A biocultural conflict between a coming-of-age ceremony of the Daasanach community and wildlife conservation exists in East Africa, but the young community members are calling for alternatives that support their ceremony and wildlife conservation, a study from the University of Helsinki finds.
Category Archives: Ecosystems
Non-monetary Environmental Values: Toward Diverse Perspectives of the Value of Nature
There are debates about monetary value of nature but… does nature have other values than the mere monetary one? What are they and why it is important to focus also on the non-monetary values of nature?
Climate-friendly meat: A nuanced approach to climate-savvy beef consumption
The discussion on the sustainability of meat is not new here. The HELSUS blog has reviewed the university community’s general satisfaction regarding UniCafe’s decision to remove beef from the lunch menu due to climate concerns. The restaurant frames its decision as part of a rising trend in which plant-based diets are identified as a simple way to move towards sustainability. While grass-fed beef is said to provide valuable ecosystem services, even this production is climatically damaging. But is this the whole picture?
EU Water Framework Directive from a Finnish perspective: Evolution from a paper tiger to a beast with transformative potential
On 19 December 2019, the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland (SACF) ruled against Finnpulp, an intended 1,4 billion-euro industrial bioeconomy investment in Kuopio. In this landmark ruling (SACF 2019:166), the court overturned earlier decisions granting an environmental permit. The reasoning of the SACF was to a considerable degree based on article 4 of the Water …
Saying goodbye to meat and milk? – Towards sustainable utilization of animals in land management
There has been a lot of heated debate about the production and consumption of meat, milk and other animal-derived products. The arguments are conflicting: promoting vegetarianism to save the planet versus the crucial role of cattle in Finnish agriculture, taking beef off the menu in the UniCafe versus “cow-is-yes“-tags by producers, fate of forlorn calves …