinct varieties of dead coral, Acropora, non Acropora, soft coral, sponges, zoanthids, algae, abiotic, and other unidentified (see table 1 for a complete listing of identification with codes). Single life forms intercepted more than once by the same tape (if a different life form is on top of part of a life form) were recorded as a continuous measurement. Those lying on top were recorded as coinciding with the measured segment area.

Percentage cover was determined for every 10 M of each transect for all life forms which allowed an approximate determination of the relative abundance of each life form at different points along the transect. Using this method, it was possible to examine relationships between different areas of the reef and the life forms observed. To determine percentage cover, the following formulae was used:

§Salinity and Temperature

Salinity and temperature measurements were recorded for each site using a model 33 S-C-T salinometer.

§Statistics

I applied two-way balanced analysis of variance (ANOVA) of transect and location within transect to all morphological categories. To separate means of significant results, I applied a least significant difference (LSD) test to all morphological categories. Minitab for Windows version 10 was used for all statistical tests.

§Results

See figure 6 for a map of all transect locations. Transects are marked as lines; numbers next to arrows designate transect number. No significant differences were found for location within transect.

All significant results are summarized in the table below. In this table, the transect which is significantly different is listed in the first “transect(s)” column. The second column indicates which morphological form is different in the transect displayed in the first column. The following column indicates whether the significant difference indicates that the mean is greater or less than at other sites. The following “transect(s)” column displays which transect or transects displayed differences in the abundance of the morphological form transect in the first column. The next section of the table shows the relevant statistical date; “p” (the degree of significance), the F value, and degrees of freedom (df).

For example, the first row states that transect 1 had significantly more “S” (sand) than all other transects, with a p of .000 (significant to more than three decimal places), an F of 15.84, and 4 degrees of freedom. This table also displays more complicated patterns as in the last row which states that transect 5 had significantly more “RCK” (rock) than transect 1, which, in turn, had significantly more than transects 3, 4, and 2.

Table 1: Results of ANOVA and LSD Tests for Coral Data

§Discussion

§Overview of Significant Trends

It appears that anthropogenic and hurricane influence has had a significant effect on the Suva Barrier Reef. Transects with greater proximity to Suva and shipping channels had either significantly fewer coraline forms (transect 1) or significantly greater amounts of abiotic and algal forms (transects 1, 3, and 5), including algae, rubble, and sand.

Hurricane impact from the 1992 hurricane might explain some of the distribution patterns found on this reef. Transects which have more shelter from islands or other sections of reef (Transects 3 and 4) displayed more diversity and abundance of live coraline forms than transects which were less protected (Transects 2 and 1). Less protected transects also had significantly greater rubble and dead coral than protected transects.

§Figure System

Figures one through five provide graphical translations of relative abundance of morphological categories for corresponding transects. Each of these figures shows per-centage abundance for all categories by ten meter segments to one hundred meters. The percentage is plotted visually; a thick bar indicates a high abundance and a thin bar indicates a low abundance. Quantitatively, the scale is 1 mm per 5% abundance (2 cm = 100% abundance).

Figure 6 displays a map of the Suva area and the transect sites. Figure 7 provides relative per-centage abundance for all categories and all sites. This figure is helpful when comparing many different categories and sites when the location details presented in figures 1-5 are not needed. In figure 7, each morphological category is depicted on the “x” axis and per-centage is depicted on the “y” axis; each transect is represented by a bar labeled as series 1-5 (respective to transect number). Figures 8-21 are detail figures (from figure 8) of per-cent abundance by site for each morphological category. To ease distraction when discussing trends, next to the name of a morphological category I cite the relevant detail figure by displaying the figure’s number in bold in parenthesis with the word “Figure” assumed.

§Analysis of Trends by Transect

§Transect One

Figure 1 shows sand, rock, rubble, and algae to be relatively abundant with few coraline forms evident (7). The abundance of sand (8) is expected because this transect was taken from the lagoon side of the reef where the depth is relatively shallow and sand has accumulated onto the reef base. Algae accumulations in this transect were relatively high and nearly absent on the other transects studied (9). This accumulation of algae indicates a high primary production that may result from anthropogenic eutrophication.

The relatively paucity of coral in transect 1 (figures 1 and 7 ) may potentially be due to variables facilitating coral growth on the ocean side of the reef. Hypothetically the limited corals in transect 1 may result from generally lower salinity levels due to the trapped influx from various fresh water sources. Furthermore, possibly excessive algae growth may be causing overgrowth of corals. Pollution indicators such as nitrogen and phosphorous may be causing algal overgrowth, or possibly direct chemical affects of pollution are diminishing the abundance of corals on the lagoon side.

§Transect Two

Examination of figure 2 (transect 2) shows that corals appear much more common on the ocean side than the lagoon side. This is supported by the other transects examined on the ocean side (3-5). Figure 2 also shows minimum algal growth (9), possibly indicating less direct eutrophic impact. The very high rate of dead coral here (10) indicates that previously the area was quite abundant in coraline forms (most appeared to be Acroporids but identification of dead forms is difficult). Possibly the corals were severely impacted by the 1992 hurricane which struck the area. The hypothesis that corals grow easier or quicker on the ocean side is supported by the observable decimation of corals in the last 40 M of transect 2, with some corals re-establishing directly next to the ocean. This may be partially due to the greater exposure to water with normal salinity levels at the ocean edge.

§Transect Three

Transect 3 (Figure 3) displays a relatively high diversity and abundance of coraline life forms. Analysis of this figure provides support for the hypothesis that a hurricane caused large scale damage to this reef. Transect 3 is in a location relatively sheltered from a potential hurricane by two nearby islands (Nukulau and Makaluva). Possibly the area of dead coral in this transect is located further towards the lagoon because hurricane currents parallel to the reef were capable of destroying the area further back. This dead coral area may also be an indicator of support for the hypothesis that first coral recruitment generally occurs close to the ocean. Coral would be expected to recruit from the ocean following a hurricane because deeper colonies would be less dramatically impacted; offspring of these colonies would colonize the reef starting at the area closest to the ocean.

The relatively high abundance of algae in the first 50 M of transect 3 (Figure 3, 7) indicates that waters rich in effluent high in nitrogen and phosphorous may be coming from the lagoon through the passage located next to this transect. The hypothesis that the passages may provide nutrient rich effluent is further supported by figure 7 which shows a small accumulation of algae in transect 2 (relatively close to a small passage), and no algae accumulation in transect 4 (the only transect with no direct lagoon contact). When skin diving in the area of the passage, qualitative observation showed a dull distorted haze throughout the water; this may be a visual indicator of polluted waters. Again, water tests of this area should be performed for confidence.

§Transect Four

Examination of figure 4 (transect 4) provides further support for the hurricane hypothesis. There is relatively more dead coral in this transect than in transect 3 (10), but diversity and abundance of live coral forms is still evident. Transect 4 is sheltered by the adjacent islands but less so than transect 3. Transect four also provides support for the anthropogenic effluent hypothesis. Transect four is the farthest site from Suva or passage influence, and it had significantly more of many coral forms, including coral tabulate (CT) Acropora submassive, Acropora tabulate, soft coral, and, Acropora branching, than all other sites (11-15). The relative “health” of this transect might indicate the lack of anthropogenic influence from Suva; transect four has less direct connection with water influenced by Suva or any passages.

The relative abundance of soft coral in this transect (14) may be due to a need for shelter from hurricanes. Possibly soft coral was not found abundantly in transect 3 because hard corals competitively dominate soft corals on the reef flat. This hypothesis is supported by the large amount of soft coral observed in the deeper water in the passage adjacent to transect 3, with few forms found on any reef flat transects. Furthermore Acropora tabulate and coral tabulate were only found abundantly in transect 4. Possibly these forms also indicate an intermediate successional stage. Transect 4 may be at a transition stage, while transect 3 may be further ecologically evolved due to greater sheltering.

§Transect Five

Analysis of figure 5 (transect 5) provides further support for the hypotheses of hurricane damage and anthropogenic pollution resulting in eutrophication. Coral forms are generally minimal, while coraline algae is extremely dominant. This transect is located closest to Suva. Potentially effluent from Suva is resulting from eutrophication of coralline algae, which has overgrown coral colonies. That this condition has persisted for several years is indicated by the lacking dead coral which, when found elsewhere may have resulted from hurricane damage in 1992. Apparently coral here are simply incapable of large-scale establishment due to algal overgrowth.

§Analysis of Coral Forms by Transect and Location

Analysis of location of coral forms shows that Acropora Digitate (16) was only found in transects located near passages (transects 2 and 3). This curious finding might indicate that this form is most resilient to either salinity changes or excess nutrients. Possibly algal overgrowth wouldn’t affect this form as much as others because the digit-like projections may obstruct excessive accumulation.

Acropora branching appears very adaptable. This form was found in all transects excepting one (15). Possibly this form requires some moderate wave action for survival. Another possibility is that it is quick to recruit following destructive events.

Acropora submassive (12) was found primarily in transects 3, 4, and 5, while Coral submassive (17) was only located in transects 3 and 4. Possibly submassive coral forms are less resistant to excess wave impact. Another possibility is that these forms were not destroyed by the hurricane because the shelter prevented their destruction and they are actually more resistant to wave impact than other forms (other forms evident in these transects may be primarily newly recruited). If the later where the case, the relative over-all low numbers of these forms might indicate that submassive forms were not particularly abundant previously and those somewhat sheltered from hurricanes have relatively high potential to survive.

Coral massive (18) was evident in all transects. This indicates that these forms are either quick to repopulate or are highly resilient. Resilience may result from their oval shape and compacted structure. Interestingly this form was primarily observed near potential fresh water inflow; transect 4 with no direct lagoon contact had very few massive forms.

Coral encrusting (19) was surprisingly abundant in transects 1, 2, and 5, while nearly absent from transects 3 and 4. Transects 3 and 4 appear, from previous analysis, to be the most diverse and abundant transects. This seems to indicate that these encrusting forms either require high wave impact, or are early stages of other forms which succession or growth has already eliminated in transects 3 and 4.

§Potential Impact of Salinity and Temperature

Salinity measurements indicated generally low salinity levels for all transects. (23.6 ppt. average) Interestingly, transect 1 which would be expected to have the lowest salinity due to it’s continual exposure to lagoon waters evinced the highest (31 ppt.) The general low salinity could be a cause for general unhealth of the reef. Salinity of 50% seawater (approx. 16 ppt.) has been shown to kill most species of coral during exposure over 30 minutes (Jones and Endean 1976: 220). Low salinity levels seem to be the norm on this reef; certainly this must have a negative impact. Further studies would useful to make confident determination of the effect of salinity on the different areas of the reef. Some of the five salinity measurements taken may indicate anomalies resulting from tidal fluctuations or differences in rainfall patterns. The high salinity evident in transect 1 is probably due to the excessive dry period just preceding our measurement.

Temperature measurements for all transects appear to be within the range comfortable for coral survival (avg. temperature was 25.8° C). No temperature recording even approached 18° C, the minimum for survival of most hard coral species (Jones & Endean 1976: 221 ).

§Summary and Conclusions

Examination of our results suggests that the Suva Barrier Reef is negatively affected by freshwater input, effluent from Suva, and hurricanes. The reef currently appears to be in a general state of unhealth. This unhealth is exemplified by the large amounts of dead coral and relative paucity of diversity over the transect areas compared to all other reefs I have qualitatively observed.

The hurricane of 1992 that impacted the Suva area is probably the primary causative factor for the large amount of dead coral observed. Evidence for hurricane damage is shown by examination of transects near islands adjacent to the reef. These transects displayed greater diversity and abundance than other transects, indicating that the islands provided some amount of protection.

Evidence for pollution from the Suva area is provided by the increased algae growth on transects near to or directly facing the lagoon, those closest to Suva, and those near passages with greater lagoon water efflux. The relative abundance of lagoon water and distance from Suva to algae accumulation appear to show a causative relationship. This relationship can only confidently be determined with further sampling and transects.

Salinity levels were low for all transect areas studied. The influx of fresh water from inland and rain sources is probably another cause for the overall state of unhealth. Further studies should focus on measuring salinity at different times on both sides of the reef in conjunction with transects studied at the same point on either side. In this study only one transect on the lagoon side was examined. The reef on the lagoon side would tend to be more susceptible to effluent from Suva than reef on the ocean side; the lagoon side is exposed to waters potentially affected by Suva all of the time while the ocean side is primarily only exposed during high tide. For confident conclusions, more transects are necessary to see if the lack of coral species on the lagoon side is anomalous. Temperature does not appear to be a detrimental factor influencing this reef. We found preliminary evidence for succession patterns and factors affecting coral types. Acropora branching and coral massive appear to be either relatively resilient or quick to recolonize. Both forms seem adaptable to many different environments. Submassive forms appear either less resistant to wave action, or, conversely, relatively more resistant with remaining forms possibly acting as hurricane survivors.

Encrusting forms appear to be an earlier development of other forms identified. Future studies should examine this hypothesis. If encrusting forms are not an earlier stage of other forms, it is important to determine why they were only abundant when other forms were less common. Hypotheses such as competitive exclusion should be considered. Acropora digitate was found only near passages. Further studies should examine the effects of salinity and nutrients on this species.

In summary, future studies of this area are necessary to determine the causative factors for the current poor state of the Suva Barrier Reef. Variables such as pollution and salinity effects should be measured through water sampling and testing. Nutrient studies should concentrate on measuring dissolved nitrogen and phosphorous which may be causing algae growth. Such studies would help determine if transect one, which had the highest algal growth and most direct proximity to Suva is receiving excessive nitrogen or phosphorus which can cause eutrophication (Begon et al. 1990: 670). More transects of both sides of the reef, in conjunction with water tests would allow for confident determination of factors influential for patterns of abundance. Factors influencing individual species distribution should be further examined. With accurate knowledge of this reef, further damage might be limited.

§Literature Cited

• Baker, J. and Williamson, J. 1986. Toxins and Beneficial Products from Reef Organisms. Oceanus. 29: 109-115
• Begon, M., Harper, J., and Townsend, C. 1990. Ecology: Individuals, Populations, and Communities. Blackwell Scientific Publications. Boston.
• Burns, T. 1985. Hard-Coral Distribution and Cold-Water Disturbances in South Florida: Variation with Depth and Location. Coral Reefs. 4: 117-124
• Chiappone, and Sullivan, K. 1991. A Comparison of Line Transect Versus Linear Percentage Sampling for Evaluating Stony Coral (Scleractinia and Milleporina) Community Similarity and Area Coverage on Reefs of the Central Bahamas. Coral Reefs. 10: 139-154
• Jones, O., and Endean, R. (eds.) 1976. Biology and Geology of coral Reefs (Volume lll). Academic Press. New York.
• Knowlton, N., Lang, J., and Keller, B. 1990. Case Study of Natural Population Collapse: Post-Hurricane Predation on Jamaican Staghorn Corals. Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences. Number 31
• Moran, D., and Reaka-Kudla, M. 1991. Effects of Disturbance: Disruption and Enhancement of Coral Reef Cryptofaunal Populations by Hurricanes. Coral Reefs. 9: 215-224
• Rogers, C., Gilnack, M., and Fitz, H. 1983. Monitoring of Coral reefs with Linear Transects: a Study of Storm Damage. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 66: 285-300
• Sammarco, P., Cole, J., and Barre, S. 1985. Competitive Strategies of Soft Corals (Coelenterate: Octocorallia). II. Variable Defensive Responses and Susceptibility to Scleractinian Corals. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 91: 199-215
• Sheehan, P. 1985. Reefs are not so Different -- They Follow the Evolutionary Pattern of Level Bottom Communities. Geology. January: 46-49
• Spurgeon, J. 1992. The Economic Valuation of Coral Reefs. Marine Pollution Bulletin 24(11): 529-536
• Titlyanov, E., and Latypov, Y. 1991. Light-Dependence in Scleractinian distribution in the sublittoral zone of South China Sea Islands. Coral Reefs. 10: 133-138
• Waldrop, M. 1992. Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos. Simon & Schuster. New York.
• Williams, L., and Williams, E. 1990. Global Assault on Coral Reefs: What’s Killing the Great Reefs of the World? Natural History. 4: 47-54
• Wittenberg, M., and Hunte, W. 1992. Effects of Eutrophication and Sedimentation on Juvenile Corals: I. Abundance, Mortality, and Community Structure. Marine Biology. 112: 131-138

§Figures and tables in this chapter

The captions as listed in the manuscript. The plates themselves are in the figure appendix.

• Table 2: Lifeform Categories and Codes
• Figure 1: Percent Composition of all Categories for Transect One
• Figure 2: Percent Composition of all Categories for Transect Two
• Figure 3: Percent Composition for all Categories for Transect Three
• Figure 4: Percent Composition of all Categories for Transect Four
• Figure 5: Percent Composition for All Categories for Transect Five
• Figure 6: Site Map of Transects
• Figure 7: Percent Relative Abundance of Reef Components by Site
• Figure 8: Percent Sand by Site
• Figure 9: Percent Algal Assemblage by Site
• Figure 10: Percent Dead Coral by Site
• Figure 11: Percent Coral Tabulate by Site
• Figure 12: Percent Acropera Submassive by Site
• Figure 13: Percent Acropera Tabulate by Site
• Figure 14: Percent Soft Coral by Site
• Figure 15: Percent Acopera Branching by Site
• Figure 16: Percent Acropera Digitate by Site
• Figure 17: Percent Coral Submassive by Site
• Figure 18: Percent Coral Massive by Site
• Figure 19: Percent Coral Encrusting by Site
• Figure 20: Percent Rubble by Site
• Figure 21: Percent Rock by Site

§Introduction

The primary goal of this study is establishment of a baseline for standing stock and rate of primary productivity. This study also aims to examine relationships between seagrass productivity, watershed hydrology, and mangrove productivity, thus providing a preliminary examination of the hypothesis that nutrient from mangroves is carried by rivers to sea benefiting sea grasses. This hypothesis is examined through the assumption that higher productivity would result with closer proximity to river influence. This would result from a higher net efflux of nutrients closer to river mouth and more spreading and thus lower nutrient concentration with increasing distance.

I begin by examining literature on connections between mangroves and sea grasses. I then examine how these systems are also connected to coral reefs and secondary productivity. To conclude the literature review I discuss the biology and economic value of sea grasses and mangroves. Following the literature review I present my analysis of mangrove and seagrass data from the work I was involved in with the Belize Center for Environmental Studies (BCES) in the Port of Honduras.

§Interconnection of Mangroves and Sea grasses

Mangroves and sea grasses often exist as fundamentally linked co-dependent eco-systems whose interaction maximizes each other’s bio-diversity and productivity. Mangroves primarily contribute to estuarine and inshore productivity through litter-fall (Day et al. 1987). This litter-fall is directly fed upon and used by fish and other animals within the system (Cintron and Shaeffer-Novelli 1983). Liter-fall also undergoes degradation and forms carbon rich organic compounds, which are exported to near by areas to be used for seagrass primary productivity (Guanghui 1991). Ultimately both systems interact to increase secondary productivity, resulting in significant influence on fisheries (Yanez-Arancibia et al. 1993).

Alongi (1992) states that mangroves significantly out-well dissolved organic nitrogen, and particulate nitrogen. Robertson et al. (1991) found that mangroves in the Fly River estuary, Papua New Guinea, export 31% of their primary production to outside waters (~678 t carbon/day). Robertson et al. (1991) used the light transmission method which assumes that light transmission, through an established mangrove canopy, can be explained by the relationship log (I0 /I)=K[chl]. By this equation, I0 is the incident photosynthetically active radiation and K is a constant derived from calibration with leaves of total chlorophyll content in a given area. Many I0/I measurements are used to estimate the average chlorophyll content. This is then converted to productivity by using an assimilation coefficient. Robertson et al. (1991) believes that this method generally underestimates primary productivity because it doesn’t take into account seedlings or mangroves in the understory. Furthermore, this method was compared to the gas-exchange method and was found to have significantly lower results. As a result, though significant in percentage and absolute mass, the estimate of 31% export of productivity out-welled is conservative and may in fact indicate even higher export of available nutrient available for connected systems.

Moran et al. (1991 cited in Robertson et al. 1992) found that 10 percent of dissolved organic matter 1 km away from the nearest mangrove sites was of mangrove origin. This indicates that a high efflux of mangroves is likely to arrive at nearby seagrass beds to potentially influence primary and secondary productivity.

Guanghui et al. (1991) quantitatively depicted one aspect of this link between mangroves and sea grasses by measuring carbon isotope ratios. Guanghui et al. found that the 13C value for seagrass leaves in sites near mangroves were significantly lower than those far away from mangrove forests. They also found that 13C values were significantly correlated with those of shell carbonates, indicating that the input of carbon dioxide from mineralization of mangrove detritus resulted in the difference in ratio of carbon isotopes. The significance of this is that the value of a shell’s carbon isotope is determined by the inorganic carbon in surrounding sea water. If shell carbonates and sea grasses have a lower ratio of 13C, it indicates that there is a significant source of lighter carbon based respiratory CO2 entering the seagrass bed. Instead of the heavier 13C, the sea grasses are using the lighter carbon during photosynthesis, resulting in a lower ratio of 13C in tissue (and presumably a higher ratio in the surrounding water column). The possibility of this effect is amplified by Guanghui et al.’s finding that the difference in light intensity was not responsible for the isotopic variation because sites with lower light intensity near mangroves had significantly lower 13C values than deep water sites away from mangroves; the opposite of that expected without any influence of a lighter carbon isotope. Paffen and Roelofs (1991) have shown that carbon dioxide is of vital importance towards productivity in Sphagnum cuspidatum, thus, by extrapolation, the high amount of a lighter carbon based carbon isotope in the environment may be resulting in enhanced productivity in the site near mangroves. This research indicates that there is an important and quantifiable link between mangroves and sea grasses.

§Linkages with Secondary Productivity

Evidence also exists for linkages between mangroves, sea grasses, and secondary productivity. Yanez-Arancibia et al. (1993) found that more than 80 different fish species use both mangrove and seagrass habitats in Terminos Lagoon, Mexico, indicating a very diverse assemblage of important links of primary and secondary productivity. Of these, eleven species are common in both areas, ten species solely used seagrass habitats, and seven species were dominant only in areas of mangrove and seagrass interaction. Furthermore, biomass and diversity of fish assemblages in these habitats were synchronized with primary productivity. Of the dependent species, three types were found: 1) those whose larvae and eggs are transported and distributed through the lagoon by currents following spawning, 2) species that use the lagoons differing habitats as a nursery area, and 3) species which complete their entire life cycle within the mangrove and seagrass systems.

Yanez-Arancibia et al. (1993) found evidence that mangroves are used more often as a nursery and sea grasses as a foraging ground for mature fish. The fish in sea grasses were usually adult, significantly larger, and fewer in number, while in the mangrove seagrass interaction zone, they were usually juvenile, smaller, but more abundant. The reason for the use of mangrove and seagrass by fish and other organisms includes (Yanez-Arancibia et al. 1993: 7): “...protection, calm waters, abundant food resources, and a diversity of habitats.”

The link between primary production and secondary production is further clarified by the correlation between life history patterns of migratory fish and patterns of primary production in mangroves. Fish usually use habitats during high primary production. Yanez-Arancibia et al. (1993) showed that these habitats were primarily used during the June to October, the season of highest rain. At this time the adult fish arrive and spawn, so that the larvae will hatch to benefit from the abundant riverine input, organic matter, and phytoplankton productivity. Possibly due to low riverine input, concurrently with the highest primary productivity in tidal creeks and shallow waters associated with mangroves, the dry season has the lowest productivity in mangroves. Thus mangrove output is implicated in increasing productivity in adjacent systems during the dry season.

Despite this strong evidence for relationships of secondary productivity to mangrove and seagrass primary productivity, the causative factors are still not completely understood. For instance, though habitat complexity is often implicated, there is still no definitive experimental evidence indicating why peneid prawns and their associated predators are found more often in mangroves than adjacent habitats. Furthermore, despite the strong evidence that penaieds use mangroves as a nursery ground, no study has unequivocally shown an associated decrease in penaeid prawn catch with mangrove habitat (Robertson and Blaber (1992). Robertson and Blaber (1992) do point to studies that found that increased habitat complexity is related to increased fish density. One of these studies (Pinto 1986, in Robertson and Blaber 1992) found that Sri Lanka fishermen improve their catches in lagoons by creating thickets of mangrove sticks on the lagoon floor. Following some weeks, net catches were found to be significantly greater in these areas of increased habitat complexity. Habitat complexity and migratory breeding patterns are good hypotheses with strong support but more experimental evidence is important for understanding the connections between these systems (Roberston and Blaber 1992).

§Links to Coral Systems

Coral reefs also play an important role in nutrient cycling of mangrove and seagrass systems because they provide habitat for herbivorous fish and invertebrates that feed on the plants within these habitats. In intense grazing, the coral fish community can indirectly effect the nutrient cycles of seagrass primary productivity (Mcroy 1983).

This link with reefs seems less directly important than that between mangroves and sea grasses; sea grasses often grow directly in mangrove areas, apparently gaining shelter and nutrient replenishment, both eco-systems acting co-dependently. Coral reefs do provide habitat for many fish species that are associated with mangroves and sea grasses as well but this crossover is only a small percentage; less than 1% of fish species were common in all areas in a study in New Caledonia (Robertson and Blaber 1992). Perhaps the prime interconnection of corals is less direct, acting more as an ocean barrier, while sea grasses and mangroves act on the terrestrial side to divert and scatter sediment and low salinity water associated with river systems, limiting the potentially deadly impact on the reef systems (Ogden and Gladfelter 1983).

Ultimately, the interactions of all three of these systems, coral, mangrove, and seagrass communities are fundamentally linked in terms of primary and secondary productivity yet continual study of these interactions is of vital importance.

§Mangrove Biology

Mangroves are economically important plants existing in much of the world, excepting very cold temperate, sub-arctic, and arctic climates. The exact extent of mangroves is in question; Day et al. (1987) used McGill (1959), a section of a book on coastal classification maps, to conclude that mangroves exist on approximately 75% of the coastline between 25o N and 25o S, while Clough (1992) doesn’t site his source but states that the range is between 35o N and 35o S. Though this might indicate that mangroves have significantly declined, from the article it isn’t possible to determine if Clough is using a more modern source, a different source of the same time period, or simply relying on memory. Mangroves distribution is limited by temperature and rainfall; temperature restricts latitude and areas of high rainfall show higher species diversity. The size of an estuary also affects diversity but probably primarily due to increased specialized habitats (Duke 1992).

By definition, a mangrove is (Duke 1992, pp64), “....a tree, shrub, palm, or ground fern, generally exceeding one half meter in height, and which normally grows above mean sea level in the intertidal zone of marine coastal environments or estuarine margins.” This broad definition includes many different unrelated taxa. Mangroves are adapted in specific ways, depending on the taxa, to grow in hypersaline environments with anaerobic sediment. These adaptations include breathing structures on roots and the trunk.

Biologically, mangroves are highly productive eco-systems that out-well nutrients and organic matter to near shore estuarine food webs, while geologically they are sediment sinks. This results in a complex relationship with net flux varying with environmental factors. Environmental factors, including salinity and substrate type can determine the zonation of nutrients within the water column and the net export from a given system at a specific time. In general, river dominated mangroves with high fresh-water input will result in high nutrient efflux and out-welling while tide dominated mangroves will have a greater bi-directional flux of water and thus greater net import. This interaction is due to a greater mixing of bottom and top waters and because there is less net force going towards the sea (Woodroffe 1992). Day et al. (1987) found that net productivity, net biomass, and the ratio of productivity to biomass were positively related to fresh water input. This positive indicates a positive interaction of mangroves with decreased salinity and presumably increased input of terrestrially based nutrient.

§Value of Mangroves

Mangroves are important sources of tannin, fuel, construction timber, charcoal, prawns, and fish (Lugo and Snedaker 1974; Saenger et al. 1983; Thayer et al. 1987). Many humans have traditionally been dependent on mangroves for such products, and prior to modern expansion, most uses have caused limited resource impact.

Though even today there exist some examples, such as the Matang forest in Malaysia where a continual high yield of mangrove derived timber and charcoal might be sustainable, many areas currently suffer from unsustainable, short-sighted environmental mining (Bunt 1992). In fact, until recently, much perception of mangroves has been negative; they have been considered mosquito swamps to be destroyed for coastal development with disregard for any potential negative environmental consequences (Lugo and Snedaker 1974). As a result of such thinking, mangroves have been diminished in areas resulting in cases like the Muwanda village in Zanzibar that fell into the ocean due to mangrove related coastal erosion (Ngoile and Shunula 1992), or the massive defoliation of mangroves in South Vietnam where high siltation and turbidity have decreased the spawning habitats for fishes, phytoplankton, and zooplankton.

Mangroves are now realized as directly important in trapping and holding sediment, stabilizing soils, reducing coastal erosion, providing storm protection (Carlton 1974), and increasing fisheries yield. Snedaker (1978) found that areas with mangroves had significantly larger and more diverse shrimp yields. Similarly, significantly larger fish catches were found by Thayer et al. (1987) and Heald (1969; in Lugo and Snedaker 1974) near mangroves.

Along with these direct uses, mangroves are primarily important due to their importance as independent, biologically diverse eco-systems, and eco-systems which interdependently link terrestrial systems to near shore communities, including sea grasses and coral reefs. Mangroves impact on secondary productivity and ultimately affect human health.

The conservation of mangroves is important for fisheries because shrimp., mullet, and other detritovores feed upon the end products of leaf litter fall. Mangroves act as an interdependent link because of the high organic productivity resulting from litter fall. Leaf litter, high in carbohydrates and low in protein, falls to the forest floor and decomposes into organic matter. The carbon to nitrogen ratio of decomposing material decreased during decomposition resulting in a higher nutritional value. This enrichment is partially the result of meiofauna grazing on nutrient rich leaf decomposers. Microbial enrichment occurs as the organic matter breaks down into small segments. Finally, detritovores use the detritus to strip the microbial coating. This results in nutrient than can readily be exported to adjacent waters or used within, allowing mangroves to be important nurseries for young fish, food exporters for mature animals, and nutrient suppliers for adjacent primary production, as in sea grasses (Cintron and Shaeffer-Novelli 1983). Mangrove leaf litter is also likely to be directly exported to sea grasses because their leaves are slow to degrade due to high amounts of structural lignin and cellulose. This resistance implicates whole mangrove leaves as likely candidates to be exported to sea grasses during efflux of fresh water from riverine sources (Mcroy 1983, Alongi et al. 1992).

Though mangroves have many direct and indirect uses, many current usage patterns are unsustainable. These include: clear felling of virgin forest for paper pulp, large scale conversion of mangrove areas for mariculture, and reclamation for agricultural, industrial, urban, and other development (Bunt 1992).

§Biology and Value of Sea grasses

Sea grasses are very productive eco-systems common in temperate and tropical estuarine environments which are the richest nursery and breeding grounds for marine organisms. Sea grasses also act to stabilize sediment, preventing excess accumulation on nearby coral reefs, and distill wave action, reducing impact on mangrove systems (Zieman 1983).

Many of the organisms dependent on sea grasses are of commercial or sports fishing importance. Sea grasses also provide a substratum for epiphytic and other colonization, supporting biologic diversity in created habitat niches (Zieman 1986). They also act as a direct food source for marine herbivores (Jagtap 1991). The productivity can be so high that the number and biomass of organisms reliant on the system often exceed the plant population. Seagrass leaves grow from 5 to over 10 mm a day (Zieman 1986).

The primary reason that sea grasses systems are among the most productive in the world is their tightly woven trophic support for higher level consumers. The sea grasses combine with associated algae, infauna, and epifaunal secondary productivity to produce widely diverse and rapidly growing communities (Fredette et al. 1990, Zieman 1983). In fact, Fredette et al. (1990) found that, due to low values of standing stock as compared to productivity, 92% of production might be consumed by predators in two seagrass beds in Lower Chesapeake Bay. This high rate of productive consumption indicates a very tightly woven eco-system where producers can rapidly grow due to constant fertilization by nutrient in the consumers’ wastes.

Seagrass density and productivity are affected by many environmental factors including depth, level of sedimentation, and salinity (Jaqtap 1991; Duarte 1991). Jagtap (1991) shows that density of sea grasses increases with water clarity and salinity. Some species, including Cymodocea spp., S. Isoetifolium, and Halophila stipulacea require diminished light intensity and lower temperatures. Mcroy (1983) states that sea grasses acquire most of their nutrient from underlying sediment but that sea grasses, and other macrophytic algaes, sometimes rely on nutrient in overlying water masses. Mcroy (1983) believes that much of the nutrient in sediment is mangrove derived and that the level of nutrient in sediment determines the succession stage, with a climax community consisting of nearly uniform stands of Thalassia testinudum. The productivity of these climax communities of Thalassia testinudum is negatively affected by low salinity and high temperature (Zieman 1975).

Secondary productivity and primary productivity are both closely interlinked in seagrass communities. Secondary productivity influences primary productivity primarily through herbivory. In turn, the greatest numbers of organisms have been found in beds with dense vegetation, implicating high growth in increasing abundance and possibly productivity of seagrass dependent organisms (Yanez-Arancibia et al. 1988, Zieman 1983).

§Methods

Mangrove and Seagrass analysis were performed to establish baseline data for characterization of community structure in the proposed marine protected area. All sites were selected to be representative of the total surrounding area to minimize problems of extrapolation and generalization.

§Statistics

All statistics were performed using Minitab for Windows 10. For seagrass data I used balanced analysis of variance (ANOVA) and least significant difference (LSD) tests to determine variance in means. To determine distance effects for seagrass data I used regression. For mangrove analysis I used nested ANOVAs.

§Mangrove

§Materials

Sighting compasses

Flagging tape

Tree tags

Aluminum nails

Hammer

Cloth measuring tape (cm increments)

2 X 20 m lines (1 m increments)

Stakes for plot corner markers

1 m2 quadrat framer

Stakes to mark corners of subplots

String to mark subplots

Scale to measure wet weights of saplings

DGPS at corners of plots

§Site Selection

Sites were selected as near as possible to the mouths of Deep and Monkey River to strengthen conclusions drawn from comparative analysis. Sites were selected to: 1) establish a baseline description of the community including productivity and standing stock biomass, 2) determine seasonal variation in primary productivity, and 3) determine the relationship between watershed hydrology, vegetation, adjacent seagrass communities, and secondary productivity.

Methodology is closely adapted from Sullivan et al. (1994) and CARICOMP (1989) by Will Heyman. Due to differences in densities and heights of mangroves, sites were chosen to accurately depict the general habitat. At the mouth of each river, three replicate 10m2 plots were chosen. All sites were as adjacent and parallel to the shoreline as possible..

§Site Mapping and Measurement

Once an ideal location was determined, the site was mapped and plots were designated, and tall trees were measured with cloth measuring tape (cm increments) and labeled with tree tags. First, a tree for each corner tree was marked with a tree tag and flagging tape. The plot was then mapped with a sighting compass allowing determination of perpendicular sides and four measured lines for gauging distance. The plot was then divided into 10 by 10 one m2 segments. Following plot delineation, DGPS points were taken at each plot corner and trees with diameter greater than 2.5 cm were mapped.

All trees were identified to species, measured, and marked at breast height (just above highest prop root). Tags were then hammered in for future measurement consistency. When more than one trunk was arising from prop roots, each trunk was measured as separate trees. Falling drop roots were ignored when measuring circumference.

Each tree larger than 2.5 cm was measured for circumference and diameter at breast height (CBH), mass, basal area, and height. Height was measured in three parameters: H1 is the height above sediment and closest to the highest prop root, H2 is the height from prop roots to main area of branching, and H3 is the height of the canopy from the main area of branching. Height was measured using a clinometer and telescoping rod. Basal area was calculated as m2 ha-1 . A ring was painted around the area measured on each tree for comparison of growth following future measurements.

Following plot mapping and tree measurement, 10 leaf litter traps were erected and five subplots emplaced, measured, and weighed. Within each plot, five randomly placed 1 m2 sub-plots were measured and all saplings less than 2.5 cm dbh (diameter at breast height) and rooted seedlings were tagged, identified, mapped, and measured.

See Figures 53 - 58 for maps of mangrove sites and sub-plots. Sub-plots are labeled S1 - S5. Each dot marks a tree and the number next to it indicates its designation; for example, M1R1 indicates that the site is M1 (Monkey River 1) and the three is the first Rhizophera mangla established (thus labeled R1).

§Calculation of Total Biomass

Total biomass was calculated by summing individual tree measurements. Mean biomass was calculated by determining mean of total biomass and expressing as kg X M-2. Biomass was determined by the following formulae from Golley et al. (1962):

BIOMASS (g) = dbh (cm) X 3,390

§Seagrass

Six sites near Deep River and one near Monkey River were selected to examine possible relationships between distance from river, community composition, and productivity (Figure 22). Methods were adapted by Will Heyman from CARICOMP (Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity) (1991) and the Nature Conservancy - South Florida and Caribbean National Parks Data Center (Sullivan et al., 1994).

Analysis was based on Thalasia testudinum because they contribute more biomass and aerial productivity to total seagrass bed production than any other species, and are the dominant climax species in most Caribbean seagrass communities (Zieman, 1983). Furthermore, though Thalasia productivity can be a function of seasonal changes in salinity and temperature (Ogdfen and Gladfelter, 1983; 1986), production is primarily dependent on available nutrients taken through roots (McRoy, 1983). Thalasia are thus ideal due to their abundance and its potential strength in showing the impact of river-borne nutrients.

§Standing Stock Biomass

Materials

dive gear

PVC corer (15 - 20 cm diameter)

4 mesh dive bags

4 buckets with lids

sieve box (2mm screen)

aluminum foil

drying oven

balance (0.01g - 250 g capacity)

thermometers

toothbrush

hydrochloric acid

acetic acid

deep trays for sorting

wash basins

Summary

Standing stock biomass measurements are directly adapted from CARICOMP (1991) by Will Heyman. Standing crop (aboveground, photosynthetic tissue) and total biomass, including mass of rhizomes and roots of benthic algaes and sea grasses were measured. Following collection, biomass was cleaned, dried, and weighed. Data were then entered into Seagrass Biomass data forms and converted to g/dry weight/m2.

Sample Collection

A corer made of a 6” diameter PVC pipe was forced into sediment and resulting core was placed into a prelabled 2mm mesh dive bag. After the each bag was filled, it was shaken underwater to remove any excess attached sediment. Four cores were taken at each site. Samples were held in shade or submerged for less than one day prior to analysis

Sample Sorting

Following collection, core samples were sorted into: 1) green leaves 2) non-green leaves and short shoots, 3) live rhizomes, 4) live roots, and 5) dead below ground material. Samples were first coarsely sorted through a 2mm screen box, allowing retention of plant material. A screen and pan containing 10 cm of fresh water were used for fine sorting. Sorting was performed using the following criteria: Live rhizomes and roots float and are white or very light gray and crisp when squeezed or broken while dead roots and rhizomes sink and are dark and flaccid. Species other than Thalassia were separated into green and non-green tissue. Thalasia leaves were separated from short shoots at the node. Remaining sediment and epiphytes were scrubbed off with a toothbrush. Samples were bathed in 10% hydrochloric acid until CO2 bubbling stopped (10 minutes or less). Bath was changed when CO2 effectiveness diminished. Biomass was then rinsed in fresh water to remove salt and acid.

Sample Drying and Weighing

Each fraction was dried at 60-90o to constant weight on a foil weighing pan. Samples were cooled to 45o and weighed; pan weight was subtracted to determine biomass. To insure all samples were dry, heaviest fractions were weighed until they showed a constant weight for 12 hours.

When weighing calcareous macroalgae, all sediments were removed, and samples were decalcified in acetic acid for several days. Fleshy macroalgae was rinsed in fresh water, dried, and weighed using the above procedure.

§Productivity

Materials

Scuba Gear

6 quadrats/site (6” x 12” galvanized, epoxy painted, fence wire with middle cut out and corner tabs left to anchor in sediment. All marked with flagging tape.)

hypodermic needles

aluminum foil, 6 ziplock bags per site

drying oven, cooler with ice

thermometers

data sheets

Summary

Productivity measurements were used to determine growth rate, turnover rate (growth per unit of plant), and aerial productivity (growth per unit of sea floor) in the seven seagrass beds surveyed. Due to the difficulty of measuring below-ground material, whole total plant growth was not determined. This study focuses on the amount of new leaf biomass or standing crop of Thalasia testudinum produced.

Quadrat Placement and Field Measurement of Growth

Six quadrats were evenly spaced and firmly pushed into the sea bottom of each site. Each leaf in every quadrat was marked with a hypodermic needle 2mm above the green white interface or at the sediment surface if buried. All leaves of short shoots were marked simultaneously. Following 8-12 days, all short shoots from sediments were placed in marked ziplock bags. All leaves were clipped at the needle marks; leaves marked at sediment surface were harvested at sediment surface.

Laboratory Sample Separation and Biomass Determination

In the laboratory, the number of shoots, blades, and maximum length (cm) of shoots was determined for each quadrat. The mean number of shoots, blades, blades per shoot, and maximum blade length (cm) was calculated for each quadrat. Leaves were separated into 1) new growth: the leaf from the needle mark to base where it was harvested, 2) old growth: the area of leaves above the needle mark, and 3) new leaves: any new leaves with no needle marks. Following separation, all groups were decalcified in weak hydrochloric acid, washed in fresh water, dried on an aluminum pan, and weighed. Total biomass of each fraction was determined by weighing each pan alone, and subtracting the weight from the total measurement.

Calculation of Turnover and Productivity

Turnover rate, the percent of plant growth per unit day was calculated by:

TURNOVER RATE (%/day) = Daily Production/Standing Crop

Areal productivity, new material produced per unit area per day, was calculated by summing new material and multiplying by quadrat size (50) to get m2:

DAILY PRODUCTION =

Weight of New Leaves + Weight of New Growth X 50

§Results

§Summary of Mangrove Data

There was a significant difference between mangrove sites by rivers for CBH (p = .0301), DBH (p = .0301), mass (p = .034), basal area (p = .0161), and total height (p = .0474). There were no significant differences between sites within rivers for any factors.

§Summary of Seagrass Data

A significant negative trend of biomass of old growth (Figure 59, R-Squared = .063, p = .005), number of shoots (Figure 60, R-Squared = .159, p=.009), and number of blades (Figure 61, R-Squared = .140, p = .015) versus distance from river mouth was found. The relatively high “R-Squared” values indicate that many variables along with distance have an impact.

The table below summarizes significant differences between sites shown by balanced ANOVA and LSD tests for seagrass cores and quadrats. This table begins with the category that evinced a significant result. The second column depicts the site(s) that were significantly different from others. The third column indicates whether the significantly different mean is greater or less than other sites. The fourth column depicts which site(s) were different (sometimes I depict several degrees of differences in means with multiple “>“ or “<“ signs). The fifth, sixth, and seventh columns provide the “p”, “F”, and df (degrees of freedom) values. There were no significant differences between cores or quadrats within sites.

Table 3: Results of ANOVA and LSD for Seagrass Data

§Discussion

§Figure System

See Figure 1 for site map. Figures 23 - 52 contain graphs of data. Figures 53-58 contain plot maps of mangrove sites. Tables 4-11 are summaries of seagrass and mangrove data.

§Mangrove Quadrats

Deep River had fewer mangroves but the average size of trees was larger (Table 4). Though Monkey River had smaller trees, it had over twice as many as deep river and thus a greater total biomass (Figure 23). That the trees were larger in Deep river is initially evident by the nearly two-fold increase in average mass at Deep River as compared to Monkey River (Figure 24). This is further shown by the similar pattern depicted for average CBH and DBH, and basal area depicted in Figure s 25 - 28.

Nearly all the mangrove measurements display the pattern depicted in the graph of average mass (Figure 31); site four with the highest mass, followed by sites two, three, six, five, and one. Similar patterns were evident in examination of the graphs for CBH, DBH, and basal area (Figures 25 - 30). This pattern indicates that, though average values for Deep River show that the trees were bigger, the results may be skewed due to the large trees in site four. This Deep River site was always much greater than the rest; the two sites with the next biggest trees were in Monkey River.

The markedly larger average size of mangroves in Deep River is exemplified by the similar total basal area and much larger average total height compared to mangroves in Monkey River (Figures 32 and 33). That the total basal area is so close, despite the much greater number of trees shows that the trees in Deep River must, on average, be much bigger.

Though the average total height of mangroves was greater in Deep River compared to Monkey River, the pattern of dispersion was slightly different; four was still largest but was followed by three, two, five, one, and six (Figure 34). Maximum heights for both rivers were nearly the same at approximately 15 M (Figure 35). The hypothesis of larger trees in Deep River is supported by a nearly one meter increase in minimum height (Figure 36).

§Seagrass Quadrats

Complex factors, potentially including differing growth cycles, current, and tide changes made the analysis of patterns difficult for growth factors between the seven Seagrass sites. Furthermore, different growth factors were not strongly associated with each other within sites. Some potential patterns are investigated which might gain greater support with future measurements at the same sites. See Table 5 to reference numbers found in discussion of graphs and Figure 22 for site map. All Figures are ordered left to right by estimated distance from Deep River excepting site one (the furthest right) which is near Monkey River.

§Shoots and Blades

Mean number of blades and mean number of shoots did evince a similar pattern by site. Examination of Figures 37 and 38 shows that site 7 has the highest mean number of shoots and blades, followed by four and three. Sites five, two, and one are approximately the same and site six is the lowest. This indicates that proximity to river mouth is a factor for number of shoots or blades but other factors rapidly gain importance away from the river.

Site seven is the closest to the Deep River mouth and is expectedly much higher than others. The next highest mean shoots and blades in site four might be explained by it’s potential influence by both Monkey and Deep River (see Figure 1). Assuming a South-East current, this site might attain significant nutrient enrichment from both rivers and potentially mangroves in the surrounding Cayes.

Site three follows and is logically explainable by it’s very near proximity to Deep River and the Ycacos Lagoon; an area very high in mangrove growth and secondary productivity. This site is slightly further away from Deep River than the lower productivity site five but is in a direct line with no land-shelter that might divert river flow. Furthermore, the Ycacos Lagoon is likely to add considerable nutrient input to this site.

That site one has the next highest mean shoots and blades is also expected due to it’s near proximity to Monkey River. Possibly this site isn’t quite as high in growth as some of preceding sites because Deep River has a higher gross area of vegetation which is hypothesized as an influence on productivity (Deegan et al. and Yanez-Arancibia et al. 1986) and because the site is actually slightly to the North of Monkey River. Again, a hypothetical South Eastern current would limit the potential productive influence of monkey River. Furthermore, Deep River’s watershed is structured as a shallower flat plain that might rapidly run off nutrients, as opposed to Monkey River which might retain more due to it’s bowl-like nature (Heyman, personal communication).

As expected, site five, then two are the next lowest in mean number of shoots and blades. These sites are relatively close to Deep River’s mouth but do not gain the benefit of the Ycacos lagoon in site three. Furthermore, site five is sheltered from the input of Deep River by a relatively large hump of land. Site two is expectedly lower than five because it is further away from the mouth of Deep River.

Site six has the lowest numbers of shoots and blades. This is predictable because the site is the furthest from any influence of Deep River, Monkey River, and the Ycacos Lagoon.

The mean blades per shoot did not show much variance between sites (Figure 39). Interestingly, two of the lowest sites for mean number of blades and shoots, two and six, were the two highest for this ratio. The argument for an inverse relationship is weakened by the relatively high value in site seven which was the highest in the mean number of blades and shoots analysis.

§Biomass Measurements in Quadrats

In line with the discussion of shoots and blades, site seven was consistently high for most measurements (Figures 40-45). As stated before, this might indicate the influence of mangrove derived nutrient from deep river. Interestingly, though sight seven was generally high, it had the lowest mean for new growth biomass. Synchronously, sight seven the highest biomass of new leaves, new material, and old growth (Figures 40-41).

This, along with the higher number of shoots and blades (Figures 37 and 38) indicates that the Seagrass in this site were allocating more energy towards growth and development of new leaves, blades and shoots, and less towards growth of each individual component. This hypothesis is strengthened by the high biomass of old growth, which shows that the whole plant growth has been very high in the past. Furthermore old growth and new growth graphs (Figure 41 and 42) depict an almost inverse relationship in that sites seven, five, and six, with high old growth biomass, all have relatively low new growth biomass. A similar inverse pattern is found with sites, three and four which have two of the lowest measurements for old growth biomass but among the highest for new growth biomass. Possibly these plants utilize different phases in which they grow new parts during one cycle and increase in gross biomass more during cycles when the leaves, shoots, and blades are in place (during growth of the stem area).

Site five, the second closest to the mouth of Deep River had the highest total biomass, second highest biomass of old growth, and high biomass of new material and new leaves(Figures 44, 40 - 42). Site five is the second closest site to the Monkey River mouth. This finding is interesting in that the mean # of shoots and blades in this site was relatively low. This might indicate that the river and mangrove derived nutrients have a significant impact on the area but the sea grasses were devoting more energy towards absolute growth and less on developmental growth, as in new leaf and blade formation.

Site two consistently had the lowest amount of biomass. This site is not directly near any potential nutrient sources. Though relatively close to Deep River and Punta Ycacos, unlike site four and six, it isn’t particularly close to any cayes that might contain mangroves, which might increase nutrient enrichment. It’s relatively remoteness might also indicate that it would be slightly deeper. Seagrass require light for photosynthesis and thus greater depth will tend to have a negative effect on growth. One further potential reason might be that sedimentation from both the Ycacos and Deep river fall in this area, thus reducing visibility and potential nutrient benefits due to lack of photosynthetic ability.

Sites three and four were generally average in biomass measurements. This average pattern was consistent for all measurements but new growth and new leaves. In these respective measurements, site three had the highest biomass of new growth and site four had nearly the highest biomass of new leaves. These high measurements might, as stated for other measurements, be partially due to their location. Sight three is near the Punta Ycacos Lagoon and Deep River and sight four is in a location near mangroves and, though far off, directly in line with Deep River and potentially, depending on current patterns, also influenced by Monkey River. The reason for the abundance of new leaves in site four, as opposed to site six which had high increased new growth might be an indicator that the plants in this site are in a stage of developmental growth. This possibility and the reason for such growth patterns need to be investigated further and with future measurements.

Site six and one, contrary to expectations from shoots and blades measurements had very high biomass measurements. Site six had the second highest total biomass and third highest biomass of old growth. Site six, in-line with other sites that had a low biomass of shoots and blades, had a relatively low biomass of new leaves (Figure 40), but a high total, old growth, and new material biomass. This further strengthens the hypothesis that new leaves and new shoot and blades often grow synchronously, while net increase in biomass acts at different times. The high biomass in site one might be due to its relative proximity to Monkey River.

§Aerial Productivity and Turnover

Examination of productivity data provides further support for the hypothetical patterns of influence discussed previously. Interestingly, both turnover and productivity graphs (Figures 45 and 46) depict a trend of decreasing productivity with distance away from river-mouth; particularly evident following site three for productivity (Figure 45) and site two for turnover. It is interesting to note that this general pattern is nearly identical to that for mean Seagrass biomass of new growth (Figure 43). Possibly new growth and productivity are functionally and predictably related.

Site seven and five, the first and second closest to Deep River had relatively average productivity and site two, the next closest had the lowest productivity. Site one had nearly the same productivity and turnover as site seven. That these did not have the highest productivity might indicate that the higher productivity sites three and four benefited from two riverine sources; site three from the Ycacos Lagoon, and site 4 from Monkey River.

The interesting pattern with site three with the highest and second highest productivity might indicate, as previously hypothesized, that site three is significantly affected by both Deep River and the Ycacos Lagoon. That site four evinced the second highest productivity is in line with the hypothesis stated previously that this site benefits both from Deep River nutrients, Monkey River, via a hypothetical South East current, and nearby mangrove on the Cayes.

Site six is the farthest away from riverine influence and is thus expected to have the low productivity and turnover demonstrated in Figures 45 and 46. This site’s lower productivity, despite its proximity to Deep River, may be explained by the nearby Cayes and mangrove derived nutrients.

Site two surprisingly had the highest turnover rate (Figure 46). This site was nearly universally low in all other measurements. This perplexing result is further interesting because it is the only striking anomaly between the turnover graph and the graph for mean aerial productivity and mean biomass of new growth (Figure 45 and 43). In fact, it follows the same pattern of decreasing riverine influence resulting in decreasing productivity excepting that in this graph it starts one site earlier.

§Seagrass Cores

Direct proximity to river influence seems to be strongly related with core biomass. This is shown by the much higher relative biomass of either seven or one in all core measurements (Figures 47 - 52). Following immediate proximity, river influence seems to be less important but might explain the consistent lowest level of site six, the furthest from any freshwater sources.

Site seven, closest to Deep River, had the highest total and live biomass (Figure 47 and 48). Site seven also had the highest mean total aerial biomass and mean live aerial biomass (Figure 50 and 51). Site one, closest to Monkey River, had the second highest total and total live biomass. This indicates that direct proximity to river influence exerts a strong influence on these sites.

Site one had the highest dead biomass and dead aerial biomass (Figure 49 and 52). All other sites were nearly equal for these measurements. This might indicate that site one takes longer to decompose or circulate its biomass, possibly due to variance in sediment type or amount of biomass exported; the river is close by, thus depositing large amounts in the area but might not cause the sediment to be pushed out farther to sea due to the slightly off-river path position of the site.

§Summary and Conclusions

Analysis of seagrass measurements provides initial support for the hypothesis that distance from river mouth and potential mangrove productivity negatively influences Seagrass productivity. Though the consistently high ratings for growth, productivity, and biomass in sites immediately near mangrove sources qualitatively indicates influence, it is also obvious that the system is complex and any direct relationship is rapidly lost with increasing distance from river influence.

I hypothesize a SE current as responsible for certain patterns unexplainable by linear analysis; other possibilities are certainly possible and it is likely that many factors are influencing the nutrient flow and productivity patterns for every site. The basic hypothesis did hold up very well; all of the sites that had the consistently highest measurements were very close to large areas of mangroves and freshwater sources capable of out-welling available nutrients (sites 1, 3, and 7). Similarly, the site most detached from obvious mangrove influence (site 6) almost universally had the lowest measurements. Though the patterns demonstrate complexity and conclusions are tentative, mangrove derived nutrient carried by riverine fresh-water does appear to have a positive effect on Seagrass productivity in this area.

Though initially it seems that a clear-cut distinction between Deep River and Monkey River is found in that mangroves in Deep River are larger and those in Monkey River are more numerous and smaller, further analysis showed that the results may be skewed. The nearly two-fold mean size of trees in Deep River is deceptive because it is apparently based almost entirely on one site with much larger trees than any of the other sites. The other two sites with largest mean trees were actually in Monkey River while the two remaining Deep River sites had a small number of average sized trees. Productivity data from leaf litter fall might help unlock the puzzle of mangrove differences in the Monkey and Deep River watersheds but unfortunately that data was not available to me at the time of writing.

The initially stated hypothetical linkage that rivers push mangrove productivity out to sea grasses, increase their productivity, and, in turn, increase secondary productivity is obviously an oversimplification. The current study doesn’t take physical factors such as freshwater hydrology or tidal and current patterns into consideration. These might have a profound influence on productivity, the direction of nutrient flows, and the time allowed for an eco-system to utilize nutrients passing through. For example nutrients may be effectively pushed passed the directly proximate Seagrass sites due to high water pressure, thus complicating patterns and possibly even increasing influence on slightly more distant sites. One hypothesis forwarded throughout the analysis is that there is a strong SE current influencing the direction of nutrient flow; determining current patterns would allow the testing of such hypothesis.

This analysis also fails to account for chemical factors such as salinity, dissolved organic matter, carbon isotopes, nitrogen, and phosphorous. Knowing such factors would allow a better understanding of productivity and biomass patterns. For example, using carbon isotopes in a manner similar to Guanghui (1991) would help determine whether mangroves in fact contribute significantly to Seagrass productivity, if purely physical factors such as hydrological output are responsible, or if the apparent patterns are simply constructed in hope of strengthening a hypothesis.

Many of the results in the study seem to show patterns but not strongly enough to account for a simple analysis as in the hypothesis of distance of Seagrass site from river mouth being solely responsible for fluctuations in primary productivity. This preliminary analysis examines mangrove growth factors such as biomass and size measurements but does not use primary productivity data such as litter-fall, illumination, or biogas. There is only one site near Monkey River and six Seagrass sites near Deep River; this does not allow for adequate analysis to determine the potential influence of mangrove primary productivity on Seagrass productivity in these two watersheds.

Fortunately, the Belize Center for Environmental studies is currently involved in many studies that will examine such factors as discussed. These studies, include nutrient, hydrological, and biologic analyses, which more effectively and testably incorporate an even distribution of both watersheds. These studies are occurring concurrently with socio-economic analysis, including surveys of local population. Furthermore, the data in this study are simply the first baseline measurements; future measurements, incorporating other factors, including mangrove productivity from leaf litter fall will greatly focus the currently speculative picture on the ecological systems of the Port of Honduras. This paper primarily functions to examine initial results in order to set course for the direction of future studies and the establishment of initial management strategy. A preliminary baseline and context for future work is now emplaced.

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§Figures and tables in this chapter

The captions as listed in the manuscript. The plates themselves are in the figure appendix.

• Figure 22: Mangrove and Seagrass Site Map
• Figure 23: Sum of Mass by River
• Figure 24: Average Mass by River
• Figure 25: Average Circumference at Breast Height (CBH) by River
• Figure 26: Average Circumference at Breast Height(CBH) by Site
• Figure 27: Average Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) by River
• Figure 28: Average Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) by site
• Figure 29: Average Basal Area by River
• Figure 30: Average Basal Area by Site
• Figure 31: Average Mass by Site
• Figure 32: Sum of Basal Area by River
• Figure 33: Average Total Height by River
• Figure 34: Average Total Height by Site
• Figure 35: Maximum Total Height by River
• Figure 36: Minimum Total Height by River
• Figure 37: Mean Number of Shoots by Site
• Figure 38: Mean Number of Blades by Site
• Figure 39: Mean Number of Blades/Shoot by Site
• Figure 40: Mean Biomass New Leaves by SiteFigure
• Figure 41: Mean Biomass New Material by Site
• Figure 42: Mean Biomass Old Growth by Site
• Figure 43: Mean Biomass New Growth by Site
• Figure 44: Mean Total Biomass by Site
• Figure 45: Mean Areal Productivity by Site
• Figure 46: Mean Turnover by Site
• Figure 47: Total Biomass by Site
• Figure 48: Total Live Biomass by Site
• Figure 49: Total Dead Biomass by Site
• Figure 50: Mean Total Biomass by Site
• Figure 51: Mean Live Biomass by Site
• Figure 52: Mean Dead Biomass by Site
• Figure 53: Mangrove Plot Map of Monkey River 1
• Figure 54: Mangrove Plot Map of Monkey River 2
• Figure 55: Mangrove Plot Map of Monkey River 3
• Figure 56: Mangrove Plot Map of Deep River 4
• Figure 57: Mangrove Plot Map of Deep River 5
• Figure 58: Mangrove Plot Map of Deep River 6
• Figure 59: Regression of Old Growth Biomass by Relative Distance from River
• Figure 60: Regression of Number of Shoots by Relative Distance from River
• Figure 61: Regression of Number of Blades by Relative Distance from River

§Introduction

This chapter provides a synthesis of the ideas examined throughout the first section of this document in the form of an examination of important issues for environmental management in the Suva Barrier Reef, Fiji, and the Port of Honduras, Belize. In chapter one I presented a broad argument for the necessity of environmental conservation based on consideration of human beings as part of their environment. Chapter two examined the influence of colonialism on the social, cultural, and environmental history of Belize and Fiji. Chapters three and four were presentations of environmental case studies of benthic distribution on the Suva Barrier Reef, and seagrass and mangrove interactions in the Port of Honduras, Belize.

In this chapter I will integrate these different chapters by arguing the necessity of bottom-up management. Grass roots management is enacted by those most closely affected by and linked to their environmental resources. As a result such management will not have the environmental separation problems that might result from colonial or any third party rule. I believe that this is not only feasible economically, but ultimately the only sustainable option both for the environment and it’s inclusive human inhabitants.

Here I will integrate the other chapters and then focus on the potential for tourism, in both areas, and elsewhere. I begin by briefly examining the different environmental management problems and some potential strategies in both case study areas (chapters three and four). In the next section I examine the need for local involvement in environmental management and sustainable development (chapters one and two). Due to the rapid growth of tourism in both Fiji and Belize, I conclude with an examination of the viability of the incorporation of tourism in environmental management strategies.

§Theory for Establishment of Protected Areas

In this section I provide a general background on marine protected areas, including examples of primary threats. Then I briefly state some of the primary factors, which are important in establishing a protected area with some thoughts about how these factors relate specifically to the two case study sites. Following this I show what the Belize Center for Environmental Studies (BCES) is currently doing to establish a real protected zone. I then conclude this section with a discussion of the Biosphere model which the proposed protected area in Belize is based on with a brief examination of it’s limitations for use in protecting impacted areas such as in the Suva Barrier Reef.

§Definition of Marine Protected Areas

The idea of large marine protected areas, especially as an extension of terrestrially protected corridors is relatively new. Their theoretical foundations are currently being developed. Marine protected zones, in principal, have a similar logic to land-based protected areas but terrestrial models can not be adapted because the ocean is not as clearly defined; water parcels in any given area are much less consistent in location and containment than terrestrial counterparts. (U.S. Dept. of Regional Development 1988). By examining what threats protected areas must deal with and then one of the potential management structures I hope to add some definition to the theoretical foundations of marine protected areas.

§Threats to Marine Systems

§Direct

Slow reproduction rates in large marine species: Species such as sea turtles, pinapeds, and whales are very sensitive to destructive practices such as fishing because they are slow to recover from losses. Animals with shorter gestation rates can quickly rebound following intensive fishing efforts but over fishing or other detrimental population effects have a much greater impact for such large animals with long reproductive rates. The Port of Honduras houses the West Indian Manatee and large sea turtles (BCES 1990). Any management strategy must incorporate their acute survival needs.

Technology: Increases in fishing technology allow unprecedented efficiency for extraction of large numbers of fish resulting in large scale over fishing. Along with large scale fishing, modern technology tends to use large amounts of packaging materials, resulting in proportional increases in pollution per unit product. Similarly, population increases have resulted in over fishing using traditional artisenal technology. When previously small numbers of fishermen would use low impact technology, small numbers of fish were taken. Today, increasing populations using the same technology are capable of causing the same devastating impact typically associated with large scale commercial fisheries.

In Belize, lobsters and conch are currently being harvested at or beyond maximum sustained yield levels. Current regulations are not enforced and illegal fishing, particularly from Honduran and Guatemalan fishing vehicles is having a strong impact. A management strategy in Belize must incorporate more stringent protective strategy to enforce regulations and reduce harvesting of over-impacted taxa (Ministry of Tourism and Environment 1994).

§Indirect

Cow Pastures: Cow pastures have strong indirect influence from sedimentation and organic input. When an area is deforested and animals are allowed to graze, extensive erosion can occur. The vegetation, which previously held soil in, is freed; grazing animals quicken this process. As a result sediment can be pushed into coastal systems decreasing illumination and resulting in seagrass and coral death. Chemicals from animal waste can also be pushed to coastal areas, resulting in increased organic nitrogen or phosphorus and resulting in eutrophic conditions. As shown in chapter three sedimentation resulting from deforestation, and possibly cow pastures, might be one of the primary damaging factors for the Suva Barrier Reef.

Eutrophication: Eutrophication occurs when chemical inputs, including fertilizer result in higher concentrations of nitrogen or phosphorous in aquatic environments. Aquatic plants tend to be limited by one of these two nutrients and thus their input can cause rapidly growing algae to cloud waters. Algae clouding waters can prevent sea grasses and coraline algae from receiving light and result in their death. Corals’ symbiotic zooxanthellae algae can also grow too rapidly, causing over-growth and resulting in rapid coral death. In chapter three I provide preliminary evidence that eutrophication might be degrading the Suva Barrier Reef.

§Sufficient Ecological Knowledge for Environmental Management?

Though we have little knowledge about our world’s eco-systems, we do have enough to work with. Effective management plans have provided benefits for the environment and the included peoples. Due to our limited knowledge, the key watchword is caution. If one is unsure about a particular development practice, caution should be vigorously used when possible.

§Important Elements for Environmental Protection

The world conservation strategy (WCS) states that there are three objectives for conservation: the maintenance of essential ecological processes, preservation of genetic diversity, and the sustainable development of species and ecosystems (Adams 1990). I argue that achieving a sustainable conservation program requires that the needs of the local human populace must be addressed before these other purely “environmental” issues the WCS

At certain times this is an ideal that can not be met - a local population, which is already in dire straits, must work to get out of the situation immediately. In such cases future-sacrificing development might be necessary if no other options exist. The countries of the developed world must work to help people in such situations to help save the future of others as well as their own.

§The Maintenance of Essential Ecological Processes and Genetic Diversity

The Port of Honduras is considered a hot zone that is extraordinarily rich in animal and plant species. This area also contains several nesting and feeding areas for migratory turtles, birds, and fish. Of special significance are the nesting beaches for hawksbill sea turtles and the relatively abundant West Indian manatee (BCES 1990). Nearly the entire coastline is mangrove dominated and over a third of Belize’s vegetation is represented in this area (Wright et al 1959). Certain animals living in this area may also fit into a regional wildlife management strategy where areas of urbanization or agricultural development and recreational areas are intermingled with wildlife protected zones.

Barrier reefs, in general, and Pacific island reefs in particular, are extremely diverse but the biodiversity in the Suva Barrier Reef has certainly already suffered. There may still be organisms in this area that are unknown elsewhere. A biodiversity survey of this reef area would certainly be helpful to determining the extent to which it has suffered and its current “worth” for biological conservation. Possibly certain fishes or other organisms that connect this reef with other eco-systems (including humans through food sources) are worthy of conserving to maintain both eco-system function and levels of extant biodiversity. .

§Economic resources potential

What is the impact on economic activity in the regions adjoining the protected area that may benefit from the status of the region as a protected zone? This includes such factors as the beneficial impact of nutrient flows from mangrove to seagrass and eventually fish, and their respective usage of mangrove areas as nursing grounds in the marine protected zone that contribute to increased yields both in the immediate protected area, and potentially in adjoining areas.

What are the implications for an area like the Suva Barrier reef in Fiji that is currently used for shellfish and other organisms that can accumulate bio-toxins but is still used by local inhabitants as a main food source? Will continued input into this area cause further damage? Is there even any point in expending the money (if it really is an expenditure instead of a gain) to protect the area when it’s already largely destroyed? Reefs can serve many important functions, including erosion control, food sources, and are also interconnected with other eco-systems such as mangrove swamps, sea grasses, open ocean systems, and potentially “unnatural” systems constructed by humans. The potential consequences of continued degradation of this reef system are grave and thus these issues must be thoroughly considered.

§Preservation of economic, political and social status

How can the status be conserved or raised for people living in the region whose lifestyle is dependent upon retention of the biological resources that exist in the region either directly for fishing/hunting/gathering or indirectly through usage of the fisheries, mangrove woods, and tourist industry? Any management plan must incorporate not only conservation of the eco-systems, but interconnected humans as well. Those people that use the managed eco-systems must retain their ability to harvest and use these systems in a way which is environmentally, culturally, and economically sustainable.

Any plan that ignores the local inhabitants and focuses completely on the environmental aspects will fail or result in unethical detriment to livelihood of the population. On the other hand, a plan that fails to incorporate the environment can result in over-exploitation and eventually collapse of the environment with resultant detriment to quality of life for local inhabitants. An integrative plan will combine the needs of the people with the needs of the environment of which they are part, allowing for continued, and balanced, sustainable existence. The primary point is that humans must be considered as part of their surrounding environments and must live within them with respect for their balance to survive and flourish.

§Environmental Management for the Case Studies

The nature conservancy is currently working with the Belize Center for Environmental Studies (BCES) to establish a corridor of protected areas in the Maya-Mountain-Port Honduras area of the Toledo district in Belize. This project is a multi-disciplinary approach to management, including integrated socio-economic and biological studies of the entire project area. The eventual goal is establishment of a large corridor of protected areas that will allow sustainable development while retaining high biologic diversity and productivity. One area of focus for this project is the establishment of Port Honduras as the marine component in this series of protected corridors.

To achieve an ideal protection strategy, productivity of mangrove and seagrass systems are being measured, local fishermen are being interviewed, and the hydrological flux of connected watersheds is being modeled. The studies presented in chapter four demonstrate the dramatic influence of mangrove and seagrass systems on the productivity in this area. Long term management and conservation in Port Honduras seems feasible and ideal. This area is still in a relatively pristine state but current development of the Southern Highway and increased illegal pressure on local fisheries indicate a likely rapid increase of environmental stressors and the resultant need for environmental management.

Local populations are closely interlinked with their environment and rely on fish and agricultural products to survive. Not protecting these resources will threaten the future potential for economic independence of local populations. Environmental protection, which includes closely monitored tourism, might have the potential for sustainability and even increases in local economic independence and growth.

Currently the BCES (1990) is working on a modification of the Man and the Biosphere model to establish an integrated approach to management in the Port of Honduras area shown in Figure 1 (BCES 1990).

§The Biosphere Reserve: Limitations and Prospects

Potentially conservation in both Fiji and Belize would use a modified concept of the biosphere reserve (BCES 1990; Brookfield 1980). The concept of a marine protected area defined as a biosphere reserve would include large coastal or open ocean areas that incorporate humans in areas zoned for multiple different uses based on ecological principles. The prime objectives of such a reserve are to conserve biological resources, strengthen understanding of the system, perpetuate small scale sustainable development, and foster regional cooperation(Brookfield 1980; Batisse 1982).

A bio-sphere reserve is different from a traditional reserve in that, implicitly, it includes humans in the environment to be protected; as Batisse (1982: 101) states, “...conservation of the environmental resources could and should be achieved alongside of their utilization for human benefit.” Furthermore, the biosphere reserve is an open system in which management must consider both problems within the protected zone and the interactions in the surrounding area (Brookfield 1980).

This idea was originally envisioned to be used to establish a world-wide network of protected areas to ensure genetic conservation. According to UNESCO, the originators of this concept, the criteria for establishing such a reserve are at least one of the following (Batisse 1982: 102):

(I) Representative examples of natural biomes;

(ii) Unique communities or areas with unusual features of exceptional interest;

(iii) Examples of harmonious landscape resulting from traditional patterns of land use and/or

(iv) Examples of modified or degraded eco-systems that are capable of being restored to more-or-less natural conditions

According to these guidelines, the Port of Honduras definitely qualifies for requirements of establishment of a Biosphere Reserve. The plan in the Port of Honduras is to use the Biosphere Reserve structure to allow local communities to gather sufficient income from the resources while retaining the functional integrity of the surrounding eco-systems. Once an area has been chosen as for protection using the biosphere structure, the planning stage begins using the following stages for multiple use management:

Stages for Establishing a Multiple Use Management Plan (based on Agardy 1996)

Identify user groups

Work with groups to identify objectives for reserve

Delineate target area

Describe area

Develop zoning plan

Modify plan for socio-economics

The BCES is working on a modified version of these stages. User groups have been identified as primarily local fishermen. The target area has been delineated and is currently under description using studies such as the one preliminary version presented in chapter four. Ultimately this plan will incorporate stage six and will be modified for available socio-economic resources.

In the Port Honduras are, a wide group of different long-term studies are already in effect. These include the mangrove and seagrass productivity studies, which I discussed in chapter four, as well as hydrological models, water chemistry studies, and socio-economic studies which are currently focusing on the needs of local fishermen.

The Port of Honduras Marine Protected Area will probably greatly benefit from the four terrestrial connected protected areas, Bladen Nature Reserve, Maya Mountain Forest Reserve, Deep River Forest Reserve, and Paynes Creek National Park (Figure 1). This connection will prevent terrestrially related degradation from impacting the marine area and visa-versa. Unfortunately nearby terrestrial areas of the Suva Barrier Reef are not protected and this is likely one of the potential reasons for it’s barren state. It receives large amounts of sediment and potentially toxic compounds from the Suva area and the large Rewa river.

The possibility of an increase in sports fishing industry is being considered as a potential preventative of fisheries over-exploitation. In traditional fishing, a high impact results because fish are actively removed and consumed. In sports-fishing the fish are typically thrown back in and thus it is presumed that a largely reduced fish death rate results.

Well respected sports fisherman currently consider areas of the Port of Honduras to have some of the best sport-fishing in the world (Heyman personal communication). Such an industry, along with other tourist related industries, could potentially be highly beneficial for the Port of Honduras area. Decreased environmental impact and increased local standard of living is possible if local populations retain control over their resources and the resultant tourist trade.

The BCES is a local organization concerned about the local populations. I recommend that actions currently undertaken by the BCES continue as planned but stress local involvement even more. The surveys of fishermen are an important first step towards local involvement. I believe future steps should focus on a wider group of local people and should provide ways where they can get involved both economically and environmentally. As expected in any real world example, this project is a hybrid of “top down” and “bottom up” approaches. Many international organizations are involved, including The Nature Conservancy, as well as many Belizean government organizations, but the focus has been on economic empowerment of the local populations.

Currently the local involvement may not be adequately representative of all local needs. As I examined in chapter two, Belize has a wide diversity of ethnic groups. This diversity is most apparent in the Toledo District. To adequately achieve management, all of the affected groups must be incorporated. The BCES is involved in educational outreach programs to public schools. Possibly this outreach could include a discussion of the Port Honduras area which includes the ways that these children, and their parents can benefit economically from protection and sustainable tourism. Negative case studies from other locations should be understood to signify the possible faults. Positive case studies should also be outlined to provide some guidance as to how the greatest sustainable benefit can be achieved. Potentially, with a representative local body planning for protection in this area, long term socio-economic and environmental sustainability is possible.

In Suva, one of the primary immediate conservation issues is retention of the reef’s geologic structure. Destruction of this reef could mark the demise of areas of Suva that currently benefit from its protection. The biologic diversity is probably beyond hope of easy renewal. As I showed in chapter two, this reef is primarily composed of dead coral. My strongest recommendation for this area is to continue baseline studies such as I began in chapter two to establish an accurate assessment of current “normal” reef state and continue to reach out to locals by actively involving them in the decision making process to best fulfill their needs. How dependent are they on local fisheries? Will they greatly benefit from a protection strategy? How can they be involved?

A highly modified biosphere reserve structure could possibly be used in the Suva Barrier Reef area in Fiji as well as in the Port of Honduras. The Suva Barrier Reef needs more surveys for determination but I am not even sure that it qualifies for the fourth requisite stated above regarding restoration to “normal conditions”. The Suva area is already highly impacted by humans as was shown in chapter three. Unfortunately my survey of the reef was conducted relatively soon after a hurricane so it is difficult to accurately determine the “normal” condition of the reef, without further studies, at this time. The reef must first be surveyed on a longer term and more extensive basis. This will allow a more accurate “baseline” assessment. Following this, water chemistry, wave and tide profiles, and sedimentation studies could be used to test the different causative hypothesis I mentioned in chapter three. If pollution or sedimentation are identified as strong negative factors the effect on geomorphology of the reef must be determined. If a serious reduction in reef barrier protection is resulting from a known causative factor, I recommend actions to prevent further erosion. These actions can not be determined without further work but might include pollution control or upstream terrestrial protection on the Rewa river to prevent increases in sedimentation.

§Important Development Issues

This section examines some important development issues for the Port of Honduras area. This is a brief summary of what kind of development is most favorable geographically and geologically. The poor soils in Toledo limit the potential for agriculture and increasing fisheries pressure limits the potential for their increase. From my preliminary research it appears that tourism holds the most promise for Belize. This analysis is not as necessary for the Suva Reef area because the surrounding area is already extensively developed; thus following a short depiction of these issues in Fiji, I focus on Belize.

§Environmental Development Issues of the Suva Barrier Reef

The Fiji reef area is already extensively developed and thus more drastic “band-aid” environmental management is the only option. Ecological studies should be performed and the organisms in this area should be monitored. Many people still sustain themselves through feeding on organisms of this reef. From examination of my study in chapter three, my sense is that this area might be suffering from chemical pollution. The potential for bio-amplification or other human impacts should be examined. The most important factor for the Suva Reef might be retention of the structural viability of the reef system. Any serious degradation could result in tidal destruction of the Suva area resulting from the lacking protection. Further development should be postponed until the effects on the reefs structure are determined.

§Environmental Development Issues of the Port of Honduras

The primary industries of Belize point to its dependence on natural resources. Most income in Belize derives from agriculture, fisheries, and ecologically based tourism. Due to low population density, most of Belize is still in a relatively pristine state, with over 60% still under closed forest canopy. The Belizean economy, and resultantly the standard of living can only grow if these precious natural resources are conserved (Belize Ministry of Tourism and Environment 1994).

Currently the most serious threats to these natural resources are: 1) Solid and liquid waste, 2) over fishing, mangrove destruction, dredging, and land reclamation in the coastal zone, 3) increases in deforestation and unsustainable agriculture, and 4) outbreaks of environmentally related diseases. The causes of coastal zone problems are a lack of regulation and enforcement for fishing regulations and mangrove clearance. The Ministry of Tourism recommends that the government of Belize increase the price of fishing licenses, tighten fishing regulations, and allow fishing organizations to participate in enforcement measures (Ministry of Tourism and Environment 1994).

The Belize Lands and Surveys Department (1994) has looked at the possibility for tourism specifically in the Monkey River area, which is in the Northern edge of the proposed marine protected area. Many residents in this town were forced move to the Nearby community of Mango Creek for employment when the banana industry dwindled. The remaining 200 inhabitants primarily survive by fishing. Currently survival issues are complicated by restrictions on hunting and net fishing. Along with fishing and hunting restrictions, local hawksbill turtle nesting grounds are currently protected. Potentially adopting a plan of integrated tourism, agriculture and reallocation of abandoned lots would allow for sustainable protection. The development plan structured by the Belize Lands and Surveys Department (1994) calls for local involvement in management and resource protection.

Agriculture development is not a good option for the Toledo District, Belize. Geologically, Belize is a country dominated by the quartz rich Maya mountains formed from ancient Paleozoic rock and the nutrient poor, but highly productive lowland soils. Due to the complexity of soil types, unless large-scale fertilization was attempted, small scale agriculture is the only viable in option in Belize (Wright et al. 1959). King et al. (1986) recommend only diversified small scale agriculture in Toledo because most land drains poorly and subsoils are compacted. Rice might have potential for development but low world prices decrease it’s utility as a trade crop. Citrus could be expanded in some small areas, notably on the foot slope of the Stopper Escarpment, but most soils are inappropriate. The best agricultural development options are probably small scale managed timber harvests (King et al. 1986).

As long as forests are protected, coastal damage due to sedimentation will likely be minimal (King et al. 1986). Rivers in the Toledo district of Belize produce little outflow of sand, clay, or silt sediments because headwaters are directly in limestone (Wright et al. 1959). Low out-welling of soils might be partially responsible for the high productivity of near shore coral reefs and sea grasses that are dependent on minimized sedimentation and increased ultra-violet radiation for photosynthesis (Valiela 1995). This factor shows the primary importance of having coastal protected areas linked to terrestrially protected areas. In the Great Barrier Reef much damage has occurred due to sedimentation from erosion in non-protected adjoining terrestrial areas (Agardy 1996). Similarly, in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the un-protected coastal connection to the marine park is resulting in water-shed induced eutrophication. If this park would have been planned, as in the Port of Honduras, to have a terrestrial component, eutrophication and resultant destruction might not be a problem (Sullivan and Chiappone 1994).

§The Potential for Sustainable Tourism

Sustainability is in the interests of all parties involved in tourism. Tourists visiting other destinations are interested in seeing natural environments and experiencing different living cultures. Few tourists would be interested in exploring environmentally degraded areas with large numbers of hostile inhabitants who dress and act just like the tourists. On the other hand, a local inhabitant is interested in having a pleasing environment that can be used sustainably for both input of tourism dollars and continued ability to traditionally interact with the environment. Why is it then that, as Cater (1995: 22) states, “Given the multitude of interests involved, however, a completely sustainable outcome is likely to remain more of an ideal than a reality?” What is the other option? A somewhat sustainable outcome? This depends on the definition of sustainability of course, but from my perception, nothing short of a truly long-term sustainable outcome should be tolerated. If we continue to think in a mindset that a half-hearted sustainability would be tolerable because achieving any ideal is impossible, what will we end up with? Eventually all such systems would likely gravitate towards non-sustainability and increasingly larger groups of people would become marginalized.

Tourism has the potential to supply benefits for both the host community and the venturing tourists. A quote from Ryan (1991: 115) shows though that this is often not the case:

On the one hand there exists a valid longing for escape, for the pleasures found in skiing down the slopes, or sailing in blue seas, to commune with nature within isolated areas, or simply to share beauty with family and friends and so reinforce the feelings of togetherness of any given social group, whilst on the other hand, such desires, when translated into the wishes of thousands if not millions wishing to share the same experiences, become a threat not only to the sought after experience, but also to the flora and fauna, and as water become poisoned, and air polluted, to the host communities themselves.

In the following discussion I examine the issues Ryan’s quote brings up regarding sustainability. I attempt to define what factors result in environmental and cultural detriment and how they can be alleviated through a well planned locally controlled environmental management strategy.

§Ecotourism and Environmental Conservation

Is tourism an answer that allows needed economic growth while addressing environmental conservation? The Toledo district of Belize faces the problem of having large areas of unscathed habitat with little ability to prevent future environmental destruction, while the Suva area in Fiji is relatively environmentally degraded. If conservation is considered for both areas, the Suva bay requires a bandage approach, while the Port of Honduras is more pristine and is in need of primary preventative measures. The real challenge in Belize is to continue economic growth without resulting in environmental degradation characteristic of technological advancement. Can tourism address these issues?

Belize might hold the potential for true sustainable eco-tourism. Stringent logging regulations have existed in Belize since the 1920’s. Early loggers had learned the potential threat of massive deforestation through observation of surrounding countries and primarily practiced controlled logging, extracting only species of interest, as opposed to the massive clear cutting, which was found throughout the rest of Central America. Because Belize is not yet completely over-run by multi-national cattle or fruit industries, possibly a controlled tourist-based economy can function. The greatest obvious economic resource evident in Belize is the abundance of pristine environments. Ballick and Mendelsohn (in Zimmerman 1995) have already shown that it is possible to use natural resources sustainably and achieve economic growth. They worked with local herb gatherers to collect herbs from two small forest plots in Belize and sold them in a market to pharmacists and healers with a higher profit than might be generated in other less sustainable practices, such as deforestation. Possibly tourism could also provide a viable option for decreased environmental degradation and increased economic growth.

If tourism can provide sufficient income for the majority of the population in Belize, it may be possible to continue this practice sustainably. The final decision to adopt tourism as the nation’s primary source of income is a complex one which should only be made by a representative group of the local population. Before adopting such a strategy it is important to see the many faults of previous tourism developments.

§Problems of Tourism and Eco Tourism

Tourism, known as the “smokeless industry” has become the most widely touted sustainable development option for economically poor countries that are rich in environmental resources. International tourist visitation to developing countries has doubled since 1976. Tourism, now the world’s largest industry, is growing 23 per cent faster than the overall world economy. Tourism manufactures nothing itself and relies on exploitation of an already existing product to support hundreds of millions of consumers (Wheat 1994).

Recently however, these claims are being found to fall far short of their mark, where even “eco-tourism” is being found as a major purveyor of environmental and cultural destruction (Wheat 1994). Eco-tourism was supposedly supposed to give people of the developing world a viable option for environmentally destructive practices, allowing the locals to (Padgett and Begley 1996), “..earn more by preserving nature than by using it up...”.

Problems of eco-tourism abound. The most notable are environmental impacts and the lack of tourism revenue benefiting local populations. The Galapagos has recently been opened by the government of Ecuador and the tourism industry is growing faster than the ability to control it. Tourists in the Galapagos have brought introduced species, and cases of biological eco-system simplification are already apparent (Naeringsliv 1993). Large scale fleeing of human-phobic Cheetahs in Kenya has resulted in serious inbreeding problems. Turtles in Mexico become disoriented by hotel lights and fail to lay eggs. Manatees are mangled by propellers of eco-tourists in Costa Rican speedboats. Beaches are becoming polluted, reefs degraded, wild-life parks deprived of wild-life, and indigenous cultures are disappearing... This is but a brief list of the many negative consequences resulting from over-extension of tourists who are so interested in seeing the local ecology that they don’t realize their own destructive influence (Steele 1995; Wheat 1994; Padgett and Begley 1996).

Eco-tourism and other alternatives to large scale commercial tourism are proving economically, as well as environmentally, costly to local inhabitants. Despite 4.7 million dollars of revenue from tourism in Baja’s Magdalena Bay, local salaries and businesses only realized $33,000. Tour companies primarily based in California exploited local people for low-level labor to attain this massive profit share (Padgett and Begley 1996).

Wheat (1994) explains that Belize has become the world’s most famous eco-tourist destination, resulting in it’s ranking of 26 per cent of the gross national product (GNP). Belize is caught in a large-scale version of what it’s inhabitants have historically suffered. Much like historically indigenous populations of Belize were kept in virtual slavery through taxation, Belize’s debt of US$103 million prevents it from establishing socio-economic independence. Approximately 90 per cent of coastal building developments in Belize are under foreign ownership. Local people that do get jobs usually work in low paid, menial, and seasonal positions. Managerial jobs nearly universally go to expatriates who work for multi-nationals. These multi-national companies, such as airlines, hotel chains, and building giants, often have turnovers that are greater than the gross domestic product of the host developing country. Tourists also usually purchase things that must be imported from the developed world. As a result of such imports of labor and foreign items, over 55 and up to 70 per cent of foreign exchange earned from tourism is effectively leaked back into the developed countries (Hohl and Tisdel 1995; Wheat 1994).

This leakage results in severe economic impacts. For example, on island resorts of Thailand, indigenous populations have been forced to migrate due to increases in prices of basic necessities that are raised beyond their purchasing power. Fishermen are often prevented from using beaches that are controlled by multi-national hotels. The Masai in Tanzania have been forced by Tourist outfits from their homelands and now can only support themselves by acts such as posing for photographs. In West Java, “farmers have been harassed, imprisoned, and their homes burnt down after peacefully demonstrating against their illegal eviction by a company planning a tourist resort and golf course on their land” (Wheat 1994: 19).

I witnessed the same phenomenon when I was in Costa Rica. Local people were incapable of paying for rents in apartments in San Jose because the cost had increased dramatically due to the influx of tourists who can afford high prices. I spoke with people that said tourism had influenced prices of other items; surviving was becoming more difficult because wage increases were out of proportion with the rapid increases in food and housing prices.

At the same time, coastal development in Belize is rapidly degrading the environment. This still pristine country is rapidly undergoing mangrove clearing and infilling with top-soil shaved off of nearby wetland savannas. The irony of the current state of the eco-tourism situation is expressed by the fact that the hotel for the 1991 Caribbean Eco-Tourism conference stands on a former wetland (Wheat 1994).

Though Wheat (1994) states that, “Belizeans may already be permanently alienated from their own land...”, he also provides some hope in the form of potential future local involvement. Coral Caye Conservation is currently working closely with local government departments to provide scientific training in the hope that eventually the project will be Belizean run. As Susan Flint (in Wheat 1994: 17) states, “We are there to protect the Biodiversity of Belize, but the last thing we want to do is to say that tourists can come and look but the fishermen can’t fish”. Unfortunately, more often than not, eco-tourism is simply a marketing label. For example, Ambergris Caye in Belize houses a US$50 million tourism development that was supposed to be an ecologically sound reinvestment in the Belizean people. Unfortunately this development houses large international hotels, luxury homes, and golf courses, making the distinction between “sustainable development” and traditional development blurred, to say the least (Wheat 1994).

Tourism also has the potential for rapid cultural change resulting in serious societal consequences. Dearden (1991) cites several sources that suggest that increases in affluent foreigners trekking in northern Thailand have coincided with increases in prostitution and opium production. Furthermore these foreigners generally contribute little economically to the local populations. On the other hand, Dearden shows that many of the people in the villages in this area of Thailand are so poor that they often are malnourished and that any potential income is cherished. Some of these villages have managed to capitalize on the incoming trekkers and have attained a significantly higher standard of living by selling handicrafts, renting transport or accommodations, and begging.

Examples like this where the local population obviously wanted increased income from somewhere and have now attained it provide a solid argument for the potential integrity of tourism. Furthermore, though “negative” cultural consequences such as fixation on western goods and money are common, equally common is the revitalization of traditional ceremonies, dress, and way of life. Tourists showing an interest in such traditions give the hosts a new interest in retaining them. Tourism is obviously not a simple issue; it has the potential to provide either the bountiful gift of life or the impoverished curse of death (Dearden 1991).

Padgett and Begley (1996) believe that environmental issues should be addressed by requiring tourists to be educated and hotels and tourist facilities should be held to stricter environmental regulations. Unfortunately they fail to address another point they raise regarding the importance of increased local profit shares. How can the local population realize a larger amount of income from the foreign tourists that come to their land? Is it environmentally or culturally sustainable for tourists to use “third world” environments and inhabitants to effectively enlarge their own countries world dominance? The act of tourism whereby locals lose their skilled jobs to become bus-boys for rich foreigners who exploit their environment in the process is no different than early colonial practices where people were forced from their jobs to become slaves for early European colonizers. This masked relic version of exploitation is not sustainable in any way precisely because it continues the colonial tradition of human and environmental separation.

§The Hope of Locally Controlled Sustainable Tourism

§Three Working Models of Local Control

While alternative tourism has generally failed to live up to it’s name, their are exceptions which put a hopeful light on the possible future of tourism. Village communities in Zimbabwe have recently acquired a new admiration for local wildlife. These people had previously developed hatred for the animals that colonial rule had given 20 per cent of the land, nearly as much as given to 95 per cent of their population. Recently an organization called the Communal Areas Management Program (CAMPFIRE) has allowed these locals to acquire ownership of the local wildlife and profit. Local communities now gain economically by charging tourists for sustainable hunting and photo safaris. This grass roots organization has decreased poverty and allowed local communities to fund a school, a clinic, and a grinding mill (Wheat 1994; Lindberg and Enriquez 1994).

In Mafia Island, near Tanzania, a grass roots environmental movement, aided by the World Wild Life Fund (WWLF) has proven very successful. Residents of this island became very concerned because reef and mangrove decline were leading to increased erosion; villages were falling in the water. The islanders sought out a representative for the WWLF and asked if they would help design an environmental management plan (Agardy 1996).

These islanders explicitly stated that they wanted to design the park but wanted expert scientific advice from the WWLF. The WWLF were pleasantly surprised by the depth and foresight of the plan. The local people had established a complex, but usable plan that had larger areas of protection than even the WWLF would have proposed. Furthermore, this plan incorporated ideas of varying degrees of protection and included environmentally sensitive areas of no use. This plan incorporates eco-tourism but sets stringent limits for amount of tourists and permissible tourist behavior. With much foresight, they designated zoning limits for currently unknown devices that might become potential future environmental impacts, such as jet-skis and windsurfers (Agardy 1996).

Nearby coastal terrestrial areas are protected as well, reducing common terrestrial connection problems such as found in Australia with the Great Barrier Reef where sedimentation from non-protected terrestrial regions is destroying large sections of coral. At this point the Mafia Island plan seems highly successful. Local people who formulated the plan benefit from protected environments and money derived from sustainable eco-tourism (Agardy 1996).

Another example of working eco-tourism is found within the Toledo district in Belize, where the second case study is located. A grass roots organization composed of indigenous Mayans has launched the Toledo Ecotourism Association (TEA). This group is organizing village stays in settlements built with local materials by the Mayan inhabitants. Tourists are cared for by Mayans and all financial gains are kept within the community. TEA is aware of the economic and social dangers of mono-cultures and thus has decided to integrate their tourism business with continued development of cocoa based agriculture which they sell to a UK company for organic chocolate (Wheat 1994).

§Other Important Factors for Sustainable Tourism

All of these cited examples of working models have the commonality of a grass roots basis but what are the other elements to a successful tourist venture? I believe that a localized regional bottom up approach is the most important element for any protection strategy; one has to have some close contact with their environment and the resources used to seriously be interested, or even capable of, workable protection. I will now examine why local involvement is important and then point to how this can be integrated with the other factors often cited in the literature of sustainable development and tourism for workable management plans:

§The Need for an Environmental Connection through Local Involvement

Viable sustainable development requires the involvement and consideration of all socio-economic constituents of a population. It is easy to theoretically define sustainable development as a cure-all to rebuke past developmental faults. In practice, the term is often used as a justification for projects that benefit only the rich elite (Thrupp 1990). Shiva (1994) states that the environment as external is a patriarchal construct which defines the environment to be like it’s definition of women, as a passive and inert thing to be used. Shiva further states that environmental issues are clearly and directly issues of survival; the “Thai community forestry movement that emerged in the mid 1980s is not just a fight for the rights of the forest. It is a fight for survival...the survival of their families and communities is synonymous with the survival and preservation of the environment” (Shiva 1994: 1,5). Shiva (1994) discusses how environmental and health issues are the same because we our directly and indirectly inextricably dependent on our environment for our survival. Shiva summarizes the reasons for this with (1994: 9):

There is no insular divide between the environment and our bodies. Environmental hazards are also health hazards, as was so brutally revealed in Bhopal and at Love Canal. Environmental hazards are also health hazards in food systems. Pesticides do not merely pollute fields, they end up polluting our bodies. Destruction of Biodiversity does not merely impoverish nature, it impoverishes tribal and peasant societies. These links exist in the real world even though they have been denied by fragmented and divided worldviews. Beginning with women’s experiences, analysis and actions we will rebuild the connections between ecology and health, for a more holistic approach to the contemporary crisis of survival.

This quote provides insight to the importance of the connection to the environment. Such a connection can not be present when a colonial power is emplace which destroys an environment which indigenous inhabitants are dependent upon. Only when a connection is allowed to be re-established through an empowerment of local populations will sustainable environmental management be feasible.

I believe the success of the grass roots management plans summarized before is based on their antithetical nature to colonialism. These were all based on local initiated action and empowerment. As I argued in chapter one, in the past, much of development planning has considered the environment as external from human beings. As a result, it has been considered a storehouse of raw materials to be freely mined. The wilderness has no value unless a direct economic benefit can be perceived (Dearden 1989 in Ryan 1991; Cater 1995).

Environmentalism has traditionally suffered from a similar flaw of disassociation; the environment has been considered something separate to be protected away from human disturbance. As I discussed in chapter one, I believe this past environmental disassociation by both environmentalists and developers is a prime flaw which is resulting in increasing environmental degradation and alienation with unknown future consequences.

If development plans incorporate human beings and the environment as living in a natural sustainable cycle, then potentially both environmental destruction can be limited, and human livelihood can increase. Thus, as I alluded in chapter two, the bonds of colonialism must be shed because colonialism intrinsically results in externalization of the environment. As long as a third party is controlling an environmental resource the resource will have little direct connection to it’s manipulator. The manipulator will thus not be concerned about degradative effects and might not even be aware of them. On the other hand, a local population which is dependent on the surrounding environment for their livelihood will daily be reminded of their connection and resultant effects. I believe this connection results in an innately more sustainable system.

A reserve should not be opened for tourism until local people are firmly emplaced in managerial and administrative positions. The region should be linked to other regions through a governmental network to make sure that developmental pressure does not enact problems for surrounding areas. Having higher government to act as a monetary and political support structure also allows locals that feel under-represented to appeal to higher levels. Ultimately though, decisions should be made locally. A structure of small bio-regions that are linked to increasingly encompassing political levels which are, ideally also biologically sectored, allows a continuous discussion between different regions (Hohl and Tisdell 1995; Birch and Diffenderfer 1995).

§Further Benefits of Local Control

Local control has many benefits. A locally run management strategy will be more socially sustainable because the local culture is more integrated into the process; an example of this is the Toledo Ecotourism Association where the Mayans integrate the tourists through village stays (Wheat 1994). Another benefit is that all locals are guaranteed access to their own facilities; an internationally run national park might make a generic park fee that is too high for the local population to afford but a locally controlled park would actually give the locals economic benefit instead of extracting payment. Furthermore, if locals are integrated at all levels, enforcement of imposed rules will have reduced transaction costs because those enforcing are also those benefiting from enforcement. Local control also will enhance resource conservation because the local people are the ones directly affected by environmental degradation; it is in their immediate self interest to foster sustainable policies. The biggest advantage, and the one which establishes the possibility of sustainability, is that in a locally controlled management initiative, a substantial profit share is ensured from ecotourism revenue (Steele 1995).

§Over-Simplification and Local Control

The idea of local control as an ultimate ideal can be over-simplified. The prime interest of a local population will probably be centered around their improved standard of living in the short and long-term. Short term needs of a local population might not necessarily fit with the interests of higher levels of government, or even global needs. Especially with poor populations, often the immediate economic benefits of conservation are far less than in environmentally destructive actions. In such a situation, alternatives and incentives should be provided by any third party interested in conservation. The local group should not be restricted from any practice if such restriction hinders their livelihood. Furthermore, this can only be decided by the local people (Cater 1995).

For example, a local group might prefer hunting an endangered species rather than conserving it due to traditional values and lacking obvious alternatives. In such an instance, the higher level of government, or potentially an international group, would communicate their desire for protection. This interest group would then have to provide an incentive for conservation; the local people must not suffer due to environmental protection restraints. This need for incentives is of prime importance. I believe that it is elitist and a further continuation of colonial dominance to tell a specific group of people that they have no right to use a species because it is endangered. I also believe such third parties should provide accessible education and alternatives to the use of endangered species.

The local population must be truly representative of the local area. The island of Langkawi in Malaysia has many Malaysian entrepreneurs but most of these are from the mainland. Those truly affected by tourists do not receive the rewards but do suffer the negative consequences. To prevent such occurrence, the managing “local population” should be one that is truly representative of people of the region directly affected by the environmental management. Small scale locally owned tourism ventures generally provide a greater benefit to enhanced living standards and sustainability (Cater 1995).

One issue that I found interesting in my literature review on tourism and sustainable development is that the language used, even when speaking of the need for “local involvement” seems to assume that real management will be done by a third party (presumably a reader of the journal). For example, Ryan (1991: 106) states that, “It may be difficult to persuade communities that restrictions need to be determined at an early stage when currently there appears to be little need for such restrictions.” The use of the word persuade implies that a different parties interests are the ones to be satisfied. In the same paragraph Ryan states that “the host community will be asked to make difficult decisions that might imply a restriction upon economic returns from tourism when the costs of future tourism flows are difficult to assess”. Again, the host community is “asked” to do something. Shouldn’t the host community be doing the asking? It’s their environment that is affected after all. If others are interested in some specific conservation, let them provide incentive.

Ryan (1991) rightly states that charges of elitism could be leveled against third parties insisting on protective measurements for communities. I believe that such decision making made on a localized small scale level has greater potential for environmental and social protection. Certainly there are many complications within such a small level but, by the same token, they are implicitly reduced and more appropriate to the location than those made by a larger governing body. One problem associated with planning for local involvement, according to Ryan (1991), is that it implies a homogenous community that is capable of making decisions that are in its own self interest and the interest of others. Ryan (1991: 111) further states that this is “perhaps a questionable assumption...”. I fear that a community that truly is not capable of making its own decisions is in an even worse position if a larger governing body is making their decisions for them.

My argument for local involvement could be charged as being idealistic, romantic, or over simplistic. All three of these are certainly appropriate descriptors but they don’t necessarily nullify the validity of the concept. The three stated examples of small scale localized involvement provide hope that variations of such a strategy can work elsewhere (Ryan 1991).

§Other Important Factors for Sustainable Tourism

§Open Access

One of the primary ways to allow a local community to benefit from incoming tourists is to prevent open access to tourist destinations. Open access limits the funds provided to a community because often tourists will use foreign tour companies who repatriate their profits abroad. In such a system, the local community gains little by the incoming tourists and potentially suffers from environmental and cultural degradation. In the end, even the international tour operators lose from an open access model because environmental degradation eventually results in a lower tourist interest. With restricted access, tourists spend money to use areas and their number is limited. The money can thus be used to help keep the integrity of the park and to provide increased local standard of living (Cater 1995; Steele 1995).

To increase bio-economic efficiency, both the number of tourists and the damage done per tourists has to be controlled. Damage done per tourist can be limited through education. Individual tourists can also be kept on certain paths, penalized for throwing away rubbish, and tour operators can have limits on total number of people at a specific site in a given time. Restriction on total number of tourists can be realized in the form of designated parks (Cater 1995; Steele 1995). To designate parks requires zoning as outlined below.

§Spatial And Temporal Management and Restrictions for Eco-System Use

Spatial and temporal management is the restriction of use in the form of zoning regulations on space and time. Restricted zones can be arranged so that an internal highly restricted area is surrounded by buffer zones of restricted use, and ultimately the outside zones would have only limited protection. These areas would be designed to allow for multiple use. A model based on the previously discussed biosphere reserve might allow incorporation of such different zones that incorporate humans and other parts of the environment (Hohl and Tisdell 1995).

One such idea that Steele (1995) speaks of is the “honeypot”. Honeypots are basically the centralization of development areas to relieve pressure on more fragile distance areas. An example of this would be a recreational parkland structured near the center of a population area or a centralized tourist resort. According to popular use of this concept, explorer-type tourists would be deterred by the resort’s gaudiness, and more typical mass-tourists would be content to remain contained to revel in the luxurious resort surroundings. Unfortunately such ideals have not been as successful as hoped; often the mass tourists venture far into the somewhat remote fragile areas and cause large amounts of destruction. Defining simple caricatures of tourists to fulfill ones planned expectations is inherently unproductive. A further problem of “honeypots” is that the economic gain is centralized. As a result, a diverse assemblage of local people is much less likely to acquire benefits from the incoming tourists. A realistic development plan must be structured such that a wide variety of potential actions are accounted for (Ryan 1991).

An alternative to centralized tourism development is dispersing tourist facilities. Dispersal initially appears favorable because it seems to spread the potential impact of incoming tourists and thus relieve any great strain on a particular system. Unfortunately this ideal has also had problems historically. For example, if overcrowding on a beach area is considered problematic, one might design a system of dispersal by providing tourist facilities in a nearby forest park. On sunny days, the majority of tourists might still overcrowd the beach area, thus continuing environmental damage. Opening up more facilities might also bring greater numbers of tourists into each area, effectively creating a system of closely linked environmentally damaged honeypots (Ryan 1991).

Their is no all encompassing strategy which proves that dispersion or concentration is always better. Generally systems operated on dispersal will allow a larger local share of economic involvement, and thus I believe would usually provide a slightly better solution, but the ultimate decision must be tailored to the specific area (Steel 1995). In my studies, the Suva area is already a major “honeypot” so this kind of management decision is really impossible at this point. In the Port of Honduras, I believe spreading the tourist facilities is the only workable option. The population in this area is already scattered in small groups and thus establishing one major area would likely alienate many citizens from any tourist benefit.

§Carrying capacity based on Social and biological factors

Traditionally carrying capacity for tourists has been measured using biologic measurements that aren’t necessarily valid. Different users impact in different ways. As a result, carrying capacity varies and can not be based on total volume of “generic” tourists. For example, a large scale international motel would impact a community and environment in a different way than many smaller locally owned hotels; even if the number of people occupied by the international hotel was exactly the same as the total for the different local accommodations. Everything in the international hotel would be more concentrated and the people drawn to the hotel would probably tend to have different levels and types of resource use than those frequenting local establishments (Tobias 1989; Ryan 1991).

As a result, a completely biologically based carrying capacity for humans is inappropriate. In determining the gross number of people allowed in any given time, one must plan for the potential impact expected by the socio-economic and environmental conditions of the area. Using a literature search of previous studies that matched closest with the area to be planned for would allow for a more appropriately determined carrying capacity. These numbers for carrying capacity would then be adjusted for specific fluctuations in conditions (Zurick 1992; Steel 1995).. For example, if a group of rare bird species was to be nesting during a three month period of the year, the carrying capacity might be lowered because the birds might require a certain area in which to breed. If an already crowed human population stayed at the same level during the breeding season they might prevent the birds from breeding. Eventually fewer tourists might come because the rare birds no longer arrived. If the carrying capacity was flexible, different numbers of tourists would be allowed depending on their potential impact and the current ecological conditions (Zurick 1992; Steel 1995).

§Tariffs on tourism service

Tariffs, in the form of increased park and hotel fees for foreign tourists, for natural resource use can help limit impact and provide money to pay for local needs, including environmental protection. Such tariffs can overcome problems involving over-taxation for local tourists by defining a variable tariff structure. Local tourists would have zero or very low tariffs and foreigners would have high tariffs, based on an assessment of costs for relieving their impact (Steele 1995).

Potentially reduced tariffs could be negotiated for certain non-local groups, such as students, who might not have the resource base to pay the higher tariffs. Such negotiations or exceptions would only make sense if the reduced tariff group substantially benefited local needs in some way that was approximately equivalent to the normally imposed tariff. The locals are already paying for their parks through taxes and, at least for countries such as Belize and Fiji, most international tourists come from a much higher standard of living.

I propose that people that are of the region directly encircling a protected area have no park fees; they live within the area and thus, I believe that forcing them to pay will result in environmental separation and reduced concern about degradation. The people immediately near the resources should profit from them, not be charged. Ultimately though, such decisions should be decided by those affected.

§Education and guidelines

Potentially tourists educated towards low impact usage and their potential cultural and social impact will be less prone to damage. Unfortunately many tourists’ understanding of the environment are based on romantic literature of the late nineteenth century. The countryside is considered an unspoiled area that serves the purpose of renewing the human spirit. This is an oversimplification and resultantly, tourists entrenched in such myths lack the education to understand the impact of their actions. One must understand the amount and consequences of other tourists enjoying the same destination to truly fathom the magnitude of one’s own impact when visiting a tourist destination (Ryan 1991).

Tourists who are educated regarding their environmental and socio-cultural impacts are more likely to be concerned. Base level education can occur from having guides follow practices and give short presentations to posted signs detailing environmental risks (Bottrill and Pearce 1995).

Local business owners should be provided education on the potential environmental consequences of their actions. Education programs should focus on the potential benefits of increased environmental awareness and protection. Practices such as effective waste disposal, recycling, minimization of non-renewable fuel, and maintaining distance from sensitive wildlife, allow a continuous long-term supply of business. Business that encourages sustainable environmental practices effectively encourages sustainable business practices (Bottrill and Pearce 1995).

§Discourage leakages

Leakages back to tourist homelands or other areas are one of the primary causes of limited local economic gain for local populations. Often tourists use products produced in other locations and frequent internationally owned tourist facilities. As a result, locals often see little of the money that tourists spend during their excursions. To discourage such leakages, limits on the number of foreign operated hotels and businesses should be imposed. Incentives for the purchase of local goods and services should be provided. Restrictions might be shaped in the form of requirements for local labor in managerial positions for non-locally owned establishments (Bottrill and Pearce 1995).

§Summary and Conclusions

While tourism may have potential to be sustainable in Belize, observation of current degradation indicates that a change must be made soon. The barrier reef parallel to Belize is probably the primary attraction for tourists. The reef is currently in poor condition, particularly in areas heavily visited by tourists (Barry 1992: 134). Much of the most significant damage results from pollution and boat anchor damage. Pollution primarily stemming from agriculture floods into the reef and causes damage to the environmentally sensitive organisms in this delicate eco-system. Deforestation for cattle and fruit, and mangrove depletion, usually resulting from artificially created beaches, have extremely detrimental effects. Soil is washed over the reef systems, killing the symbiotic zooxanthellae, which require light for photosynthesis. This results in wide scale coral death and eventually total destruction of these eco-systems. Furthermore, forests and mangrove systems are important for biodiversity and fisheries. Scuba divers also cause some damage but whether or not this damage is primarily aesthetic or not is currently under debate (Allen 1992).

The biggest problem facing both Belize and Fiji are that policy is primarily based on the interests of the local and foreign economic elite. In recent years, the citrus trade has expanded it’s operations in Belize. This has potential for causing massive deforestation evident in other countries. The short-term economic gain for the elite controlling Belize will eventually destroy the economy and the environment. If tourism is to be implemented sustainably, the needs of the general populace and their connected environments might be met.

Unfortunately, government environmental programs in Belize are grossly under funded. As Barry (1992: 136) states, “How can a one man hydrology department mount a serious study of water quality?” The entire push is towards generating money now, through tourism and other industry, ignoring long-term effects and sustainability.

If the general populace were more involved and a greater focus were placed on sustainability of current practices, through supplementation and implementation of environmental initiatives, Belize would have potential for a truly sustainable tourist based economy. Action is necessary now before bandage-like programs become necessary as they are in other Central American countries.

While both Fiji and Belize, particularly the areas studied, display different surface issues for environmental conservation and sustainable development, the most fundamental root for both stems from the same problem. Both suffer from continuing colonial influence and multi-national dominance. Local elites are generally supportive of these external powers because their livelihoods are fundamentally enhanced by the current power-situation.

Though initial steps towards environmental conservation have been taken in Belize and Fiji, a shift towards an economy based on the needs of the majority is necessary for sustainable economic, social, and environmental health. Tourism, when complemented by other development, as in agriculture for the Mayan TEA cited above, might provide the best sustainable strategy.

Though tourism generally has minor environmental impacts compared to those of other development industries, these impacts are still formidable and potentially damaging. As previously discussed, tourism also has potentially very damaging cultural influences (Dearden 1991). Attempts to prevent a complete focus on tourism are necessary unless prevalent environmental practices are sustainable and the general populace feels comfortable supporting a tourist based economy. A focus away from multi-nationals that allows the shedding of colonial bonds is needed. If environmental detachment can be reversed, a truly worldwide sustainability might be achieved.

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• Wright, A., Romney, D., Arbuckle, R., and Vial, V. 1959. Land in British Honduras: A report of the British Honduras Land Use Team. Colonial Research Publication No. 24. London: Her Majesties Stationary Office. 327 pp.
• Zimmerman, M. 1995. Science, Nonscience, and Nonsense: Approaching Environmental Literacy. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Zurick. 1992. Sustainable Tourism in Nepal. Annals of the Association of American Geographers (82): 4. pp. 608-628.

§Figures and tables in this chapter

The captions as listed in the manuscript. The plates themselves are in the figure appendix.

• Figure 62: The Proposed Port Honduras Marine Protected Area

§Abstract

The first section of this paper provided an argument for the need for local public participation to drive the environmental policy decision making process. Research conducted in Fiji and in Belize provided two case studies that presented potential areas for such participation. In the following chapters I go into more depth with how to effect public participation and potential problems that might arise using my work in Latvia (2001-2002). In this section, I combine a literature review of applicable decision-making psychology research, an independently conducted survey of public perceptions, and a presentation of socioeconomic and cultural factors to examine the implications and potential for public participation in environmental management for this area.

The first two chapters of this section (chapter six and seven) provide a literature review of applicable work from decision-making and cultural psychology. The third chapter of this section (chapter eight) provides an examination of important Latvian historical, socioeconomic, ecological, and cultural variables and comments on the implications of the Soviet legacy for environmental policy. The fourth chapter of this section (chapter nine) provides the actual Latvia case study. I conclude the section and the document with a chapter (chapter ten) where I summarize the fundamental implications from this entire paper and potential areas for future research.

The goal of this section is to examine how perceptions differ in Latvia among various social, political, ethnic, and economic groupings on environmental issues and the implications of perceptual differences for environmental policy decision-making. Accomplishing this goal involved assessing the environmental policy development process, historical issues, the role of scientific research, the roles and perceptions of both those involved in policy and the lay public, as well as the role of stakeholders such as business interests and multilateral organizations, including the World Bank, EBRD, UN, and European Union.

I began by attaining an understanding of both the legacy of the Soviet experience in Latvia and then focused on the current system for environmental policy development with specific focus on opportunities and impact of public participation. This was largely accomplished through literature review, discussion and interviews with people involved in these issues both historically and today, as well as participation in seminars organized by the Ministry of the Environment and various NGOs.

While literature review, discussions, and seminars were an ongoing process, once I had attained a basic historically grounded context for the current situation, I used my research to develop a survey on environmental perceptions. Members of NGOs, the Environmental Ministry, students from three schools, the ex-pat community, and members of the general public filled out the instrument. Analysis of the results of the survey, discussions with scholars, legislators, officials involved in policy making as well as the lay public, and my literature review provided the source material for completion of the case study.

§Introduction

Should the public be in included in the decision making process in environmental risk management? If so, who should be included and what should be the extent of their involvement? I argue that a wide representative grouping of the public must be included for effective environmental management due to limitations in expert knowledge, disagreement among experts, the validity of lay perceptions, and the importance of including those directly impacted.

To maintain focus on the subject of this volume, this chapter is used to review literature specifically focusing on studies of participatory decision-making psychology most relevant to environmental policy settings. First I present some general findings from the psychometric paradigm, one of the primary tools that has been used to show the importance of public involvement. Next, I demonstrate research that specifically shows why expert opinion alone is not adequate. Following a review of the reasons for public involvement and a brief discussion of critiques, I present some of the current methodology for including the public in decision-making. I conclude with a summary of the reasons and methods for public involvement.

Finucane (2002) states that, “in general, by facilitating public participation in both risk assessment and risk management, decision processes become more democratic, the relevance and quality of technical analysis is improved, and the legitimacy and public acceptance of the resulting decisions is increased.” What is the evidence for this? To begin, it is helpful to have an understanding of some of the general benefits of groups for decision-making.

§Cognitive Errors and the Need for Group Decision Making

Prior to examining the need for public involvement, it is important to understand the function of a group in making good management decisions. Heath et al. (1998) provide many examples of individual cognitive shortcomings to show that individuals produce systematic errors that can and often are corrected by working with a group, which keeps decision making in check. Despite individual human shortcomings, humans working in groups have demonstrated remarkable capacity to do highly complex tasks, such as manned lunar flight.

Heath et al. (1998) discuss various repairs that organizations can make to individual cognitive errors. For example, individuals are generally overconfident in their judgments and estimates of their capabilities. An organization or larger group of people helps to limit these overconfident judgments by adhering to procedures and providing feedback between individuals. McDaniels et al. (1999: 498) point out that, “individuals naturally respond to complex tasks by using their judgmental instincts to find an easy or adequate way through the problem at hand. Individuals can’t create a wide variety of alternatives.”

Though there are potential problems that can happen in group decision making, such as “groupthink” in which a pattern of collective thinking can develop which might hinder the potential benefits of a group, inclusion of facilitators trained in such situations can eliminate these problems. For example, a facilitator who observes the manifestation of groupthink dynamics can help transform this situation into one of “teamthink” in which divergent views and open expression are encouraged, allowing each individual to add to the decision, thus facilitating the potential for a synergy in which the whole is greater than the parts (Matsumoto & Juang, 2004: 458).

As I later demonstrate, diverse stakeholder input for creating alternatives is necessary for effective policy decisions. Next I examine findings from the psychometric paradigm on expert and individual perceptions to point specifically to the validity of public involvement instead of just groups of experts.

§Findings From the Psychometric Paradigm

The psychometric paradigm has been an important tool for understanding the importance of public involvement in management of environmental risk. This technique is basically a tool for quantifying perceived risks and benefits through procedures such as factor analysis and multidimensional scaling. Using the psychometric paradigm to examine perceptions of risk, Slovic (1987) found that public perceptions of risks have a strong impact on how society chooses to manage hazards to humans.

Risks were found to load primarily on two factors: the degree a risk is known/observable and the amount of dread and individual control one has over the risk. Following analyses of the complex patterns displayed in his data, Slovic (1987) concluded that lay perceptions of risk are much richer and contain legitimate information not found in typical expert views. Experts typically base risk assessments primarily on the number of potential fatalities from a given risk and ignore the subtleties used by lay people. This work was an initial indicator that public perception is important for judgment and decision-making in environmental risk because it contains potentially important complexities not considered by experts.

Axelrod et al. (1999) applied these techniques to understand public perception of environmental issues and provided specific examples of the validity of public input. For example, lay people perceive a lack of control over natural hazards not directly caused by human intervention. As a result of this sense of lack of control, they may become more complacent and fail to respond to the seemingly uncontrollable situation. If key representatives of a community were included in the decision making process to plan for a potential natural disaster, a sense of greater control might be achieved resulting in more adequate preparations (Axelrod et al., 1999; McDaniels et al., 1995; McDaniels et al., 1997). Axelrod et al. (1999) conclude that understanding perceptions is important for establishing general practices for disseminating information and guiding environmental management.

§Shouldn’t We Just Leave This Up to the Experts?

Expert and lay perceptions of risk often differ; expert opinions are based almost entirely on expected annual mortality, while lay perceptions are based on a complex interplay of, “uncertainty, dread, catastrophic potential, controllability, equity, risk to future generations...” (Slovic, 1996). Because of this complex interplay, education through the recitation of risk statistics has little impact on lay perception. Slovic (1996) argues that, “...understanding these differences and recognizing the subjective nature of risk assessments, should encourage risk professionals to emphasize institutional, procedural and societal processes rather than quantitative risk assessments and to include interested, affected citizens as legitimate partners in decisions on risks.” The complex intuitive system of judgment used by the lay populace has legitimate value-laden concerns that are not addressed by raw mortality numbers and other statistics used by experts in risk and toxicology (Slovic, 1996).

Not only do expert and lay perceptions differ, expert judgments of risk can also differ from each other and are strongly influenced by opinion. Kraus et al. (1992) surveyed members of the society of toxicology and the lay public regarding beliefs in the toxicity of substances. Interestingly, prior judgments about other issues and affiliation with industry, academia, or government, strongly impacted on judgments of toxic risk. Toxicologists were found to have lower perceptions of risks for hazards than members of the general public. Whereas the experts believe that dose is very important for risk judgments, members of the public usually have zero tolerance for substances that they consider toxic.

Slovic et al. (1995) reproduced the study done by Kraus et al. (1992) with similar results in Canada, which indicates that, the discrepancy within expert groupings and between experts and the public is not just a U.S. phenomenon. Slovic et al. (1995) also elaborated on the fact that experts, like the public, had a lack of confidence in animal studies for predicting risks to human health. This is interesting because animal studies are often used for creation of dose response curves. Similarly to the public, toxicologists also had wide disagreement about basic scientific issues and appear to be strongly influenced by heuristic judgments. These studies point to limitations in risk assessment procedures and trusting that expert opinion alone is necessarily objective and capable of making ideal decisions.

§Arguments Against the Involvement of the Public

Though incorporating public perception of risk in decision making is a noble goal, risk analysts and decision makers are rightly concerned of the ability of different, relatively naive stakeholders, to step into such an obviously complex and involved process which must, by nature, involve uncertainty and value tradeoffs. Some risk managers might argue that such decision making is difficult even for those who have spent a lifetime of involvement and that naive groups and the public will just interfere and complicate the process further, reducing the ability to make effective or timely decisions (McDaniels et al., 1999).

Though there have clearly been successful examples of public involvement in decision-making, there are many contrary examples of failure and dissatisfaction. Gregory (2000: 35) states that despite increased public participation, there remains a, “widespread dissatisfaction with the quality and meaningfulness of stakeholder input to many environmental risk-management decisions.”

Another problem is how to achieve a representative grouping from the public. Though decision makers might like to include the public in the process, those included might not be representative because some might feel that they either don’t have time or would rather just let the experts decide despite the fact that the eventual outcome might be contrary to what their values would prefer (Macgregor, 1994). Despite these potential problems, as demonstrated by Mcdaniels et al. (1999), involvement of a representative grouping of the local public is important and possible and with trained facilitators, the impact of individual biases can be limited.

Following their exploration of critiques, McDaniels et al. (1999) present a successful example of the highly controversial management of an electrical generation facility in British Columbia where there was wide acceptance and agreement on the outcome from a process with strong public involvement. The characteristics that made this project particularly successful were deliberation until the representative group achieved consensus and consideration of relevant objectives and alternatives. Furthermore, the process used was a key element to the success of the project, in which a clear set of objectives were decided and written down, wide ranging alternatives were considered and modeled, and data collection and views of experts were all incorporated. This process helped to characterize the potential impacts of different alternatives in ways that were easily understood by the participants. McDaniels et al. (1999: 509) argue that risk management can, in fact, be made more democratic but caution the need for a clear structure that incorporates, “values, meaningful technical information, tradeoffs, and insight.”

Another problem is that presenting environmental health information to laypeople can cause confusion and outrage when there is uncertainty involved. This has implications for management involving the general populace because usually there will be uncertainty and so critics of diverse inclusion might stress that this indicates that the public should not be involved in the decision making process (Johnson and Slovic, 1998). In contrast to this, my contention is that if outrage or confusion is present due to uncertainty, this outrage and confusion may well diminish once the public is able to participate in shaping the process. Control creates responsibility and thus should diminish outrage, as the decision becomes partially the responsibility of the public.

One example of failure of risk management is evident in effort to establish a permanent repository for nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Experts believe that technical problems can be overcome yet the process is at a standstill due to public discontent. This example is similar to other situations where a highly participatory environment was created and the process ground to a standstill. In inclusive decision-making, the risk communicators and experts must consider how information is framed, trust must be developed, and all potential negative consequences must be addressed.

Though examples such as Yucca Mountain abound, successful counter examples of waste facility employment with public acceptance are also evident and generally involve strong development of community trust (MacGregor, 1994). MacGregor (1994) argues for early involvement of the public so that their concerns can be included and addressed before plans have been set in an irreversible course. If the public is completely involved in the decision making process and feels content that they have been adequately heard, they will feel accountable for their role and thus likely work to achieve a solution acceptable to all parties.

§How should the public be included?

I have argued that the public should be strongly involved in decision-making but how should this involvement be enacted? There appears to be some disagreement in the literature regarding details but certain core components are regularly cited.

Wellman et al. (1997) demonstrate one method, multi-attribute utility analysis (MAUT) for examining stakeholder concerns for salmon restoration. MAUT is a tool used to, “elicit utility functions for each stakeholder group, and then use these to score various alternatives” (McDaniels et al., 1999: 501). Wellman et al. (1997) state that MAUT is useful because it has demonstrated effectiveness in decision making with conflicting objectives and for understanding value trade-offs in complex negotiations.

In the Wellman et al. (1997) study, this form of analyses was used to determine different stakeholder values for salmon resources in the Willapa Bay ecosystem. This watershed is currently experiencing increased demands due to growing usage as a vacation area for residents of Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon. Fourteen groups of stakeholders, including fishers, environmentalists, timber interests, farmers, and other citizen groups were identified by analyzing the economic makeup and interacting with different people throughout the community. In this example, the MAUT helped to find where stakeholders agreed so that quantitative information regarding resource impact and development of the most comprehensive and least damaging alternative could be balanced with the needs of different stakeholders. Previous efforts at management had not worked because they were largely based on needs stated by ecologists while ignoring the priorities of other stakeholders (Wellman et al., 1997). Though MAUT analyses are useful for identifying common ground for creating ideal decisions, this approach requires a great deal of time and effort from all parties and thus might not always be practical. Though Heath et al. (1998) provide evidence for the possible function of a group to repair individual cognitive errors, McDaniels et al. (1999) point out the difficulties involved in group decision making which is unaided by structured processes. For example, groups often establish entrenched positions limiting possibilities for representative compromise and resulting in alienation of individuals with differing perspectives. Group decisions inclusive of public perception should consider how to describe social and individual objectives in defining decision tasks. McDaniels et al. (1999: 501) believe that the public should be explicitly involved but guided by experts in decision-making and policy through a clearly defined structure using these five steps:

What ends (objectives) are important to achieve in selecting a management alternative for the question at hand?

What alternatives can be constructed to achieve these objectives?

What information is needed to characterize the impacts of these alternatives, in terms of measures for the stated objectives?

What tradeoffs arise in selecting among the alternatives?

What alternatives can the participants support?

McDaniels et al. (1999) used these steps in the decision process for water management in an environment near an electrical generation facility. First they conducted interviews with informants to determine preliminary objectives for discussion. After fifteen meetings where they used the steps above, complete consensus on all major issues was reached by diverse group of stakeholders who remained happy with the decisions at least 1 year after the policies were enacted (McDaniels et al., 1999).

Public participation has increased on many fronts in environmental management and risk policy decision-making through opinion polls, focus groups, town-hall meetings, open houses, and advisory committees. Despite attempts at inclusive participation, often the decision makers simply make cursory efforts and then interpret the information by themselves, ultimately reducing the impact and consideration of expert scientific opinion and the discounting the needs of lay people in the community. Gregory (2000) believes that extensive involvement must be considered in an inclusive fashion to remain meaningful in meeting the needs of stakeholders. To meet these objectives, the risk decision-making process should include a forum for deliberation and devices for consideration of the technical analyses.

Unfortunately, so far there have been few demonstrations for how to best incorporate people at all levels of the decision making process. A structure needs to be developed for maintaining a discourse throughout the decision making process, which will incorporate the most current scientific knowledge while maintaining effective communication of the economic, social, and health needs of the local population. Furthermore, methods of incorporating relevant knowledge most appropriately are necessary for creating representative decision making processes.

In this vein, tools need to be developed that will adequately measure various attributes of stakeholder values and limit cognitive errors made either by individuals or unstructured groups (Gregory, 2000). The group facilitator should be aware and trained in helping a group to overcome cognitive shortcuts, overconfidence, framing effects, and other psychological traps that might impair decision making. As Gregory (2000: 37) states, “Public participation efforts routinely fail to give sufficient attention to developing the foundation for making a good decision.” Objectives should be clearly stated with known clear effects on measurement of value (Gregory, 2000).

Often in decision making with stakeholders, the different participants will focus solely on the objectives that they hold to be the most important, such as environmental preservation for environmentalists or continued employment for labor groups. This can ultimately result in the process breaking down and thus the facilitator should help people to understand that they should focus on the process and not prior biases in order to elicit representative decision-making. In structured decision-making, “rather than shifting the focus away from the divergent views of participants in favor of consensus, a structured decision making approach looks to the differences in expressed values and objectives as the source of valuable insights that can lead to a broadly acceptable agreement” (Gregory, 2000).

Gregory et al. (in press) are concerned that the recent attempts in the 1990s for inclusion of public have too strongly emphasized dispute resolution for achieving consensus among different stakeholders. Much of the current focus is based on “alternative dispute resolution” which is a method in which negotiations are made with different stakeholders to avoid prolonged court battles. Gregory et al. (in press) believe that using a simple consensus process is dangerous for creating any kind of meaningful decisions with diverse interest groups because any group can veto any single issue in the process; eventually, enough vetoes will lead to a plan of no plan as some group is likely to be opposed to any individual detail, thus effectively maintaining the status quo.

Gregory et al. (in press) advocate decision aiding where participants work to help participants, “identify their relevant values, define them carefully (using measures or attributes), and set priorities across different concerns.” Unaided group decisions might result in common problems such as overly stressing group loyalty, maintenance of internal cohesiveness of the group, or rapid decision making due to fatigue at the expense of the needs of the community as a whole. The group might either work towards a solution to appease group dynamics or conversely the process might break down because group members remain so focused on their agenda, be it environmental, economic, or social, that they lose site of greater objectives that might ultimately be best for their own primary issues. Similar to McDaniels et al. (1999), Gregory et al. (in press) recommends a five-step system for effective group decision-making. The five steps that a facilitator should use for guiding his process are (Gregory et al., in press):

Clearly characterizes “what matters” to the stakeholders in the form of objectives

Creates a set of attractive alternatives

Employs the best available technical information to characterize impacts of the alternatives, including uncertainties

Identifies the tradeoffs that the alternatives entail

Summarizes the areas of agreement, disagreement and reasons for those views among the stakeholders.

The primary difference between this approach and ones which didn’t succeed appears to be asking individual participants: “what alternatives can you support and why?” as opposed to “what alternatives can you agree on”. Furthermore, the work of Gregory et al. (in press) improves on the earlier list of McDaniels et al. (1999) by incorporating the need for a summary and identification of reasons for areas of agreement and disagreement. This facilitates a process where the things people can agree on are placed in a clear summarized focus for further deliberation and decision-making. A facilitator trained in identifying heuristics, such as the “fixed-pie” bias where both parties assume that they are diametrically opposed, can look for areas of joint gains to point out flaws in the heuristics employed (Gregory et al. in press). Gregory et al. (in press) demonstrate how they, as facilitators, helped the group repair several such heuristics that, if unaided, could have destroyed the decision making process.

§Summary and Conclusions

In this paper, I presented reasons for the inclusion of the public in decision-making and some of the methods currently in use. Though there are different perspectives on what method is the most effective, examination of the five steps outlined by McDaniels et al. (1999) and Gregory (in press) show considerable agreement. There is strong evidence that groups as a whole make better decisions than individuals and that having diverse representation of stakeholders allows for optimum decisions. Gregory (in press) also provides well-supported reasons to consider that a decision making process should be structured and facilitated by people trained in recognizing heuristics and eliciting objectives and alternatives. To conclude, Slovic (1999: 700) provides a succinct summary of the reasons for public involvement in decision-making:

The limitations of risk science, the importance and difficulty of maintaining trust, and the complex, sociopolitical nature of risk point to the need for a new approach – one that focuses upon introducing more public participation into both risk assessment and risk decision making in order to make the decision process more democratic, improve the relevance and quality of technical analysis, and increase the legitimacy and public acceptance of the resulting decisions.

§Literature Cited

• Axelrod, L. J., McDaniels, T., & Slovic, P. (1999). Perceptions of ecological risk from natural hazards. Journal of Risk Research, 2(1), 31 53.
• Finucane, M. L., (in press). Navigating the maze of public opinion: The importance of research on risk perception and decision making in managing environmental health issues. In S. Cameron, N. Cromar, & H. Fallowfield (Eds.), Environmental health in Australia and New Zealand. New York: Oxford University.
• Gregory, R. (2000). Using stakeholder values to make smarter environmental decisions. Environment, 42, 89-101.
• Gregory, R., McDaniels, T., & Fields, D. (in press). Decision aiding, not dispute resolution: Creating insights through structured environmental decisions. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.
• Heath, C., Larrick, R.P., & Klayman, J. (1998). Cognitive repairs: How organizational practices can compensate for individual shortcomings. Research in Organizational Behavior, 20, 1 37.
• Johnson, B. B., & Slovic, P. (1998). Lay views on uncertainty in environmental health risk assessment. Journal of Risk Research, 1(4), 261 279.
• Kraus, N., Malmfors, T., & Slovic, P. (1992). Intuitive toxicology: Expert and lay judgments of chemical risks. Risk Analysis, 12, 215 232.
• MacGregor, D. G. (1994). Risk perception, communication, and community relations (Report No. 94 11). Eugene, OR: Decision Research.
• Matsumoto, D., & Juang, L. (2004). Culture and Psychology (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
• McDaniels, T. L., Axelrod, J., Cavanagh, N. S., & Slovic, P. (1997). Perception of ecological risk to water environments. Risk Analysis, 17(3), 341 352.
• McDaniels, T., Axelrod, L. J., & Slovic, P. (1995). Characterizing perception of ecological risk. Risk Analysis, 15(5), 575 588.
• McDaniels, T. L., Gregory, R .S., & Fields, D. (1999). Democratizing risk management: Successful public involvement in local water management decisions. Risk Analysis, 19(3), 497 510.
• Slovic, P. (1987). Perception of risk. Science, 236, 280-85.
• Slovic, P. (1996, January 1). Experts must respect and include citizens in decisions on risks. Environmental Health Letter, 7.
• Slovic, P. (1999). Trust, emotion, sex, politics, and science: Surveying the risk assessment battlefield. Risk Analysis, 19(4), 689 701.
• Slovic, P., Malmfors, T., Krewski, D., Mertz, C. K., Neil, N., & Bartlett, S. (1995). Intuitive toxicology II: Expert and lay judgments of chemical risks in Canada. Risk Analysis, 15(6), 661 675.
• Wellman, K., Nugent, R., & Gregory, R. (1997). Assessing stakeholder values for salmon restoration in Willapa Bay, Washington. Interact The Journal of Public Participation, 3(1), 38 55.

§Introduction

Earlier in this volume I have argued that cultural elements must be considered in participatory environmental decision-making. Here I tie this work together with the previous chapter which focused on support for public involvement in environmental decision making by exploring some of the literature on cultural impacts on the decision making process. I provide specific examples of some of the ways that cultural processes can impact cognitive and decision making processes to demonstrate why these factors must be considered for effective policy.

As I am specifically interested in three cultures, Latvia, Fiji, and Belize, I initially attempted to locate literature specifically pertaining to these regions but found little that is directly related to group decision making with potential for extrapolation to situations involving environmental policy. As a result, I primarily examine literature involving several other cultures demonstrating factors of interest that are important in consideration in group decision making processes. Prior to the conclusion of this chapter I provide a brief summary of the work I was able to find specifically related to cultural differences in psychology for my case studies and explore their implications for participatory decision making.

As the focus of this paper is primarily on group decision-making in environmental policy, I only briefly discuss the individual cognitive processes with more of a focus on cross-cultural differences in-group dynamics. First I present two examples pertaining to specific micro-cognitive processes that provide support in demonstrating that cultural differences are found in some cognitive processes while other processes may be identical across cultures. Following a brief examination of the impact of culture on individual cognitive processes, I explore work that delves into larger scale dynamic processes found in groups.

Along with each highlighted study, I point to concerns which demonstrate the difficulty found in this research and further support the central thesis of this work that policy must be fundamentally driven by a representative grouping of the local populace and that many of these problems could be limited if the research and policy is locally guided. The primary aim of this chapter is to point to the fact that these factors must be considered for policy to be effective. If policy were to be enacted from a non-local level, I argue that to adequately inform this policy one would have to conduct individual targeted studies to investigate cross-cultural psychological differences on any potential factors involved in the policy and that these studies could still suffer from various complex problems prone to this field of research.

As there are a wide variety of potential problems in conducting such studies, I believe that the simplest means would be, in key with the rest of this work, to have policy enacted by a representative grouping of the local populace, which would implicitly result in inclusion of potentially important implications for cultural factors in designing policy. For a much more complete review of the literature on cross-cultural psychological differences, please see Smith and Bond (1999) and Matsumoto and Juang (2004).

§Cultural Differences in Individual Cognitive Processes

There is considerable evidence that cultural differences can have a dramatic impact on individual cognitive sub processes. For example in a cross cultural examination of individual cognitive processes, Oishi and Diener (2003) use an anagram puzzle and basketball task to examine how Asian Americans and European Americans differ in their memory of performance and decisions regarding future task choice and level of enjoyment on future tasks. The authors found that, in contrast to Asian Americans, European Americans remembered their task one performance significantly better and that their choice and enjoyment in task two was significantly predicted by their performance in task one. The researchers point to how these findings support previous research that indicate lower levels of satisfaction, more self criticism, and a greater interest in self improvement for East Asians, whereas North Americans display higher levels of life satisfaction, see themselves in a positive light, and tend to focus on aspects at which they already do well.

Though Oishi and Diener (2003) provide an interesting study with support for previous research, a very small sample size (18 European Americans and 25 Asian Americans) and the fact that samples were taken from undergraduate classes reflecting limited age and education ranges make strong conclusions problematic. Many of the Asian students had English as a second language, which could also have biased the results; especially considering the task was anagrams, which are language intensive. Alleviating some of this concern is the fact that Asian students solved more anagrams than the European students (6.6 compared to 6.4). In the basketball task, again we might have some bias because possibly one culture spends more time in this activity and is thus feels more comfortable engaging in it.

Despite evidence such as the Oishi and Diener study which point to cultural differences for some tasks, other studies also indicate that some cognitive processes truly do function similarly cross culturally. In this vein, Granberg (1999) presents a cross-cultural comparison of the Monty Hall dilemma, a two-stage decision problem of conditional probability. Previous studies have shown that when subjects are given a choice of three doors, one of which contains a prize and then one of the not selected doors is revealed as not containing the prize, when allowed the option of switching to the other door not opened, subjects generally incorrectly choose to stay on their initial choice even though the best choice would be to switch. The option of switching provides a 2/3 probability of winning the prize whereas it is incorrectly perceived as 50/50. Granberg (1999) found that subjects in all cultural groups chose the poor choice most often.

Though this study provides evidence that the Monty Hall dilemma may be a universal cognitive illusion Granberg (1999) also caution against strong inferences without replication in other cultures. The author also points out that, though the question achieved adequate back translation, possibly some of the underlying semantic meanings of the things being asked might be different in these cultures and thus more work needs to be done. For example, this dilemma focuses on winning a car and was asked in China where there are few cars and also people aren’t used to the format of a game show which is the basis of the dilemma.

From my review and examination of the literature, including the aforementioned manuscripts of Smith and Bond Smith (1999) and Matsumoto and Juang (2004), it appears that though there is considerable research indicating cross cultural difference or similarity on various psychological traits, including personality, emotional expression, and time perspective, more research needs to be done to better understand how individual cognitive biases might differ in different cultures.

§Cultural Differences in Group Processes

§Participatory Decision Making

There is a large amount of support for the contention that culture significantly impacts group interaction and specifically group decision making. Sagie and Aycan (2003) argue that culture is a key cause of difference in participative decision making (PDM) processes and approaches throughout the world. They further provide support for their opinion that sub-cultural and organizational cultural differences might explain a significant amount of the variance in PDM within nations. To examine these theories, they focus on differences in individualism-collectivism and power distance in relation to four common PDM approaches: collective PDM, pseudo PDM, paternalistic PDM, and face-to-face PDM. The authors believe that culture is a major determinant of the style of PDM at each level of organization.

Sagie and Aycan (2003) provide a useful elaboration of PDM processes in general and specifically in relation to cultural dimensions such as individualism and collectivism. The authors provide detail on specific cultural factors that might cause variance in decision-making and also demonstrate ideas for how PDM might be modified within different cultural settings. Though their study is relatively general and does not provide much in the way of empirical hypothesis testing it provides a useful connecting piece between experimental decision-making and policy decision-making.

Lam et al. (2002) study the effect of participatory decision making on employee performance for subjects in branches of the same organization in Hong Kong and the U.S. The researchers found that self-efficacy in relation to decision-making and ideocentrism moderated the relationship between the perception of opportunity for participatory decision-making and individual performance. This paper examines culture in relation to two fundamental concepts: the construct of allocentrism which is the concept of how much one views collective goals as more important and the concept of ideocentrism which is the concept of how much one prioritizes individual goals over collective goals. This paper concludes by demonstrating that U.S. participants scored higher on ideocentrism, and reported higher self-efficacy, whereas Hong Kong participants scored higher on allocentrism and reported higher collective efficacy. The authors further argue for the implications of these differences for management styles and propose that management should take individual cultural and other differences into account when considering possible methods of participatory decision-making.

Lam et al. (2001) used a robust methodological framework with a large subject pool, back translation for questionnaires, and seemingly representative samples. This paper provides important points regarding participatory decision making with demonstration that certain underlying cognitive factors that might vary within cultures might be more important than generalized cultural influence even though the shape of underlying cognitive factors might have greater similarities in certain cultures than others.

§Expert and Lay Opinion

Of particular interest for policy decisions in relation to public participation are differences found between experts and the lay public. Finucane (2002) examines the influence of cultural factors on perceptions of risk and the implications of such perceptions for decision-making that incorporates both the lay public and experts in different cultural settings. Finucane (2002) focuses on a contrast of the contextual factors in the U.S., Europe, and developing countries in relation to perceptions of issues relating to genetically modified (GM) foods. The fundamental thesis is that cultural values in different areas profoundly impact perceptions of risks of new technologies and that these cultural differences must be considered for effective communication and decision-making.

The analysis of Finucane (2002) provides an overview on the differences in reaction to GM goods in different cultural settings and their potential implications for policy. Finucane (2002) provides a particularly interesting examination of risk in relation to cultural factors with the argument for the need for greater public involvement in all three cultural settings examined. This paper provides a bridge between those focusing on cognitive processes and others that give greater details about how public participation might occur in different settings and what specific implications might exist for public policy as a result of socio-cultural factors.

Harris and Nibler (1998) compare the decision-making ability of individuals, in-groups, and minimal groups in Hong Kong and the U.S., to that of experts. They used individuals, groups of five people that know each other, and groups of five people without connection, as comparison groups. Harris and Nibler (1998) defined decisions similar to those of people classified as experts as the most effective. Harris and Nibler (1998) found that Chinese in-groups were more effective than Chinese minimal groups and that U.S. minimal groups outperformed U.S. in-groups. Furthermore, they found that Chinese groups under performed US groups, that they took 3 times longer in deliberation, and that they perceived their interactions as more conflict ridden and intense. They hypothesize that the differences in minimal versus in-groups result from cultural differences in bonding structures. They postulate that individuals in intimately bonded groups in collectivist cultures, like China, are more aware of their hierarchical status and thus not concerned with engaging in conflict where the rule structure is already dictated. U.S. in-groups, on the other hand, might suppress their full abilities because they want to repress such possible hierarchies.

Though examination of Harris & Nibler (1998)’s study points to the possibility that hierarchy might perform different functions in China and the US more work needs to be done to fully draw such conclusions. Social bonds in the US might be primarily for non-performance related functions whereas in China these groupings (or at least the ones the researchers chose) might be more practically aimed for problem solving. Several factors from this article should be considered in future studies: 1) The researchers administered the task only in English arguing that the Chinese students didn’t have a problem with understanding but did not provide adequate proof or examination of potential problems arising from this issue, 2) The researchers compared two fairly different groups (fraternities/sororities in the US with a not well elaborated choice of the networks of ‘key students” in China, and 3) the researchers had no elaboration on the process used for determining validity of expert opinion beyond saying that subject groups were compared to experts in the U.S. Merchant Marine. Perhaps experts in the Hong Kong merchant Marine would have differing opinions? Furthermore, future studies should address how to select who is considered an expert (Harris & Nibler 1998).

Nibler and Harris (2003) aim to replicate and expand on the previously cited Harris and Nibler (1998) study to investigate the influence of culture on effectiveness of intra-group conflict resolution and group decision making processes. They used five member groups from Hong Kong and the U.S. to determine the influence of friendship bonding on the effectiveness of decision-making and task conflict levels in these two different cultures. They found that U.S. participant performance and task conflict levels varied together with U.S. poor performance and low levels of task conflict in strangers and high levels of both conflict and performance in U.S. friendship groups. Chinese groups were found to have high levels of conflict and poor performance levels regardless of friendship status. They suggest that their study gives support for culture specific task conflict advantage for individualistic cultures in which members might feel more comfortable expressing and exchanging differing ideas and opinions.

Nibler and Harris (2003) along with Harris and Nibler (1998), provide interesting, yet seemingly very contradictory results. In Nibler and Harris (2003), it appears that individualistic cultures such as the U.S. strongly benefit from friendship bonds whereas in the Harris and Nibler (1998) study, the conclusions implied that collectivist cultures were those benefiting of such bonds. Future work would benefit from understanding the reasons for these seemingly contradictory findings.

In the Harris and Nibler (1998) study they refer to “in-groups” whereas in the 2003 study they talk about friendship groups. Future work would benefit from elaboration on the possible differences between such groupings; especially since it appears that the methodology for recruiting participants was the same in both of the articles (fraternities and sororities in the US and key students in Hong Kong). As in the previous study, this study only uses English without adequate justification for possible differences (especially considering both studies showed poorer time performance in the Hong Kong sample which may well have resulted from attempting to be clear on the correct definitions in what may have been a second language for the Hong Kong participants). Task specific biases were also not adequately addressed. Both studies use an abstract exercise focusing on skills in being lost at sea; previous knowledge of such skills might well vary widely in different cultures. The researchers point to a variety of interesting possible cultural difference such as Chinese participants being more algorithmic and U.S. participants being more reliant on interpersonal interaction in decision-making but adequate support for these theories is not offered. The researchers themselves point to several possible weaknesses in their study, including the possibility of use of response sets, sample bias, and task bias (Harris and Nibler, 1998, Nibler and Harris, 2003).

§Escalation for Project Commitment

Greer and Stephens (2001) who examine the tendency towards escalation of commitment in projects for Mexican and U.S. decision makers demonstrated further support for cultural differences. The authors found that Mexican subjects were more likely to proceed to escalation and have more confidence in escalatory decisions. Decision makers in both countries escalated commitment decisions upon hearing bad news from subordinates. The context for this study is attempting to understand the common poor decision of continuing investments in projects that are not providing returns and seeing if such practices are similar cross-culturally.

Greer and Stephens (2001) also provide a nice contextual literature review that relates the concepts presented to basic decision-making theory such as the prospect theory work of Kahneman and Tversky. Methodologically their study is interesting because it examines culture as a moderator variable instead of as a main effect. This paper also points to how cultural dimensions have changed over time and must regularly be recalculated and updated to ensure validity in comparison studies. Though these authors provide an interesting context and multiple hypotheses for the apparent cultural difference (such as machismo in Mexican culture causing decision makers to be more wary of changing decisions), I’m interested to find out if the impact of escalation is equally detrimental in both cultural settings. Possibly in Mexico escalation is actually a more valid decision than in the U.S. during circumstances of apparent financial loss due to some, as yet unknown factors. This study is interesting in terms of participatory decision making because Mexico is viewed as a more hierarchical culture than the U.S. where decisions are solely the responsibility of decision makers, whereas the management culture in the U.S. is viewed as more accepting of participatory and egalitarian ideologies.

§Ethics and Policy

Jackson (2001) presents a 10 nation empirical study used to examine cultural differences in how business managers deal with ethical gray areas, such as bribery, insider dealing, and pollution in management decisions. Countries were chosen to allow for examination of variation on the cultural dimensions of collectivism-individualism and uncertainty avoidance. Jackson (2001) states that his study confirms that elaborations of these dimensions explain much of the difference in ethical attitudes among differing cultural groups and that national differences are often due to differences in cultural values. He furthermore believes that his study provides support for the idea that, though ethical attitudes differ among different cultural groups, the perception of other managers as more unethical than themselves is a universal for those cultures under study.

Jackson (2001) incorporated a fairly large sample size of 425 participants from10 different nations. A relatively extensive literature review and discussion is incorporated that provide a detailed context of the specific cultural dimensions under study and their relationship to managerial ethics and decision-making. The nations examined are also relatively diverse, including representatives of each common combination of cultural dimensions. These include the U.S., France, the People’s Republic of China, and India. The author also points to possible future improvements in measuring cultural dimensions, especially in relation to the subject of managerial ethics. Though effort at back translation was made, only Spanish and Chinese samples received non-English versions of the instruments, thus possibly resulting in second language bias. In general this study was based on a strong methodological framework with instruments validated for reliability in all cultures studied. Furthermore, Jackson (2001) provides support for his hypothesis of a cultural universal and also cultural differences.

Rahim et al. (2001) attempt to determine whether justice relationships differ between U.S. employees and Bangladesh employees. To accomplish this they use hierarchical regression analyses to examine the interaction of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice with organizational commitment and turnover intension in the U.S. and Bangladesh. Four samples were examined: U.S. Faculty, U.S. Managers, Bangladesh Faculty, and Bangladesh managers. Rahim et al. (2001) state that there is more variance within the four sub-samples than between the two cultural groups examined.

A potential flaw in the study conducted by Rahim et al. (2001), to which the authors point, is that Hofstede’s dimensions, which measure factors such as individualism versus collectivism and degree of inequality in power, are not directly measured in these samples. The researchers go by the assumption that Bangladesh would be similar to India and Pakistan because of their historical proximity and the claim that these countries are similarly different from the U.S. on cultural dimensions. Closer examination of the numbers they provide indicate though that both Pakistan and India independently vary widely on the dimension scales and thus the assumption of homogeneity of these three countries and further whether Bangladesh’s has an equivalent place on these dimensions is in question (India was 10th/21st, Pakistan 32nd/47th and U.S. 38th/1st on power distance and individualism respectively). Other concerns relate to sample selection. While Bangladesh had reasonable response, the U.S. sample was comprised of a relatively small percentage of respondents (154/750 for U.S. Faculty and 148/427 for U.S. managers). Also, age ranges and work experience appear significantly different cross-culturally. Furthermore, as in many studies, the questionnaire was asked only in English, thus possibly resulting in second language bias. Though the authors claim that their study supports the view that the same normative measurements can be used cross culturally, concerns about sample differences and inadequate analyses of other cross cultural variables put into question the advisability of drawing such conclusions without further research.

§Cultural Differences Specific to Latvia, Fiji, and Belize

Though I had difficulty finding sources specifically directly related to cultural differences in participatory group decision making for my case study areas, I did find some references indicating possible cultural psychological differences which might indirectly influence the decision making process. For example, Lelkes (2002) provide results of a World Values Survey from 1996 in which only three percent of Latvians rated themselves as very happy. This is the lowest number of any group presented, with values typically in the range of fifteen to thirty percent and as high as forty two percent for Iceland and Ireland. Diener & Tov (in press) provide further support for low levels of comparative happiness in Latvia with a mean life satisfaction level at 5.27 out of ten, indicating Latvia was in fifty fifth place out of sixty eight countries, topped by Puerto Rico at 8.49 (for reference, the United States was thirteenth from the top at 7.66).

Particularly interesting for the present report is the work of Au (1999). Au found that Latvians had the highest mean level of pride in work out of forty two cultures shown but had one of the lowest mean levels of freedom in decision making. In this study, Latvians had approximately average levels of job satisfaction and appreciation for change and new ideas.

Though one potential avenue that might initially appear promising in situations with a lack of adequate data on specific cultural differences would be to examine studies with apparently similar cultures and assume similarities to the culture in which one is planning policy, there are inherent problems with making such assumptions. Embarking in such practice may appear to save time and money but the long-term policy might well suffer. For example, Smith and Bond (1999) provide summary results indicating that Estonians are very high on conservatism and thus one might assume that Latvians are also high in this regard because both are Baltic states with various historical factors in common. As the following study shows, this could be a dangerous assumption and individual cultural studies should ideally be conducted for any given study area with specific focus on the factors which might be of interest if an outside source is hoping to inform policy.

Despite possible similarities on some levels between the Baltic States, work, such as that of Liubiniene (2003) demonstrates that these countries can also differentiate dramatically. Liubiniene (2003) showed that Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia all differentiated on attribution of importance to such factors as family health, world peace, honoring parents, social justice, social life, wealth, self fulfillment, self-discipline, variance in life, being influential, euthanasia, divorce, abortion, avoidance of fairs, homosexuality, prostitution, stolen goods, suicide, accepting bribes, and social benefits. Furthermore, Liubiene (2003) demonstrated that contrasts are found between various age groups even within these cultures, with demonstrated differentiation between three groups: ages18-29, ages 30-49, and ages 50-75.

Even within countries there can be dramatic cultural variation, which must be considered. For example one might decide to enact a policy that assumes residents of Fiji are high on levels of conformity following perusal of work such as that presented by Smith and Bond (1999: 16) who provide summary results of studies indicating that Fiji is very high in conformity. The fallacy in this assumption is apparent in further examination; later on in the same manuscript Smith and Bond (1999: 165) indicate that these conformity studies might have been done on the Indian population alone. Possibly Indians and Fijians (both large groups within Fiji) vary dramatically in their levels of conformity.

The issue of cultural variation within a country is of specific important for consideration in all three of my case studies. Along with the original inhabitants, Latvia has a large populace of Russians, Fiji has a large populace of Indians, and Belize has seven major ethnic groups with potentially important cross-cultural differences.

This issue is even further compounded by the strong component of intra-cultural variation (ICV), which is often ignored within studies of cultural psychology. ICV is a measurement of the way a characteristic is distributed within a culture (Au, 1999). As Au (1999) demonstrates in a study of 42 cultures, there is dramatic variance on some characteristics within cultures themselves, whereas other characteristics are relatively homogonous on an individual cultural basis.

§Summary and Conclusions

This chapter provides a cursory literature review with the primary point being to demonstrate that cultural factors can have significant impact on cognitive and, more importantly for the present document, group decision making processes. Cultures do not always differ on any given aspect but before adopting any policy based on a different culture or creating any new decision making process, it is important to consider these factors.

The literature demonstrates that cultural differences do exist in cognitive biases and group decision-making processes. Furthermore, though there is a relatively large amount of literature in this direction, many of the studies have possibly serious flaws, such as being conducted in participants’ second language and inadequate attention to biases of the researchers conducting the study.

For this reason, I argue that this further supports my primary thesis that representative groupings of the local population are the most ideal people to enact policy. Policy makers from a different culture may well not reflect the needs of local cultures and thus create a situation in which the local residents refuse to participate in any created policies. If a truly representative local grouping is driving the policy, the needs created by potential cultural differences of the involved groups are much more likely to be incorporated. An outside party that is fully unaware of how factors differentiate in the target population’s culture from their own, or even one who has knowledge of findings of some cross cultural studies could fail because of an inadequate knowledge of the local culture.

Decision-making conducted by a representative local grouping is implicitly going to be informed by relevant cultural factors. Furthermore, this chapter demonstrates that as these factors can differ across cultures, if one is adopting theory from another culture, ideally local researchers would examine the work and, if necessary, conduct studies to examine whether relevant cognitive and group decision making biases function in the same ways for their own situation.

The potential impacts of cultural differences are of primary import for the three cultures presented as case studies. All three are multi-cultural societies and all three have policy that is largely impacted by other countries. Latvia has recently acceded to the European Union. As was earlier demonstrated in this volume, oftentimes environmental policy in smaller or less wealthy countries can be driven by larger and wealthier states and oftentimes also with inadequate results.

The British Common Wealth and more recently the United States have historically impacted Belize and Fiji. Latvia is in an interesting position as a new member state in the European Union because other member states of the European Union, particularly those with more money, might be interested in enacting policies without adequately considering differences found in the Latvian populace and thus these policies could well fail if cultural and other local factors are not adequately taken into account. I argue that the only way for effective policy to be enacted in these countries is to create a situation in which a representative local grouping is the primary architect of the decision making process.

§Literature Cited

• Au, K. (1999). Intra-cultural variation: Evidence and implications for international business. Journal of International Business Studies, 30 (4), 799-812.
• Diener, E., & Tov, W. (in press). Culture and Subjective Well-being. In S. Kitayama & D. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of cultural psychology.
• Finucane, M. L. (2002). Mad cows, mad corn, and mad communities: The role of socio-cultural factors in the perceived risk of genetically-modified food. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 61, 31-37.
• Granberg, D. (1999). Cross-cultural comparison of response to the Monty Hall dilemma. Social Behavior and Personality, 27(4), 431-438.
• Greer, C. R., & Stephens, G. K. (2001). Escalation of commitment: A comparison of differences between Mexican and U.S. decision-makers. Journal of Management, 27(1), 51-79.
• Harris, K. L., & Nibler, R. (1998). Decision making by Chinese and U.S. students. The Journal of Social Psychology, 138, 102-114.
• Jackson, T. (2001). Cultural values and management ethics: A 10-nation study. Human Relations, 54(10), 1267-1302.
• Lam, S. K., Chen, X., & Schaubroeck, J. (2002). Participative decision making and employee performance in different cultures: The moderating effects of allocentrism/ideocentrism and efficacy. Academy of Management Journal, 45(5), 905-915.
• Lelkes, O. (2002). Life satisfaction and transition from socialism. Paper prepared for ISA Research Committee on Social Stratification and Mobility (RC28) Oxford Meeting. (http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/rc28/Papers/Lelkes.pdf).
• Liubiniene, V. (2003). Process of Value Change in the Baltic Countries. Paper prepared for the European Consotrium for Political Research. (http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/generalconference/marburg/papers/16/6/Liubiniene.pdf).
• Matsumoto, D., & Juang, L. (2004). Culture and Psychology (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
• Nibler, R., & Harris, K. L. (2003). The effects of culture and cohesiveness on intragroup conflict and effectiveness. The Journal of Social Psychology, 143(5), 613-619.
• Oishi, S., & Diener, E. (2003). The cycle of action, evaluation, and decision. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(8), 939-949.
• Rahim, M., Afzalur, M. Nace, R., Antonioni, D., & Rahman, S. (2001). Do justice relationships with organization-directed reactions differ across U.S. and Bangladesh employees? International Journal of Conflict Management, 12(4), 4044-4068.
• Sagie, A. & Aycan, Z. (2003). A cross-cultural analysis of participative decision making in organizations. Human Relations, 56(4), 453-473.
• Smith, P. & Bond, M. (1999). Social psychology across cultures. Allyn & Bacon, Needham Heights, Massachusettes.

§Summary

Environmental policy reflects a complex interplay between scientific knowledge, technological development and international, national and local policies and political processes. All too often, in the former Soviet Union, protection of the environment was ignored in the pursuit of military and industrialization objectives. The legacy of Soviet environmental abuse is starkly visible in unprotected toxic waste dumps, nuclear waste, polluted air and consequent extremely high rates of deformed births and premature deaths in “hot” zone areas.

Latvia is no exception. The environmental movements that emerged in response to the Soviet environmental crisis are major factors that led to the collapse of the Soviet State and to the independence of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Now, after a decade of independence and open transfer of knowledge from the US and other Western countries, it is important to assess the state of environmental policy in Latvia and to suggest ways that the process of environmental policy development can be improved to better reflect scientific research and to more effectively meet the needs of local residents. The following chapter is used to present an overview of the historical and current environmental situation in Latvia including relevant cultural and socioeconomic factors.

§Location and Context of Latvia

Latvia is a temperate country of approximately 64,598 sq. km and nearly two and half million people surrounded by the Baltic Sea to the West, Estonia to the North, Russia and Belarus to the East, and Lithuania to the South. Sweden and Finland can be found across the Baltic Sea from Latvia. Forty four percent of Latvia is forested and thirty nine percent is agricultural. Latvia is ranked 63 on the global living standard index with per capital GDP in 2000 equal to 29% of the average EU level. Though registered unemployment in 2000 was 7.8%, the real unemployment rate was 13-14%. As Latvia is a country in transition, the figures just cited are rapidly changing and could well be significantly different at this point. Support for this is found by the increase in GDP between 1995 and 2000 by 26% (MEPRD 2001).

The Republic of Latvia was founded on November 18, 1918 and though Western countries never recognized annexation, it was occupied by the Soviet Union from 1940-1941 and 1945-1991 and Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945. Latvia declared the restoration of its independence on August 21,1991 which was shortly thereafter recognized by Russia, the US, and other countries (Beldavs 2001).

Due to its location and cultural heritage in Europe, how Latvia is geographically identified changes depending on the geo-cultural background of the party describing it. In societies typically associated as the West (non former Soviet Europe and North America for example) Latvia has traditionally been classified as either Northern or Eastern Europe and is often seen as a crossroads between Eastern and Western Europe.

In my own experience, I’ve found that when I’ve asked people of most other countries of the former Soviet Union of their perception of Latvia, the most common answer is “Western Europe” whereas typical American or Western Europeans with geographical awareness of Latvia generally identify it as part of “Eastern Europe”. On the other hand, many ethnic Latvians and Latvians in the Diaspora see themselves as Northern European, most recently probably to reinforce separation from the Soviet Union with whose Latvia’s integration was forced. A growing sense of Balto-Scandinavian regional space surrounding the Baltic Seas is rooted in historic times. As a member of the Hanseatic League it came to have a Western orientation. Subsequently, though Estonians felt their closest kin to be the Finns, they shared much history and culture with Latvians despite completely different languages and language families. All of the countries surrounding the Baltic have a long history of identifying nature as intrinsic to their cultures (Beldavs 2001).

Though the Daugava, the largest river in Latvia, divides Latvia in Eastern and Western parts, the unity of Latvia, including its major regions is expressed in the unofficial hymn, which states, “Daugava’s both sides, never part. Kurzeme, Vidzeme, Latgale – Our Land.” Of the five indigenous groups comprising modern ethnic Latvians, four out of five are primarily of Indo-European ancestry while the fifth, found historically along the Baltic seashore, is of Fino-Ugric origin.

Latvia has considerable diversity of flora and fauna with over 300 species of birds, including the rare black stork. There are approximately 7850 plant species, 30 of which are currently protected (cf Goba:108-134).

§The Historic Natural Environmental Connection In Latvia

Traditionally, Latvian culture has considered humans as inexorably bound with nature. This strong bond with nature is exemplified by the traditional belief that the souls of the dead enter trees and other forms of life. In fact, Christian missionaries were tolerated in Baltic Old Prussia until they attempted to destroy their sacred groves, while in Latvia there were a number of uprisings of the conquered tribal peoples over bee-keeping rights (Beldavs 2001).

Even today my own anecdotal experience shows me that modern Latvians still share a stronger connection than I see in the general US populace. For example, I was amazed by how common it was to actively participate in mushroom and berry picking by a wide swath of age and interest groups. Also, great pride is taken in the gardens of residences and flowers are always an appreciated and important gift. This is further reflected in the preponderance of expressions involving nature in the modern Latvian language, as highlighted by Pigozne (cited in Beldavs 2001: 12) when he states that for Latvians “…Nature has given, Nature has endowed, talent given by Nature, the gift of Nature. In the west everything is usually given by God.”

Traditionally Latvians engaged in fishing, gathering berries, mushrooms, and wild plants, hunting small game, herding, land cultivation, and beekeeping for their livelihoods. Even during the time of control by the Teutonic Knights, unlike their Latvian serfs, only the Baltic German landowners were not directly dependent and thus connected with their environment.

§The Daina as a Method to Study Latvian Traditional Beliefs

As previously stated, the Latvian language is strongly rooted in a deep connection with the natural environment. This is seen most clearly through analyses of the traditional Latvian song poetry form known as the daina. There is a strong indication from analysis of the daina literature that Latvians traditionally viewed themselves as intrinsically connected with their ecological settings.

Arajs (1972) provided a fascinating exploration of dainas focused on those specifically connected with themes of nature. The arrangement of this anthology provides insight on how daina singers perceived their world. The first songs are mythological dealing with the interplay of two of the first elements of life, the dawn as sun and the (cosmic) waters. Similarly, wind and water also interact, and nature in general is seen as a living composition of interacting forces. The riddle format of some songs, such as the first one below indicate a song to be sacred. Following the mythological songs about personified natural forces, there are many more songs about plants and animals seen animistically, especially birds who are seen as the original musicians. These songs are timeless, but were still being sung and collected in the countryside of the 18th and 19th centuries and are still performed today (Beldavs 2001, Beldavs personal communication). Some examples of such dainas follow (analysis based on Arajs 1972, Beldavs 2001, and Beldavs personal communication).

The animistic perspective where natural objects are seen in human terms, indicating the sense of oneness and connection is demonstrated in the following lines where the “first guests” are seen as the rising of the sun and the dawning of the day, almost as if these are other beings that are the ones to be met at the beginning of any new day.

Guess, people, what guests came first?

-Dawns day, the sun rises,

They were the first guests.

An appreciation for the eternal cycle of night and day, and the constant flow of water is again expressed in animistic terms. In these mythological dainas, water and sky are not always differentiated:

Two, two, who were the two?

Who did not sleep?

Water did not sleep, Sun crossing the sky.

Here we see that the wind is seen as one of a number of female cosmic weavers or creators of life, in this example she is seen as working with the foam and reeds of the ocean:

Look in the sea what a white weave:

Reed warp, foam weft, Wind Mother the weaver.

(In other songs Sun Daughter is the weaver in the middle of the sky waters)

Again we have see the idea of weaving creating motion in the sea but this time the Sun is the humanized figure:

Sun went to play with the waters of the sea:

Sun threw a silk weave, Sea - bits of foam.

Here thunder is a collection of five brothers whereas the mother sifts out rain. In other dainas, the sifter is a sister or group of sisters:

Thunderers, five brothers, what is your mother doing?

She is weaving a sifter to sift fine rain with.

The singers beseech the sun to rise and not forget them:

Rise, sun, rise, sun

Shine in our farmyard.

We also need, we need your light.

Here the singer watches the sun dance bringing light that she sees as a golden belt to be unraveled which can guide her path:

Sun led twisting dance by the black forest edge;

Roll out, mother, the golden belt

So I can run with the rest.

In the following daina, the peasant girl, with nascent class or ethnic consciousness, unlike the aristocracy, knows the location of the mystical tree of ancestral knowledge and the life-force of nature. It is by her home on the edge of a field close to the forest. The German landlord and his Latvian lackey, the overseer, for all their power can not see the tree because their way of life has distanced them from this natural knowledge:

Three mornings Sun rose in the red tree;

Lords sought it, overseers sought it,

They did not find the tree.

I found it herding the tree in leaves:

Gold branches, copper roots,

Silver leaves.

Here the sea mother is asked to rein in her “people” in the forms of waves wearing white cloaks that keep the fisherman from returning home during a life-threatening storm. There are many prayers and laments about fishermen lost at sea:

Sea Mother, Sea Mother, rein in your people:

Dressed up in white cloaks, they’re not letting me ashore.

The interrelationship and interdependency of humans with nature is seen in the ways all of the animals of the forest help humans:

Why should I not live at the edge of a fine forest?

Five bucks to plough, six does to harrow...

(follows a list of other animals.)

And in the song of the beekeeper who trades honey for a coat and shiny boots:

Why should I not live at the edge of a bee forest?

Bees sewed me a coat, shiny wax boots.

The forest is seen as a mother who with a bounty of resources who doesn’t forget even the smallest of her creatures.

Whoever is rich, whoever bountiful

Forest Mother is bountiful.

All the little junipers have silver blossoms.

Here we see the wind mother creating a cradle of pine and evergreen branches for the squirrel. Emphasizing the beneficial, rather than, “calling the devil or wolf and he comes” is characteristic of dainas, often in the form of positive magic:

Squirrel, bushy-tail, who hung a cradle for you?

-Pine branches, evergreen branches,

Wind Mother the cradler.

Another common example of the interconnection of humans with the rest of nature is music. Here the Sun and a bee are both spoken of on the same level, singing a song while working together in the great field:

Sun sings, bee sings over the great field.

Sun drying hay, bee gathering flowers.

The singer here speaks to the interconnection of nature by way of showing how various different species sing together to form a cohesive song:

Three birds were singing in the fine hazelnut bush.

Titmouse calls first, wren drones on it,

Nightingale knit the song together.

Nature is seen as the ultimate source of culture. A cultivated field is seen as a human’s way of ornamenting nature rather than destroying it. There are many songs about leaving a large tree in the middle of a field so that the birds might have a place to rest in it. The farmhouses were built to blend in with the surroundings. Until the church forbade it, there was a sacred oak by buildings that also served as a lightning rod.

Water in the form of the sea or a great lake is the most elemental source of birth and return to the whole. The forest is the immediate source of life for the fields and the farm. Latvian women would hang a girl-child’s cradle by the forest if they wanted her to become a great singer. A singer had considerable status in Latvian society and the songs of nature were the source of human songs. The following verse exemplifies the connection of the forest girl with the songs of the nightingale:

Teach us songs, forest girl, you knew many of them.

You heard them from the nightingale sitting in the bush.

§Impact of Soviet Union

Though Latvians traditionally had a strong connection with their ecological surroundings and largely engaged in environmentally sustainable practices, increasing industrialization concurrent with impact of the Soviet Union resulted both in a move away from sustainable practices and less connection with nature and its conservation. Practices specific to the totalitarian Soviet regime had a detrimental impact on the current practices in participation. In Soviet times speaking in discord from views espoused by the government could result in strong negative impacts. Active political participation was in the form of forced active involvement in organizations such as labor unions and work brigades where sham elections and discussions took place in order to legitimate the political system. As a holdover from these times, there is a strong distrust of the state and concern over both ones ability to participate and the effectiveness of any such attempt (Lang 2000).

Along with distrust, the Soviet experience taught individuals to let the state take care of their needs. Due to potential negative repercussions, initiative was best not shown and thus active public participation or individual thinking was discouraged. The end result is a society of people that both mistrust the state and also expect it, as a greater entity, to take care of their needs and thus their participation on an individual level is discouraged on multiple levels (Lang 2000).

Though there are other confounding factors, Zepa (1998) provides support for the contention that views on participation are fundamentally different in Soviet countries in comparison with other countries in demonstration of large percentage differentials on views on the effectiveness and purpose of participation in former Soviet block countries compared to Western Europe. For example 27% of Latvians viewed organizing public meetings to protest against the government as an effective tool of protest whereas for Norwegians the percentage was 72. Similar low levels are present in Russia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in comparison to Spain, Norway, Sweden, and France. Addressing these issues is of key import for any future work designed to facilitate public participation.

§Current Ecological Situation

Vladamirs Makarovs introduces the report Nature Protection In Latvia (MEPRD 2002) with the following,

“We live in a country where you can still meet a hedgehog round the corner of an old house and see a frog in the meadow in the spring, where the beavers are not just characters in a tooth paste commercial but animals that build dikes and even cause damage to farmers’ property. Even Children in Latvia are surprised to see the excitement of Scandinavian visitors when they encounter a stork – the bird of fairy tales and legends – calmly walking along the road. We can just feel sorry for our Danish neighbours about the death of their only elk in 2000 when it ran into a train. We can be happy that for the time being we do not have such problems, however nature is a sensitive system, which reacts immediately and sometimes irrevocably to every thoughtless human action..”

This statement exemplifies the common Latvian view that the environment is still in a relatively pristine state while affirming the view of environmentalists that this is a condition that could rapidly change with uncontrolled development.

While there are over 27,000 plant and animal species registered in Latvia, the environmental ministry guesses that the actual figures approach 40,000. 3.3% of the registered species are currently under some form of protection. Latvia has a system of Specially Protected Nature Territories that guarantees national level protection to 8.53% of the territory of the entire country and includes three National Parks, four Strict Nature Reserves, 211 Nature Reserves, 22 Nature Parks, and 6 Protected Landscape Areas. The North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve (NBR) is included as a UNESCO international biosphere reserve (MEPRD 2002).

Latvia has also ratified a number of environmental conventions, including the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Convention Concurring the Protection of the World Cultural and National Heritage, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, Convention on Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, Convention of the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, Convention on Biological Diversity, and Convention on Protection of Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea (MEPRD 2002, MEPRD 2000:2, MEPRD:3).

Further support for a comparably positive ecological situation in Latvia are found in much lower rates of emissions, livestock density, trees showing serious defoliation and passenger car density. Despite these positive indicators, there is great concern that a rapid attempt to reach Western standards could result in serious environmental problems (Baltic 21, 2000). Interesting evidence to support potential environmental impacts is found in the work of Mezinskis et al. (http://www.arcchip.cz/w06/w06_mezinskis.pdf) who cite negative impact of environmental pollutants on a number important monuments of Latvian cultural heritage. There are also concerns regarding legitimacy of various reports as outlined in the section on legitimacy and corruption.

§Environmental Protection and Governmental Structures

§NGOS

Latvia currently has approximately 5,000 NGOs with 500 directed towards issues of environmental protection and sustainable development. Despite this, in 1994 only 19% of people were members of non governmental organizations (Zepa 1998). The name NGO is somewhat misleading in Latvia because there are often intense ties between governmental and non governmental organizations. Most of the funding for NGOs comes from international organizations. I found that most participants of NGOs that I encountered appeared to be participating primarily as a job and way to accrue income, with the interests of the NGO as secondary though this is simply anecdotal and may well be uncommon throughout NGOs in general.

§Government

Latvia is an independent democratic parliamentary republic where the president elected by the parliament invites the Prime Minister to form the cabinet of ministers, which is then approved by the parliament. The cabinet of ministers, in turn, implements their functions through twelve ministries. Latvia has 578 local governments and is divided into 581 rural municipalities and 68 towns and cities in 26 regions. Local governmental officials are elected in their respective cities, rural municipalities, and regions (MEPRD 2001).

The youngest of the 12 regional ministries, established in 1993, is the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (MEPRD). Along with environmental protection, this ministry is responsible for construction, housing, municipal services, geology, and tourism. These different functions of the ministry are run by six departments and three sections (MEPRD 1998). Along with the current governmental structure, there is an active Green Party in Latvia that regularly participates in elections in various levels of government.

§Public Participation and Information Access

Though Latvia has passed numerous legislative acts over the last fifteen years supportive of public participation and access to information, the actual rate of involvement is extremely low. Latvia even has access to a quality environment and environmental information written into the constitution as fundamental rights of citizens. There are several fundamental reasons that have been cited for the disparity between legislation and actual practice. These include a lack of public conviction on their rights and capacity for meaningful change as well as a lack of governmental support to facilitate such involvement. As a result, the public generally becomes aware of important issues after decisions have been made and any involvement is usually in picketing or other practices not part of a formal process. As a result any actions undertaken are unlikely to result in a substantial impact (Zala Biblioteka 2002). I will next explore some of the potential reasons for the current lack of public participation .

§Active Participation

Governmental institutions are legally responsible to fulfill a number of obligations involving active dissemination of information (Zala Biblioteka 2002):

Inform the public of their rights and opportunities to acquire environmental information and participate in environmental protection decision making.

Create and implement publicly accessible data banks, registers, and internet home pages.

Prepare and publish documents on the state of the environment, environmental policy planning, and programs.

While the institutions that have such obligations profess that these often do not happen due to lack of adequate financing for data acquisition and analyses, the NGO sector sees the problem stemming from a fragmentation in the process, whereby data is acquired by different institutions but is not centrally located and thus there is no place which could possibly be disseminating the information. Though historically the majority of active communication has been in ministry or municipal governmental reports which are often dated by the time of publication, more recently there has been some movement towards more publicly accessible forms of information, including brochures, information centers, and the Internet (Zala Biblioteka 2002).

Though the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development provides a list of items to support a contention that they work hard to support environmentally conscious practices, NGOs complain that these are basically done on paper and intended simply to fulfill EU ascension or other political obligations. Public awareness measures involving the Ministry include a TV program called Environmental Facts, a magazine issued called Environmental News, information days, television articles, educational brochures, organized lectures, and nature tourism events (MEPRD 2002).

A specific problem that the Latvian NGO sector has pointed to and which this paper is partially focused on addressing is a lack of attention to actively determining societal views on differing environmental issues.

§Passive Distribution

Though Latvia has progressive legislation for information requests, requiring a response within 15 days following receipt as compared to 30 days recommended in the Aarhus convention, the NGO sector has found actual practice to be lacking. Despite legislation requiring unconditional passive information dissemination administrators often refuse to provide information prior to explanation of its use, particularly in lower levels of government and municipal agencies. Other reasons for denying information given are the following (Zala Biblioteka 2002):

“This is not the expertise of our agency. The agency that provides reasons for information denial must inform the requesting party which agency is capable of providing the requested information.

The information is simply not gathered or processed. The government does not have clear policies for gathering information and is lacking resources (financial or human) to gather or process this information.

The information is classified. This assertion is also used as an argument in circumstances where the information that is requested has a generally accessible information status to which the receiving party is not required to substantiate their interest or reason for use.”

§Legitimacy of Information and Corruption

Though numerous ecological and other studies are conducted in Latvia, there is some concern as to potential influence of corruption and the resultant legitimacy of information found in subsequent reports. Widespread belief in Latvia is that nearly everything is corrupt and that both governmental and non-governmental institutions are at the whim of various interest groups. Much of the recent publication on Latvian environmental issues has been focused on meeting EU standards and anecdotal accounts even question the legitimacy of data presented. Mild corruption is found in the common practice of expected statements of “gratitude” and “social barter” including services and gifts (Zala Biblioteka 2002).

§Brief history of major economic and political reforms Following the Soviet Era

According to MEPRD (2000:1), “Latvia’s main objective is sustainable social and economic development through:

Preservation of high quality environment;

Decrease of Pollution;

Rational Utilization of Natural Resources; facilitation of regional development;

Preservation of its cultural heritage”

In this section I go over major economic and political reforms that have led to these goals.

§Early Period

Economic reforms in Latvia began in the late 1980s before the August 1991 renewal of Latvia’s national sovereignty. Reforms began as an expression of Perestroika (restructuring) and Glasnost (openness) that swept the former Soviet Union under the leadership of General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev (Wheeler and Beldavs 1991).

This stream of reform thinking was significantly augmented by ideas from the Latvian émigré community in particular from the Economic Strategy Task Force of the World Federation of Free Latvians (WFFL). The task force included several economists, lawyers, business leaders such as Aristids Lambergs and specialists such as Gundar King and George Viksnins who had a significant impact on the subsequent evolution of the reform process in Latvia. In fact, the core ideas of Latvian monetary policy were contained in a paper by Viksnins in the Economic Strategy for an Independent Latvia that was presented by the WFFL to the Council of Deputies on May 7, 1990 three days after the Council had declared Latvia’s independence from the Soviet Union (Wheeler and Beldavs 1991).

The work of the WFFL led to an expanded plan for economic transition organized by the Hudson Institute as the International Baltic Economic Commission (IBEC) at the request of the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania within the Framework of the Baltic Council. Commission members included Dr. Lawrence Summers then Chief Economist of the World Bank, Anders Aslund, Frederick Starr and other experts on economic transition. With the full renewal of the independence of the Baltic States, following the August 1991 Putsch, the governments of the three Baltic States were able to secure large scale technical assistance. With this support reforms gained momentum and the transition to a market economy with a robust civil society, marked by the rule of law accelerated (Wheeler and Beldavs 1991).

The principal thrusts of reform in the early period were:

Monetary policy – the creation of a stable, convertible currency for Latvia -- the Lat replacing the inconvertible Soviet ruble.

Price liberalization

Trade liberalization and its consequences for Latvian agriculture and manufacturing.

Privatization and the creation of a legal basis for private ownership of the means of production and commercial assets. A special case of particular importance for Latvia was the decollectivization of agriculture.

Civil society and the creation of non-governmental organizations replacing many governmental and quasi governmental organizations.

Social policy and the creation of a system of insurance, pensions, unemployment insurance and other instruments that served as part of the safety net for the old, the sick, and infirm who no longer had direct state subsidies.

§Mid Period

Despite danger to the Latvian economy in 1995 resulting from a serious banking crisis and widening fiscal deficit (Pakulski 1996), by 1997, market forces had become the driving factor for goods and services due to the completion of price liberalization (CEC 2002).

§Recent Period

Latvia appears to be one of the few true successes of the former soviet republics in terms of economic reform. According to the Freedom House, Latvia, along with Lithuania and Estonia, is one of only three countries from the former USSR to achieve enough sustained progress towards economic and democratic reform to be classified as a stable market democracy. According to their analysis of their survey, this is primarily due to their perception of a strong correlation between economic growth and political reform.

According to the 2002 EU enlargement report (CEC 2002), economic reform has largely been successful. Latvia is a functioning market economy with prices and trade liberalized, and has an enforceable legal system that includes property rights. Despite global slow-downs in growth, indicators such as real GDP have continued to show marked increases in Latvia. Though some large companies are still state owned, most business is completely privatized at this point. There are no significant state-imposed barriers for market entry or exit.

Notwithstanding a large segment of the population that consists of stateless, Russian-speaking residents who lost their Soviet citizenship with the collapse of the Soviet Union, ethnic relations have generally been peaceful. More effective measures are gradually emerging to integrate the Russian speaking minority, with very noteworthy successes in the area of economic opportunity for Russian speakers through entrepreneurship. This is particularly true in Riga, which has attracted the bulk of foreign investment and managerial strength. Daugavpils and other interior and rural towns with much higher rates of unemployment have seen little development of entrepreneurship for Russian or Latvian residents (CEC 2002).

Despite generally positive trends, there are still multiple areas of concern in Latvia. The EU accession report stressed the need for functional improvement of labor markets. Development has been very uneven. An oligarchy of a few very wealthy individuals is a dominant controlling force for the economy, with much of the population, particularly in rural regions, seeing little or no benefit from a transformation primarily concentrated in Riga and other urban areas. There are regions of Latvia with unemployment exceeding 20%, deteriorating infrastructure, poor transportation, lack of social services, broken down schools, widespread alcoholism, drug abuse, and broken homes. HIV and tuberculosis are growing public health concerns; Latvia is identified as one of the leading hot spots in the world for medicine resistant strains of tuberculosis. Successive governments have been unable to come to grips with the decline of research and development capabilities and infrastructure. The number of scientists has dropped from over 36,000 in 1989 to approximately 4,500 in 2002. This augers badly for the potential of the country to develop an innovation driven economy that can build competitive advantage in the emerging global knowledge economy (CEC 2002).

Underlying all of these problems is the aging of the population with nearly 25% of the population exceeding pension age and no effective funding mechanism for the growing population of elderly. Unlike other transition countries with much younger populations, pensioners cannot be effectively retrained to develop new skills and master new technologies. Latvia has not been very successful in coping with these problems; some critics maintain that the primary reason disaster has not ensued is the remaining capability of Soviet era systems functioning to meet basic population needs (CEC 2002).

Why have they enjoyed apparent successes where other former Soviet countries have failed? The Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were in the vanguard of economic reforms in the former Soviet Union, being the first in the FSU to decollectivize agriculture and begin the introduction of free enterprise through cooperatives, private ownership of businesses, price liberalization and other reforms (CEC 2002).

Riga, the capital of Latvia and the largest city in the Baltic States, continues to play an influential role based on a historic legacy, positioned as a gateway city between East and West. Riga was a regional administrative center in the Soviet period and continues to serve this function for regional banking and business, with significant influence beyond the borders of Latvia. This is due to its central location in the Baltic States, ports and transportation and communications infrastructure, as well as the large population of Russian speakers in business and professional roles holding ties to Russia and other CIS countries (CEC 2002).

Latvia is positioned to play a significant role in the integration processes underway, linking the EU and the Russian Federation with other CIS countries. Major rail links from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus terminate in the Latvian ports of Riga, Ventspils and Liepaja, accounting for a significant share of the exports and imports of these countries. The Baltics, particularly Latvia, can be a seen as a bridge between the integration policies of the EU and the reform process in the CIS countries. Despite considerable pain for the population, much progress has been achieved with a remarkable absence of ethnic hostility. The country has created a complete set of laws for a market economy, introduced its own currency, and established participation in a broad range of international organizations (CEC 2002).

The demographic challenge of an aging population is relevant for all transition economies. As nearly 25% of Latvia is comprised of pensioners, Latvia’s age structure presents a very challenging hurdle for implementing policy. An aging population increases the difficulty of applying human capital building policies such as broadened and improved education because older workers who are within a few years of retirement are less likely to benefit from training and education. Due to an ineffective pension system inherited from the Soviet period, the demographic challenge in Latvia is particularly acute. The pensions of Latvia’s elderly are an obligation, which must be shouldered by the current working population. Unlike the US, there are no large pension funds that can be a source of investment capital. Other countries in Europe are just beginning to approach Latvia’s demographic spectrum, with the US and other countries forecast to see such a demographic structure after about 20 years. Despite this, the problem faced by these countries is much less severe than those of Latvia as their pension systems were, by and large, paid for by the earnings of workers before their retirement (CEC 2002).

The impact of the Latvian émigré population has been very substantial notwithstanding its relatively small numbers. The Baltic émigré communities in the US, Canada and Australia have been recognized as unusually active on behalf of their homelands serving as effective advocates in their host countries and as sources of technical skills, capital and encouragement. In many respects the Latvian Diaspora has been the most active of the three Baltic groups. The role of the Baltic Diaspora in the reform process needs to be understood with potential lessons for larger ethnic groups such as Romanians, Slovaks, Bulgarians and Croats.

Innovation policy addresses reforms instituted by Latvia to achieve competitiveness in its economy on the basis of education, training and workforce development, research and development and technology transfer, creativity in the visual and performing arts and the entertainment industry. Along with enacting a transition to a market economy with free enterprise open to world trade, Latvia is also making the transition from a Soviet model of central planning that some have suggested is based on a 19th technology of railroads with central control to a 21st century economy based on innovation and knowledge. The transition period 1991 to 2002 reflects an increasing concern with innovation on the part of government, industry, educational institutions and non-governmental organizations as a long range strategy (CEC 2002).

The primary determinant of the success of Latvian reforms in contrast to reforms in other former Soviet republics is its western oriented culture and national memory of independence leavened by a very active Diaspora.

Latvian monetary policy with a stable currency (the Lat that floats in a band determined by market conditions yet is tied to the IMF Standard Drawing Rights) was a principal determinant of the success or failure of other economic reforms.

Latvia’s reforms have been ethnically neutral with relatively even positive and negative impacts on its native ethnic Latvian residents and large minority of postwar Russian speaking residents.

Latvia’s demographics with a very high percentage of the population in the 60+ cohort in relatively poor health is one of the principal challenges to successful reforms cross-cutting across all issue areas.

EU and NATO accession have been the primary drivers of Latvian reforms since the mid-1990s.

Latvia’s unbalanced development with the glitter of Riga’s new wealth contrasted with rural stagnation and extreme poverty is more a consequence of EU and other trading partner agricultural subsidies and the success of trade liberalization in Latvia than of the failure of Latvian economic reforms.

Latvia’s success in other reforms has contributed to a crisis in its innovation and science and technology system that threatens its capacity to develop an innovation driven economy. Latvia may need greater innovation capacity to succeed in the emerging global knowledge economy. Latvia’s defacto de-industrialization policy, which has led to the restructuring and in several cases closing of large former Soviet state enterprises, has positioned it to excel in the emerging global knowledge economy with more environmentally friendly and sustainable technologies. Concurrently, Latvia’s success in opening to the world and creating banking, financial and other services businesses has resulted in a dramatic reduction of technical and scientific personnel through emigration and career change to about 10% of 1989 levels destroying much of R&D and innovation capacity.

§Literature Cited

• Agenda 21 for the Baltic Sea Region. 2000. Baltic 21 Series No. 1/2000: Biennial Report -- 2000. Swedish Ministry of the Environment. Stockholm.
• Aistara, G. 2000. Kopigi Veicamie Pasakumi Latvija: Teorija, Prakse, Ieteikumi. Zala Biblioteka. Riga.
• Arājs, Kārlis. 1972. Saule Sēja Sudrabiņu (Sun Sows Silver). Zinātne. Rīga.
• Beldavs, Aija Veldre, I Sing Out Nine, You're Working on One: Historical Latvian Ritual Insult Song Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences (DAIA). 2001 Aug; 62(2): 707.
• Commission of the European Communities. 2002. Regular Report on Latvia’s Progress Towards Accession. Commission of the European Communities. Brussels. (http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/report2002/lv_en.pdf)
• Freedom House. 1998. Study Warns of Deepening Crisis in Post-Communist Societies. Freedom House. New York. (http://www.freedomhouse.org/media/pressrel/112998.htm)
• Goba, Arturs, Ceļš uz Bitarīnu. Senā Tālava Ojāra Ozoliņa vēsturisko teiku, nostāstu, tautasdziesmu pierakstos un atmiņtēlojumos. Rīga: Sprīdītis, 1990.
• Lang, S. 2000. Communication and Public Participation in rural Development Processes in Eastern Europe. Problems and Solution Strategies. World Wild Life Fund Latvia. Riga.
• Mezinskis, G., Krage, M., & Dzenis, M. Environmental Influences on Cultural Heritage of Latvia. Riga Technical University. Riga. (http://www.arcchip.cz/w06/w06_mezinskis.pdf)
• Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. 2000. Environmental and Regional Development Investment Strategy 2000-2002. Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. Riga.
• Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. 2000. Latvijas Zalas Perles: Dabas Turisma Iespejas. Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. Riga.
• Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. 2000. (ed. Maskalans, M.). National Program on Biological Diversity. Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. Riga.
• Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. 2002. (ed. Zeitka, D.). Nature Protection in Latvia 2000-2002. Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. Riga.
• Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. 1998. Overview. Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. Riga.
• Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. 2001. (ed. Apene, I.). Third National Communication of the Republic of Latvia Under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia. Riga.
• Pakulski, J. 1996. World Bank Helps to Strengthen Economic Reforms in Latvia. World Bank Group. News Release No:97/1215 ECA (http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20015745~menuPK:34466~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html)
• Satterfield, T., & Slovic, S. (2004). What's nature worth? Narrative expressions of environmental values. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
• United Nations Development Programme. 1999. (ed. Tiskenkopfs, T.) Latvia Human Development Report. United Nations Development Programme. Riga.
• Wheeler, J. and Beldavs, V. 1991. STRUCTURAL ECONOMIC PROBLEMS ASPECTS OF AN ACTION PLAN FOR THE BALTIC STATES: Working Group # 7 on Structural Policies International Baltic Economic. Hudson Institute Herman Kahn Center. Indianapolis.
• Zala Biblioteka. 2002. Latvia’s NGO Sustainable Development Report. Riga.
• Zepa, B. 1998. Conditions of Enhancement of Civic Participation. Baltic Data House. Riga.

§Introduction

In order to incorporate the public in the decision making process, one must first understand what the public believes and how they believe they should be involved. Though there has been some work on examining general issues of public perceptions on participation in Latvia, environmental issues in the Baltic State of Estonia, and for one localized region of Latvia involved in environmental protection, Latvia currently has a dearth of knowledge in terms of specific examination of general perceptions of environmental issues held by the public and key stakeholder groups. This report aims to begin to alleviate this deficiency and to help identify methods for better incorporating the public in future environmental policy decision-making.

§General Issues of Public Participation in the Transition Period

There have been several attempts by different organizations in Latvia to assess public opinions on policy matters. As my focus is on environmental issues I describe the current state in that sphere below but first will briefly speak on general participation in policy in Latvia through examination of the generalized work of Zepa (1998) who studied participation in the transition period between 1990 and 1998 using analysis of documents, a variety of surveys, and group discussions with leaders and participants of NGOs.

Zepa (1998) generally found that although there was an upsurge around the time that Latvia regained independence, views on the benefits of participation and actual levels of such participation rapidly declined. The low levels of Latvian participation and enthusiasm for such are highlighted in comparison to Norwegian levels that are often two or more times as high. Another reason for the low level of participation and interest in such may be that, like other newly democratic countries, including Chile, Byelorussia, Poland, and South Africa, levels of interpersonal trust are much lower in the Baltics compared to Western European countries.

Though many of these differences may be a result of the Soviet regime, Zepa (1998: 49) points out that some survey respondents appear to believe that these differences may in part be simply due to Latvian culture. This possibility is supported by statements of respondents such as the one of one head of an NGO who said, “Latvians are unsociable. They are not so communicative, open as people of other nationalities. They try to resolve their problems on their own.” Further study would help to better understand the root causes of these hurdles towards effective participation.

§Baltic Environmental Forum Assessments

Under the auspice of the Baltic Natura 2000 project (BANAT) of the Baltic Environmental Forum (BEF), Lang (2000) conducted an assessment of knowledge, hopes, and fears in the Baltics regarding environmental issues. The basic premise of this project was to use workshops, habitat classification, and an information campaign to help instigate discussions between stakeholders, politicians, and scientists. Lang (2000) specifically focused on assessing the views of different groups to help determine the most effective implementation of the program.

The assessment consisted of interviews conducted in the local language of landowners, forest owners, farmers, hunters, fishers, members of the environmental government sector, planning institutions, environmental journalists, environmental NGOs, and regional administrators. Despite the potential interest of this assessment and project, it appears that only 113 people were interviewed between all three countries and thus the report is more of a starting point for examining potential differences in these groups. Key points that arose are that all groups are concerned about potential negative financial impacts of sustainable-based development focused primarily towards meeting European Union goals. Another common concern observed was how beneficial the EU would be to those interviewed. Unlike members of the other Baltic States, the Latvian population specifically mentioned a fear of more bureaucracy.

Furthermore, this survey pointed to the fact that general concern for the environment is high but actual willingness to participate in activities involving protection is very low. The reason for this lack of willingness should be addressed. Is it due to lacking information, awareness of ways to effectively participate, mistrust of bureaucratic or other institutions of power, or some other factor?

Latvian NGOs specifically pointed to the concern that environmental regulations are often simply done on paper with little actual work realized (Lang 2000). Prior to the 2000 report, Simanovska (1997) similarly conducted a survey under the BEF of all three Baltic countries but the sample size was low, the analyses presented make conclusions difficult, and the focus was primarily on views of the participant in the seminars on inter-Baltic co-operation rather than on stakeholders and the views of the general populace on environmental issues.

Previous to her more generalized Baltic work, Lang (1999) also conducted an opinion poll of on concepts of nature and environmental consciousness and behavior in Estonia. Though Lang clearly states that a truly representative sample was not possible and thus not attempted with available resources, it appears that Lang attempted to poll groupings which are at least similar to that found in the general populace with 304 respondents consisting of Estonians, Russians, and others, aged 11 to 70 in general proportion to the actual ratios found in Estonia. This report was used to examine potential demographic differences on such questions as actions for environment protection and reasons for lack of action (Lang 1999).

Several key points are raised in this report with implications for future work with public participation. Two concerns which could be addressed by more public outreach and education are that most people in Estonia are not more active in environmental protection due to lack of knowledge and a concern that there is no impact if they do, rather than the often assumed limited time or money. Of particular interest for the present report are the responses to questions regarding the perceptions of inhabitants regarding their connection with nature and the implications for radically different responses elicited by posing the same question with either nature or environment as the subject. For example, whereas respondents largely had positive associations with the word “nature” revolving around life, including “good feelings”, “landscapes”, “senses, actions”, “life/flora/fauna”, the word “environment” typically elicited either more negative terms or terms relating to their immediate geographical vicinity, with little consideration for global perspectives. These terms included, things such as “city waste”, “degradation”, and “surroundings”. This has important implications for decision making policy because the terminology used to communicate with the public may in fact have strong differences in meaning though some might initially assume that meanings are the same.

Though a utilitarian view of nature as a place to get away from daily stressors becomes evident in analysis of Lang’s report, 84% of respondents stated that the relationship of humans with nature is that “man is part of nature”. Fifty four percent of respondents said that they get in touch with nature during “relaxing time” and 99% of respondents agreed with the statement, “In nature, I can rest and recover”. Though the general statement that man is part of nature indicates a basic belief of humans being fundamentally part of their natural environments, the other responses indicate that respondents feel that one can only be truly in touch with their place in their natural environment when they are not busy working. I argue, as an outgrowth from the first chapter in this document, that finding ways to make the natural connection more evident throughout daily working lives is important so that these activities may also be environmentally sustainable.

As in the questions framed on environment and nature, framing of the question for dependence on nature provides dramatically different responses. When asked if respondents agreed that, “Estonians (or Russians in the case of Russian informants) have a special connection with nature…” nearly all of the subjects agreed. When asked if, “love for nature is dependent on ethnicity” approximately half of the sample agreed and the other half disagreed. This again indicates that framing of questions must be carefully considered for possible cognitive biases and furthermore that it might be beneficial to frame questions multiple ways to examine such potential biases. Though Lang indicates that ethnicity was not generally responsible for differences, on these specific items she states that considerably more ethnic Estonians linked love for nature with ethnicity than Russians who more often linked love for nature with different factors such as value system or personality.

In general, most respondents expressed support for environmental actions and concern for environmental degradation as well as a belief that the government is not adequately addressing these issues. Though respondents typically gave themselves reasonably high levels of self reported knowledge of environmental issues, questions directed towards determining levels of knowledge typically evoked fairly poor understanding in terms of current predominant ecological views. Most respondents also expressed an understanding of limited resources, indicating that conversations on sustainability could be initiated without concern for the need of basic education. It is also interesting that most respondents agreed with the statements, “we should return to more traditional values and a less materialistic lifestyle to help the environment” and, “I would accept some people losing their jobs if this helped the environment”.

A number of areas needing future research are raised by examination of Lang’s report. Lang states that her analysis indicates that geographical location within Estonia is the primary variable responsible for differences in attitudes. Though it is possible that this is partially confounded by ethnicity because the three regions did have large disparity in ethnic origin (with one being roughly half and half and the others predominantly ethnic Estonian), she did not find significant differences when looking at ethnicity alone. A future analysis might look further into the possibility of ethnic differences by looking at ethnicity by geographic region as well as other possible confounding factors that may be associated with samples in the three regions studied. Another highlighted issue that is also a concern in the present study is the predominance of students as participants. This is most likely because students are the easiest participants to survey in groups and also generally have more time and willingness to participate in surveys without significant compensation (Lang 1999).

Though previous to her poll in Estonia, Lang apparently conducted a similar poll of 180 people to the one described in the Estonia report in Riga, Latvia, I was unable to find a summary of the findings or gain access to the data. The present report addresses determination of general perceptions in several different groups within three regions in Latvia.

§Case Studies Where Public Perception Was Examined in Latvian Environmental Protection

I next briefly discuss two examples where public perception was assessed in environmental policy related initiatives in Latvia. The first is the Papes Ezera (Lake Papes) protection project and the other is a planning for land zoning project in downtown Riga.

§Lake Papes Project

The Papes Ezera (Lake Papes) project is a project developed by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Latvia). This project is centered on restoring key ecosystems using systems that integrate the environment with the local economy through development of sustainable forestry, agriculture, and eco-tourism. Though the Papes region in the Rucava Municipality is named after the large shallow lake centered within it, the area has an abundance of meadows, dunes, shorelines, forests, and wetlands. Due to the warm winter climate in this area and diverse eco-systems, this lake is an extremely abundant source of migrating birds, including owls, geese, and passerine birds. The diversity present in this area most likely results from this area being closed from the public during Soviet times. An important part of the management plan that the WWF incorporated was the introduction of wild horses from Holland to graze the land in hope of helping to manage the meadows because the original species serving in this function no longer exist (Penke et al., 1999).

As part of this project, the WWF attempted a representative poll by way of surveying 117 of the 1900 inhabitants of this region. The function of this survey was to determine public views on the idea of this land becoming a protected area and various subcomponents, including the introduction of wild horses and the possibility of facilitating alternative industries for workers, such as eco-tourism. After the survey was conducted, the WWF used their analysis to tailor a plan to fit the needs of the local populace. The Lake Papes project has proved to be a success with a sustainable economy generated around the idea of a natural protected area. Due in part to the incorporation of the public views in designing this project, the inhabitants of this region have helped facilitate a situation which allows for protection of their natural habitats while incorporating sustainable non-destructive sources of living including eco tourism and sustainable timber harvesting (Penke et al., 1999).

§Social Policy Institute Zoning Project

The zoning project was one in which I worked during my Fulbright extension with the Social Policy Institute to determine how the public viewed various plans proposed for zoning streets in the downtown portion of the capital, including more ecologically directed, and more business directed plans. In this circumstance, due to general public apathy resulting from a perception that their views wouldn’t be incorporated and a view that life is simply too busy, we tried the innovative approach of having a downtown musical concert which incorporated both traditional folk music as well as more modern pop artists with the idea of attracting as wide a grouping of the public as possible. Informational stands were set up at this concert and the public was asked to fill out brief surveys on how they thought zoning should happen. In general this project turned out to be a success, attracting a wide array of local citizens who both enjoyed the music and filled out their views on urban environmental planning.

§Purpose of This Study

I decided to do the present study to begin to address the dearth of information on societal views and perceptions in regard to general environmental issues in Latvia. I believe that it is important to understand how different segments of the populace view general environmental issues and participation to help understand both how these views can be incorporated in policy as well as to understand how to model future sub-studies aimed at integrating stakeholders. Ideally any proposed policy would include the views of all stakeholders, including affected local inhabitants.

This study is of primary import in order to determine how general views of environmental issues differ in different segments of Latvian society from those in employees of the environmental ministry. This is needed in order to help facilitate greater access to information and incorporation of the perceptions of different groups in the environmental policy decision process.

This study is exploratory and should be considered a pilot for a larger study that includes a representative grouping of the populace of Latvia including all major stakeholders and ethnic groups. For the purpose of this pilot study, I surveyed groups that I had access to, including employees of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Development, three schools, members of the expat community, and a general sampling of people in Riga.

§Methods

Seven groups comprising 260 individuals were surveyed to provide preliminary analyses on how environmental perceptions in Latvia differ based on religion, gender, age, schooling, and connection with environmental issues. The school groups were selected to obtain as representative a grouping as possible, over a sizeable geographical region of Latvia, with limited funding. The expat, farmer, and environmental ministry samples were chosen as people who were willing to fill out the survey within these groups with the purpose of contrasting the perceptions of experts, foreigners, and those directly economically tied to the local environment. The hypotheses was that farmers would be most concerned with local environmental issues due to their direct connection with the land and then experts due to their job connection, whereas the other groups would have significantly lower levels concern. This study is primarily exploratory with much post-hoc examination as the data available on Latvian perceptions were inadequate for creating detailed a-priori hypotheses.

Members of each group filled out surveys anonymously, without compensation. In the school samples, following permission from the principals and teachers available, I was allowed to present my surveys to students and request that they fill them out though abstaining was also clearly allowed. Abstaining students were told to work on their homework while other students filled out the surveys.

To attain environmental ministry surveys, I established contact with one member and went with him to each department, explained my purpose, and left surveys to be filled out by anyone that was interested. These surveys were then collected approximately one week later.

The farmer sample was collected by route of a colleague who was doing an ethnographic study of farmers in Latvia who agreed to bring my survey to each farmer visited. These farmers were again given the option of filling out the survey.

The Riga sample and expat (people originating in other countries and temporarily residing in Latvia) sample were simply taken from approaching people that I encountered in restaurants, coffee shops, and pubs and asking if they’d be willing to fill out a survey for no compensation; this last method did not prove particularly fruitful which explains the low sample sizes for these groups. Along with these I had also collected a sampling of NGO participant surveys but unfortunately the notebook that contained these is missing and thus the data were not included or analyzed.

Participants filled out the survey in Latvian with the exception of those who were more comfortable using English. Participants who chose to use English surveys were only found in the Jewish school and expat groups.

§Measures

The survey was comprised of 18 demographic items, 31 modified five point likert like items, and eight open ended questions. The 31 likert scale items had anchors at 1 and 5 with categories of “very true”, “somewhat true”, “somewhat not true”, and “not at all true”, as well as the option of “don’t know”. Items were used to assess the views of respondents on the current state of the environment in Latvia, importance of environmental protection, cultural viewpoints, views on the respondent’s current emotional and financial state, and participation in environmental conservation. The survey as translated in English follows this chapter. Though there were eight open-ended questions, for brevity the present report does not present analysis of these items.

§Results

§Descriptives

§Whole Sample

The entire sample consisted of 260 participants with 111 males and 149 females. The mean age was 19.10 (SD = 7.04). Nearly all respondents, excepting the Jewish school and expats, reported some variant of Latvian for ethnicity. Two hundred nine participants reported student as their primary occupation with the others being divided basically along the lines of their sample group (farmers and various fields related to the environmental ministry and a diverse grouping for the miscellaneous other respondents). Two hundred fifty participants reported their country of origin as Latvia with the balance made by the expat sample as well as two born in Russia and one in Estonia.

As I was informed participants might not be comfortable reporting exact income, income was rated from 0-5 with 1 being 1-100 Lats and 5 as 500 or more Lats. One Lat is worth approximately 1.86 US dollars. Fifty eight percent reported no income and 28 percent reported 1-100 Lats a month, indicating that most respondents made less than $200 a month. Only 1.3% of respondents made 500 Lats or more a month ($930 or more). This is indicative of the frequency of students in the sample and the overall low incomes in Latvia. For ease of understanding by an international audience, the rest of this chapter uses approximate US dollar amounts in description of income.

Seventy three percent of respondents reported a middle school education, which is indicative of the sample predominantly being composed of current high school students. Seven percent had attained a BA and four percent had a graduate degree of some kind. Twenty seven percent of respondents reported to be Lutheran, twenty three to be Catholic, twenty five percent indicated no religion, 7.3 percent indicated Jewish, and 2.9 percent indicated Russian Orthodox. The others were composed of fourteen categories of small sample size and varied responses including various Christian sects, Pagans, and responses that were most likely meant to be humorous, such as “anti-Christian”.

§Expats

The expat sample was composed of five males and two females with a mean age of 26.29 (SD = 4.19) all primarily living in Riga, the capital of Latvia. Forty three percent of this sample reported Latvian as their ethnicity while fifty seven percent reported “American”. Eighty six percent reported their country of origin as American and thirteen percent failed to report. Reported incomes for this group varied from zero to $930 or above with three respondents reporting $650-$930. All respondents in this group were college educated with five claiming a BA and two claiming a graduate degree. Fifty seven percent of respondents were catholic, while there was one response for each of the following: Lutheran, miscellaneous protestant, and none.

§Riga Sample

The miscellaneous Riga sample was composed of five males and six females with a mean age of 22.09 (SD= 2.59). All reported some variant of Latvian as their ethnicity. Fifty five percent reported student as their occupation and the others each reported different occupations. Eighty two percent reported less than $372/month and eighteen percent failed to report. Eighteen percent of respondents reported middle school, thirty six percent reported high school, and forty five percent reported some college education.

§Environmental Ministry

The Environmental Ministry sample consisted of six males and eleven females with a mean age of 30.29 (SD = 7.63). All respondents reported to be Latvian and most reported different occupations. Reported occupations included clerk, forest engineer, lawyer, government administrator, accountant, senior reporter, PHARE project assistant, governmental institution supervisor, consultant, and economist. Fifty three percent reported incomes below $372/month, thirty five percent reported $651-$930 and one respondent reported over $930/month. Fifty three percent of respondents had a B.A. degree, forty one percent had a graduate degree, and one respondent had still not finished university.

§Jewish School

The Jewish school students consisted of fifteen male and twenty-six female students with a mean age of 13.63 (SD = 1.18) living in downtown Riga. The primary function of this private school was to provide parents with an opportunity to raise their children with awareness of their Jewish culture and traditions. Participants reported a variety of ethnicities, including Jewish, Russian, Russian-Jewish, Latvian, Latvian-Jewish and accounted for much of the non-Latvian variance in the overall sample. The most common responses were Russian Jewish (38.5%) and Russian (20.5%). All reported student as their occupation. All but one reported Russia as their country of origin. Ninety five percent reported no income and five percent report under $186 as their income. Sixty percent reported completing middle school and forty percent reported completing elementary school. As the mean age indicates most were middle school students, it is possible that the question was misinterpreted by some students as their current standing in school instead of the intended determination of level completed.

§Farmer Sample

The farmer sample was composed of five male and eleven female respondents throughout Latvia with a mean age of 38.31 (SD = 7.85). All respondents reported Latvian as their ethnicity, cultural identity and country of origin. Eighty percent reported an income under $186/month and all respondents reported less than $651/month.

§Valmiera School

The Valmiera School sample consisted of 48 males and 48 females with a mean age of 17.19 (SD = 1.03). Valmiera is an average sized city in central Northern Latvia. The school sampled was the primary public high school in this city and thus this sample may be considered relatively representative of students of this region. All students excepting one Ukranian reported some variant of Latvian ethnicity. Fifty five percent reported no income, forty three reported between one and one hundred eighty six dollars per month, one student reported between one hundred eighty six and three hundred seventy two dollars per month and one student reported an income over nine hundred thirty dollars a month. From my own understanding all were high school students though two students did report only completion of elementary school.

§Skrieveri School

The Skrieveri school sample consisted of twenty-seven males and forty-five females with a mean age of 16.69 (SD = 1.44). Skrieveri is a small to average sized city in central Southern Latvia. The school sampled was the primary public high school in this city and thus this sample may be considered relatively representative of students of this region. Nearly all students reported some Latvian variant as their ethnic background though four percent reported Russian, one student reported English, and one student reported Polish. Seventy seven percent of respondents reported non-income and all reported less than $651/month. All were high school students though one only reported completion of elementary school.

§Issues for Consideration in Examination of Results

§Recode of Missing Don’t Know Response

An issue which came up in analysis and which must be considered in examination of the following results was that the survey was administered with answer option five as “don’t know” instead of this item being anchored in the center.

As a result, I compared three methods of data analysis for situations where the “don’t know” response was offered: 1) list wise deletion, 2) deletion of responses using this choice and subsequent imputation using Full Information Maximum Likelihood, and 3) recoding this don’t know response in the middle of the scale, making a five point likert scale and effectively equating “don’t know” to being directly between “very true” and “not true at all”.

Analysis using all three methods provided similar results with nearly identical factor structures and subsequent reliability, ANOVA, and multiple regression analyses. That all methods produced similar results is particularly interesting as there was considerable variance in the use of this choice. Though the average use of this choice by question was approximately 15% of respondents, some items, such as question eight, “the government is doing enough to educate people and include them in environmental decision making” had nearly half responses marked as “don’t know”.

Though Little’s test indicated that the response could be considered completely at random (Chi-Square = 6660.614, DF = 6574, Sig. = .224), with further consideration, it became obvious that neither of the deletion methods were adequate as logic showed that the data were in fact not missing at random and thus I chose to use the analyses with “don’t know” recoded as the middle point.

§Reverse Coding

As the initial survey was coded from low to high with “very true” at the bottom of the scale and “not at all true” at the top of the scale, to ease in interpretation of analyses, I subsequently reverse coded all responses so that the scales were analyzed with high values suggesting more agreement with the item.

§Sample Size

Though the total number of subjects with complete data was 260, due to limited resources and ability to find members of other subgroups willing to be surveyed, some of the other groupings were relatively small. In contrast with the adequate sample sizes for the schools, with 96 for the Valmiera School, 72 for the Skrieveri School, and 41 for the Jewish school, the other samples were relatively scant. There were 17 completed environmental ministry surveys, 16 for farmers, 11 for miscellaneous Riga residents, and 7 for expats.

§Psychometrics

§Reliability

When measured together, the 31 likert items had adequate reliability (α= .80). Despite this, as factor analysis resulted in multiple factors and I was interested in exploring the individual items in greater depth, I chose to conduct analyses of the scale on an item and factor level basis.

§Factor Analysis

A principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation and Kaiser normalization was run on the interrelation of the 31 quantitative scale items of the instrument. As can be seen in the following scree plot, nine factors were extracted with eigen values above 1. These factors which are used in the following analyses account for variance in the data for the individual items with the following degrees: factor one 20%, factor two 7%, factor three 5.8%, factor four 5.6%, factor five 5%, factor six 4.8%, factor seven 4%, factor eight 3.9%, and factor nine 3.5%.

Figure 63: Scree Plot of Factors Produced by Factor Analysis

The specific loadings of items of different questions are demonstrated in the following table. Scores were saved out using the regression method so as to have a mean of zero and a variance equivalent to the squared multiple correlation between true factor values and estimated factor scores. The full questions can be seen in the survey attached at the back of this chapter.

Table 12: Rotated Factor Loadings for Thirty-One Scale Items

Component

Analysis of the questions with loadings of .3 and above on any factor provided means to label these factors as indicated below.

Importance of environmental protection for self

Culture and environmental protection

Awareness of ways in which one can facilitate environmental protection

Importance of environmental protection for economic development and ceasing global environmental problems

Importance of a governmental role in environmental education

Happiness and economic stability

Economic development as a threat to the environment and support for shutting down polluting factories

Hierarchical views and helping environment important for economic growth

Environmental protection as responsibility of citizens, not the government.

§Analysis by Groups

§Factor Level Differences

Analysis of variance indicated that there was a significant group by factor effect (p < .05). All factors except factor four, “Importance of environmental protection for economic development and ceasing global environmental problems” and factor six, “Happiness and economic stability” displayed significant differences (p < .05) by group. I next use graphs and an exploration of LSD post hoc comparisons to explore how groups differed on a factor level. As this work is exploratory, in these and all of the following analysis, I looked at all possible pair wise comparisons in any situation where the omnibus F was significant. On all following analyses, higher values indicate greater support by the participant group of the statement or factor in question.

As can be seen in the following figure, the importance of environmental protection for self was higher for all groups excepting the two Latvian language schools and was significantly higher (p < .05) for the farmer and Jewish school groups. As with several other factors, it appears that power might not have been adequate specifically regarding the expat sample as they are visibly the highest higher but the result is not significant.

Figure 64: Plot of Mean For the Importance of Environmental Protection for Self By Group

The figure below shows that the importance of Culture in environmental protection is highest amongst the environmental ministry and farmer groups. Environmental ministry members were significantly higher (p < .05) than expats, Jewish school members, and the school in Valmiera. The farmer group was higher than expats, Jewish school members, and either the Valmiera or Skrieveri school (p < .05). Jewish school members were significantly lower than all but the expat groups (p < .05).

Figure 65: Plot of Mean For Importance of Culture in Environmental Protection By Group

Expats were the highest in their awareness of ways in which one can facilitate environmental protection, followed by environmental ministry members, Jewish school members, farmers, Valmiera school students, the Riga sample, and Skrieveri school students. Expats self report was significantly higher than any of the other groups (p < .05). Environmental ministry members and Jewish school members reported significantly higher levels than either the Valmiera or Skrieveri student samples (p < .05).

Figure 66: Plot of Mean For Awareness of Ways to Facilitate Environmental Protection By Group

Though the following figure depicts that farmers are the highest, followed by Skrieveri students, Valmiera students, environmental ministry members, Jewish school students, the Riga sample, and expats on consideration of the importance of environmental protection for economic development and ceasing global environmental problems, the F test for this factor was non significant so post hoc contrasts were not evaluated.

Figure 67: Plot of Mean For The Importance of Environmental Protection for Economic Development and Ceasing Global Environmental Problems By Group

Environmental Ministry members were the highest on the factor measuring importance of a governmental role in environmental education, followed by Jewish school students, Skrieveri school students, farmers, Valmiera school students, the Riga sample, and the expat sample. Environmental ministry members were significantly higher than the expat, Riga, farmer, and Valmiera school samples (p < .05). The Skrieveri school sample was significantly higher than the Valmiera school sample on this measure (p <. 05).

Figure 68: Plot of Mean For the Import of a Governmental Role in Environmental Education By Group

The omnibus F for group effect on factor six, which measured happiness and personal economic stability, was non significant for all samples so post hoc comparisons were not evaluated. Visually, the expat and Jewish school samples were the highest, followed by Skrieveri school students, Valmiera school students, environmental ministry members, farmers, and the Riga sample. Possibly with greater power from a higher sample size, significant differences would evince.

Figure 69: Plot of Mean For Happiness and Personal Economic Stability By Group

Environmental ministry members were significantly lower than all other groups except the Riga sample on factor seven, which measures the importance of economic development as a threat to the environment and support for shutting down polluting factories. The Riga sample and the Valmiera school sample were also significantly lower than the Skrieveri school sample and the Jewish school sample.

Figure 70: Plot of Mean For Economic Development as a Threat to the Environment By Group

Jewish school students were significantly higher (p < .05) than expats, environmental ministry members, Valmiera students, and Skrieveri students on factor eight which measures the importance of hierarchical views and helping the environment for economic growth. Farmers were higher (p < .05) on this factor than environmental ministry members, expatriates, and Valmiera students. Skrieveri students were significantly higher than expats (p < .05).

Figure 71: Plot of Mean For Importance of Hierarchical Views for Environment and Economic Growth By Group

Farmers and the Riga sample were highest and the environmental ministry members lowest on factor nine, which measures environmental protection as the responsibility of citizens, not the government. Farmers were significantly higher on this measure than all groups, excluding the Riga sample (p < .05), whereas the Riga sample was significantly higher than environmental ministry members, Jewish school students, and Skrieveri school students. Along with Farmers and the Riga sample, Valmiera students had significantly higher values than the Environmental Ministry members on this factor (p < .05).

Figure 72: Plot of Mean For Environmental Protection as Responsibility of Citizens, not Government By Group

§Differences on Individual Questions

Next I look at differences between the groups on an individual question basis, again using graphs and, post hoc LSD comparisons when appropriate.

In the following figure we see that expats, environmental ministry members, and farmers are higher than the other groups on their view that protecting their natural environment is important to them. Post hoc testing indicates that all three of these groups are significantly higher than the two Latvian schools (p < .05).

Figure 73: Question 1. Protecting my natural environment is important to me.

Both expats and farmers were significantly higher than Jewish school, and Valmiera school students on perception that environmental protection is important to the respondent’s well being. The Riga sample, the farmer sample, and Skrieveri school students were also significantly higher than the Jewish school members on their rating of this question (p < .05).

Figure 74: Question 2. Environmental protection is important for my well-being.

Expats were significantly lower than all groups but the Riga sample on their self reported understanding of the environmental situation in Latvia (p < .05). The Riga sample was significantly lower than the farmer sample and the Skrieveri school sample. The farmer sample, the environmental ministry sample, and the Valmiera school sample were significantly higher than the Valmiera school sample (p < .05).

Figure 75: Question 3. I understand the environmental situation in Latvia.

Farmers were significantly higher than all groups except the Riga sample on the belief that helping the environment is important for Latvia’s economic growth (p < .05).

Figure 76: Question 4. Helping the environment is important for Latvia’s economic growth.

Though there no significant differences for the question that asked whether, given time, would one be more interested in protecting the environment, its interesting that the farmer group is higher than the other groups.

Figure 77: Question 5. If I had more time I would be more interested in protecting my environment.

The question on level of happiness was non significant by groups:

Figure 78: Question 6. I am happy.

Question seven which asked whether people with more ability should earn more wealth was non significant but its interesting that the highest paid group, expats, has the lowest rating for this item. My own experience tells me that this result may be influenced by relatively liberal views of most of the expats that were surveyed.

Figure 79: Question 7. People with more ability should earn more wealth.

The question on whether the government is doing enough to educate people and include them in environmental decision-making was borderline significant (p = .058). Though statistically not significant, the high score for the environmental ministry in comparison to other scores is interesting. If the sample size were higher, it might make give validity to the post-hoc result, which indicates that this group is significantly higher than expats, farmers, and the Valmiera school.

Figure 80: Question 8. The government is doing enough to educate people and include them in environmental decision-making.

Expats, ministry members, and farmers were all significantly higher than the Riga sample, the Jewish school students, and the Valmiera school students on their view of the importance of maintaining culture for themselves (p < .05) while Skrieveri students were significantly lower than farmers and ministry members (p < .05). All groups excepting the Riga sample were lower than the Jewish school members on this question (p < .05).

Figure 81: Question 9. Maintaining culture is important to me.

Environmental ministry members were lower than all groups and significantly lower than the Valmiera and Skrieveri school students on the perception that global warming is a serious problem (p < .05).

Figure 82: Question 10. Global warming is a serious problem.

Farmers were higher than all groups excepting the Riga sample on the view that environmental protection is the responsibility of the government and not the public (p < .05).

Figure 83: Question 11. Environmental protection is the responsibility of the government and not the public.

All groups but the Riga sample were significantly higher than the expats on their view that the government is doing a good job protecting their environment (p < .05). Environmental ministry members and both the Valmiera and Skrieveri school were significantly higher on this perception than the Riga sample. Environmental ministry members were significantly higher than all groups except the Skrieveri and Valmiera school members who were both higher than the Jewish school students (p < .05).

Figure 84: Question 12. The government is doing a good job in protecting our environment.

Environmental ministry members were significantly higher than all groups except farmers and Skrieveri students on the view that polluters should be severely fined or punished (p < .05). Expats were significantly lower than both ministry members and farmers (p < .05). Jewish school members were significantly lower than ministry members, farmers, and Skrieveri students (p < .05). Valmiera students were significantly lower than Skrieveri students on this measure (p < .05).

Figure 85: Question 13. Polluters should be severely fined or punished.

In apparent contrast to the last question, environmental ministry members were significantly lower than Jewish school students, Skrieveri Students, and farmers on their belief that factories that pollute heavily should be shut down (p < .05). The Jewish school students were significantly higher than the Riga sample, the environmental ministry members, and the Valmiera students who were also lower than the Skrieveri students (p < .05).

Figure 86: Question 14. Factories that pollute heavily should be shut down.

Though the expat sample was highest, the perception that one has enough money to live comfortable was not significantly different by group. Non-significance on this and other factors demonstrating stark visual contrast with this group may be due to the inadequate sample size and thus future work would benefit by further exploring this.

Figure 87: Question 15. I have enough money to live comfortably.

Satisfaction with the state of the environment is also non significant with an opposite trend to that seen in satisfaction with personal income level.

Figure 88: Question 16. I feel satisfied with the state of the environment in Latvia.

Expats and the Riga sample both gave significantly higher values to the importance of protecting water resources for oneself compared to the Jewish school and expats gave a higher value of this compared to the Skrieveri and Valmiera schools (p < .05).

Figure 89: Question 17. Protecting Latvia’s water resources is very important to me.

While only expats and farmers gave consistently high values to the importance of forestry protection for self, the result was non significant.

Figure 90: Question 18. Protecting Latvia’s forests is very important to me.

We see a similar pattern with farmers and expats high on the importance for saving Latvia’s wetlands for oneself but the results are non significant.

Figure 91: Question 19. Protecting Latvia’s wetlands is very important to me.

The same basic pattern with high expat and farmer values for the protecting Latvia’s air for self but again non significant:

Figure 92: Question 20. Protecting Latvia’s air is very important to me.

Expats, Jewish school students, and farmers all rated the importance of protecting Latvia’s rivers significantly higher than Valmiera and Skrieveri school students (p < .05). Farmers also rated this factor significantly higher than the Riga sample (p < .05).

Figure 93: Question 21. Protecting Latvia’s Rivers is very important to me.

Expats, Jewish school students, and farmers all rate the importance of protection of the Baltic Sea significantly higher than Skrieveri students while Jewish students also scored this question higher than Valmiera school students (p < .05).

Figure 94: Question 22. Protecting the Baltic Sea is very important to me.

Though the mean farmer rating for whether environmental damage negatively impacts them was higher than other groups, the difference was non significant:

Figure 95: Question 23. Environmental damage negatively impacts me.

Expats expressed significantly more belief that there are actions that they could take which are effective in helping the environment than all other groups (p < .05). Environmental ministry members scored this question higher than either Valmiera or Skrieveri students and Jewish school students also scored this higher than Skrieveri students.

Figure 96: Question 24. There are actions that I could take which would be effective in helping the environment.

Awareness of ways to be more involved in environmental conservation was scored highest by expats and environmental ministry members but the results were non significant:

Figure 97: Question 25. I am aware of ways for me to be more involved in conserving Latvia’s environment.

Though expats, environmental ministry members, and farmers all had the highest levels on considering themselves part of nature, the result was not significant.

Figure 98: Question 26. I consider myself to be part of nature.

Jewish students had a significantly lower belief that Latvian culture was important to them than all other groups (p < .05). Valmiera students had significantly lower scores on this perception than farmers and environmental ministry members.

Figure 99: Question 27. Latvian culture is important to me.

Jewish school members were significantly less likely to think that their relationship with their environment is a product of their cultural heritage than all other groups (p < .05):

Figure 100: Question 28. How I relate to my environment is a product of my cultural heritage.

Environmental ministry members were significantly more likely to have participated in environmental activist groups than any of the school groups (p < .05):

Figure 101: Question 29. I have participated in environmental activist groups.

Jewish school members reported significantly less awareness of Latvian traditions than ministry members, farmers, Valmiera students, or Skrieveri students:

Figure 102: Question 30. I am aware of Latvian traditions.

Environmental ministry members were significantly less likely to think that economic development is a serious threat to Latvia’s natural environment than all groups but expats and the Riga sample:

Figure 103: Question 31. Economic development is a serious threat to Latvia’s natural environment.

§Summary of Group Differences

§Environmental Connection and Conservation

The group analysis generally supports the primary hypothesis of this paper that closer environmental connection indicates greater concern for its conservation. Of the ethnically Latvian local groups, the farmer sample was generally the highest, followed by the environmental ministry employees, followed by the two Latvian schools and miscellaneous sample in expressing concern for environmental issues. Furthermore, the Skrieveri school generally had slightly higher levels than the Valmiera school, which is somewhat more urban. It is also interesting to note that, for the ethnically Latvian groups, these patterns of group difference on concern for environmental issues went along with interest in cultural heritage.

The expat and Jewish school groupings varied more widely with less obvious patterns but both were generally high in terms of their view of concern for conservation. Both of these groups might be confounded due to several factors, including low sample size in the expat group and the fact that the survey was not conducted in the primary language for many of the Jewish school members who were also younger, ethnically different, and went to a private school, indicating a large number of differences in comparison with the other populations surveyed.

The general pattern described in which greater environmental connection is related with greater import to environmental matters can be seen in the figure depicting question twenty three in which respondents rated how much they perceived environmental damage as negatively impacting them:

Figure 104: Question 23. Environmental damage negatively impacts me.

Furthermore, its interesting to note that the pattern was similar in relation to import of cultural factors, demonstrating that feeling a connection between culture and environment relates to higher levels of concern for environmental matters:

Figure 105: Question 28. How I relate to my environment is a product of my cultural heritage.

In the same vein, we see that the same pattern of group differences of perception for the item used to determine that participants perceive that they are part of nature. This also reinforces the hypothesized ordering of group connection to environment:

Figure 106: Question 26. I consider myself to be part of nature.

§Environmental Ministry Discord

Another factor that is interesting to note is that environmental ministry members had comparatively low ratings on perceptions that economic growth hinders environmental protection demonstrated by this graph of item thirty-one.

Figure 107: Question 31. Economic development is a serious threat to Latvia’s natural environment.

Ministry members also had low levels of belief that polluting factories should be shut down:

Figure 108: Question 14. Factories that pollute heavily should be shut down.

Also rather interesting is that ministry members had the lowest level of concern for global warming:

Figure 109: Question 10. Global warming is a serious problem.

Also presenting some support for discord between the government and others is that ministry members scored the current work of the government the highest of any group on education and job performance:

Figure 110: Question 8. The government is doing enough to educate people and include them in environmental decision-making.

Figure 111: Question 12. The government is doing a good job in protecting our environment.

And the ministry members are the most satisfied with the current state of the environment in Latvia:

Figure 112: Question 16. I feel satisfied with the state of the environment in Latvia.

§General Feeling of Disempowerment

Another interesting item discovered in the analyses of groups was a general level of disempowerment prevalent in all groups excepting the expats. Though environmental ministry members were slightly on the positive end in their level of belief that there are actions they can take which would be effective in helping the environment, all local groups reported very low levels in perceived ability to impact change:

Figure 113: Question 24. There are actions that I could take which would be effective in helping the environment.

§Differences by Gender

Next I examine gender effects. I found significantly higher values for females than males on factor two, Culture and environmental protection (p = .02). This same pattern was demonstrated in analysis of individual questions, where both question 9, “Maintaining Culture is Important to Me” (p = .03), and question 26 “I consider myself to be part of Nature” (p = .03) were significantly higher for females.

§Differences by Marital Status

Marital status proved to be significantly correlated with several factors as well as individual questions. Factor two, culture and environmental protection displayed significant differences (p < .01) with single respondents significantly lower than married (p < .01) or cohabiting (p < .01) respondents:

Figure 114: Plot of Mean For Importance of Culture in Environmental Protection By Marital Status

Factor three, awareness of ways to facilitate environmental protection, also evinced differences (p=. 03), with separated respondents significantly higher than married (p=. 03) or single respondents (p=. 03) and single respondents significantly less than cohabiting respondents (p=. 02).

Figure 115: Plot of Mean For Awareness of Ways to Facilitate Environmental Protection By Marital Status

Factor nine, which measures environmental protection as responsibility of citizens and not the government was also significantly different by marital status (p < .05) with cohabiting respondents significantly higher than single respondents (p = .02).

Figure 116: Plot of Mean For Environmental Protection as Responsibility of Citizens, not Government By Marital Status

The following questions were also significantly different (p < .05) but in the interest of maintaining some brevity and because much of the information is reflected in the factors, I am not providing the graphs or results of post hoc comparisons:

Question 1. Protecting my natural environment is important to me.

Question 9. Maintaining culture is important to me.

Question 24. There are actions that I could take which would be effective in helping the environment.

Question 25. I am aware of ways for me to be more involved in conserving Latvia’s environment.

Question 27. Latvian culture is important to me.

Question 28. How I relate to my environment is a product of my cultural heritage.

Question 30. I am aware of Latvian traditions.

§Religion

Though a variety of religions were reported, I examined all factors by the four most commonly reported religious beliefs: Lutheran, Catholicism, Judaism, and none. These groups consisted of 55, 65, 19, and 60 individuals respectively. The only factor to indicate a significant effect (p < .05) by religion was factor 2, the importance of culture for environmental protection. Both Lutherans and Catholics had significantly higher values than the other two groups for this factor (p < .05). This result may also be due to ethnic or other differences, especially for the Jewish school group who were predominantly Russian, younger (middle school as opposed to high school or adult), and also were sometimes filling the survey out in a second language (English or Latvian as opposed to Russian or Hebrew).

Figure 117: Plot of Mean For Importance of Culture in Environmental Protection By Religion

§Political Party, Occupation, and City

Potential effects of political party, occupation and city were difficult to determine due to the number of categories and confounds with other variables. Future analyses might benefit from combining the different responses into more generalized categories and examining differences. Differences are further compounded by the comparatively homogenous nature of the groups with nearly all of the students having no occupation or political party and being from one of three cities. This means that in the present study its impossible to fully differentiate group differences from some of these other variables.

§Ethnicity

Though I initially attempted to examine the impact of ethnicity by looking at differences on factors across ethnic groupings, I ultimately decided not to present these, as there are too many confounding factors. Ethnic differences in my sample are basically divided amongst groups, with the expat sample predominantly American, the Jewish school largely composed of people that identified themselves as Russian, Jewish, or some combination thereof, and the rest of the samples almost entirely Latvia. Though it is possible that ethnic differences account for some of the differences in these groups there was insufficient ethnic variation within each group to adequately test for this hypothesis.

§Education

The omnibus regression of education on the factors was significant (p < .01), with a significant prediction of factor two, indicating higher education predicted higher attribution of the importance of culture to environmental protection (p = .04). Similarly, on an individual question level the omnibus F was significant (p < .01) with the following questions displaying significant positive correlation (p < .05):

Q7. People with more ability should earn more wealth.

Q25 I am aware of ways for me to be more involved in the environment.

And these questions displaying significant negative correlation (p < .05):

Q6 I am happy.

Q14 Factories that pollute heavily should be shut down.

§Number of Languages

An analysis of the impact of number of languages known by a respondent on questions and factors indicated that this is not significantly correlated.

§Income

Factor three, awareness of ways to facilitate environmental protection, was the only factor indicating a relationship with income. My analysis indicates that this may be partially an artifact of the expat sample, which both had significantly higher income than average and rated awareness of ways to facilitate environmental protection higher. As a result, I believe that one should be cautious in generalizing this effect to the sample at large.

§Discussion

In this paper I provide an exploratory examination of perceptions of seven sup-populations in Latvia. Most findings did go along with the general thesis of this paper, indicating that those most directly connected with environmental issues, such as farmers and people working in the environmental ministry, would express the most awareness and interest in conservation. It is interesting to note that cultural factors were also higher for these groups, possibly indicating an interconnection with environmental and cultural values. More support for this is that farmers often scored the highest on these issues, indicating that those directly in contact with real world environmental impacts are most concerned whereas ministry members who are probably more working from a theoretical basis are not as directly connected and thus show less concern.

§Discord of Environmental Ministry With Other Groups

One notable finding indicating a possible discord with my central thesis is found in the views of environmental ministry members specifically on concern for global warming and views of shutting down polluting factories for environmental protection. On both of these, ministry members expressed significantly lower levels of concern than other groups. Though possibly this is due to greater education on these issues and thus a real understanding of the factual situation, another potentially disturbing possibility is that these members may also be benefiting in some way from outside interests to downplay the negative role of industry for environmental pollution as well as the potential concern of global warming. Global warming has been linked to pollution emissions and thus potentially downplaying these issues is of interest to groups that may have influence on employees of policy related institutions. I have no direct evidence to suggest this conclusion for these specific questions and only mention it as I constantly heard in Latvia that everyone and everything is corrupt.

Another interesting finding is that the ministry employees surveyed were significantly higher than other groups on perception that the government is doing enough to educate people and include them in environmental decision-making. This indicates that, at least in my own samples, the government is at a strong discord with the public who would like more information and access to avenues for participation while governmental members feel that everything is currently adequate. Similarly, the environmental ministry members scored the highest on their perception that the government is doing a good job in environmental protection and in satisfaction with the state of the environment, indicating their own self-perception of performance may be significantly biased.

§Marital Status, Gender, and Education

It is interesting to note that female as well as married and cohabiting respondents gave higher values for the import of cultural factors in environmental protection. This same pattern was found in reported levels of belief that environmental protection is the responsibility of the citizens and not the government. In interesting contrast to this is the finding that separated and cohabiting respondents report higher levels of awareness of methods to facilitate environmental protection. Possibly separated respondents who reported the highest level of awareness have more time to think about such issues due to fewer marital obligations whereas single respondents may simply be younger and less concerned.

As was shown for marital status and gender, education also predicted importance of cultural factors for environmental protection. The negative correlation of education with happiness is an interesting result, which might benefit from further investigation. Though possibly an artifact of the sample, it could also be related to age with the realities of the harsh world for workers and even harsher for pensioners in Latvia. More educated people also reported less belief that polluting factories should not be shut down but this may be confounded due to comparatively higher education levels in the environmental ministry sample that reported significantly higher levels on this question. Further analyses could help discern the root of these finding and further studies could see if it is replicable.

§Potential Concerns and Areas for Future Work

§Legitimacy of Response

Legitimacy of response is a general concern for this and any such survey in the former Soviet Union due to many issues, including corruption. Other reasons for concern over legitimacy of response result from the impact of the Soviet era, which caused increased paranoia, specifically regarding disclosure of information. In my experience administering the survey, I sometimes had the perception that people were answering with the response that they felt was “correct” instead of what they necessarily believed. Future survey designers should learn from this and find ways to address potential concerns of subjects to elicit honest responses. Possibly a multimethod design using various instruments and subject reports could help to determine the validity of response.

§Ethnic Differences

Another concern in this survey and others undertaken thus far in Latvia is ethnic difference. All work of which I’m aware, including this study, has focused primarily on the ethnic Latvian population. Future research is needed to better understand how the very large (nearly half the population) Russian population might differ in their views on environmental issues to ensure that as representative a grouping as possible is incorporated in the decision making process. Though initially I planned to also look at this group, due to my own lacking Russian skills, I had difficulty ensuring that translations which others did for me were adequate and I thus chose to concentrate on Latvian and English speaking groups. A concern in the same vein is that the Jewish school that was surveyed had the survey conducted in Latvian or English, neither of which were typically the participants first or primary languages (Russian or Hebrew being the most common).

§Sample Size

Considering that the population of Latvia is nearly two and a half million people, my limited resources made it impossible to attempt a representative sample. Future work would benefit from a much larger sample, more representative sample which could be used to examine the views of all of the major ethnic and age groups found throughout all of the major regions of Latvia. Most notably, in this sample size the ex-pat group was far too small to adequately test significance and thus a future study would benefit from larger samples with size determined by power analyses, especially for all groups excepting the schools. It would be interesting to see if the effects produced in the presented post-hoc exploratory work could be replicated in larger, more representative samples.

§Open Ended Questions

There is a rich amount of open-ended data that I did not fully use in my analysis. Future work could employ the data set and determine coding schemes or simply report in depth on qualitative responses. Also, categorical responses could relatively easily be created as summaries of the demographic questions such as religion, political party, and city. I attempted analysis with less summarized codes and found too many categories. Future work could determine the most ideal categories for these variables and determine their correlation with factors and questions.

§Summary and Conclusions

This study provides an initial examination of the differing public perceptions on environmental issues in Latvia and support for the hypothesis that greater connection to the environment facilitates more concern for environmental conservation. I found that different groups significantly differ on a variety of factors, and specifically that members of the environmental ministry are at significant disparity with other members of the general public. One particularly shocking finding was that environmental ministry members had significantly less concern for global environmental issues, such as global warming than my samples of the general public and also that they were significantly more likely to think that development was environmentally beneficial and should not be curtailed.

Future studies might use the information gleaned from this preliminary work to design an education based multi-method, multi trait longitudinal intervention where education material would be focused for different groups and assessments made to determine later awareness and concern for environmental issues. Further work would also benefit from a focus on specific methods for conducting research in post-soviet countries, which may have higher levels of distrust of people gathering information. What is the legitimacy of data collected in these environments? Possibly future studies would benefit by using multiple methods, including observational analyses, to contrast and compare the accuracy of response, specifically in terms of self-report measurements.

§Literature Cited

• Lang, S. 1999. Results from the Opinion Poll on: Nature Concepts, Environmental Consciousness, and Behavior in Estonia. Baltic Environmental Forum, Riga.
• Lang, S. 2000. Target Group Assessment of the EU-program Natura 2000: Level of Knowledge, Hopes, and Fears. Baltic Environmental Forum. Riga.
• Penke, I., Klave, E. Ergle, A., and Aboma, A. 1999. Resident survey of the Lake Papes Project Territory Nr. 1. World Wild Life Fund Latvia. Riga.
• Simanovska, J. 1997. Baltic Co-operation in the Environmental Field. Baltic Environmental Forum. Riga.
• Zepa, B. 1998. Conditions of Enhancement of Civic Participation. Baltic Data House. Riga.

§Figures and tables in this chapter

The captions as listed in the manuscript. The plates themselves are in the figure appendix.

• Table 13: Survey of Public Attitudes in Latvia for Environmental Policy

§Survey: Public attitudes in Latvia towards the Environment and Environmental Policy

Overview of Project

The purpose of this project is to gain an understanding of the perceptions of environmental issues of the residents of Latvia. The primary function purpose is to gain an understanding of how these perceptions differ for different segments of the local population. The information will be used for statistical analysis and names or other traits that could identify the specific individual will not be used in the analysis or any publication resulting from this data. We are interested in this information to better understand how different segments of the populace (including business, scientists, and the general populace) feel about their natural environment.

Demographic Information

§Summary

In this chapter I briefly summarize lessons learned from the three case studies and then use the Latvian case study as a means to propose an organic approach for incorporating the public in environmental policy processes. This method using several forums concurrently to achieve greater understanding while simultaneously informing and learning from key stakeholders and the public in a dynamic, exciting, interactive process.

§Introduction

Each of the three societies examined in this paper is attempting in its own way to cope with the opportunity to create a sustainable economy and prevent ecological disaster while meeting the increasing demands of their populations for material goods in the context of their evolved culture. There is a clear need for broad public education to understand the scientific basis for ecological concerns.

There is also a clear need for public forums where individuals as well as representatives of groups, organizations and public interests can each present their views and negotiate acceptable solutions. Saving the environment - a general good -- often initially appears to involve increasing benefits to a small number of societal members while decreasing benefits to the majority. If a family farm is seized to protect a wetland, if alternatives are not provided, the individual's welfare can be affected dramatically eliminating the family’s source of livelihood.

The concept of the "tragedy of the commons" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons for a brief elaboration) underlies the extremely difficult issues in determining balanced and effective environmental policy. How to cope with the "tragedy of the commons" problem is a key issue for any policy decision model aiming to incorporate the public as well as other stakeholders. The participants in the decision process need the scientific education to understand the nature of the threat to the “commons” so that they can take informed actions to prevent the threat.

One of the problems with these decisions is that the threat is often long term. If a community surrounding a lake is faced with having a health hazard with undrinkable water, such a community can quickly make the decision to install a sewer system and septic tanks to prevent raw sewage from entering the lake. The decision process becomes much more difficult if the "commons" that is endangered is under a gradual threat that is not obvious other than through scientific research where the impact of individuals is nominal. Though an ecologically minded person with awareness of long term impacts might decide to ride a bycicle to work and question why others don’t do this as well with the perception that they are helping to preserve the ecology of their neighborhood, for most people it’s difficult to maintain awareness of long term ecological issues. Perhaps this is largely an issue of education, as greater awareness provides a means for one to have a more direct connection and thus perception of subtle changes and their influence on ones life. For example, without education and interest in such matters one might perceive that the main perceived negative effect of driving a Hummer to work instead of a bycicle to be might be primarily a noise issue without consideration for the likelihood that if everyone drove a Diesel-powered Hummer to work the effect would be measurable as can be seen from cities such as Mexico City that are choking in pollution. While the pollution of Mexico City is as obvious as the filth of a lake choked by raw sewage from adjoining property many environmental problems are far more subtle requiring scientific knowledge to describe their impact. My focus is on these more subtle science-based environmental issues.

Managing the trade-offs and negotiations between individuals and groups is a messy process that has historically not been particularly transparent. As demonstrated earlier in this paper, the fact that scientific information and expert judgment may be involved does not automatically make the process more logical or eliminate cognitive decision biases. Scientific information, especially if taken in a reductionist sense without accounting for different variables from different fields, can and often has been used to advance irrational purposes.

The dilemma facing society is how to construct fair and transparent processes to enable a rational discussion of ecological threats and opportunities for sustainable development that includes win-lose situations and maximize win-win situations by creating sustainable alternatives for formerly destructive practices. While it may be possible in a healthy society to create more win-win opportunities than in a poorly functioning society the win-lose situations will still arise where the welfare of individuals is diminished for the greater good of the society. In real-world societies the deck is stacked to benefit the ruling elite, which often does not represent an effective response to an environmental threat. Making oil billionaires richer is almost built-in to the functioning of industrial economies but this also increases the threat of global warming.

Societies, such as the Soviet Union, had no transparent process to facilitate the negotiations among individuals and groups and the societies in transition from these systems have unique challenges. In former Soviet societies, problems were often solved through blat (bribes). Clearly blat and influence were ineffective in addressing environmental concerns even with the repressive force of a totalitarian state.

This paper represents a search for a dynamic process that can be effective in resolving the differences among individuals and groups as they are impacted by environmental issues.

History is littered with failures to solve the problem of environmental threats. Fiji, Belize and Latvia, all former colonies of empires, each face environmental threats but are in a unique position in having areas of relatively pristine environment that are potentially under serious threat by ineffective policy.

It is clear that participation of an educated public is key to an effective societal response to ecological issues. A scientific elite cannot dictate effective environmental policy due to the need to solve the problem of trade-offs among the competing interests of individuals and groups and because they often are not as in tune with the various issues directly relating to their environment.

I next present a model for transparent representative decision making and then explore unique methods to facilitate the incorporation of the public within this model.

§A Potential Model Incorporating All Relevant Factors

I see the ideal situation as something similar to the diagram below. Though the parties involved would change in any situation, I see the viewpoints of the public, economists, ecologists, impacted business members, NGOs, government, and anthropologists or other locals involved in studying their culture working with mutually elected group facilitators who are aware of cognitive biases uncovered by the psychology of decision making to achieve the most transparent and informed process possible to create sustainable environmental policy.

Figure 118: Decision Diagram for Integrative Approaches to Environmentally and Economically Sustainable Environmental Management

In this model, the key stakeholders are represented by different sections of the leaf and in the center we have the facilitators. The gears in the diagram represent this process and the triangle represents the policy, which represents the views of the different stakeholders in a clear though multifaceted construct. I chose to give a green color to the whole diagram despite the fact that many stakeholders are unlikely to be focused on environmental objectives. This was done because a central thesis of this paper is that environmental and economic sustainability are truly inexorably linked and that humans and the economy they create are and must be considered an intrinsic part of their environment to remain sustainable in the long-term.

I envision the facilitators depicted in the center as mutually elected by all of the representative stakeholders. These will be people that are considered unbiased by the different stakeholders and work to make the process as transparent as possible. As a result these facilitators would be trained in cognitive biases, unbiased facilitation, as well as an ability to communicate and understand on, a general level, all of the fields represented by the stakeholders. If a party were presenting information that appeared to display cognitive biases, these facilitators would work to uncover this possibility and present this. Prior to discussions, all stakeholders would be informed of the different biases and agree to the rules involved in their discussion and the credibility of the facilitators.

Next I present avenues for including the public in this process.

§Interesting Possible Avenues for Facilitating Public Participation in The Proposed Model

§Multimedia Benefit Events

One of the primary preliminary conclusions from my research in Latvia is that, while many people have a general interest in environmental issues, they don’t know how to get more involved. I would like to create a model for involving the public, from students and concerned young people to business people, to pensioners to engender heightened environmental consciousness and, when appropriate, stimulate environmental action.

In my initial Fulbright proposal, I planned to organize a workshop involving various stakeholders who impact or have a concern about the environment. I participated in numerous conferences, workshops and meetings during my stay in Latvia that addressed the environmental agenda. Most failed to accomplish the goal of creating real space for dialogue and involvement of the general public and other stakeholders. Many of the supposed opportunities for environmental action seemed to have no observable impact. These tend to be attended by people paid to be there and were often perceived as being without passion, rather boring, and unimportant.

I felt frustrated about the potential for my project to have significant impact beyond the academic value of greater empirical understanding of environmental perceptions in Latvia. In the last portion of my stay in Latvia, following more contact with the arts and music community I saw new opportunities for building a more activist environmental consciousness in Latvia that is grounded in the public’s increased evidence-based knowledge about the ecosystem. There are examples of the melding of the creative arts with environmental concern that have been effective in the US including art fairs, band concerts and other events. A strong understanding of one’s interconnection with their environment is a necessary precondition to sustainable development. Environmental conservation is even more obviously practical in small countries such as Latvia with few indigenous resources to assure the long term well being of the residents through sustainable development balanced and in harmony with the environment.

I propose bringing the environmental activists together with artists and musicians to work on achieving an interesting and exciting multidisciplinary multimedia approach to environmental education and action. In Latvia, I made connections with not only the environmental Ministry and NGO’s such as the World Wild Life Fund and the Environmental Protection Club, but people and organizations involved with video, music, and art with the end result of the event later described. Inspiring multimedia events gives a platform to facilitate exciting and compelling dialog between the public, NGOs, and politicians. I believe that the one successful event outlined is a model for others to follow.

If events can be organize that celebrate the miracle of the ecosystem and humanity’s role as both guardian and participant in the living processes of the planet then understanding will be promoted and many more people will be motivated to be involved.

This idea was already tested in the successful benefit concert that I helped organize with the Social Policy institute in front of the Riga Congress building. At this concert, many local musicians, including my own Ska band, Voiceks Voiska performed. A very diverse grouping of entertainers was included to facilitate as large and representative of participation as possible. Performers ranged from folk dancers, local elementary school choir groups, and traditional folk singers, to modern pop and hardcore punk rock bands. This worked to attract a wide audience of all ages and many subcultures. Though the audience initially primarily came to listen to music, informational stands were set up and surveys enplaced where this diverse grouping of locals could fill out their viewpoints on how to best plan new development in the center of Riga.

This provided an entertaining and informative way for the public, who often feel overworked and unenthusiastic about participation, to get involved. I think this forum could serve as a model for much more representative ways inform and learn from the public.

§Representative NGO

One possible avenue to incorporate the public would be in creation of a reprentative NGO whose members would participate in the decision making process and who who would act as representatives of public opinion. Using various sampling methods, including traditional approaches as well as presented approaches such as multimedia events, one could attract a diverse, large groupings of the public who could be surveyed at relatively low cost. These surveys could then be used by this representative NGO who would send as many constituents as were needed to adequately represent the different views found in the survey populace. If analyses of these surveys indicated that there were multiple opposing alternative public views, multiple people could be sent from the NGO whose soul focus was to act as public representatives, in effect, an unbiased public representative grouping.

§Potential of Using Non Technical Forms to Communicate with the Public, Such as The Daina Song in Latvia

Another interesting avenue that I see being used for participation is more lyrical and expressive forms of communication. I believe that the Daina form not only indicates how Latvians have traditionally viewed nature but also may be useful as part of an alternative forum for communicating modern day ecological views. Satterfield and Slovic (2004) provide fascinating examples of work in this direction in the US in their examination of narrative expression as a means to communicate environmental values. I think that work in Latvia would benefit from examining the potential to develop this as another alternative forum to communicate with segments of the populace that are more receptive to this or other alternative forms.

§Recommendations for Latvia Based on Research In my Last Case Study

Despite its remarkable success, considering its starting point as a former Soviet Republic, Latvia, my last case study, faces particular challenges as an emerging country. In Soviet times, Latvia had no national institutions and was isolated from the surrounding world behind a wall of paranoid secrecy using the non-convertible currency of a bankrupt, ideologically based empire. Now, with vibrant democratic institutions and a civil society, thousands of successful businesses, a strong, convertible currency, and accession to the European Union and NATO membership Latvia is poised for rapid economic growth. This achievement enables Latvia to leverage its geostrategic position as a natural gateway linking Russia with Western Europe through its transit trading ports and a large Russian and international business community in the region’s largest and most important city, Riga. Latvia’s gateway role and comparative success, in contrast to most other former Soviet republics, suggest that it will continue to leaven reforms further to the East with the potential to positively influence movement towards integration of Europe with Russia. Along with all of this promise comes concern for the possibility of unrestrained growth potentially leading to massive environmental devastation and ultimately loss of precious resources needed for long term economic sustainability.

As outlined throughout this paper, I see the need to have a wide representative grouping of the public involved in the decision making process. I see the information from the case study presented here as being a starting place to achieve greater public participation. To achieve a high level of understanding of the public views with the difficulty at achieving legitimate information, I believe that common approaches as well as non-standard approaches should be implemented.

§Standard Forum For Examining Perceptions and Achieving Participation

I believe that to adequately inform environmental policy it is important to examine public perception of relevant issues and to compare and contrast expert opinion with that of the public. Economic and social indicators are valid measures of success and failure, including among many others earnings per capita, unemployment, infant mortality, educational attainment, new business startups, bankruptcy, growth in per capital GDP, savings, crime statistics and other data.

However, such statistics may distort and even hide the perceptions of the public about the reforms that may be even more important than these seemingly objective measures. Governments rise and fall as do stock markets on the basis of public perceptions. To better understand public attitudes, I propose doing a broad populace survey throughout the major regions of Latvia. This would ideally provide an understanding of perceptions in both rural and urban areas and include both the native Latvian and postwar Russian speaking population. This would help uncover demographic differences to find where current policies are perceived as working and where future work should be concentrated. It seems clear, for example, that reform programs have been more effective in Riga where wealth has been concentrated, but that rural and agricultural areas are currently suffering. Surveys of perception from a broad cross section of the population may uncover deeper, less obvious impacts of the reform process both ecologically and economcally with the potential to better inform future environmental policy.

People are the designers and implementers of policy, serving both as the beneficiaries of their successes and the victims of their failures. An understanding of policy, therefore, also demands an understanding of the views of people in contrast to the views of technical experts. Furthermore, educational forums for fostering dialogue can help achieve greater understanding and realization of common goals than a public opinion survey alone.

Along with the survey, I propose several issue focused, cross-cutting workshops in which project experts, reform actors and the public would participate to provide a forum for both education and gathering information to compare and contrast other methods of research with perceptions in the populace of Latvia.

Therefore, I propose a four level methodology to informing environmental policy in Latvia.

Level I. Expert analysis of key topic areas

OUTPUT – Analytic reports.

Level II Expert interaction with other actors in reform process

Workshop(s) organized by NGOs to engage the participants in a process where expert views gained through practice and research inform and educate the other participants. Zalo Brievibu and other environmental NGOs have been very successful in organizing workshops involving a diversity of experts, organizations and opinions on issues relating to sustainable development.

OUTPUT – Crosscutting insights across reform topics.

Level III Survey of public opinions and attitudes towards policy issues

Survey of a cross-section of education, age, gender, ethnic, and occupation groups.

OUTPUT – Public attitudes towards the success or failures of current and past environmental policies

Level IV Integrative analysis

Integration of the outputs of Levels I, II and III.

OUTPUT – Integrated summary report of findings and general conclusions about environmental policy in Latvia.

Non Standard Approach To Facilitate Public Involvement

Along with the more standard approach just outlined, I believe that Latvia could benefit from other avenues for improving public participation. One idea is a multi media concert benefiting the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea has been polluted and over fished destroying the livelihoods of thousands of fisherman. This is clear and apparent to most people in Latvia. I see the possibility of a Baltic Sea Aid concert that attracts musicians from all of the countries bordering the Baltic Sea that raises awareness and funds for action before other ecological disasters are created that destroy jobs, damage health, and breed despair.

I have met many people in Latvia with important ideas that could make such an event a success through art, music and the lively discussion of things that can be done by ordinary citizens to improve their environment and the lives of people who depend on the environment. The presence of environmental activists from the region should get the attention of local politicians as well as the media. This event would serve the dual purpose of determining perceptions of past, present, and future policy initiatives of those in attendance (price of admission might could be reduced for those filling out a survey) as well as raising money for conservation efforts such as saving fishing villages, environmental education, and re-introduction of fish species.

A very important result could also be the elimination of highly dangerous chemical waste that was dumped into the Baltic by the Nazis during World War II. A good location for the event could be Jurmala, which at one time was pristine beachfront but at times is now so polluted that people can’t safely swim there.

§Summary and Conclusions

I used this paper to present three case studies that provided evidence from a diverse spectrum of fields to provide support for the need for public participation and potential methods to facilitate this. I argued in the first chapter that environmental conservation is fundamental to the survival of our own species and that furthermore to be effective this must be done from a base of connectedness with the environment. The next four chapters provided two case studies as potential areas for environmental conservation and I pointed to how the public must be involved if conservation is to be effective. Following this, I examined the literature of decision making and cultural psychology to show factors that must be considered in the inclusion of the public and to provide further theoretical support for the contention that public involvement is in fact a key ingredient to effective policy. Following this, I presented a case study in the interesting example of Latvia, an area where public participation is a particularly troubling and difficult thing to achieve due to the former soviet influence as well as specific cultural factors.

I conclude this document in this last chapter where I propose ways to facilitate public participation even difficult environments such as Latvia. I believe that participation of all key stakeholders, including the affected public is not only vital but, with creativity can be an achievable and potentially even an enjoyable undertaking.

§Literature Cited

• Satterfield, T., & Slovic, S. (2004). What's nature worth? Narrative expressions of environmental values. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.

§Notes

Part “natural” and part “human altered” or machine.

Unlike traditional staple fish, the Nile Perch has an oily texture which makes it nearly inedible unless smoked (Barel et al. 1985).

For an in depth discussion of bioregionalism and life cycle thinking, the reader is referred to Birch and Diffenderfer (1995) and Duncan (1995).

In 1994 I was an exchange student for six months at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. In 1995 I studied at the Institute for Central American Development Studies (ICADS) based in Costa Rica and worked for the Belize Center for Environmental Studies (BCES) in Belize.

Alcalde is the Spanish word for Mayor.

Belizean independence was delayed for so long primarily because of the long standing threat that Guatemala would annex Belize (Grant 1976).

The potential for large scale agriculture without massive fertilization is also minimum in Belize due to nutrient poor soils (Wright et al. 1959). Belize’s agriculture potential is discussed more deeply in chapter five.

As Carrington (1968: 513-517) shows, nearly identical patterns of imposed tax burdens to create virtual slavery were emplaced throughout the world by the British Empire. Notable examples include Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, and Mauritius.

As with imposed tax burdens to create dependency, the practice of using imported labor particularly from India and other areas of Asia has been widespread and resulted in similar cultural change. Much of the west Indies, Tanzania, and Mauritius have all suffered from the large scale importation of different cultural groups to fulfill colonial labor interests (Smith 1971: 468-472; Carrington 1968: 513-517)

The shallow water during low tide allowed us to conduct the study by walking and thus dive gear was not necessary. To clearly observe the benthic distribution through the shallow water we used a standard dive mask.

Sites were qualitatively selected by an area mangrove expert to be representative of the general area. It was assumed that sites near river mouths would be comparable because of the common location within each river.

This subsection on threats is based on a Agardy (1996).

Hurricane impact was the primary “natural” hypothesis posed. Hypotheses regarding anthropogenic impact on the reef include: polluted effluent from the Suva area resulting in eutrophication and sediment loading and pollution from the Rewa River causing coral death and eutrophication.