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Given a growing global population and shift to embrace the blue economy, a need for marine spatial planning (MSP) has emerged in South Africa to sustainably resolve the rising conflicts over the use of marine and seabed resources and services. A well-developed marine spatial plan yields numerous ecological, social and economic benefits. These are achieved through mediating between spatially conflicting economic drivers' interests (e.g. commercial fishing, tourism, mining), preventing their activities from compromising thresholds of an environment's sustainability. Within the MSP framework, high-resolution geospatial datasets are required to document and describe the seabed in the highest possible detail. At any scale, integrated analysis of seabed geomorphology and habitats is anticipated to greatly improve the understanding of ecosystem functioning from a multidisciplinary perspective, whilst improving MSP procedures and management of marine space. South Africa is the first of few African countries to have an approved and implemented MSP framework, but is still somewhat behind globally in implementing large-scale regional hydroacoustic surveys to cover the country's vast offshore territory. The deficiency of hydroacoustic surveys is perhaps due to a relative lack of funds and poor communication about the value of multibeam echo-sounder (MBES) derived data, whilst marine geoscience remains a scarce skill in the country. This review paper presents a geological perspective of MSP and explores (1) the value that seabed mapping offers MSP specifically and (2) the need to increase seabed mapping with MBES, using a recently initiated project from the South African east coast as a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper presents an interdisciplinary concept dealing with climate change and biodiversity. Its aim is to foster the connectedness to nature and especially the environmental knowledge, which both influence the environmental competence. The pupils are supposed to become aware of the importance of biodiversity in the context of climate change and also acquire or consolidate the necessary chemical background knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have seen a proliferation of studies that use archetype analysis to better understand and to foster transitions toward sustainability. This growing literature reveals a common methodological ground, as well as a variety of perspectives and practices. In this paper, we provide an historical overview of the roots of archetype analysis from ancient philosophy to recent sustainability science. We thereby derive core features of the archetype approach, which we frame by eight propositions. We then introduce the Special Feature, "Archetype Analysis in Sustainability Research," which offers a consolidated understanding of the approach, a portfolio of methods, and quality criteria, as well as cutting-edge applications. By reflecting on the Special Feature's empirical and methodological contributions, we hope that the showcased advances, exemplary applications, and conceptual clarifications will help to design future research that contributes to collaborative learning on archetypical patterns leading toward sustainability. The paper concludes with an outlook highlighting central directions for the next wave of archetype analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based solutions (NBS) were introduced as integrated, multifunctional and multi-beneficial solutions to a wide array of socio-ecological challenges. Although principles for a common understanding and implementation of NBS were already developed on a landscape scale, specific principles are needed with regard to an application in urban areas. Urban areas come with particular challenges including (i) spatial conflicts with urban system nestedness, (ii) specific urban biodiversity, fragmentation and altered environments, (iii) value plurality, multi-actor interdependencies and environmental injustices, (iv) path-dependencies with cultural and planning legacies and (v) a potential misconception of cities as being artificial landscapes disconnected from nature. Given these challenges, in this perspective paper, we build upon and integrate knowledge from the most recent academic work on NBS in urban areas and introduce five distinct, integrated principles for urban NBS design, planning and implementation. Our five principles should help to transcend governance gaps and advance the scientific discourse of urban NBS towards a more effective and sustainable urban development. To contribute to resilient urban futures, the design, planning, policy and governance of NBS should (1) consider the need for a systemic understanding, (2) contribute to benefiting people and biodiversity, (3) contribute to inclusive solutions for the long-term, (4) consider context conditions and (5) foster communication and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of soils to society has gained increasing recognition over the past decade, with the potential to contribute to most of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With unprecedented and growing demands for food, water and energy, there is an urgent need for a global effort to address the challenges of climate change and land degradation, whilst protecting soil as a natural resource. In this paper, we identify the contribution of soil science over the past decade to addressing gaps in our knowledge regarding major environmental challenges: climate change, food security, water security, urban development, and ecosystem functioning and biodiversity. Continuing to address knowledge gaps in soil science is essential for the achievement of the SDGs. However, with limited time and budget, it is also pertinent to identify effective methods of working that ensure the research carried out leads to real‐world impact. Here, we suggest three strategies for the next decade of soil science, comprising a greater implementation of research into policy, interdisciplinary partnerships to evaluate function trade‐offs and synergies between soils and other environmental domains, and integrating monitoring and modelling methods to ensure soil‐based policies can withstand the uncertainties of the future. Highlights: We highlight the contributions of soil science to five major environmental challenges since 2010.Researchers have contributed to recommendation reports, but work is rarely translated into policy.Interdisciplinary work should assess trade‐offs and synergies between soils and other domains.Integrating monitoring and modelling is key for robust and sustainable soils‐based policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health of the world's oceans is intrinsically linked to the biodiversity of the ecosystems they sustain. The importance of protecting and maintaining ocean biodiversity has been affirmed through the setting of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 to conserve and sustainably use the ocean for society's continuing needs. The decade beginning 2021–2030 has additionally been declared as the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. This program aims to maximize the benefits of ocean science to the management, conservation, and sustainable development of the marine environment by facilitating communication and cooperation at the science–policy interface. A central principle of the program is the conservation of species and ecosystem components of biodiversity. However, a significant omission from the draft version of the Decade of Ocean Science Implementation Plan is the acknowledgment of the importance of monitoring and maintaining genetic biodiversity within species. In this paper, we emphasize the importance of genetic diversity to adaptive capacity, evolutionary potential, community function, and resilience within populations, as well as highlighting some of the major threats to genetic diversity in the marine environment from direct human impacts and the effects of global climate change. We then highlight the significance of ocean genetic diversity to a diverse range of socioeconomic factors in the marine environment, including marine industries, welfare and leisure pursuits, coastal communities, and wider society. Genetic biodiversity in the ocean, and its monitoring and maintenance, is then discussed with respect to its integral role in the successful realization of the 2030 vision for the Decade of Ocean Science. Finally, we suggest how ocean genetic diversity might be better integrated into biodiversity management practices through the continued interaction between environmental managers and scientists, as well as through key leverage points in industry requirements for Blue Capital financing and social responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we survey the literature applying viability theory to the sustainable management of renewable resources. After a refresher on the main concepts of viability theory, we provide a general map of the contributions and next discuss them by area of application, including ecosystems and population biology, climate change, forestry and others. We conclude by pointing out issues that deserve more attention and should be part of a research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an important tool to evaluate environmental ‘hot spots’ in livestock systems and recommend production improvements. However, it is common for livestock LCA to investigate only a narrow subset of environmental impacts to simplify results for decision-makers, which makes it difficult to fully understand the tradeoffs among environmental impacts and identify the most relevant mitigation options. We completed a systematic review of the livestock LCA literature to better understand the impact categories included and the progress made towards more comprehensive LCA. Our search of publications between 2000 and 2016 identified 173 relevant peer-reviewed papers. Nearly all the publications (98%) included climate change as an impact category and almost one-third of the publications (28%) focused solely on that one category. Biodiversity, ionizing radiation, and particulate matter were the least common categories addressed. Cattle LCA, including dairy or beef, were the livestock species most frequently evaluated. Our analysis shows that while the number of multi-category livestock LCA (LCA with 4 or more impact categories) increased over time, LCA including 1–3 impact categories (which we define as “simplified LCA”) increased at a higher rate than multi-category LCA. Simplified LCA therefore remain the most prevalent in the literature. Publications that included multiple impact categories were better able to identify environmental impact tradeoffs among livestock production systems and management scenarios. To compare results across livestock LCA studies, it is necessary to increase the standardization of system boundaries, functional units, impact frameworks and mandatory inputs. The optional steps of normalization and weighting in the life cycle impact assessment can also help decision-makers prioritize which environmental impacts to address. More work that includes a greater number of impact categories in livestock LCA is sorely needed to more fully understand and to harmonize the communication of the environmental performance of livestock production systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim with this paper is to present a novel approach for developing story lines and scenarios by combining qualitative knowledge and quantitative data from different disciplines and discussing the results with relevant decision makers. This research strategy offers a solid foundation for perspectives into the future. The "laboratory" is the Brazilian Amazon, one of the hotspots of land-use change where local and global interests both collide and converge: local livelihoods are affected by regional and global climate change and by the loss of biodiversity caused by local and global economic interests in agro-industrial land use; such use contributes, in turn, to climate change. After decades of diverse policy interventions the question arises: What can we learn from past trajectories for a more sustainable development in the future? To answer this question, we combined qualitative story lines for the region, reviewed by local experts, with quantitative land-use scenarios, to study their regional and local manifestations in space. These results were then discussed again with local and national experts. Our findings suggest that in-depth knowledge of the diverging perspectives at a very local level is a fundamental prerequisite for downscaling global scenarios and upscaling local approaches to sustainable land-use management and thus, to producing communicable and applicable results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and its consequences present one of the most important threats to biodiversity and the functions of ecosystems. The stress on biodiversity is far beyond the levels imposed by the natural global climatic changes occurring in the recent evolutionary past. It includes temperature increases, shifts of climate zones, melting of snow and ice, sea level rise, droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events. Natural systems are vulnerable to such changes due to their limited adaptive capacity. Based on an analysis using the DPSIR framework, this paper discusses some of the important socio-economic driving forces of climate change, with a focus on energy use and transportation. The paper also analyses observed and potential changes of climate and the pressures they exert on biodiversity, the changes in biodiversity, the resulting impacts on ecosystem functions, and possible policy responses. The latter can be divided into mitigation and adaptation measures. Both strategies are needed, mitigation in order to stabilise the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, and adaptation in order to adjust to changes that have already occurred or cannot be avoided. One mitigation option, increased biofuel production, which is also a response to oil depletion, would change land use patterns and increase human appropriation of net primary production of biomass, thereby threatening biodiversity. By considering the first order and second order impacts of climate change on biodiversity when developing policy measures, it will be possible to integrate ecosystem and biodiversity protection into decision-making processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Forest ecosystems play an indispensable role in addressing various pressing sustainability and social-ecological challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem services deterioration, hence the monitoring of the world's forests is crucial. As part of the global forest assessment workflow, a forest is generally classified and mapped based on land use and/or using a tree canopy cover threshold. In this paper, we examine the limitations of this approach and argue that the use of a land use-based forest definition and tree canopy cover thresholds can overlook forest degradation and enhancement, disguise the actual status of forest landscapes, and misinform management planning. These limitations can delay the development and implementation of forest restoration and conservation measures. To help overcome these issues, we propose some enhancements to the global forest assessment workflow, including the sharing of spatial data and inclusion of tree canopy cover estimates in assessment reports. Such enhancements are needed to achieve more meaningful forest monitoring and reporting in the context of global environmental initiatives, such as those related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, forest restoration, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem services monitoring. • We examine the use of land use-based forest concept and tree canopy cover thresholds in forest monitoring. • This approach for forest monitoring can overlook forest degradation and enhancement. • It can disguise the actual status of forest landscapes and misinform management planning. • It can delay the development and implementation of forest restoration and conservation measures. • We propose some enhancements to the global forest assessment workflow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Halophytes can desalinize the soil and increase the productivity of crops. • Some halophytes are used as intercropping and rotating species to reduce soil salinity. • Many halophytes are efficient when they are integrated in aquaponic systems. • Many Mediterranean halophytes have potential multipurpose uses. • Halophytes may find niches in the demanding Mediterranean market. The loss of agro-biodiversity, climate changes and food insecurity are major challenges in the Mediterranean countries with potentially multidimensional consequences. With respect to salinity, approximately 18 million ha, corresponding to 25 % of total irrigated land in the Mediterranean area, are salt affected. Intensive cropping and the excessive use of expensive inputs such as water and fertilizers aggravate this situation. Understanding how we could improve crop productivity in salinized environments is therefore critical to face these challenges. Our comprehension of fundamental physiological mechanisms in plant salt stress adaptation has greatly advanced over the last decades. However, many of these mechanisms have been linked to salt tolerance in simplified experimental systems whereas they have been rarely functionally proven in real agricultural contexts. The sustainability of farming systems in salt affected Mediterranean soils can be effectively achieved by the use of salt-tolerant halophyte plants even more effective through the use of intercropping, crop rotation and aquaponics.. Moreover, if these halophyte plants are removed from the soil to grow other species, pressure on generating salt-tolerant crop plants would be reduced and much healthier crop plants would be cultivated in less stressed saline soils. This paper will focus on the sustainable practices based on the cultivation of halophytes in saline soils by highlighting some experimental activities carried out at laboratory and field levels in the last few years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There is widespread concern that the ‘economy is crashing against the Earth’, already causing problems in terms of climate change, water depletion and loss of biodiversity. Yet, the global economy still will have to grow two- to four-fold to provide all future global inhabitants with the average yearly income of $10,000 that is needed to have a reasonable life expectancy and human development index. Rio+20 was intended to reconcile the need for poverty eradication with a green economy, but had limited perceived success. This paper analyses how some of the major international sustainability programs that contributed to Rio+20 could have supported a more far-reaching outcome. Two problems are identified: the programs showed significant overlap, and the programs themselves were often incremental in nature, seeking compromises and avoiding more radical approaches such as the ‘degrowth agenda’. To address the first problem, we suggest how a natural process of mutual collaboration, learning and strengthening could occur: the UN Green Economy Initiative could focus on providing the socio-economic rationale for sustainability; bodies like the IPCC and the UNEP Resources Panel could focus on providing the environmental rationale and planetary limits related to sustainability; programs in the field of sustainable consumption and production as well as resource-efficient and cleaner production could focus on providing hands-on support and proof of how to change direction. There seems no clear-cut answer for the second problem. Some authors suggest relying more on action outside formal policy systems that, by nature, seek compromises. However, they also see a required role for government action, which is exactly what Rio+20 and its supportive policy programs failed to achieve and negotiate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

It is the Child that sees the primordial Secret in Nature and it is the child in ourselves that we return to. The child within us is simple and daring enough to live the Secret. Chuang Tzu If education is to be a major part of the solution to climate change, habitat loss, degradation of cultural heritage, threats to biodiversity and ecological stability then the dominant paradigm in education must change from a transmissive to a transformative mode. Closely coupled and interwoven through this will be the need for a hands-on experiential element that is inspirational, interactive and socially developmental. Teachers, lecturers and interpretation professionals have not lost any of their talent as innovators or communicators - but in some countries they have an increasingly difficult culture of fear and litigation to work within. How do we educate for a different world where sustainability becomes a priority for the exponentially growing human population and the diminishing biodiversity of other species? Can we ensure an adequate specialist training within a holistic framework which balances science and the arts? There are examples of excellent educational programmes and practices from many countries which deserve a higher profile; the challenge is to encourage these, research them effectively and share good practice. This paper encourages an increase in ecological and sustainability literacy, calls for a more holistic and interdisciplinary approach, and encourages practitioners to reclaim the education initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]