The Impacts of Flood and Local Communities’ Coping Strategies along the River Gambia

Flood disasters as Climate change hazards are common in developing countries, particularly in communities along the river Gambia. Local communities, for instance, had their local coping strategies that enabled them to stay in their communities even amid these ordeals, and climate change disaster threats. This work strives to understand flood impacts and the local peoples’ adaptation or coping strategies along the River Gambia basin. A community-based cross-sectional research study of 422 research participants of which 294 are males (69.7%) and females 128 (30.3%), and a focus group discussion of 10 groups which comprised 5 female groups and 5 male groups respectively found that 98.6% of the households experienced floods in their community, and 70.6% experienced flood in their houses, 2.1% have impending flood information and 88.4% do not know evacuation centres. The majority of the households had some local coping strategies, but they acknowledged their insufficient effectiveness. The result also shows that the impact of floods on farmlands, roads, buildings, and livestock was greatly felt. Coping strategies such as sandbags, raised elevations, contour bonds, dikes, and buildings on highlands were all found to be common mechanisms the local people used. The study opines that floods affect communities, but the effects vary depending on individual assets.

A local fuzzy method based on “p-strong” community for detecting communities in networks

In this paper,we propose a local fuzzy method based on the idea of ＂p-strong＂ community to detect the disjoint and overlapping communities in networks.In the method,a refined agglomeration rule is designed for agglomerating nodes into local communities,and the overlapping nodes are detected based on the idea of making each community strong.We propose a contribution coefficient bvcito measure the contribution of an overlapping node to each of its belonging communities,and the fuzzy coefficients of the overlapping node can be obtained by normalizing the bvci to all its belonging communities.The running time of our method is analyzed and varies linearly with network size.We investigate our method on the computergenerated networks and real networks.The testing results indicate that the accuracy of our method in detecting disjoint communities is higher than those of the existing local methods and our method is efficient for detecting the overlapping nodes with fuzzy coefficients.Furthermore,the local optimizing scheme used in our method allows us to partly solve the resolution problem of the global modularity.

The Knowledge about the Potential Health Risks of Illegal Bushmeat Activities among Local Communities Adjacent to Western Nyerere National Park, Tanzania

Establishing knowledge of local communities regarding the potential health risks of illegal bushmeat hunting and its related practices is among the essential means to developing effective conservation and public health programs. To reveal the understanding of the local people regarding the potential health risks of bushmeat consumption and handling of wildlife products, we used a semi-structured questionnaire to survey 261 households in eight villages located adjacent to the western part of Nyerere National Park. Also, we interviewed eight key informants, including conservation personnel and veterinary officers, in the study area. The proportion of local people who were unaware that handling of wildlife products and bushmeat consumption were risky behaviours towards acquiring zoonotic diseases was slightly higher (57%) than the proportion of respondents who were aware of the likely risks of zoonotic diseases from the practices. After all, the majority (83%) of local people admitted having come into contact with wildlife products, while over 70% reported having consumed bushmeat. We found that local communities living closer to the park boundaries (<15 km) have a higher likelihood of contacting wildlife products, and that community members who have lived in the area for more than ten years have experienced more contact with wildlife products than immigrants. Moreover, the age of inhabitants and length of stay were found to be the most significant factors in determining the likelihood of bushmeat consumption. Most people seemed to prefer bushmeat to domestic meat, arguing that bushmeat is far more flavorful, tender, not tainted with chemicals, and has less fat, making it safer. Our study demonstrated that local communities participate in risky practices without contemplating the health consequences that could emerge should a zoonotic disease outbreak occur. Among other strategies, we recommended conservation and public health institutions to increase awareness campaigns on the possible health risks of zoonotic diseases associated with wildlife.

Preserving environmental quality of ecotourism sites through community participation in Purulia District of West Bengal,India

The importance of valuing environmental resources,especially in ecotourism sites,has become increasingly important over the last two decades.Ecotourism is now considered as an important source of livelihood of local stakeholders in backward regions.Therefore,the preservation of ecotourism sites through community participation seems very important to maintain continued flow of tourists.This study aimed at recognizing the importance of community participation for the preservation of ecotourism sites.For this,this study executed a survey based on non-probability sampling in two ecotourism sites(Garpanchkot and Baranti)covering 100 respondents in Purulia District,West Bengal of India.The central issue of this study was to assess the tendency of community participation for the conservation of ecotourism sites and find the optimum condition for offering participatory labour time.This study showed that the participation of young people is high,and the majority of respondents are aware of the importance in protecting ecotourism sites.Because respondents were too poor to offer money,the contingent valuation method(CVM)was used to elicit their willingness to pay(WTP)participatory labour time for the conservation of ecotourism sites.Respondents’age,income,education level,caste,and their perceived environmental quality had significant relationship with their WTP participatory labour time by applying the ordinary least square(OLS)model.It was found that the mean WTP participatory labour time of each respondent in a month is approximately 3.64 h.The significance of this study is that community participation can improve the sense of belonging,trust,and credibility of ecotourism sites,making them more appreciative of the value and protection of these sites.

Perception and Attitudes of Local Communities Towards Wild Elephant-related Problems and Conservation in Xishuangbanna,Southwestern China

The problem of wild elephants, or human-elephant conflict (HEC), influences the daily life of local communities and hinders the conservation of wild elephants.The perception and attitudes of local communities who inhabited the frontiers between human activities and wild elephant movement are important to the mitigation of the HEC and conservation of wild elephants. To analyze the perception and attitudes of local communities, the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was used in the investigation of 423 interviewees from 22 villages in Xishuangbanna from July 2009 to February 2010. The results indicated that local communities had their views on the elephant-related problems. In field survey, we found that 66.5% of interviewees were willing to support, participate in, and assist in the conservation of wild elephants;33.5% of interviewees were opposed or indifferent to such conservation, because their livelihoods and even their lives were endangered by wild elephants. These views and attitudes were influenced by local communities′perception of HEC, education level, gender and self-interest. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the diverse views among local communities and balance profits and costs in addressing HEC.

A pattern for partnership between LMDH and Perhutani to enhance local community prosperity and preserve the forest:a case study at RPH Besowo,Kediri Regency,Indonesia

The deforestation in Indonesia is already alarming.One of the strategies used by the government to overcome forest deforestation is social forestry.This program is called PHBM(Pengelolaan Hutan Bersama Masyarakat/Joint Forest Management) which is basically a partnership program.This study aims at describing the partnership program between a local organization(i.e.LMDH) and a government unit(i.e.RPH of Perhutani) within the PHBM program.The objectives of this study are to(a) describe the model of partnerships between LMDH and RPH Besowo for sustainable forest management and local community empowerment;(b) determine the contribution of the forest to the national economy and rural household income;and(c) determine the obstacles commonly found in Besowo forest that have to be faced during the implementation of the partnerships.The study shows that with good partnership between these two units,the prosperity of the local community can be enhanced and the forest preservation can be maintained.The model of the partnerships in this particular area in Indonesia is expected to be applicable as well in other rural areas in Indonesia,as well as in other developing countries.

Selective use patterns of woody plant species by local communities in Mumbwa Game Management Area: A prerequisite for effective management of woodland resources and benefit sharing

Selective patterns of human uses of woody plants in Mumbwa Game Management Area were investigated using quantitative survey methods. Major causes of human encroachment into the wildlife zone were assessed so that appropriate management actions could be taken to ensure continued supply of goods and services to the local community. Woody plant species were found to be diverse with 93 species recorded in the study area. Of these, the community utilized 92 (99%) in different ways. Trees were cut for various reasons, major ones being;building poles, fire wood, fibre, fruit collection, medicine, bee honey collection, house hold tools and utensils and clearing for agriculture. Clearing for agriculture was the most damaging, because it involved removal of below and above ground woody biomass of all sizes and suppression of their regeneration during cultivation in subsequent years. Of the recorded human uses, 2366 kg of woody plant material was consumed per head/yr?1as fire wood. The day to day consumption of firewood varied with season. In the cold season (May-August), a 26 kg (mean weight) bundle of firewood was consumed in three days while in the warm season it lasts five days. Certain species were particularly selected;Julbernardia paniculata,Pericopsis angolensis,Brachystegia speciformis,Brachystegia boehmii,Julbernardia globiflora,Brachystegia longifolia,and Pteleopsis anisoptera. In building and construction, differences were observed in the species and size of poles was used. The mean sizes of roofing poles were 3.5 metres long and 0.18 metres mid-length girth. Wall poles were 2.4 metres long and 0.40 metres mid-length girth. For the main house of about two rooms each, there were an average number of 48 poles in the roof (45,859.2 cm3) and 28 (284,653.6 cm3) in the wall. Clearing for agriculture was the main cause of damage to woody plants in the Game Management Area. The extension of human settlements into the wildlife zone and towards the Itezhi-tezhi road is likely to increase loss of woody vegetation, and will have a negative impact on the habitat for wildlife.

Evaluating the Relationship between National Park Management and Local Communities’ Perceptions Based on Survey, a Case of Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda

A sustainable management of national park requires collaboration between park staff, NGOs, local organizations and stakeholders, and government intervention. This collaboration promotes community-based welfare and inspires a sense of responsibility, thus promoting more benefits than conflicts. A survey administered to residents surrounding Nyungwe National Park was used to evaluate the relationship between Nyungwe National Park management and local communities. The residents acknowledged a positive attitude towards participating in conservation organizations where there was involvement, while a negative response revealed weak community mobilization. The community’s opinions about protection and tourism progression noted weak conflict resolution, but a positive attitude towards tourism activities in the area since they believed employment was likely as a result. In addition, the residents asked for support from government investments and stakeholders to develop the local private sector, and asked to be involved during the planning process. Approaches including the design of coordination mechanisms and integrated conservation and developments projects are suggested to promote a management structure leading to community involvement in conservation and tourism activities. This will increase visitor numbers and contribute to economic development not only in the region but also in the whole country. Empirical studies along with the factors shaping tourism and conservation activities should be considered as the basis for sustainable decision and policy making for sustainable management, and will contribute to government, stakeholders and park manager collaborations at Nyungwe national park.

Seed-Oriented Local Community Detection Based on Influence Spreading

In recent years,local community detection algorithms have developed rapidly because of their nearly linear computing time and the convenience of obtaining the local information of real-world networks.However,there are still some issues that need to be further studied.First,there is no local community detection algorithm dedicated to detecting a seed-oriented local community,that is,the local community with the seed as the core.The second and third issues are that the quality of local communities detected by the previous local community detection algorithms are largely dependent on the position of the seed and predefined parameters,respectively.To solve the existing problems,we propose a seed-oriented local community detection algorithm,named SOLCD,that is based on influence spreading.First,we propose a novel measure of node influence named k-core centrality that is based on the k-core value of adjacent nodes.Second,we obtain the seed-oriented local community,which is composed of the may-members and the must-member chain of the seed,by detecting the influence scope of the seed.The may-members and the must-members of the seed are determined by judging the influence relationship between the node and the seed.Five state-of-art algorithms are compared to SOLCD on six real-world networks and three groups of artificial networks.The experimental results show that SOLCD can achieve a high-quality seed-oriented local community for various real-world networks and artificial networks with different parameters.In addition,when taking nodes with different influence as seeds,SOLCD can stably obtain high-quality seed-oriented local communities.

Set pair three-way overlapping community discovery algorithm for weighted social internet of things

There are many problems in Social Internet of Things(IoTs),such as complex topology information,different degree of association between nodes and overlapping communities.The idea of set pair information grain computing and clustering is introduced to solve the above problems so as to accurately describe the similarity between nodes and fully explore the multi-community structure.A Set Pair Three-Way Overlapping Community Discovery Algorithm for Weighted Social Internet of Things(WSIoT-SPTOCD)is proposed.In the local network structure,which fully considers the topological information between nodes,the set pair connection degree is used to analyze the identity,difference and reverse of neighbor nodes.The similarity degree of different neighbor nodes is defined from network edge weight and node degree,and the similarity measurement method of set pair between nodes based on the local information structure is proposed.According to the number of nodes'neighbors and the connection degree of adjacent edges,the clustering intensity of nodes is defined,and an improved algorithm for initial value selection of k-means is proposed.The nodes are allocated according to the set pair similarity between nodes and different communities.Three-way community structures composed of a positive domain,boundary domain and negative domain are generated iteratively.Next,the overlapping node set is generated according to the calculation results of community node membership.Finally,experiments are carried out on artificial networks and real networks.The results show that WSIoT-SPTOCD performs well in terms of standardized mutual information,overlapping community modularity and F1.

Factors That Influence Local Community Participation in Tourism in Murchison Falls Conservation Area

Community＇s participation is fundamental in understanding the factors that influence their access to and utilization of tourism resources. It is a plausible way of involving local communities in the planning and management of the available resources for their sustainability. This study examined the socio-economic characteristics of the households in Murchison Falls Conservation Area to understand how they influence their participation in tourism and eventually enhance household welfare. Using household survey and key informant interviews, data were collected on demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the respondents and analyzed using Binomial Logit Regression in order to show the factors that influence participation of households in tourism. It was found that the households＇ characteristics significantly influenced their participation. In particular, level of education （r = 0.824）, engagement in farm labor （r = 0.651）, provision of services to the tourists （r = 0.841）, income （r = 0.83） and landholding （r = 0.689） significantly influenced households＇ participation in tourism. On the other hand, age （r = 0.59） and period of residence （r = 0.430） did not significantly influence the households＇ participation in tourism. These results suggest that a clear understanding of the households＇ socio-economic characteristics is a vital step in engaging them meaningfully in tourism activities meant to enhance their livelihoods. Equally important is the need for tourism managers and local government leaders to consider these characteristics when designing policies and strategies to enhance community involvement and management of tourism at a conservation area level.

Spatial Development of Local Bantik Community in Malalayang, Indonesia

The Proximity between the central business district and the settlement has led to many changes in the local Bantik community. These include changes in the function of settlements, population size, location of residence, and the movement of local culture. This study aims to examine the spatial changes that occur in local neighborhoods with a focus on the Bantik tribal community in Malalayang. Data were obtained from a series of field observations, questionnaires and structured interviews. This study conducted a series of analyses on spatial patterns, sociocultural factors and urban policy. The results show that the dynamic changes are natural and hard to avoid, since they are related to the community＇s needs and development of the city. In order to face the changes, adjustments in the values of the local community towards the settlement terms and conditions are necessary. In addition, an increase in internal resources for those local communities is needed.

Living （on） Archaeological Sites in Turkey： Engagement of Local Communities into Decision Making Process

Archeological sites have been considered as ＂dead＂ sites consisted from building remain buried into ground in modern heritage management doctrines for a long period. Thus their conservation policies are mainly shaped according to this Western perspective. After the spread of international doctrines in conservation of cultural heritage to other parts of the world, it was realized that some archaeological sites were more than group building remains. They were pilgrim sites for the local communities continuously for centuries onwards. Even in some cases, they have traditional management systems to take care for the site. This has raised the awareness about the gaps in modern heritage conservation approaches. International organizations have mentioned about the involvement of local groups in heritage management systems considering their traditional and cultural association with the cultural site. This has provided shifting of conservation approaches from conventional approaches towards living heritage approach in such delicate cultural heritage sites. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the historic generation of policies towards local communities living on archaeological sites in Turkey comparing the policies between living （on） archaeological sites and living archaeological sites approach.

Local Perception on the Exploitation, the Current State and Taboos Related to Pangolins (Pholidota, Mammalia) by the Communities Living in the Tayna Nature Reserve and Its Surroundings (RNT) North Kivu DRC

Pangolins are currently considered the most endangered mammal species due to their high rank in local and international traffic. This species is protected in DRC and worldwide, unfortunately it is threatened by numerous human actions. The objective of this study is to identify the different reasons for which these animals are exploited, to provide information to determine from the opinions of the respondents the current state of the population from 2015 to today and to identify their hunting techniques by the local populations. We carried out surveys in the households of hunters, farmers and people practicing other professions in 12 villages, located within the RNT and surroundings areas. Two interview techniques were used: the individual interview and the participatory diagnostic technique. 175 people were interviewed individually. Nearly 97% of our respondents are motivated to consume pangolin as bush meat obtaining by hunting. The main reason for eating pangolin meat is 44% preference and 33% habit. The zone does not know the foreign solicitation of the exploitation of pangolins and its derivatives. The opinions of the population regarding the current state of pangolin in the Tayna Nature Reserve indicate that from 2015 to the present day the common pangolin “Manis tricuspis” has been abundant. Hunters use different hunting techniques, dominated by pickup for the Manis tricuspis, digging burrow, fire at the entrance of the burrow for Manis gigantea and the shotgun for the Manis tetradactyla.

Community endowment service localization and globalization

to solve the pension problem brought by the aging and aging, community endowment service as a new endowment mode has become hot spot. Britain, the United States, Japan and other developed countries have formed a distinctive pattern of community endowment service. Community endowment service pattern in China is also actively explore, in the process, we accumulated a lot of valuable experience, but also there are quite a lot of problems to be solved. We should be in combination with the actual situation in our country, on the basis of draw lessons from foreign advanced community endowment development practices at the same time, set the global vision, local consciousness, people＇s standard all organic unification, perfecting endowment service system in our country, to have a more substantial development.

Contribution of Sumalindo Company:In Managing Forest Resources with Local Communities:Mahakam Ulu-East Kalimantan

The role of HPH(Forest Logging Concession)in developing rural communities is very significant.SLJ(Sumalindo Lestari Jaya)as HPH company has an important contribution in empowering local communities,especially in opening land transportation in the interior and helping to build agriculture and gardens.The existence of Sumalindo company participates in developing forest resource management with local communities,among others,increasing livelihoods,maintaining and developing biodiversity conservation and maintaining climate change.These efforts are in accordance with the regulations of the KLHK(Ministry of Environment and Forestry),that every HPH holder is required(mandatory)to obtain a certificate of“PHAPL”(Sustainable Production Natural Forest Management)and an“eco label”from the Indonesian Eco Label Institute.Besides,it is recommended that the holders of HPH concessions and HTI(Industrial Timber Plantations)have an FSC(Forest Stewardship Council)certificate from the EU(European Union),and must meet three indicator elements,namely economic,social and ecological in SFM(Sustainable Forest Management).This article examines three critical questions that show the role of Sumalindo Company in economic,ecological and social development and managing forest resources with the community as follows:(1)The role of Sumalindo company contributes to the development of road infrastructure in the interior;(2)The role of Sumalindo in improving livelihoods and economic and social empowerment of local communities;(3)The role of Sumalindo with local communities in managing forest resources,including maintaining and developing biodiversity conservation and maintaining climate change.

Community-Based Diagnosis for the Improvement of Maternal and Child Protection in the ASACOSEKASI Health Area in the Urban Area of Bamako (Mali)

The community diagnosis is an essential approach to the resolution of health problems with the involvement of the communities concerned who become object and subject. Improvingmaternal and child health is a health priority for many developing countries, including Mali. The objective was to study the role of community-based diagnosis in improving maternal and child protection in a vulnerable urban community in a developing country. Methodology: This was a research-action integrating a community diagnosis conducted in March 2023. The involvement of several stakeholders, including social actors including ASACO, membership card holders, district chiefs, neighborhood delegates, local authorities, and health professionals, made it possible to provide curative, preventive and promotional care. The ASACOSEKA Health Area was used as a setting for the study. The methodology was the indicator approach, contact, document review, interview of CSCOM patients, observation of the structure, prioritization of problems, development of an action plan and restitution of the report. Results: The monograph consisted of describing the characteristics of the study setting. Indeed, the ASACOSEKASI area is located on the left bank of the Niger River, with a population of 34,497 inhabitants. The CSCOM presented to describe a medical unit, a maternity unit, a laboratory unit, an ultrasound room and a medication storage room. The main pathologies found were confirmed simple malaria (45.08%), high AKI: 20.43%, confirmed severe malaria: 19.85%, suspected diarrhoea: 3.43%, trauma related to road accidents: 3.36%, pregnancy-related disorders (1%). BCG, Penta3, VAR, and yellow fever vaccination rates were above 100%. It reflects the fact that the doses administered were higher than the target population. This was related to out-of-area vaccination and lost doses. CPN1, CPN4, tetanus vaccination (VAT2) and family planning (FP) consultations all have a proportion above 100%. Maternal care is increased by out-of-area patients, particularly from Guinea. NPC3 and CPON have a proportion of less than 100%. The target population did not follow policies, standards and procedures. Postpartum, women rarely came to the CPON. Local actions to combat malaria included cleaning up plots and neighbourhoods, weeding families and streets, cleaning gutters, spraying the roosts of the female Anopheles Beetle, sleeping in LLINs, organising chemoprophylaxis days, promoting the use of MS, and using curtains against vectors. Conclusion: The community was involved at all stages of this diagnosis, from design to implementation, as well as to the restitution of local solutions. Indeed, the community diagnosis has led to a resolution plan related to reproductive health.

Conflicts and Countermeasures between Haba Snow Mountain Nature Reserve and Development of Peripheral Communities

Using research approaches such as questionnaire investigation, interview, and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PAR), the relationship between Haba Snow Mountain Nature Reserve and peripheral communities was studied. The results showed that there are lots of conflicts between Haba Snow Mountain Nature Reserve and peripheral communities. On the one hand, conservation of natural environment brings inconvenience to the development of peripheral communities, such as limiting the use of resources, constraining space of development, resulting in economic losses, reducing tourist income, and low compensation. On the other hand, peripheral communities' development threats conservation of the natural environment, for instance, illegal deforestation, illegal mining, over-harvesting, over-grazing and non-ecotourism. Therefore, effective suggestions were given as "scientific planning of functional areas, enhancing economic compensation, devoting more in ecotourism development, and realizing the cooperation of communities".

Distributed Energy and Reserve Scheduling in Local Energy Communities Using L-BFGS Optimization

Encouraging citizens to invest in small-scale renewable resources is crucial for transitioning towards a sustainable and clean energy system.Local energy communities(LECs)are expected to play a vital role in this context.However,energy scheduling in LECs presents various challenges,including the preservation of customer privacy,adherence to distribution network constraints,and the management of computational burdens.This paper introduces a novel approach for energy scheduling in renewable-based LECs using a decentralized optimization method.The proposed approach uses the Limitedmemory Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno(L-BFGS)method,significantly reducing the computational effort required for solving the mixed integer programming(MIP)problem.It incorporates network constraints,evaluates energy losses,and enables community participants to provide ancillary services like a regulation reserve to the grid utility.To assess its robustness and efficiency,the proposed approach is tested on an 84-bus radial distribution network.Results indicate that the proposed distributed approach not only matches the accuracy of the corresponding centralized model but also exhibits scalability and preserves participant privacy.

Post-war Sustainability-Driven School Buildings: A Review of the Literature

The Safe Schools Declaration of 2015 is an inter-governmental political agreement signed by several countries designed to protect the schooling of the school-aged population during armed conflicts.Yet,in countries where civil war erupted,schools were demolished.Several school-aged children were either forcibly recruited by governments or coerced by rebel groups to serve in armed fights.As a result,several children were deprived of their education and have remained suffering from deep psychological scars.The central question of the study is:What kind of sustainability-driven school buildings can be initiated in countries that are now enduring peace so that the learning environments are more comfortable and improve the well-being of the war-impacted children and school employees?After reviewing the literature,a strategic conceptual framework that incorporated the synergistic relationship between economic,social,and environmental aspects of sustainability was initiated to map out sustainable school buildings.In short,the conceptual framework proposed to construct school buildings in some of the war-affected developing countries includes assembling cost-efficiency and eco-effectiveness inputs,using renewable energy sources powered by natural sunlight,collecting rainwater in mud cisterns,reducing emissions of carbon oxides,and empowering the local community to be the main actors to design sustainable buildings during the preconstruction,construction,and post-construction stages to serve as learning spaces for the war-affected occupants and their neighborhoods.