Office for Environmental Programs - Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 20
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Assessment of threats to the Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris)
    Ryan, Gerard Edward ( 2010)
    The Mekong dolphin is a highly threatened freshwater population of Irrawaddy dolphin, Orcaella brevirostris, inhabiting the Mekong River in the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Cambodia. Despite the Mekong dolphin's low population size and rapid decline, there has thus far been no rigourous investigation of threats to the population, a gap this risk assessment aims to fill. A wide variety of threats are discussed including small population issues, boat traffic, fishing, tourism, environmental contamination, hydropower development and disease. Dolphin bycatch and disease are found to be the greatest threats, but competing mutually exclusive hypotheses prevent any definitive conclusions being drawn. It is imperative that this dichotomy be addressed as soon as possible and appropriate action taken to eliminate the threat. The development of hydropower dams, particularly on the mainstream of the Mekong River within dolphin habitat loom as the greatest future threat that may spell the end for this beleaguered dolphin population. Further indepth stochastic modelling is recommended to better understand the interactions and implications of some threats and guide conservation management of the population
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Values and environment: a review of the literature in environmental behaviour (Research Review)
    Ramos, Gabriela ( 2010)
    In the face of the current environmental situation and climate change crisis as McKenzie-Mohr (2000, p. 544) states "changing individual behaviour is central to achieving a sustainable future". A first step in designing effective strategies to create this change and get people supporting the environmental movement is understanding the empirical work on environmental behaviour. The aim of this paper is to examine two theories that explain the source of human behaviour with respect to the environment: the value orientation theory by Stern and colleagues and the psychological environment behaviour proposed by Wood and Koger.
  • Item
  • Item
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    CO2 emissions from reduced impact logging in Indonesia
    Puspitasari, Yogi Wulan ( 2010)
    Forestry and land use change are responsible for approximately 20% of global CO2 emissions which can potentially increase in the future (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007). Increasing CO2 in the atmosphere changes global climate and creates climate change impacts on humans and the earth. Reducing deforestation and forest degradation may reduce CO2 emission from forestry and land use change. Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) is a technique that can reduce forest degradation, reduce the carbon loss and increase economic benefits for forest managers. However, the implementation of RIL is poor because of a lack of understanding on the benefit of RIL among forest managers. The major concern is high investment and the cost of RIL implementation. This research investigated the reduction in CO2 emissions from RIL practices and the potential of REDDPIus to fund lower carbon forestry operations in Indonesia. This study shows that under the REDDPIus (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation Plus) mechanism, forest concessions are potentially eligible to gain financial benefits by performing RIL which reduces carbon emissions. RIL was found to reduce CO2 emissions for a forest concession by 350,405 tonnes per year. Therefore, if this forest concession implements RIL, with the assumption of a carbon price of $10 per tonne CO2, it is eligible for a REDDPIus benefit of approximately $3,504,050 per year, or US$57 per year per hectare. Based on these results, REDDPIus could be a substantial incentive for developing countries to perform RIL as part of sustainable forest management. The current reluctance of forest managers to implement RIL is likely to be reduced by the implementation of this scheme. However, for this to be realised, payment distribution mechanisms must be established and supported by the Government.
  • Item
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    The localised ecological impacts of offshore farm development: an overview
    Midura, Kirsten ( 2010)
    This paper outlines key environmental effects of global offshore wind farm development, with respect to localised marine ecosystems. By exploring an extensive range of literature, the essay highlights major caveats and opportunities in a project's installation, operation, and decommissioning phases. The paper finds that while local impacts are short-lived, they are still critical components of a balanced understanding of offshore wind development. While the issues described here are not exhaustive, this paper provides a succinct overview of a wind farm's operational life, and a foundation for further research into the broader environmental impacts of developing offshore wind energy.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Nuclear power as a source of cleaner energy and design implications on nuclear building structures
    Vithanaarachchi, Champaka Sri Harsha ( 2010)
    The rapid increase in fossil fuel burning for energy generation is continuously increasing the quantity of greenhouse gases emitted into the earth's atmosphere. The UNFCC has identified that CO2 stabilisation due to continued economic growth will require innovative, cost-effective and carbon-emission-free technologies that can cater to the additional demand for energy in the coming decades. The rise in fossil fuel prices and the increased concern regarding environmental protection from CO2 emissions have drawn the world's attention to the use of nuclear power as a viable and clean source of energy for power generation. The practical operational safety of nuclear power plants is of fundamental importance for assessing the prospects of nuclear energy. In order to minimise the consequences arising due to energy generation, the selection of efficient and economical strategies for the development of nuclear energy technology is vital. In the immediate future, nuclear power can contribute to greenhouse gas reduction on a modest scale, replacing a large portion of the electricity produced by fossil fuel fired power plants. Therefore, it is crucial that the field of global energy generation be informed by in-depth studies of nuclear energy which emphasise the present safety arrangements maintained by nuclear power plants to safeguard the public and the environment. Academic, technical and commercial literature published since 1939 have been reviewed in during this study. The scope of this study includes the identification of the design characteristics of NPPs, the identification of the structural arrangements of NPP's containment buildings, the strength analysis of containment building walls of NPP's operating in the world and providing an overview the nuclear waste management systems practised internationally. Further, this study discusses the strength analysis of 396 out of 437 containment buildings of NPPs operating in the world and was carried out by using the design pressure data provided by the PRIS data web site of the IAEA. Finally, this study will attempt to prove that nuclear energy is one of the major sources of clean energy for today's demand for energy in the world and one which will reduce the climate change impacts and their consequences to the world.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Predicting risks of macropod-vehicle collisions in central Victoria
    Visintin, Casey ( 2010)
    The construction and use of roads poses many threats to wildlife including, most notably, animal mortality. These fatalities have received considerable study in many parts of the developed world and, in some cases, mitigation measures have been employed with limited success. In the State of Victoria, macropod-vehicle collisions are the most problematic due to the severity of damage sustained and high costs resulting from the incident. Surveys and studies to identify problem areas may be financially prohibitive but non-traditional sources of data may be beneficial. Wildlife Victoria, a not-for-profit rescue organisation, maintains records of reported animal-vehicle collisions. These statistics were obtained and used for a study to predict Eastern Grey Kangaroo (EGK) collision risks in the central portion of Victoria. Generalised Linear Modelling (GLM) was used to predict both EGK occurrence and probability of vehicle collision using several environmental and demographic predictor variables. EGK occurrence was predicted using existing fauna survey records from the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE). Each model was able to explain approximately 15% of the variance. The final collision model predictions were used to generate a map of high-risk road segments in central Victoria. This information may be used to more efficiently plan mitigation measures and demonstrates a cost effective method for identifying problem areas.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    Biodiversity discourse in northern Thailand
    Dunn, Caroline ( 2010)
    Concerns about deforestation and consequent loss of biodiversity are global, but are experienced in local contexts in Thailand. Locally, concerns manifest as a conflict between people's survival and conserving forest resources. This paper uses one particular approach, discourse theory, to explore whose knowledge counts in a specific case, a research NGO in Northern Thailand. This NGO, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), develops knowledge and therefore contributes to a discourse on natural resources. Escobar's (1998) biodiversity discourses provide a lens to explore how `biodiversity' comes to have more than one meaning through ICRAF's research and staff. In Thailand, ICRAF's research is bound up in the political in constructing meaning(s) for `biodiversity', because of the implicit importance of this issue to the debate about whether people can sustainably live in forests. ICRAF partially support local meanings or knowledge, but tend to push their own approach. Because of this, ICRAF seem to take a position on biodiversity which is pluralistic and contradictory. This suggests that biodiversity discourses, rather than being discrete as Escobar (1998) suggests, may be better conceptualized as fragmented.