The production of biofuels has been supported by many conservationists and environmentalists on the grounds that it reduces greenhouse gas emissions and is a renewable energy substitute for non-renewable fossil fuels, mainly oil. More recently the domestic production of biofuels (and the...

After providing some background about the importance of cotton as a fibre, this article provides information about the global relevance of China’s and Australia’s cotton industries and compares the structure and other significant features of their cotton industries. Attention is given to...

This article shows that there is no regular relationship between the level of the rate of interest and the extent to which the conservation of biodiversity is favoured. Microeconomic examples are given in which a rise in the rate of interest adversely affects biodiversity conservation as well as...

In order to cater for the predicted growth in global population and aspirations for increased living standards, the world needs to increase substantially its level of agricultural production and sustain agriculture’s increased productivity. New technologies may enable this to occur but they...

This article outlines both ecological and socioeconomic issues involved in the development and use of GMOs. It’s argued that while initially new GMOs add to the global stock of biodiversity, in the long-term they result in a decline in biodiversity. Various mechanisms that bring about this...

Tropical forests are biodiversity-rich but are dwindling at a rapid rate, not only in Southeast Asia but elsewhere also. The result is a loss of natural ecosystems, a reduction in carbon sequestration, and increasing global extinction of wild species, including iconic species. While several...

Posner adopted the economic principle of wealth maximization as a guiding principle for the dispensation of justice. This resulted in his endorsing the Kaldor-Hicks principle (also known as the potential Paretian improvement principle) as a basis for just laws. This article explores whether this...

Reports the results of surveys of Antarctic cruise ship passengers on the ‘Akademik Ioffe’ who undertook their Antarctic journey in January 2003. The prime purposes of the surveys were to determine the socio-economic profile of these travellers, evaluate the importance of Antarctic wildlife...

The importance of environmental education as a component of ecotourism is highlighted. The extent of environmental education and its impact on attitudes to conservation of sea turtles and actions by ecotourists to support such conservation as a result of their visits to Mon Repos Conservation...

Conservation of biodiversity can generate considerable indirect economic value and this is being increasingly recognized in China. For a forest ecosystem type of a nature reserve, the most important of its values are its ecological functions which provide human beings and other living things...