No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Rwanda's Nyungwe National Park is a biodiversity hotspot with the most endemic species in the ecoregion as well as the highest number of threatened species internationally. In addition to great biological diversity, Nyungwe National Park supplies significant ecosystem services to the Rwandan population including water provisioning and tourism services. Tourism in the Park has strong potential for improving the sustainable management of the Park for continued provision of natural habitat and critical ecosystem services. This paper explores quantitatively the economic impacts of adjustment in Park visitation fees and tourism demand as a source of revenues to improve Park tourism opportunities and ongoing operations and maintenance where budgetary restrictions are particularly acute. The methods developed in this paper are novel in integrating the results of stated preference techniques with regional economy-wide modelling approaches to capture multi-sectoral, direct, indirect and induced impacts. Such methods have strong potential for assessing revenue generation alternatives in other contexts where Park Managers are faced with the need to generate additional revenue for sustainable park management while facing diminishing budget allocations.

We investigated the effects of soil and water conservation practices on mean and variance of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) yield across 267 fields in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada, from 1988 to 2010. A stochastic production function method was used to account for seven soil and water conservation practices in addition to farm inputs, potato varieties, technological change, site characteristics, and seasonal climate effects. Overall, soil and water conservation structures had mixed effects on potato yield. While spring tillage and terracing increased mean potato yield, grassed waterways, drainage, chisel plowing, and other practices had the opposite effect. Rock management did not impact mean potato yield. Most practices did not impact yield variance. While soil and water conservation practices can be effective farm management tools for maintaining soil fertility and enhancing potato yields, there are no one-size-fits-all prescriptions to enhance yield.