Cultural Significance of Ecosystem Services in Traditional Festivals Performance in Rural Northern Ghana | Chapter 1 | New Ideas Concerning Arts and Social Studies Vol. 4

 

Cultural ecosystem services, such as spiritual, religious, or heritage values, are often intangible and cannot easily be quantified or assigned a monetary value. These values are subjective, deeply personal, and vary across individuals and communities. In simple words, Cultural ecosystem services are the non-material benefits that people obtain from ecosystems. Recreational experiences, religious values, educational opportunities, cultural heritage, and traditional practices and knowledge associated with natural environments, such as indigenous ways of managing land and resources. These services enhance the quality of life of rural people and contribute to their well-being and rural livelihood. In Northern Ghana, communities along the White Volta River basin celebrate traditional festivals and the rich cultural heritage with ecosystem services of the rich and luxuriant vegetation. There is little documentation linking the livelihoods of the people, the role that ecosystem services play in their livelihood practices, and their festival celebrations. Understanding the links is important for a comprehensive appreciation of people's conservation-related behaviours. The objective of the study, therefore, was to document how the rural people rely on the ecosystem services found in the White Volta River basin for their livelihoods and in the celebration of their festival. Customary laws, traditional social structures, and authorities regulate ecosystem services at the rural local level with chiefs and sub-chiefs, community members ensuring sustainable use of resources in the ecosystem under their jurisdiction. Focus Group Discussions were undertaken with a checklist on the thematic areas. Key informant interviews were conducted, and qualitative data were collected. The type of provisioning ecosystem services was noted. The data, mainly qualitative data, were analysed using Thematic and Content analysis. Common activities found across all the festivals were identified as prayers to the gods and ancestors for good harvests and blessings. Ritual performances at sacred sites, and the maintenance of social cohesion and the transmission of cultural values. Cultural ecosystem services are often underrepresented in policy and governance frameworks, which tend to prioritise provisioning or regulating services that are easier to quantify. Cultural practices tied to ecosystems may not be adequately considered in land use planning, resource management, or conservation efforts. Ecosystem services not only sustain traditional festivals in Ghana but also preserve the culture and spiritual values, and improve the economic status of the people, highlighting the interdependence of people and nature.

 

 

Author(s) Details

Bizoola Z. G.
University for Development Studies, Box 1882, Ghana.

 

Lolig V
University for Development Studies, Box 1882, Ghana.

 

Felix Y. T. Longi
University for Development Studies, Box 1882, Ghana.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/nicass/v4/3871

 

Assessing the Economic Value of Vegetation in Northern Ghana's White Volta Basin: A Community Perspective | Chapter 1 | Research Advances in Environment, Geography and Earth Science Vol. 10

 

Potential income sources for rural communities can be identified by identifying market opportunities for selling vegetation to improve the livelihoods and financial stability of households, which determines the viability and demand for vegetation products in local markets. Concepts of ecosystem services have been developed to make explicit connections between human welfare and ecological sustainability for policy, development, and conservation initiatives. Economic concepts such as the distinction between prices and values, and the acknowledgment of their values are context-specific which may change across space and time. Concepts of ecosystem services have been developed to make explicit connections between human welfare and ecological sustainability for policy, development, and conservation initiatives. Economic concepts such as the distinction between prices and values, and the acknowledgment of their values are context-specific which may change across space and time. Contingent valuation is a survey-based economic technique for valuing non-market resources, such as vegetation. This method is often used to establish the amount people are willing to be compensated for maintaining the existence of an environmental feature such as a tree, shrub, or grass. The level of importance attached to provisioning services as well as cultural services and cultural heritage differ in the rural communities hence different cash values attached. It is often perceived that rural community members do not put a monetary value on vegetation, the study is therefore aimed at establishing the monetary value rural communities have for vegetation. The study was conducted in two irrigated and two unirrigated landscapes consisting of about 54 communities and comprising 240 respondents. Participatory Rural Appraisal tools were used. Random Utility Theory was applied and used for the analysis. The concerning native, sex, age, education, and household head. Marital status was, however, not significant in all the landscapes. Respondents’ willingness to accept a sell price of the various vegetation reached acceptable prices that gave average prices. The price trend is observed to be across a landscape, from the catchment to the downstream ecosystem. The study’s conclusion asserts that rural farmers in the targeted area have very good knowledge of the usefulness of vegetation to ecosystem services in their environment. However, it was observed that community members do not have much knowledge on the monetary value of vegetation and hence, it is important for awareness creation and up-date on the monetary value of ecosystem services.

 

Author (s) Details

Gandaa Z. Bizoola

University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/raeges/v10/2395

Research on the Floristics of Kusmi Forest in Sidhi District, Madhya Pradesh, India | Chapter 12 | Recent Trends in the Study of Botanical Research Volume - 1

 An investigation was conducted to study the existing floral composition in Kusmi Forest, located in Sidhi (Madhya Pradesh). The choice of the present area of Kusmi Forest for this floristic study was driven by its lack of attention towards its vegetation. The forest's vegetation was characterized as dry deciduous, thorny scrub type. A total of more than 135 plant species, representing over 49 families, were examined. Among these families, Caesalpiniaceae and Mimosaceae stood out as the most dominant. This publication provides the first-ever comprehensive floristic information about the tree flora present in Kusmi Forest.

Author(s) Details:

Mohammad Salim,
S.G.S. Govt. Autonomous P.G. College, Sidhi (M.P.), A.P.S. University, Rewa, India.

Shivnandan Patel,
S.G.S. Govt. Autonomous P.G. College, Sidhi (M.P.), A.P.S. University, Rewa, India.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/RTSBR-V1/article/view/12459

Urban Green Space: A Parallel Assessment in Eight Zones of Bangalore, India | Chapter 10 | Novel Perspectives of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences Vol. 6

 In the study vegetation distribution across 8 zones of Bangalore Metro region is assessed by NDVI and TNDVI reconstructed 2005 Quick Bird imagery. Both NDVI and TNDVI, a bio-material variables greately unravel the pattern of plants distribution across different zones of Bangalore public transit service. Due to concentrated developmental project that increased state and put pressure on infrastructure and raw materials, Bangalore is currently experiencing exceptional urbanization. This has led to any of serious challenges, including trend change, the greenhouse effect and frequent inundation of low-lying areas. This city structure includes city vegetation, to a degree urban forests, that adds a layer of plant life to an otherwise fake landscape. "The net benefits that members of humankind receive from an city forest determine the worth of the forest".   Among the different zones extreme NDVI value was noticed in Byatarayanapur followed by West. Urban sprawl is observed as 9% and about 177 km2 of agricultural land has happened converted into built up extent in the last 5 to 6 years. Using high determination satellite metaphors, a zone-by-zone amount of vegetation distribution can explain the benefits of urban plants cover vary throughout the Bangalore Metro and be used to equate estimates of urban plants cover between zones.

Author(s) Details:

Malini A. Shetty,
Department of Botany, Surana College, Southend Circle, Bangalore-4, India.

R. K. Somashekar,
Department of Environmental Science, Bangalore University, Jnana Bharathi Campus, Bangalore-56, India.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/NPGEES-V6/article/view/10147

The Application of Remote Sensing in Vegetation Cover, Sudan | Chapter 8 | Cutting Edge Research in Biology Vol. 5

 This paper wanted to review several studies on the use of detached sensing in Sudan accompanying a focus on plants cover in various domains by many scholars; the unification of remote thinking in the gum Arabic belt; pertaining to the south Gadarif region; ahable and chunk grabou area, silver Nile state with a devote effort to something the amount and mapping of land use land cover change through plan and monitoring the changes that happen in land use land cover, due to dryness, climate change, and transgression; east of the Nile Khartoum State, and in the middle during a half-of one hundred years. Following are recommendations came from these studies: the use of assessment signs including NDVI, SAVI, and PCA –maneuvered in color composite and/or unsupervised categorization can be secondhand as an appropriate mean for rangeland monitoring and amount which was urged from the study of North Kordofan state.

Author(s) Details:

Eisa M. Ahmed,
Department of Crop Protection, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of Kordofan, P.O Box 160 –Elobeid, 51111, Sudan.

El Gunaid F. Hassan,
Department of Forestry and Range Sciences, University of Bakht Er-Ruda, Ad Duwem, Sudan.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/CERB-V5/article/view/9853

Documentation and Investigation into the Floristic Composition of Barakat Area (Gazira State) Sudan | Chapter 9 | Research Aspects in Biological Science Vol. 4

 

 A study on floral composition was carried out in the Barakat Area of Sudan's Gazira State. During two field surveys, random plant specimens were gathered from varied locations. At the University of Khartoum's Faculty of Science, samples were prepared and stored there. A total of 127 angiosperm species from 43 botanical groupings were found. There were 36 families and 110 dicotyledons, with the most species belonging to the Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Mimosaceae, Convolvulaceae, and Caesalpinaceae families. Seven families containing 17 monocotyledon plant species were discovered, with the Poaceae and Cyperaceae groups having the greatest representation. Polygonaceae, Aristolochiaceae, Vitaceae, Cleomaceae, and Commelinaceae were the least prevalent families. Numerous of species were native flora, but just 27 were grown. Additionally, parasitic plants from the families Loranthaceae and Scrophulariaceae were identified. In total, there were 26 trees, 15 shrubs, 81 herbs, and 5 climbers in the flora. With 4 species, Euphorbia was the most widespread genus, followed by Acacia with 3. The indigenous flora made up 78.7 percent of the total, while the cultivated species made up 21.3 percent. In the research region, vegetation was found in three strata, with trees such as Acacia nilotica (Sunut), Acacia nubica (Laot), and Ziziphus spina-christi dominating the top layer (Sidir). Colatropis procera (Ushar) dominated the shrub layer, the second (intermediate) layer, while Cynodon dactylon ruled the third herbaceous layer. This research will be beneficial.

Author(s) Details:

A. H. Abdallah,
Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Khartoum University, Sudan.

N. Mahmoud,
National Center for Research, Khartoum, Sudan.

Negood Elmahi,
Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Khartoum University, Sudan.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/RABS-V4/article/view/7592