Journal of Environmental Science and Management

Site Suitability Analysis for Dairy Buffalo Production in Magdalena, Laguna, Philippines Using Geographic Information System

Journal of Environmental Science and Management — 2025-07-02

Site suitability assessment is a crucial step in determining the environmental limits of sustainable dairy buffalo production. This study aimed to assess the suitability of sites for locating potential agricultural lands for smallholder dairy buffalo production in Magdalena, Laguna, Philippines. Physical, agrometeorological, animal health and environmental, and economic factors were selected and the weights of their contributions for site suitability were assessed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Subsequently, all the factors were integrated to generate the site suitability map using geographic information system (GIS). More than 79% (2,701 ha) of the total land area of Magdalena is highly suitable for dairy buffalo production. These areas are mainly influenced by proximity to roads, markets, and water sources, which are the highest-weighted suitability factors. About 0.6 ha (0.02%) of the municipality is considered moderately suitable because of the aggregated factors, including distance to market, distance to livestock and poultry farms, distance to built-up areas, and temperature-humidity index. Validation showed that all the 25 surveyed dairy buffalo farms are in highly suitable areas. GIS and AHP can be effectively used to enhance land-use efficiency and improve the management of dairy buffalo production..

Keywords: Site suitability, Geographic Information System, Analytic Hierarchy Process, dairy buffalo

Assessment of Coupling Coordination of Tourism Urbanization System in Jiangsu Province, China

Journal of Environmental Science and Management — 2025-07-02

As a developed coastal province in China, Jiangsu's tourism urbanization process holds significant demonstrative value for regional sustainable development. This study constructs a novel evaluation system integrating tourism industry, urbanization, and ecological environment subsystems. Employing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for initial weighting and entropy method optimization for scientific parameter weighting, it calculates coupling and coordination degrees among subsystems. The median segmentation method identifies developmental stages. Applying this AHP-entropy-coupling coordination model quantitatively assessed 13 prefecture-level cities. Key findings reveal: All cities achieved intermediate coupling (>0.4), confirming high subsystem interrelation; Spatial coupling displayed a distinct bimodal pattern with peaks in northern/southern regions flanking a central trough; Overall coordination levels remained low, with most cities in low-to-intermediate ranges; Six coordination combinations emerged: Southern Jiangsu achieved coordinated development, while Northern and Central cities exhibited disorder. The study proposes differentiated strategies: Regions undergoing rapid urbanization must prioritize infrastructure development and ecological conservation to prevent low-level subsystem constraints. Conversely, areas with stabilized urbanization rates should leverage tourism's driving effects on urbanization and ecology to foster high-level synergy. This integrated approach provides a methodological framework for optimizing regional sustainable development through balanced tourism-urbanization-ecology interactions.

Keywords: : tourism urbanization, coupling, coordination, ecological environment, subsystem, Jiangsu

Livelihood Vulnerability of Agricultural Communities to Climate Change in Selected Barangays in Brooke’s Point, Palawan, Philippines

Journal of Environmental Science and Management — 2025-07-02

Although climate change is a global issue, its impacts vary between countries, regions, communities and sectors. Due to their limited capacity to adapt to the changing climate and access to other forms of production, agrarian communities in developing nations suffer the most. This study assessed the vulnerability of agriculture-based households in three Barangays situated within the Mambalot-Filantropia Watershed in Brooke’s Point, Palawan, Philippines. Through a comprehensive evaluation of socioeconomic and biophysical aspects, the study determined vulnerability levels and identified key influencing factors. A survey encompassing of 300 households and secondary data collection from relevant government sources formed the basis of the analysis. Analysis of the data following the Livelihood Vulnerability Index indicated moderate vulnerability across all three barangays, with Mambalot showing the highest LVI score (0.311), followed by Ipilan (0.276) and Maasin (0.260). Conversely, in the LVI-PCC assessment of which examines the interaction among exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity, Ipilan showed the highest overall vulnerability (0.004), followed by Mambalot (-0.004) and Maasin (-0.008). Food vulnerability, social networks, and exposure to climate variability were identified as primary concerns, underscoring the need to prioritize climate change mitigation efforts in these areas. Study findings suggest the need for urgent interventions in such as crop and livelihood diversification, microfinance, community-government partnerships, and disaster risk reduction.

Key words: climate change, vulnerability, livelihoods, agriculture, Philippines

Evaluation of an Efficient Microorganism Product for the Treatment of Wastewater Discharged into Havana Bay, Cuba

Journal of Environmental Science and Management — 2025-07-02

Nature-based solutions to mitigate the effects of wastewater discharge on the environment, including efficient microorganisms, are gaining ground among technologies for this purpose. The effectiveness of the efficient microorganism product ME Agroambiental® (MEA®) in mitigating the impact of industrial wastewater discharges into Havana Bay was evaluated. In the first half of 2022, composite samples were taken at the discharge points of three industries (with one having two wastewater discharges) dedicated to food production during peak discharge hours, with control samples taken before the application of MEA® and follow-up samples collected one month post-application. The samples were analyzed for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand, total coliforms, and thermotolerant coliforms. The results indicated a significant reduction in pollutant loads, with BOD5 reductions ranging from 77% to 94.2% and COD reductions between 64% and 87.4% across the evaluated companies. The MEA® product demonstrated particular effectiveness in treating wastewater from kitchens, sewers, grease traps, and industrial processes, achieving up to 98.3% reduction in specific contaminants such as organic waste and fats. These findings suggest that MEA® is a viable solution for reducing pollution in Havana Bay.

Keywords: wastewater treatment, efficient microorganisms, ME Agroambiental®, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand

Iron Recovery from Water of Acid Sulfate Soil Using Fixed-bed Cation Exchange: an Optimization Study

Journal of Environmental Science and Management — 2025-07-02

The Design Expert 12 software was used to optimize the recovery of iron from naturally iron alum water by ion exchange using a fixed bed column of 225H resin (India). This method also showed the ability to recover aluminum, calcium, and magnesium from water. At first, the study found suitable values of parameters such as cation exchange resin bed height of 80 cm, pH 6.5, and flow rate of 30 L h-1 by examining each individual parameter based on the evaluation of iron removal efficiency in water. Then, the optimization process was carried out with an initial iron content (iron content in natural iron-alum water before passing through the column) of 8.25±0.18 mg L-1. The optimal conditions were found through Design Expert 12 software with the values of parameters such as 80 cm (height of ion exchange resin layer), 6.5 (pH value), and 30 L h-1 (flow rate through the column). This was consistent with the conditions found initially (investigating each individual parameter) with an output iron content in the water of 0.5 mg L-1. The actual tested output iron content was less than 0.5 mg L-1, with a treatment efficiency of about 94%. The output iron concentration was below 0.5 mg L-1 with a treatment efficiency of over 93% (the actual iron ion content after treatment was 0.25-0.35 mg L-1 compared to the result from the predicted model of 0.49 mg L-1). Besides the ability to remove iron, other ions such as aluminum, calcium, and magnesium after passing through the column also had a relatively high treatment efficiency of over 85%. This result proved the effectiveness of iron treatment in natural iron-alum water by cation exchange with different iron contents, as well as the relevance of the model in practice.

Keywords: natural iron-alum water, cation exchange method, recovery of iron ions, iron treatment

Radionuclide Consumption Health Risk Assessment of Asian Clam (Corbicula fluminea) in Volcanic Lake of Taal, Philippines

Journal of Environmental Science and Management — 2025-07-02

The recent eruptions of the Taal volcano in the Philippines have produced more andesitic rocks than prior historic eruptions. Increased rock acidity is associated with higher concentrations of radionuclides. Local food source filter feeders like the Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea), feed on organic matter through filtration resulting in higher risks of taking in pollutants. The study aimed to assess the health risks through various metrics of radiologic health assessment via food ingestion. Three known harvesting sites were selected around the volcano island in the lake (S: Saluyan, C: Calawit, BM: Binintiang Munti). Two clam morphs: white morph (W) and purple morph (P) were analyzed for naturally occurring radioactive materials using High-purity Germanium gamma-ray spectrometer. Health assessments were analyzed using Committed Effective Dose (CED) and Lifetime Cancer Risk (LCR) equivalent for a person who consumes one heavy clam meal a week (17.86 g day-1). Overall, CEDs are valued far below the recommended 3×10−1 mSv yr-1, and LCRs are below the recommended 1×10−4 values. It can be concluded that regular consumption of Asian clams in Taal Lake carries no imminent risks in terms of radionuclide ingestion as long as no new more acidic eruption would follow.

Keywords: Taal Lake, naturally occurring radioactive material, Asian clam, health risk assessment, High Purity Germanium Gamma ray spectrometry

A Decision Support System to Assess the Trade-offs Between Timber Production and Ecosystem Services

Journal of Environmental Science and Management — 2025-07-02

The 21st century is characterized by a marked increase in public demand to consider the social aspects of forest management, most often as the clear trade-offs between timber production and environmental conservation. In this study, sugi (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) was estimated forest stand growth. Moreover, five important forest functions, namely, timber production, soil conservation, water resource conservation, carbon storage, and biodiversity conservation were quantitatively assessed, across each forest management unit. The results revealed that the inclusion of constraints related to carbon storage or soil conversation extended the cutting age and increased the area of forest with trees over 120 years of age. The optimized harvest schedules maintained timber production by the regeneration of high-productivity forests, while low-productivity forests on steep slopes were designated for public interest functions. The results proved that the tested approach can successfully take into account the multi-functional nature of forests; in other words, even though timber production decreased, the indicators of certain important public interest functions improved over the study period. This approach can be used to formulate schedules that take into account both national- and local-level regulations and enable forest managers to compare economic performance with environmental gains.

Keywords: carbon storage, forest multi-functions, forest management plans, harvest schedule, soil erosion

Awareness, Perceptions, and Acceptability of Bioremediation of a Mined-Out Area in Claver, Surigao del Norte, Philippines

Journal of Environmental Science and Management — 2025-07-02

Bioremediation is considered a safe, effective, and economical solution to contain, reduce, or remove toxins from mined-out areas. However, community support and acceptability are found to be significant to the success of bioremediation projects. Thus, a survey interview of 150 respondents using pre-tested questionnaires were conducted in Barangays Cagdianan, Hayanggabon, Taganito, and Urbiztondo in Claver, Surigao del Norte, Philippines to determine the community’s awareness, perception, and acceptability of the bioremediation in the mined-out area for nickel. Only 55% of the respondents were aware of the project and their knowledge was primarily gained through the stakeholders’ forum during the survey period. The respondents had positive perceptions about bioremediation manifested by the widespread favorable responses on the value of trees; beliefs and expectations from the project; risks; environmental, community, and economic benefits; trust in the implementers; and participation albeit only 5% were involved in the project. Despite lack of awareness and non-involvement, the respondents were willing to accept (99%) the bioremediation initiative and to recommend (95%) this in other mined-out areas. This case demonstrates that awareness and participation is not of vital importance in the acceptability of a bioremediation project. Nonetheless, bioremediation and other environmental projects should be initiated with extensive information and education campaigns for well-informed and well-engaged communities to foster a sense of ownership and stewardship, thereby, more successful and sustainable projects.

Keywords: bioremediation, awareness, perception, public participation, social acceptability

Comprehensive Review of Hydrogeological Assessments and Modeling Approaches for Groundwater Flow Dynamics and Sustainable Management

Journal of Environmental Science and Management — 2025-07-02

This review synthesizes recent advances in hydrogeological assessment and groundwater flow modeling, emphasizing their role in sustainable water resource management. Drawing from studies published between 1992 and 2024, this analysis emphasized the progression from analytical models to numerical and hybrid approaches, including tools that are enhanced by geospatial data and artificial intelligence. Methods for recharge estimation, aquifer characterization, and model calibration are evaluated, along with the application of sensitivity and uncertainty analyses. The review also explores how modeling practices intersect with governance, particularly through integrated water resource frameworks and stakeholder participation. Persistent challenges include limited data availability, underutilized stakeholder engagement, and difficulties in translating model outputs into policy decisions. Recommendations for future research focus on improving model accessibility, integrating socio-environmental variables, and developing adaptive platforms that can support decision-making under uncertainty. By consolidating key developments, limitations, and opportunities, this review provides a critical reference for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working to improve the application and impact of groundwater modeling.

Keywords: climate change adaptation, management of water resources, modelling groundwater flows, artificial intelligence applications in hydrology