Assessing Issues in Wildland Habitat Management in the State of Mississippi

Abstract

In the last several years, the degradation of natural areas has been occurring at an alarming proportion. Open spaces that provide habitats to different life forms are being degraded because of improper management practices, contamination, and the desire to sustain societal needs for housing, transportation etc. In the process, habitat loss stands as one of the most significant threats to biodiversity and a major environmental problem facing society. In the literature, the loss, degradation and alteration of habitats are the primary factors responsible for the global disappearance of rare species of wild animals and plants. While some may assume that habitat destruction and loss of biodiversity are problems of species rich developing nations, it has become a serious problem in the United States (US). In the state of Mississippi, most of the bottomland hardwood forests and significant portions of thousands of acres of wetlands and streams have been degraded because of sedimentation and agricultural runoff fueled by intense farming activities. Notwithstanding previous mitigation measures, there has not been a substantial effort to examine these issues alongside current initiatives in habitat conservation in Mississippi. To fill that void, the paper examines the issues in wildlife habitat conservation as well as current initiatives with emphasis on the trends and factors using mixscale methods built on integrated Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and descriptive statistics. On the one hand, the temporal profile from the results point to changes in the form of gains and declines in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land areas with the Central and Northeast region outpacing the Southwest zones of the state coupled with degradation. On the other, GIS mapping of change, not only showed the concentration of vast natural areas dispersed statewide, but pinpointed clusters of habitats slated for restoration and mitigation. With changes attributed to unsustainable land use practices, policy lapses, limited education and poor monitoring, community efforts remain in high gear among stakeholders to ensure habitat protection. Accordingly, the paper proffered solutions based on the need for conservation, adherence to best management practices, education and support for local participation.

Changing consumer attitudes to make the Corporate Social Responsibility investment in sustainable fish production, a worthwhile investment to corporates

“…Fish that feeds 3 billion people is being depleted (WWF, 2020b). About 40% of fish caught in West Africa occurs illegally by companies from different parts of the world, including South Korea, Japan, Spain, Russia, Italy, France and China (Merem et al, 2019). On the other hand, subsidies lead to overcapacity of the fishing vessels and reduce costs of production so that fishing continues when it would otherwise make no sense economically (WWF, 2020a).…”

Analyzing Organic Food Farming Trends in the US Western Region

“…However, in the literature very little has been done in assessing the changing trends in organic farm activities in the Western region of the US using a mix scale technique [26,27,28]. Furthermore, when broken across regional lines, the West still showed noticeable dominance compared to the other parts of the country.…”