Search results for: convention on international trade in endangered species

Authors: Ana M. Prieto del Pino

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As is well known, UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988) was a landmark regarding the seizure of proceeds of crime. Depriving criminals of the profits from their activity became a priority at an international level in the fight against organised crime. Enabling confiscation of proceeds of illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, criminalising money laundering and confiscating the proceeds thereof are the three measures taken in order to achieve that purpose. The beginning of 21st century brought the declaration of war on corruption and on the illicit enjoyment of the profits thereof onto the international scene. According to the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (2000), States Parties should adopt the necessary measures to enable the confiscation of proceeds of crime derived from offences (or property of equivalent value) and property, equipment and other instrumentalities used in offences covered by that Convention. The UN Convention against Corruption (2003) states asset recovery explicitly as a fundamental principle and sets forth measures aiming at the direct recovery of property through international cooperation in confiscation. Furthermore, European legislation has made many significant strides forward in less than twenty years concerning money laundering, confiscation, and asset recovery. Crime does not pay, let there be no doubt about it. Nevertheless, we must be very careful not to sing out of tune with individual rights and legal guarantees. On the one hand, innocent individuals and businesses must be protected, since they should not pay for the guilty ones’ faults. On the other hand, the rule of law must be preserved and not be tossed aside regarding those who have carried out criminal activities. An in-depth analysis of judicial decisions on money laundering and confiscation of proceeds of crime issued by European national courts and by the European Court of Human Rights in the last decade has been carried out from a human rights, legal guarantees and criminal law basic principles’ perspective. The undertaken study has revealed the violation of the right to property, of the proportionality principle legal and the infringement of basic principles of states’ domestic substantive and procedural criminal law systems. The most relevant ones have to do with the punishment of money laundering committed through negligence, non-conviction based confiscation and a too-far reaching interpretation of the notion of ‘proceeds of crime’. Almost everything in life has a bright and a dark side. Confiscation of criminal proceeds and asset recovery are not an exception to this rule.

Keywords: confiscation, human rights, money laundering, organized crime

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Authors: Kishor Chandra Kandpal, Amit Kumar

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The Indian Himalaya region harbours approximately 1748 plants of medicinal importance, and as per International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the 112 plant species among these are threatened and endangered. To ease the pressure on these plants, the government of India is encouraging its in-situ cultivation. The Saussurea costus, Valeriana jatamansi, and Picrorhiza kurroa have also been prioritized for large scale cultivation owing to their market demand, conservation value and medicinal properties. These species are found from 1000 m to 4000 m elevation ranges in the Indian Himalaya. Identification of these plants in the field requires taxonomic skills, which is one of the major bottleneck in the conservation and management of these plants. In recent years, Hyperspectral remote sensing techniques have been precisely used for the discrimination of plant species with the help of their unique spectral signatures. In this background, a spectral library of the above 03 medicinal plants was prepared by collecting the spectral data using a handheld spectroradiometer (325 to 1075 nm) from farmer’s fields of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand states of Indian Himalaya. The Random forest (RF) model was implied on the spectral data for the classification of the medicinal plants. The 80:20 standard split ratio was followed for training and validation of the RF model, which resulted in training accuracy of 84.39 % (kappa coefficient = 0.72) and testing accuracy of 85.29 % (kappa coefficient = 0.77). This RF classifier has identified green (555 to 598 nm), red (605 nm), and near-infrared (725 to 840 nm) wavelength regions suitable for the discrimination of these species. The findings of this study have provided a technique for rapid and onsite identification of the above medicinal plants in the field. This will also be a key input for the classification of hyperspectral remote sensing images for mapping of these species in farmer’s field on a regional scale. This is a pioneer study in the Indian Himalaya region for medicinal plants in which the applicability of hyperspectral remote sensing has been explored.

Keywords: himalaya, hyperspectral remote sensing, machine learning; medicinal plants, random forests

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Authors: Tamar Beridze, Elisa Boscari, Fleur Scheele, Tamari Edisherashvili, Cort Anderson, Leonardo Congiu

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The eastern part of the Black Sea and its tributaries are suitable habitats for several sturgeon species, among which Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, A. stellatus, A. nudiventris, A. persicus, A. sturio, and H. huso are well documented. However, different threats have led these species to a dramatic decline; all of them are currently listed as Critically Endangered and some Locally Extinct in that area. We tested 94 wild sturgeon samples from the Black Sea and Rioni River by analyzing the mitochondrial Control Region and nuclear markers for hybrid identification. The data analyses (1) assessed mitochondrial diversity among samples, (2) identified their species, as well as (3) indicated instances of hybridization. The data collected, besides confirming a sharp decrease of catches of Beluga and Stellate sturgeon in recent years, also revealed four juvenile hybrids between Russian and Stellate sturgeon, providing the first evidence of natural interspecific hybridization in the Rioni. The present communication raises concerns about the status of sturgeon species in this area and underlines the urgent need for conservation programs to restore self-sustaining populations.

Keywords: black sea, sturgeon, Rioni river, interspecific hybridization

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Authors: Dakeyi Athanase

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The ratification of an international human rights legal instrument provides signatory States with an opportunity to assume a set of obligations and rights for the benefit of their citizens, offering increased possibilities, opportunities, and means to access an improved quality of life – to be, to appear, and to become. Developed nations typically experience cultural, political, social, economic, legal, and regulatory transformations in response to this transition. In a methodologically proactive approach, mechanisms undergo a visible and comprehensible process of qualitative and quantitative change. Conversely, in nations undergoing development, the response to such ratification varies. Some demonstrate positive policy changes, while others remain stagnant or regress. Cameroon falls into the second category, despite efforts, as it legally prohibits 50% of its population with disabilities from acquiring the status of a person with a disability. The overarching goal of this communication is to highlight these deficiencies and their detrimental effects on various aspects of life, fostering awareness among beneficiaries and advocating for more inclusive transformations in the country. Our project employs a popular and participatory methodological approach by involving beneficiaries and their organizations in its preparation. It is also inclusive, representing the diversity of disabilities and engaging natural and legal persons from various backgrounds. Active consultations occur at all levels of the activities. Anticipated outcomes include raising awareness globally among nations, international cooperation organizations, NGOs, and other inclusive development actors. We seek their support for local advocacy efforts to fully implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Concurrently, we hope they express solidarity with the victims in Cameroon who have been left behind and recommend legal reforms to align domestic and international legislation with the promotion and protection of disability rights.

Keywords: droit, convention, handicap, discrimination, participation, inclusion

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Authors: Valbona Sota, Efigjeni Kongjika

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Wild almond is a woody species, which is difficult to propagate either generatively by seed or by vegetative methods (grafting or cuttings) and also considered as Endangered (EN) in Albania based on IUCN criteria. As a wild relative of cultivated fruit trees, this species represents a source of genetic variability and can be very important in breeding programs and cultivation. For this reason, it would be of interest to use an effective method of in vitro mid-term conservation, which involves strategies to slow plant growth through physicochemical alterations of in vitro growth conditions. Multiplication of wild almond was carried out using zygotic embryos, as primary explants, with the purpose to develop a successful propagation protocol. Results showed that zygotic embryos can proliferate through direct or indirect organogenesis. During subculture, stage was obtained a great number of new plantlets identical to mother plants derived from the zygotic embryos. All in vitro plantlets obtained from subcultures underwent in vitro conservation by minimal growth in low temperature (4ºC) and darkness. The efficiency of this technique was evaluated for 3, 6, and 10 months of conservation period. Maintenance in these conditions reduced micro cuttings growth. Survival and regeneration rates for each period were evaluated and resulted that the maximal time of conservation without subculture on 4ºC was 10 months, but survival and regeneration rates were significantly reduced, specifically 15.6% and 7.6%. An optimal period of conservation in these conditions can be considered the 5-6 months storage, which can lead to 60-50% of survival and regeneration rates. This protocol may be beneficial for mass propagation, mid-term conservation, and for genetic manipulation of wild almond.

Keywords: micropropagation, minimal growth, storage, wild almond

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Authors: Sangho Park, Mansoo Kim, Kyujung Chae, Junhyuk Yang

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The International Maritime Organization (IMO) recognized the problem of invasive species invasion and adopted the "International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments" in 2004, which came into force on September 8, 2017. In 2011, the IMO approved the "Guidelines for the Control and Management of Ships' Biofouling to Minimize the Transfer of Invasive Aquatic Species" to minimize the movement of invasive species by hull-attached organisms and required ships to manage the organisms attached to their hulls. Invasive species enter new environments through ships' ballast water and hull attachment. However, several obstacles to implementing these guidelines have been identified, including a lack of underwater cleaning equipment, regulations on underwater cleaning activities in ports, and difficulty accessing crevices in underwater areas. The shipping industry, which is the party responsible for understanding these guidelines, wants to implement them for fuel cost savings resulting from the removal of organisms attached to the hull, but they anticipate significant difficulties in implementing the guidelines due to the obstacles mentioned above. Robots or people remove the organisms attached to the hull underwater, and the resulting wastewater includes various species of organisms and particles of paint and other pollutants. Currently, there is no technology available to sterilize the organisms in the wastewater or stabilize the heavy metals in the paint particles. In this study, we aim to analyze the characteristics of the wastewater generated from the removal of hull-attached organisms and select the optimal treatment technology. The organisms in the wastewater generated from the removal of the attached organisms meet the biological treatment standard (D-2) using the sterilization technology applied in the ships' ballast water treatment system. The heavy metals and other pollutants in the paint particles generated during removal are treated using stabilization technologies such as thermal decomposition. The wastewater generated is treated using a two-step process: 1) development of sterilization technology through pretreatment filtration equipment and electrolytic sterilization treatment and 2) development of technology for removing particle pollutants such as heavy metals and dissolved inorganic substances. Through this study, we will develop a biological removal technology and an environmentally friendly processing system for the waste generated after removal that meets the requirements of the government and the shipping industry and lays the groundwork for future treatment standards.

Keywords: biofouling, ballast water treatment system, filtration, sterilization, wastewater

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Authors: James Kralj

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Commercial shellfish aquaculture makes significant contributions to the economy and culture of the Pacific Northwest United States. The industry faces intense pressure to minimize environmental impacts as a result of Federal policies like the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act and the Endangered Species Act. These policies demand the protection of essential fish habitat and declare several salmon species as endangered. Consequently, numerous projects related to the protection and rehabilitation of eelgrass beds, a crucial ecosystem for countless fish species, have been proposed at both state and federal levels. Both eelgrass beds and commercial shellfish farms occupy the same physical space, and therefore understanding the effects of shellfish aquaculture on eelgrass ecosystems has become a top ecological and economic priority of both government and industry. This study evaluates the organismal communities that eelgrass and oyster aquaculture habitats support. Water samples were collected from Willapa Bay, Washington; Tillamook Bay, Oregon; Humboldt Bay, California; and Sammish Bay, Washington to compare species diversity in eelgrass beds, oyster aquaculture plots, and boundary edges between these two habitats. Diversity was assessed using a novel technique: environmental DNA (eDNA). All organisms constantly shed small pieces of DNA into their surrounding environment through the loss of skin, hair, tissues, and waste. In the marine environment, this DNA becomes suspended in the water column allowing it to be easily collected. Once extracted and sequenced, this eDNA can be used to paint a picture of all the organisms that live in a particular habitat making it a powerful technology for environmental monitoring. Industry professionals and government officials should consider these findings to better inform future policies regulating eelgrass beds and oyster aquaculture. Furthermore, the information collected in this study may be used to improve the environmental sustainability of commercial shellfish aquaculture while simultaneously enhancing its growth and profitability in the face of ever-changing political and ecological landscapes.

Keywords: aquaculture, environmental DNA, shellfish, sustainability

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Authors: M. Priscila Ramos, Omar O. Chisari, Juan Pablo Vila Martínez

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Current literature about trade liberalization of environmental goods and services (EGS) raises doubts about the extent of the triple win-win situation for trade, development and the environment. However, much of this literature does not consider the possibility that this agreement carries technological transmissions, either through trade or foreign direct investment. This paper presents a computable general equilibrium model calibrated for Argentina, where there are alternative technologies (one dirty and one clean according to carbon emissions) to produce the same goods. In this context, the trade liberalization of EGS allows to increase GDP, trade, reduce unemployment and improve the households welfare. However, the capital mobility appears as the key assumption to jointly reach the environmental target, when the positive scale effect generated by the increase in trade is offset by the change in the composition of production (composition and technical effects by the use of the clean alternative technology) and of consumption (composition effect by substitution of relatively lesspolluting imported goods).

Keywords: CGE modeling, CO2 emissions, composition effect, scale effect, technique effect, trade liberalization of EGS

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Authors: Tamar Lazariashvili

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There are a number of factors that determine the growth and development of the country's economy; however, trade and economic relations with other countries are the most important of all these factors. The paper analyzes the trade and economic relations between Georgia and Germany, identifies the impediments caused by the Covid pandemic, and substantiates the need for further economic cooperation between the countries. Research objectives. The objective of the research is to develop recommendations and reveal the prospects of further cooperation between Georgia and Germany based on identifying the problems in the field of trade and economy in the post-crisis situation. The research object is Georgian German economic relations. Germany is Georgia's largest trading partner in the European Union. Georgia and Germany actively cooperate within the framework of international organizations as well. The paper analyzes the multilateral and intensive economic relations between Germany and Georgia; evaluates the investments of German companies in Georgia and the activities of Georgian companies in Germany. Research methods. The paper uses general and specific research methods; in particular, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, comparison, statistical (selection, grouping, observation, trend), and other research methods.SWOT analysis is used to determine development opportunities between countries. As a result of the research economic ranking of Georgia and Germany are determined according to the above criteria, the causes of the impediments due to the pandemic are studied; the main problems in the field of trade and economy are identified. The paper provides conclusions on the problems in the trade relations between Georgia and Germany and suggests recommendations regarding the prospects for improving these relations.

Keywords: georgia-germany, trade and economic relations, economic ranking, perspective directions

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Authors: Masoud Charkhabi

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We examine trade theory with this motivation. The full set of World Trade Organization data are organized into country-year pairs, each treated as a different entity. Topological Data Analysis reveals that among the 16 region and 240 region-year pairs there exists in fact a distinguishable group of region-period pairs. The generally accepted periods of shifts from dissimilar-dissimilar to similar-similar trade in goods among regions are examined from this new perspective. The period breaks are treated as cumulative and are flexible. This type of all-subsets analysis is motivated from computer science and is made possible with Lossy Compression and Graph Theory. The results question many patterns in similar-similar to dissimilar-dissimilar trade. They also show indications of economic shifts that only later become evident in other economic metrics.

Keywords: econometrics, globalization, network science, topological data, analysis, trade theory, visualization, world trade

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Authors: William Castillo, Hugo Viza, Arturo Vargas

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The Pacific Alliance is a trade bloc that is composed of four emerging economies: Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico. These economies have gained macroeconomic stability in the past decade and as a consequence present future economic progress. Under this positive scenario, international business firms have flourished. However, the literature in this region has been widely unexamined. Therefore, it is critical to fill this theoretical gap, especially considering that Latin America is starting to become a global player and it possesses a different institutional context than developed markets. This paper analyzes the effect of international entrepreneurial orientation and institutionalism on international performance, for the Pacific Alliance small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). The literature considers international entrepreneurial orientation to be a powerful managerial capability – along the resource based view- that firms can leverage to obtain a satisfactory international performance. Thereby, obtaining a competitive advantage through the correct allocation of key resources to exploit the capabilities here involved. Entrepreneurial Orientation is defined around five factors: innovation, proactiveness, risk-taking, competitive aggressiveness, and autonomy. Nevertheless, the institutional environment – both local and foreign, adversely affects International Performance; this is especially the case for emerging markets with uncertain scenarios. In this way, the study analyzes an Entrepreneurial Orientation, key endogenous variable of international performance, and Institutionalism, an exogenous variable. The survey data consists of Pacific Alliance SMEs that have foreign operations in at least another country in the trade bloc. Findings are still in an ongoing research process. Later, the study will undertake a structural equation modeling (SEM) using the variance-based partial least square estimation procedure. The software that is going to be used is the SmartPLS. This research contributes to the theoretical discussion of a largely postponed topic: SMEs in Latin America, that has had limited academic research. Also, it has practical implication for decision-makers and policy-makers, providing insights into what is behind international performance.

Keywords: institutional theory, international entrepreneurial orientation, international performance, SMEs, Pacific Alliance

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Authors: M. N. Alo, U. C. C. Egbule, J. O. Orji, C. J. Aneke

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Microbiological analysis of soil from Onu-Ebonyi Izzi local government area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria contaminated with inorganic fertilizer was carried out with a view to determine the effect of the fertilizer on the microbial flora of the soil. soil samples were analyzed for microbial burden. the result showed that the following organisms were isolated with their frequency of their occurrence as follows:pseudomonas species (33.3%) and aspergillus species (54.4%) had the highest frequncy of occurence in the whole sample of batches, while streptococcus species had 6.0% and Geotrichum species (5.3%) had the least and other predominant microorganism isolated: bacillus species,staphylococcus species and vibrio species, Escherichia species, rhzizopus species, mucor species and fusaruim species. From the result, it could be concluded that the soil was contaminated and this could affect adversely the fertility of the soil .

Keywords: soil, bacteria, fungi, inorganic fertilizer, Onu- Ebonyi

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Authors: Malay K. Pramanik

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Climate change is continuously affecting the ecosystem, species distribution as well as global biodiversity. The assessment of the species potential distribution and the spatial changes under various climate change scenarios is a significant step towards the conservation and mitigation of habitat shifts, and species' loss and vulnerability. In this context, the present study aimed to predict the influence of current and future climate on an ecologically vulnerable medicinal species, Garcinia gummi-gutta, of the southern Western Ghats using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling. The future projections were made for the period of 2050 and 2070 with RCP (Representative Concentration Pathways) scenario of 4.5 and 8.5 using 84 species occurrence data, and climatic variables from three different models of Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) fifth assessment. Climatic variables contributions were assessed using jackknife test and AOC value 0.888 indicates the model perform with high accuracy. The major influencing variables will be annual precipitation, precipitation of coldest quarter, precipitation seasonality, and precipitation of driest quarter. The model result shows that the current high potential distribution of the species is around 1.90% of the study area, 7.78% is good potential; about 90.32% is moderate to very low potential for species suitability. Finally, the results of all model represented that there will be a drastic decline in the suitable habitat distribution by 2050 and 2070 for all the RCP scenarios. The study signifies that MaxEnt model might be an efficient tool for ecosystem management, biodiversity protection, and species re-habitation planning under climate change.

Keywords: Garcinia gummi gutta, maximum entropy modeling, medicinal plants, climate change, western ghats, MaxEnt

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Authors: Yasir Khan, Qiu Bin, Antonio-Mihi Ramirez

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This study determines the inflow of international students to China in recent years and the corresponding internationalization strategies in the higher education sector. China has placed attracting international students on in its plan along with the growing of global impact. Acknowledging the stable economy, growth rate, trade, lower renminbi rate, high wages, employment opportunities, high level income per capita, relative low taxes and political system consolidate to attract more international students. A large number of international students making a vast contribution to the higher education sector of China. Understanding the significance of education mission as well as of financial ‘bottom line’ the Chinese government gave great importance to invite more international students from worldwide. The large number of international students in the China has been particularly notable from Asian countries specifically neighboring countries, Pakistan, Thailand, India, Vietnam, South Korea, Magnolia, Malaysia, and Russia. This study summarizes internationalization of higher education in China and also provides directions for future research in this regard.

Keywords: international student mobility, 2020 Govt Planning, emerging market, internationalization of higher education

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Authors: Łukasz Ambroziak

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Although the impact of the production fragmentation on trade flows has been examined many times since the 1990s, the research was not comprehensive because of the limitations in traditional trade statistics. Early 2010s the complex databases containing world input-output tables (or indicators calculated on their basis) has made available. It increased the possibilities of examining the production sharing in the world. The trade statistic in value-added terms enables us better to estimate trade changes resulted from the internationalisation and globalisation as well as benefits of the countries from international trade. In the literature, there are many research studies on this topic. Unfortunately, trade in value added of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) has been so far insufficiently studied. Thus, the aim of the paper is to present changes in value added trade of the CEECs (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) in the period of 1995-2011. The concept 'trade in value added' or 'value added trade' is defined as the value added of a country which is directly and indirectly embodied in final consumption of another country. The typical question would be: 'How much value added is created in a country due to final consumption in the other countries?' The data will be downloaded from the World Input-Output Database (WIOD). The structure of this paper is as follows. First, theoretical and methodological aspects related to the application of the input-output tables in the trade analysis will be studied. Second, a brief survey of the empirical literature on this topic will be presented. Third, changes in exports and imports in value added of the CEECs will be analysed. A special attention will be paid to the differences in bilateral trade balances using traditional trade statistics (in gross terms) on one side, and value added statistics on the other. Next, in order to identify factors influencing value added exports and value added imports of the CEECs the generalised gravity model, based on panel data, will be used. The dependent variables will be value added exports and imports. The independent variables will be, among others, the level of GDP of trading partners, the level of GDP per capita of trading partners, the differences in GDP per capita, the level of the FDI inward stock, the geographical distance, the existence (or non-existence) of common border, the membership (or not) in preferential trade agreements or in the EU. For comparison, an estimation will also be made based on exports and imports in gross terms. The initial research results show that the gravity model better explained determinants of trade in value added than gross trade (R2 in the former is higher). The independent variables had the same direction of impact both on value added exports/imports and gross exports/imports. Only value of coefficients differs. The most difference concerned geographical distance. It had smaller impact on trade in value added than gross trade.

Keywords: central and eastern European countries, gravity model, input-output tables, trade in value added

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Authors: Arzu K. Harmanci Seren, Feride Eskin Bacaksiz

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The shortage of nursing personnel is considered one of the most important labour force issues in health sector of developed countries since early 1970s. International Labour Organization developed standards for working conditions of nurses in collaboration with World Health Organization with the aim of helping to solve nursing shortage problem all over the world. As a result of this collaboration, ILO Nursing Personnel Convention (C. 149), and the accompanying Recommendation (R. 157) were adopted in 1977. Turkey as a country that has a serious nurse shortage problem, has been a member of ILO since 1932, and has not signed this convention yet. This study was planned to compare some of the working standards in Convention with the present working conditions of nurses in Turkey. The data were collected by an on line survey between 19 January-16 February 2015 for this cross-sectional study. Participants were reached through social network accounts in collaboration with nursing associations. Totally 828 nurses from the 57 provinces of Turkey participated in the study. Survey was consisted of 14 open ended questions related to working conditions of nurses and 34 Likert statements related to nursing policies of the facilities they are working in. The data were analysed using the IBM SPSS 21.0 (licensed to Istanbul University) software. Descriptive and comparative statistics were performed. Most of the participants (81.5%) were staff and 18.5% of them were manager nurses. Most of them had baccalaureate (57.9%) or master (27.4%) degree in nursing. 18.5% of the participants were working in private hospitals, 34.9% of them in university hospitals and 46.6% of them were in Ministry of Health Hospitals. It was found that monthly working schedules were announced mostly 7 days ago (18%), working time of nurses was at least 8 hours (41.5%) and at most 24 hours (22.8%) in a day and had time for lunch or dinner 25.18 (SD=16.66), for resting 21.02 (SD=29.25) minutes. On the other hand, it was determined that 316 (43.2%) nurses did not have time for lunch and 61 (7.9%) of them could not find time for eating anything. It was also explored they were working 15-96 hours in a week (mean=48.28, SD=8.89 hours), 4-29 days in a month (mean=19.29, SD=5.03 days) and 597 (72%) nurses overworked changing form 1 hour to 150 hours (32.80, SD=23.42 hours) before the month in which surveys were filled. Most of the participants did not leave the job due to the sickness (47.5%) even if they felt sick. Also most of them did not leave the job due to any excuse (67.2%) or education (57.3%). This study has significance because of nurses from different provinces participated in and it provides brief information about the working conditions of nurses nationwide. It was explored that nurses in Turkey were working at worse conditions according the International Labour Organization’s recommendations.

Keywords: nurse, international labour organization, recommendations for nurses, working conditions

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Authors: S. O. Bamigboye, P. M. Tshisikhawe, P. J. Taylor

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Cycads are the most threatened plant species in the world. In South Africa over 70% of cycads are threatened with extinction with 60% of them as a result of bark harvest of these highly endangered species for medicinal purposes. 3 cycads species in South Africa have gone extinct due to bark harvest for medicinal purpose. This practice keeps increasing biodiversity loss within the nation and this has generated concern for conservationists on different way to discover how people go about this practices and how it can be discouraged. Studies have revealed this practice to be common practice in provinces like Kwazulu natal, Eastern cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, but studies in the past have not really focused on cycads bark harvest in Limpopo province. In this study we use the indigenous knowledge to discover a particular location within the Soutpansberg Montane (a major biodiversity hotspot in Limpopo Province in South Africa) in Vhembe district in Limpopo province not yet conserved where we have a highly disturbed population of cycads. Several individuals of cycads species have been highly damaged due to bark harvest in this location. We are about proposing that such areas needs attention for conservation to prevent the loss of these species endemic to this particular location. Our study hereby reveals that cycads bark harvest which is a major threat to African cycads is also a common practice in Limpopo Province in South Africa. Rigorous conservation action is required to discourage this practice in order to prevent further biodiversity loss in this region.

Keywords: bark harvest, Cycads, conservation, extinction, Limpopo

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Authors: Biniam Tedros Kahsay, Yohannes Yebabe Tesfay

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Eritrea is a country in the East of Africa. The country is a neighbor of Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Sudan and is bordered by the Red Sea. The country declared its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Thus, Eritrea has a lot of commonalities with the Northern Part of Ethiopia's tradition, religion, and languages. Many economists suggested that Eritrea is in a very strategic position for world trade roots and has an impact on geopolitics. This study focused on identifying the most important factor in boosting the Eritrean Economy. The paper collected big secondary data from the World Bank, International Trade and Tariff Data (WTO), East African Community (EAC), Ethiopian Statistical Agency (ESA), and the National Statistics Office (Eritrea). Economists consider economic and population growth in determining trade belts in East Africa. One of the most important Trade Belt that will potentially boost the Eritrean economy is the root of Eritrea (Massawa)->Eritea, (Asmara)->Tigray, (Humora)->Tigray, (Dansha)-> Gondar-> Gojjam-> Benshangual Gumuz => {Oromia, South Sudan}->Uganda. The estimate showed that this is one of the biggest trade roots in East Africa and has a participation of more than 150 million people. We employed various econometric analyses to predict the GDP of Eritrea, considering the future trade belts in East Africa. The result showed that the economy of Eritrea from the Trade Belt will have an elasticity estimate of 65.87% of the GDP of Ethiopia, 3.32% of the GDP of South Sudan, and 0.09% of the GDP of Uganda. The result showed that the existence of war has an elasticity of -93% to the GDP of the country. Thus, if Eritrea wants to strengthen its economy from the East African Trade Belt, the country needs to permanently avoid war in the region. Essentially, the country needs to establish a collaborative platform with the Northern part of Ethiopia (Tigray). Thus, establishing a mutual relationship with Tigray will boost the Eritrean economy. In that regard, Eritrean scholars and policymakers need to work on establishing the East African Trade Belt to boost their economy.

Keywords: Eritrea, east Africa trade belt, GDP, cointegration analysis, critical path analysis

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Authors: Dorothy Kagazi

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The African elephant (Loxodonta africana) remains one of the most crop-damaging species around Kibale National Park, western Uganda. Elephant crop raiding deprives communities of food and incomes, consequently impacting livelihoods, attitude, and support for conservation. It also attracts an aggressive reaction from local communities including the retaliatory killing of a species that is already endangered and listed under Appendix I of the Convention on Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES). In order to mitigate against elephant crop raiding and minimize conflict, a number of interventions were devised by the government of Uganda such as physical guarding, scare-shooting, excavation of trenches, growing of unpalatable crops and fire lighting all of which have over the years been implemented around the park. These generated varying degrees of effectiveness but largely never solved the problem of elephants crossing into communities to destroy food and shelter which had a negative effect onto sustainable tourism of the communities who often resorted to killing these animals and hence contributing the falling numbers of these animals. It was until government discovered that there are far more effective ways of deterring these animals from crossing to communities that it commissioned a study to deploy the African honeybee (Apis mellifera scutellata) as a deterrent against elephant crop raiding and income enhancement for local people around the park. These efforts led to a number of projects around Kibale National Park where communities were facilitated to keep bees for human-elephant conflict mitigation and rural income enhancement through the sale of honey. These projects have registered tremendous success in reducing crop damage, enhance rural incomes, influence positive attitude change and ultimately secure community support for elephant and park conservation which is a clear manifestation of sustainable tourism development in the area. To address the issue of sustainability, the project was aligned with four major objectives that contributed to the overall goal of maintaining the areas around the parks and the national park itself in such a manner that it remains viable over an infinite period. Among these included determining deterrence effects of bees against elephant crop raiding, assessing the contribution of beekeeping towards rural income enhancement, determining the impact of community involvement of park conservation and management among others. The project deployed 500 improved hives by placing them at specific and previously identified and mapped out elephant crossing points along the park boundary. A control site was established without any intervention to facilitate comparison of findings and data was collected on elephant raiding frequency, patterns, honey harvested, and community attitude towards the park. A socio-economic assessment was also undertaken to ascertain the contribution of beekeeping to incomes and attitude change. In conclusion, human-wildlife conflicts have disturbed conservation and sustainable tourism development efforts. Such success stories like the beekeeping strategy should hence be extensively discussed and widely shared as a conservation technique for sustainable tourism.

Keywords: bees, communities, conservation, elephants

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Authors: Nqobizwe Mvelo Ngema

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The right to equality has been accepted as one of the principles of jus cogens since the Second World War and it is protected in numerous international and regional human rights instruments. The convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW) is a comprehensive document that serves as the international Bill of Rights for women and it prohibits polygamy. This paper examines whether the most unusual customary practice of polyandry would serve as a solution in elevating the status of women to be on par with that of man that are polygamists or not. This paper concludes by arguing that polyandry cannot solve the problem of inequalities that are confronted by women because even in polyandrous societies there is male domination that is detrimental to the equality rights of women.

Keywords: human rights, polygamy, polyandry, polygyny

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Authors: Anchal Rana

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Indian Himalayas with their diverse climatic conditions are home to many rare and endangered medicinal flora. One such species is Polygonatum verticillatum Linn., popularly known as King Solomon’s Seal or Solomon’s Seal. Its mention as an incredible medicinal herb comes from 5000 years ago in Indian Materia Medica as a component of Ashtavarga, a poly-herbal formulation comprising of eight herbs illustrated as world’s first ever revitalizing and rejuvenating nutraceutical food, which is now commercialised in the name ‘Chaywanprash’. It is an erect tall (60 to 120 cm) perennial herb with sessile, linear leaves and white pendulous flowers. The species grows well in an altitude range of 1600 to 3600 m amsl, and propagates mostly through rhizomes. The rhizomes are potential source for significant phytochemicals like flavonoids, phenolics, lectins, terpenoids, allantoin, diosgenin, β-Sitosterol and quinine. The presence of such phytochemicals makes the species an asset for antioxidant, cardiotonic, demulcent, diuretic, energizer, emollient, aphrodisiac, appetizer, glactagogue, etc. properties. Having profound concentrations of macro and micronutrients, species has fine prospects of being used as a diet supplement. However, due to unscientific and gregarious uprooting, it has been assigned a status of ‘vulnerable’ and ‘endangered’ in the Conservation Assessment and Management Plan (CAMP) process conducted by Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) during 2010, according to IUCN Red-List Criteria. Further, destructive harvesting, land use disturbances, heavy livestock grazing, climatic changes and habitat fragmentation have substantially contributed towards anomaly of the species. It, therefore, became imperative to conserve the diversity of the species and make judicious use in future research and commercial programme and schemes. A Gene Bank was therefore established at High Altitude Herbal Garden of the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India situated at Chakarata (30042’52.99’’N, 77051’36.77’’E, 2205 m amsl) consisting 149 accessions collected from thirty-one geographical locations spread over three Himalayan States of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. The present investigations purport towards sampling and collection of divergent germplasm followed by planting and cultivation techniques. The ultimate aim is thereby focussed on analysing genetic diversity of the species and capturing promising genotypes for carrying out further genetic improvement programme so to contribute towards sustainable development and healthcare.

Keywords: Polygonatum verticillatum Linn., phytochemicals, genetic diversity, conservation, gene bank

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Authors: Svetlana Gusarova

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The essential role in the recent development of world economy has led to the developing countries, notably to BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). Over the next 50 years the BRICS countries are expected to be the engines of global trade and economic growth. Trade cooperation of BRICS countries can enhance their economic development. BRICS countries were among Top 10 world exporters of office and telecom equipment, of textiles, of clothing, of iron and steel, of chemicals, of agricultural products, of automotive products, of fuel and mining products. China was one of the main trading partners of all BRICS countries, maintaining close relationship with all BRICS countries in the development of trade. Author analyzed trade complementarity of BRICS countries and revealed the high level of complementarity of their trade flows in connection with availability of specialization in different types of goods. The correlation and regression analysis of communication of Intra-BRICS merchandise turnover and their GDP (PPP) revealed very strong impact on the development of their economies.

Keywords: BRICS countries, trade cooperation, complementarity, regression analysis

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Authors: Doaa El-Shereef

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The Canaanite civilization was one of the early great civilizations of the Near East, they influenced and been influenced from the civilizations of the ancient world especially the Egyptian and Mesopotamia civilizations. The development of the Canaanite trade started from the Chalcolithic Age to the Iron Age through the oldest trade route in the Middle East. This paper will focus on defining the Canaanites and from where did they come from and the meaning of the term Canaan and how the Ancient Manuscripts define the borders of the land of Canaan and this essay will describe the Canaanite trade route and their exported goods such as cedar wood, and pottery.

Keywords: archaeology, bronze age, Canaanite, colonies, Massilia, pottery, shipwreck, vineyards

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Authors: Mosses E. Lufuke, Lorna M. Kamau

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This paper attempted to assess whether the size of the regional economic bloc has an impact to the flow of trade to a particular country. Two different sized blocs (COMESA and EAC) and one country (Tanzania) have been used as the point of references. Using the results from of the analyses, the paper also was anticipated to establish whether it was rational for Tanzania to withdraw its membership from COMESA (the larger bloc) to join EAC (the small one). Gravity model has been used to estimate the relationship between the variables, from which the bilateral trade flows between Tanzania and the eighteen member countries of the two blocs (COMESA and EAC) was employed for the time between 2000 and 2013. In the model, the dummy variable for regional bloc (bloc) at which the Tanzania trade partner countries belong are also added to the model to understand which trade bloc exhibit higher trade flow with Tanzania. From the findings, it was noted that over the period of study (2000-2013) Tanzania acknowledged more than 257% of trade volume in EAC than in COMESA. Conclusive, it was noted that the flow of trade is explained by many other variables apart from the size of regional bloc; and that the size by itself offer insufficient evidence in causality relationship. The paper therefore remain neutral on such staggered switching decision since more analyses are required to establish the country’s trade flow, especially when if it had been in multiple membership of COMESA and EAC.

Keywords: economic bloc, flow of trade, size of bloc, switching

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Authors: Tonghua Li

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Under the neoliberal corporate food regime, biofuels are a double-edged sword that exacerbates tensions between national food security and trade in green agricultural products. Biofuels have the potential to help achieve green sustainable development goals, but they threaten food security by exacerbating competition for land and changing global food trade patterns. The U.S.-China trade war complicates this debate. Under the influence of different political and corporate coordination mechanisms in China and the US, trade disputes can have different impacts on sustainable agricultural practices. This paper develops an actor-centred ‘network governance framework’ focusing on trade in soybean and corn-based biofuels to explain how trade wars can change the actions of governmental and non-governmental actors in the context of oligopolistic competition and market concentration in agricultural trade. There is evidence that the US-China trade decoupling exacerbates the conflict between national security, free trade in agriculture, and the realities and needs of green and sustainable energy development. The US government's trade policies reflect concerns about China's relative gains, leading to a loss of trade profits, making it impossible for the parties involved to find a balance between the three objectives and, consequently, to get into a biofuels and soybean industry dilemma. Within the setting of prioritizing national security and strategic interests, the government has replaced the dominant position of large agribusiness in the neoliberal food system, and the goal of environmental sustainability has been marginalized by high politics. In contrast, China faces tensions in the trade war between food security self-sufficiency policy and liberal sustainable trade, but the state-capitalist model ensures policy coordination and coherence in trade diversion and supply chain adjustment. Despite ongoing raw material shortages and technological challenges, China remains committed to playing a role in global environmental governance and promoting green trade objectives.

Keywords: food security, green trade, biofuels, soybeans, US-China trade war

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Authors: Taimoor Hussain Alvi, Syed Toqueer Akhter

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The focus of this research is to identify Pak-India bilateral trade spillover effects upon Pakistan’s Growth rate. Cross-country spillover growth Effects have been linked with openness and access to markets. In this research, we intend to see the short run and long run effects of Pak-India Bilateral Trade Openness upon economic growth in Pakistan. Trade Openness has been measured as the sum of bilateral exports and imports between the two countries. Increased emphasis on the condition and environment of financial markets is laid in light of globalization and trade liberalization. This research paper makes use of the Univariate Autoregressive Distributed Lagged Model to analyze the effects of bilateral trade variables upon the growth pattern of Pakistan in the short run and long run. Key findings of the study empirically support the notion that increased bilateral trade will be beneficial for Pakistan in the short run because of cost advantage and knowledge spillover in terms of increased technical and managerial ability from multinational firms. However, contrary to extensive literature, increased bilateral trade measures will affect Pakistan’s growth rate negatively in the long run because of the industrial size differential and increased integration of Indian economy with the world.

Keywords: bilateral trade openness, spillover, comparative advantage, univariate

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Authors: Siti Nur Muhamad, Mohamad Abu Ubaidah Amir, Adenen Shuhada Abdul Aziz, Siti Sarah Mohd Isnan, Ainul Husna Abdul Rahman, Nur Afiqah Rosly, Roshamida Abd Jamil

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The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention) will commencing on 8 September 2017 after ratified by 51 States in September 2016. However, there is no value recovered for the treated ballast water as it simply discharged during de-ballasting. In order to evaluate value creation of treated ballast water, three seawater applications which are seawater toilet flushing, cooling tower and desalination was studied and compared with treated ballast seawater. An exploratory study was conducted in Singapore as a case study as this country is facing water scarcity issues and a busy port in the world which received more than 28 billion m3 of ballast water in 2015. Surprisingly the treatment technology between seawater toilet flushing and ballast water management has similarity as both applications use screening and disinfection process and quality standard and analysis between treated ballast water with seawater applications found that seawater toilet flushing have the same quality parameter with treated ballast water. Thus, the treated ballast water can replace the raw seawater for seawater desalination. As such, with reduction of cost for screen unit, desalination water can exceed water production by NEWater in Singapore as the cost can recover the energy needed for desalination. It can conclude that treated ballast water has high recovery value and can be reused in seawater application.

Keywords: ballast water treatment, desalination, BWM convention, ballast water management

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Authors: Mónica Arroyo

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South America shows increasing decline in regional export values in the last years, after a strong growth of trade flows especially with China up to 2013. This change is due to the end of the commodity price boom, the slowing of the Chinese economy and the effects of the 2008 economic crisis. This paper examines the integration of regional economies in this context, particularly the situation in Brazil and Argentina. Based on transformations over the last two decades, the analysis is focused on the spatial circuits of production linked to foreign markets, contributing to the understanding of the different uses of territory and the within-country inequality. The South American regional exports, consisting basically of raw materials, are concentrated in a few companies. Large areas are intended for the production of agriculture and mining commodities, under the command of major economic groups, both domestic and foreign, relegating the local population to less productive places or, in most cases, forcing them to change their activity and to migrate to other regions in search of some source of income. On the other hand, the dynamics of these commodities’ spatial circuits of production print requirements in territories in terms of infrastructure and regulation. Capturing this movement requires understanding businesses and government’s role in territorial regulation, and consequently how regional systems are changing – for instance, economic specialisation, growing role of services, investment in roads, railways, ports, and airports. This paper aims to highlight topics for discussion on regional economic dynamics and their different degrees of internationalisation. The intention is to contribute to the debate about the relations between trade, globalization, and development.

Keywords: regional inequality, international trade, developing world, South America

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Authors: Nazia Yaqub

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Globally, the number of cases of international parental child abduction has remained consistent in the past decade despite the legal provision designed to prevent and deter abduction, and so it appears the current legal approach to prevent abduction is lacking. Reflecting on the findings of an empirical study conducted by the author between 2017-19 on parental abduction from the UK, the article considers a solution to the predicament of protecting children at risk of abduction through electronic monitoring. The electronic monitoring of children has negative connotations, particularly in its use in the criminal justice system, yet in the context of family law proceedings, the article considers whether electronic monitoring could serve a protective rather than a punitive purpose. The article reflects on the use of electronic monitoring in parental abduction cases by the Family Courts and examines the ethical considerations of the proposal, drawing on the rights found in the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Keywords: law, parental child abduction, electronic monitoring, legal solutions

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Authors: Tahraoui Boualem

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Researching the historical framework of international crime means examining the historical facts that have contributed to uncovering this serious crime affecting international interests, and the law by which the study of the subject of international crime is determined is international criminal law, which is a branch of public international law. In this context, the historical study of international crime means recognizing the existence of an international community governed by international law, which makes us acknowledge that ancient societies lacked such stable and recurring international relations. Therefore, an attempt to monitor international crime in those ancient societies is only to demonstrate a historical fact that those societies have known some features of this crime, and have contributed in one way or another to the development of international criminal law without defining its concept or legal nature. The international community has affirmed the principle of establishing peace, achieving security, and respecting human rights. As a basis for friendly relations between the people of the international community and in case of prejudice, such as the aggressors breaching the obligations imposed on them, whether in time of peace or war.

Keywords: historical framework, of international crime, peace or war., international law

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