The Debt-for-Nature Swap In recent decades, the issue of biodiversity loss in developing nations has captured the attention of many environmental groups in the global North. Since the vast majority of the Earth's plant and animal life lies within the borders of developing nations, efforts to protect global biodiversity through the promotion of environmental conservation have largely been focused in the global South. Because of this regional focus, financial mechanisms have been seen as an effective way for groups in the industrialized North to promote their environmental interests in the developing world. Debt-for-nature swaps, which became popular in the early 1990's, are one such mechanism in which an indebted developing nation agrees to invest in conservation projects or environmentally friendly actions in exchange for the cancellation of a portion of its foreign debt by a creditor. (Patterson, 4) "The location of much of the world's most diverse biota often forces agreements to trade-off conservation and conventional development goals." (Moran, 63) Debt-for-nature swaps take this into account and attempt to balance out the economic costs that an LDC (less developed nation) incurs when investing in environmental conservation. Debt-for-nature swaps can be implemented through either bilateral or commercial swap mechanisms. A bilateral debt swap may be assisted by an NGO but is primarily an agreement made between a creditor government and a debtor government. The creditor government forgives the debt owed to it, and in exchange the debtor government agrees to set aside a pre-determined amount of money to fund conservation programs within its borders. A commercial debt swap occurs when a transnational NGO purchases debt at ... ...." Conservation Biology 7 (1993): 140-147. Isla, Ana. "Women and 'Sustainable Development' in the Costa Rican Rainforest: Questioning the Politics of Corporate Environmentalism." Women & Environments International Magazine (Fall 2001): 30. Moran, Dominic. "Debt-swaps for hot-spots: more needed." Biodiversity Letters 2 (1994): 63-66. "National Biodiversity Institute, Costa Rica." World Resources Institute. 25 April 2004. http://www.wri.org/wri/biodiv/b34-gbs.html Patterson, Alan. "Debt for Nature Swaps and the Need for Alternatives." Environment 32 (1990): 4-12. Redford, Kent H. & Stearman, Allyn Maclean. "Forest-Dwelling Native Amazonians And the Conservation of Biodiversity: Interests in Common or in Collision?" Conservation Biology 7 (1993): 248-255. "The Structure of an Environmental Transaction: The Debt-for-Nature Swap." Land Economics
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12/12/2019 0 Comments Peyotism and the Native American Church Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 wordsPeyotism and the Native American Church - Essay Example
Peyotism is, essentially, the ingestion of the Peyote, a psychoactive, small, spineless cactus, for religious purposes. Peyote is native to certain parts of Texas and Mexico, and the tribes that settled there have been reported to use it for a long time. There are Inquisition cases that dealt with peyote usage as early as 1614 (Stewart 1980:300). Though there are many prevailing theories about the exact route through which peyote use came to the Native American tribes that were not settled in the regions were this cactus grows, however, this much is clear that the tribes that practiced peyotism taught the practice to either those they had captured, or took the religious practice with them even when they were displaced from their original settlements. According to Stewart, it was the Lipan who were primary contributors to the course that led to the founding of the Peyote Religion in Oklahoma (1974:218), and La Barre agrees (49). Slowly, but surely, peyotism spread; it took on many aspects of both traditional religious rituals of the Native Americans, along with amalgamating Christian themes within. La Barre states that as early as 1876, the Oto and the Sac were learning a Christianized version of Peyotism from the Tonkawa directly (as cited in Stewart 1974:216). Peyotism evolved and became what is now the Native American Church: a Christian church, with many Native American rituals. Just where the syncretism originated is not quite clear, but the fact remains that the members of this Church consider themselves to be practicing something that “incorporates distinctly Christian teaching and practices†(Feraca 2001:60). But the fact that most of their practices are frowned upon by the Catholics and the Protestants alike (La Barre 1960) for being incompatible with their practices clearly shows that there are some distinct native rituals that are practiced by this Church. Feraca maintains that at first glance, the paraphernalia used during Church meetings, both of the Half Moon and the Cross Fire sects, looks non-Christian (2001:61). The traditional beaded staff, the single-headed metal drum with three legs of the Cross Fire, and the peyote all are seemingly alien to Christianity, however, to Church goers they represent the walking staff of Christ, the three legs the Trinity, and the peyote itself is the host (ibid.). Similarly, the eagle, the turtle and the water bird symbols used by the Half Moon are considered to be the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit respectively (Ruby 2010:59). All these symbols, paraphernalia and rituals were part of the traditional religions of the tribes, but have now been amalgamated into a new form of Christianity that is practiced by the Natives almost exclusively. Emerson Spider, Sr., who was a Reverend of the Native American Church, when talking about this fusion put it so, “We are Indian people, and we still have some of our traditional ways…There are traditional things that we still have…because we grew up with them and we’re Indians†(1987:207). In his article about revitalization movements, Anthony Wallace states that revitalization movements take place when there is dissatisfaction amongst most of the population with the cultural 12/5/2019 0 Comments Benihana of Tokyo Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 wordsBenihana of Tokyo - Case Study Example
However, a market research done by Rocky, the president of this hotel, pointed otherwise. Through this research, Rocky realized that many Americans do not trust meals that are prepared in enclosures that are not visible for the customer. Therefore, he ensured that the meals, especially the streak were prepared from a close proximity to the dining table so that customers would be in a position to watch as their meals are being prepared. This boosted the trust of the customers towards the firm. Unlike other typical restaurants which have 30% of their total space as back of the house, this restaurant has only 22% of the total space left as back of the house (Warner 34). This has increased the space available for the restaurant. Another factor that distinguished this restaurant from others within this locality was the fact that its chefs were all from the parent country, Japan. All of them were young unmarried individuals with high standards of training in hospitality industry. The mannerism of the restaurant, though American in all aspects, had a touch of the Japanese culture, a fact that made it stand out as uniquely cultural. Simply put, the operation of this restaurant is positively unique. The design choices of this restaurant have positive contributions to the general operative efficiencies. The decision to have the cooking area located close to the dining hall is not only meant to please the customers as they watch their meals being prepared, but it also enhances the efficiency. The cooking area is very close to the customers and therefore the process of serving is easier. As the president of this restaurant admits, this has enabled the management to cut down on the operative cost because it would require a relatively lesser labor as compared to a conventional kitchen location in typical hotels (Page 76). The decision to reduce the back space of the hotel has also improved efficiency of |