CABI Blogs: hand picked... and carefully sorted

Towards an ecology of belief: The limits of science for preserving public parks

 The following guest article was written by Will La Page, author of the new book "Rethinking Park Protection: Treading the Uncommon Ground of Environmental Beliefs", which has just been published by CABI. It describes the inspiration for the book and for the thinking behind it.

A small group of park scientists friends were sitting around the dining table at our home in Fort Collins, Colorado, in the mid-1990's digesting dinner along with a comment my wife, Susan Cockrell a long-time wildlife activist, had made about the growing public outcry over the state's wildlife management policies. One of the scientists, obviously experiencing some discomfort with the meal or the topic or perhaps both, in an outburst of emotion revealed his frustration with the public's resources being managed by the subjective passions of poorly-informed citizens and their biased beliefs. No amount of cajoling this purely objective scientist could get him to reconsider; not the fact that the public owns the resources, and has a right to be involved in policy-making; not the fact that other biased belief systems have wildlife managers firmly in their grasp; nor even the fact that science is, itself, a human belief system, approaching if not exceeding that of the most dogmatic religion.

How tai chi is good for the heart

As an Editor with varied responsibilities at CABI, information I come across at work often overlaps with what I do away from my desk. Thus, as a long-time practitioner of tai chi who isn't getting any younger, I was interested when looking for subjects to write about for the Leisure Tourism Database, to come across the latest piece of research on the health benefits of tai chi for 'older adults'.

The study from Hong Kong, recently published online in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, found that older subjects regularly practicing tai chi were less likely to suffer high blood pressure, and were physically stronger in particular areas such as the knees.

High-speed rail: when should governments invest?

 Recent years have seen a surge in investment in high-speed rail (HSR) infrastructure in many parts of the world, led by China where over $100 billion a year is being spent (although there was a slowdown in construction after a fatal crash in July 2011). The UK has so far lagged behind, but today the government looks set to approve plans for a high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham as the first stage of a planned network which will eventually extend to northern cities. With the mainstream media covering the debate in more detail than can be dealt with here, this blog instead features a recent Working Paper by de Rus which examines the economic rationale for government investment in the construction of HSR lines, before looking at the arguments in Britain in the context of this analysis.

NGOs call for Durban debate on climate justice in tourism

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa is now underway, and already running into difficulties with rumours that Canada may formally renounce the Kyoto Protocol due to fears about economic competitiveness. While tourism is not a major component of the Durban talks, aviation is one of the contentious issues, with individual countries and the EU controversially setting emissions targets for airlines using their airports in the absence of any global regulation of aviation. The tourism industry has long argued that taxes and emission charges on aviation would harm the economic development of some of the world's least developed countries which depend on long-haul tourism for much of their foreign exchange. However, a number of NGOs have issued a Position Paper suggesting that aviation should not be excluded from the talks, and that negotiators should "seriously and objectively address the role of tourism in the international climate negotiations."

The international alliance of civil society organisations, including AKTE (Switzerland), EED/Tourism Watch (Germany), ECOT (Thailand), Fair Trade Tourism in South Africa (FTTSA) and Naturefriends International, says that it is irresponsible to exclude aviation on the grounds that tourism is an "engine of development" and argues that globally binding negotiations on aviation emissions will, if managed properly, enhance rather than undermine poverty reduction.

One year from the Olympics: Will home advantage favour Team GB?

 It is now exactly a year until the 2012 Olympics open in London, and events to mark the occasion are being held throughout the capital. Like a number of my colleagues I've been fortunate enough to get tickets for at least some events next year, although having missed out on athletics and cycling while getting tickets for volleyball and basketball I don't expect to be seeing much British success even if it happens to be the GB teams playing at the sessions I've been allocated. But there are hopes that Team GB will once again get a top 4 finish in the medals table, and that even sports where we don't expect to do well will get a performance boost from partisan home crowds. And research suggests that this could well be the case, with analyses of past sporting events showing that home teams and nations typically achieve much better success than when competing away from home.

Phillips Idowu: Gold medal prospect?

Want to be happy? Log off now.

 It was Bhutan which first famously came up with the concept of Gross National Happiness. Back in 1972, the then-King Jigme Singye Wangchuck asked why countries were obsessed with GDP.

"Why are we so obsessed and focused with gross domestic product?" he asked a journalist inquiring about the country's economy. "Why don't we care more about gross national happiness?"

Perhaps wanting to get away from somewhat gloomy national economic measures, British Prime Minister David Cameron last November announced that the UK would start to measure and monitor national happiness, and the Office for National Statistics has been tasked with producing a regular "Happiness Index". But how exactly do we measure happiness, and what features of our national and personal environment affect it? While looking for stories for the Leisure Tourism Database, I came across one recent paper which uses international survey data to take a snapshot of happiness across different countries and relate it to quantity and quality of leisure time. Among the findings: more time on the internet makes us miserable.

Are all-inclusive resorts “the devil’s work”?

A decision announced earlier in April by British tour operator First Choice to sell only all-inclusive holidays from next year has triggered a debate about the pros and cons of all-inclusive resorts. Leading travel writer Simon Calder is quoted by the BBC News website as calling all-inclusives "the devil's work", while industry bodies and pressure groups have also voiced criticism. But other operators of all-inclusive resorts have defended their record of spending money locally and being environmentally and socially responsible.

Green exercise, Part Two

Last May I posted a blog on the health benefits of exercise in natural environments (also called 'green exercise'), featuring new research on the subject. Since then, two systematic reviews on the topic have been published, the most recent just last week, so as some wet, grey weather is currently making it harder to leave the warmth of the office for a lunchtime walk in CABI's own green surroundings, maybe it's time to revisit the topic to remind myself of the possible benefits.

The most recent review comes from a team at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in Devon, UK. The authors analysed existing studies and concluded that there are benefits to mental and physical well-being from taking exercise in the natural environment. Their findings are published in the research journal Environmental Science and Technology on February 4th 2011.

Do current e-book models help or hinder the migration from print to online?

It seems that in 2010 we have been finally witnessing the “tipping point” for e-books, with more and more libraries making a positive choice to purchase e-books instead of print editions.  Do publishers’ business models make this migration easier for libraries to implement, or actually place obstacles in their way?  E-book collections versus individual title selection; annual subscriptions versus one-time purchases; simultaneous users versus unlimited site-wide licensing; availability or not of online textbooks … We asked librarians from three very different institutions for their views. Read what they said and add your own opinions below.

Medical tourism: what do we know?

 Medical tourism is much-hyped by its proponents, with high figures for its value and patient numbers published in some industry reports. In 2007, Deloitte estimated American patient outflow at 750,000 and projected this to increase to 6,000,000 by 2010: in reality, the recession hit medical tourism numbers, which a more recent Deloitte report estimated at 648,000 in 2009 and projected to be 1.6 million in 2012. Accurate figures are hard to come by, as numbers are often inflated for political or marketing purposes, and companies pushing medical tourism have a vested interest in hyping the potential. So how much do we actually know about medical tourism: the size of the market, and also the effects on patients and on health care in destination and departure countries? Two recent scoping studies address the current state of knowledge. Johnston et al. (2010), in a paper published on 3 November in the International Journal for Equity in Health, examine the effects in destination and departure countries from a number of perspectives, while Crooks et al. (2010) reviewed patient experience of medical tourism.