bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Wildlife Utilization in China
Authors: Greer Charles E. , Doughty Robin W.
Published: August 2009

Current trends in the utilization of wildlife in China continue a tradition of satisfying material needs for meat, apparel, and medicinal and other products. Wild animals have been hunted to bolster income from agriculture and to supply the industrial sector of the economy with material goods. Decisions about conserving or protecting animals are therefore based largely upon utilitarian premises. If they decrease agricultural productivity or are harmful to humans, predatory animals are heavily persecuted.

Chinese biologists have followed initiatives, begun in the Soviet Union, of introducing alien animals to areas where they can multiply and be cropped for commercial purposes. Research also continues to be focused on the possible relocation of faunal elements within China, to develop the market for meat and skins.

However, there appears to be a growing concern for preserving certain rare, unusual, and threatened, species because they are unique to China or have beneficial or symbolic value. This concern is likely to increase as studies in animal behaviour, migration, and ecology, demonstrate that significant declines have occurred in the populations of many ‘useful’ birds and mammals.
Measurement Techniques in Environmental Impact Assessment
Authors: Skutsch Margaret McCall , Flowerdew Robin T. N.
Published: August 2009

The environmental impact statement requirement under NEPA has resulted in a proliferation of techniques for environmental impact assessment. These may be classified according to their function into the three main categories of impact identification, impact valuation, and impact comparison. For each of these categories, some problems relating to measurement techniques are identified and discussed, and a few prominent examples of techniques in the category are reviewed. Impact identification techniques must consider how the issues should be organized, how the material is to be presented, what geographical and other boundaries should be fixed to keep the analysis at a manageable size, and what descriptive criteria should be included. Sorensen's system of ‘linear graphs’ and the Saratoga Associates' matrix approach are discussed with respect to these points.

Impact evaluation techniques, in addition to idenfying the impacts of a project, place a numerical value on their significance. For some impacts, a physical measurement scale may not be appropriate without modification; for others, no objective physical scale exists. In both cases, it is necessary to resort to subjective judgements to quantify the true seriousness of an impact. These judgements should be made systematically and, where possible, in such a manner that the resulting values form an interval- or ratio-scale rather than merely an ordinal scale. The matrix procedure devised by Leopold et al. (1971) is discussed as an example of impact evaluation techniques.

Impact comparison techniques, in addition to impact evaluation, weight the relative importance of each impact and combine the impacts for an overall assessment of the project and any alternatives to it. A major problem here is the lack of comparability between different types of impact; interdependence between impacts also makes the combination of factors difficult. Again, subjective judgements are needed, and proper use of scaling techniques can provide some basis for comparison. Techniques suggested by McHarg (1968), by Peterson et al. (1974), and by Dee (1972), are reviewed in this section.

Although EIS preparation raises several of the thorniest problems that occur in planning for decisionmaking, these are problems that must be faced, not evaded. Whereas the techniques suggested by no means solve all the problems that have been raised, they do provide partial answers. People involved in environmental impact assessment can only gain by thinking systematically about exactly what tasks are to be accomplished, and by making an appropriate choice of techniques for undertaking these tasks.
Ecological and Social Evaluation of Industrial Development
Authors: Marstrand Pauline K.
Published: August 2009

The development of methods for evaluation of industrial development by investigation of its ecological and health, as well as its social and economic, effects was the aim of UNEP/UNIDO Project EP/INT/73-002. Following six weeks' study of the cotton textile industry in Thailand, recommendations were made regarding criteria, team composition, and methods of utilizing existing information and conducting interviews. Interviews with village people and farmers were found to be a feasible method for qualitative assessment of environmental effects, and for providing information on which losses could be estimated. In all cases the costs of prevention or mitigation of damage were small in comparison with estimated costs of the damage caused.

The paper suggest that developing countries have the opportunity to industrialize without the trauma of extensive damage to health or environment, and that such development is not intrinsically more costly than other types in financial terms. It does, however, demand better understanding of the social, economic, and environmental, characters of a locality before planning begins. In many countries, including Thailand, existing university and other resources, assisted by interviews with the communities concerned, can provide the information required for this understanding, and therefore the delay need not be great.
The Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS) of UNEP
Authors: Gwynne Michael D.
Published: August 2009

The Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS) is a collective effort of the world community to acquire, through monitoring, the data needed for rational management of the environment, and arose from recommendations of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment which was held in Stockholm in 1972. The GEMS Programme Activity Centre (PAC) at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, coordinates all that it can of the various environmental monitoring activities which are carried on throughout the world—particularly those within the United Nations System.

Great care is taken to ensure that data gathered by GEMS are of the highest attainable quality, and that data collected from different parts of a particular monitoring network are both comparable and compatible. The GEMS Programme Activity Centre (PAC), in the manner of UNEP itself, is not operational but works mainly through the intermediary of the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations System—most notably FAO, ILO, UNESCO, WHO, and WMO—together with appropriate intergovernmental organizations such as IUCN.

The GEMS monitoring system consists of five closelyinterrelated programmes which have built-in provision for training and for rendering technical assistance to ensure the participation of countries that are inadequately provided with personnel and equipment. The five are:

1. Climate-related monitoring;

2. Monitoring of long-range transport of pollutants;

3. Health-related monitoring (concerned with pollutional effects);

4. Ocean monitoring; and

5. Terrestrial renewable-resource monitoring.

Each of these broad areas contains at least five distinct world-wide monitoring networks. Examples of these latter are the World Glacier Inventory, Background Air Pollution Monitoring Network, Urban Air Pollution Monitoring Network, Global Water Quality Monitoring Network, Tropical Forest Monitoring Network, Species Conservation Monitoring Network, etc.

Monitored data are gathered at suitable coordinating centres for each network at which appropriate data-bases have been, or are being, established. Data are analyzed to produce periodic regional and global assessments which are reported at intervals that are appropriate to the variable which is being considered.
The Role of Management in Wilderness and Natural-area Preservation
Authors: Stankey George H.
Published: August 2009

It is argued that, while designation (i.e. allocation) of an area to wilderness or related nature conservation purposes is an important action, it is merely a necessary but insufficient step in the long-term preservation and protection of such areas. Although one can argue that areas designated for preservation objectives require little or no management, the persistent pressures stemming from their continued use, as well as external pressures stemming from increasing (and/or increasingly mobile) human populations, make the issue of management not one of whether but rather of how.

Wilderness management is an inherently difficult task. Generally low levels of information foster great uncertainly with which managers must contend. The difficulty is further promoted by the relative scarcity of the wilderness resource, and by potentially irreversible consequences stemming from decisions made in the face of uncertainty.

The difficult nature of the job of wilderness management could be made less so by improvements in the following areas:

1. Development of accurate baseline information about the wilderness resource and its use;

2. Development of a hierarchical management framework that specified goals, objectives, and actions;

3. Improved understanding of the consequences of alternative management actions;

4. Resolution of the underlying philosophical basis for management; and

5. Development of a broad spectrum of areas with varying levels of importance placed on Nature conservation, so that some areas are provided with relatively high levels of human presence and impact, while others are managed so as to provide the highest degree of protection to Nature and conservation values.
Desertification Maps of Falcon State, Venezuela
Authors: Matteucci Silvia D. , Colma Aída , Pla Laura
Published: August 2009

Maps are presented of the desertification status and degree of hazard in Falcon State, Venezuela, comprising 24,750 sq. km of land, and the criteria employed for their compilation are described.

The information used for the compilation of the maps was obtained from the results of a regional survey recently conducted by the Authors. Degree of slope, landform, and soil texture, were employed to assess the physical fragility of the different landscapes, which were expressed as classes of inherent vulnerability. The classes of desertification hazard were obtained from the combination of degrees of plant cover and of inherent vulnerability.

The results show that more than 42% of the area of Falcon State has already undergone deterioration, and that 41% is under severe or very severe desertification hazard. The subhumid climatic zone is more critical than the semiarid, both because of inherent vulnerability and of its human occupation pattern.

The aim of the present paper is to get Falcon State incorporated in the world inventory of land under desertification hazard, and to call public and governmental attention to the seriousness and extent of the desertification threat—in Venezuela and also in other countries that face similar problems, whether or not they realize their danger.
Restoration of Heather Moorland and Lowland Heathland, with Special Reference to Pipelines
Authors: Putwain P. D. , Gillham D. A. , Holliday R. J.
Published: August 2009

Reafforestation, reclamation to agriculture, urbanization, and a variety of industrial activities—such as mineral extraction and the laying of gas and oil pipelines—cause loss or severe degradation of heather moorland and lowland heathland in Britain. In recent years the expansion of the gas and oil industries has involved installation of many major pipelines, some of which traverse areas of heather moorland. Heathland vegetation is very sensitive to disturbance, and natural regeneration of its plant communities is relatively slow. Three detailed examples are given of severe disturbance caused by the laying of pipelines, where the original heathland vegetation has not recovered. There have been irreversible changes in the vegetation, to grassland with Juncus spp., and these have been associated with considerable changes in soil properties across the pipeline easement.

Improved techniques have been developed for reinstatement of heather moorland and lowland heathland after pipeline installation. The techniques are based on fundamental ecological principles and have been tested during the installation of a pipeline for Scottish Gas (across the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh) and during the installation of an oil pipeline in Dorset. In both cases recovery of the heathland vegetation was satisfactory. Based on these experiences, recommendations are given for the alleviation of problems associated with the laying of pipelines through heather moorland and lowland heathland.
Oil Pollution, Seabirds, and Operational Consequences, around the Northern Isles of Scotland
Authors: Richardson Michael G. , Heubeck Martin , Lea David , Reynolds Peter
Published: August 2009

Large numbers of seabirds were killed by both acute and chronic oil pollution in the waters around the Northern Isles of Scotland in 1979. These mortalities closely coincided with the opening of the Sullom Voe Terminal in Shetland, the largest of Britain's North Sea oil-ports, and appeared to stem largely from the illegal discharge of ballast water or tank slops from tankers trading to Sullom Voe. By the middle of 1979, the seabird deaths around Orkney and Shetland had accounted for 85% of the British total of that year.

Public and political concern at these events forced the introduction of a number of non-statutory measures designed to eliminate or reduce chronic pollution offshore. In rapid and novel fashion the local authority and oil industry between them achieved a far greater degree of control than formerly over tanker traffic—through the introduction of such schemes as tanker routing, ‘areas of avoidance’, unscheduled aerial surveillance of all tankers, rigorous inspection of ballast quality and quantity, and the introduction through chartering contracts of the necessity for vessels to carry at least 35% ballast on arrival at the port (so providing a strong disincentive to deballast at sea).

Since the introduction of these measures, pollution, in the form of oil and oiled birds coming ashore, has decreased dramatically, and is now at a level which is tolerable, considering the scale of oil-related developments in and around Orkney and Shetland.
Attempted Understorey Characterization Using Aerial Photography in Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India
Authors: Porwal Mahesh C. , Roy Parth S.
Published: August 2009

Remote sensing is being widely used in the fields of resource management, planning, and wildlife habitat evaluation. Canopy cover-type mapping has been done in most of the bioclimatic zones of India and widely abroad, using aerial photointerpretation techniques. In the present study an attempt has been made to develop a methodology for mapping understorey vegetation in part of Kanha National Park, using 1:10,000-scale black-and-white aerial photographs.

The Park, one of the best for Tiger (Felis tigris) visibility and observation of other large carnivores and herbivores, has been mapped, with subdivision into 11 vegetation cover-classes and four density-classes, using aerial photographs, and each class has been visited in the field for understorey information concerning different physiographic units. Each category of canopy-cover was sampled in the field, and tree base-cover per hectare has been estimated.

Vertical profiles have also been drawn in the main vegetation classes in order to understand the occurrence of understorey vegetation. It was found that a physiographic analysis coupled with canopy-cover type and density, with appropriate sampling in the individual vegetation strata, have together proved indicative of understorey vegetationtype. When the relationship between understorey vegetation and canopy-cover type is established, one can directly depict understorey limits spatially in conjunction with the main vegetation cover. Such an approach of mapping understorey vegetation using aerial photographs could be of immense value for wildlife habitat evaluation and park management.
Effects of Alien Plant Invasions on Native Vegetation Remnants on La Réunion (Mascarene Islands, Indian Ocean)
Authors: Macdonald Ian A.W. , Thébaud Christophe , Strahm Wendy A. , Strasberg Dominique
Published: August 2009

Although most of the lowland endemic forests of the mountainous Indian Ocean island of La Réunion have been converted by Man to other land-uses, relatively intact ecosystems still survive at higher elevations. Given the particular conservational value of these remnants of primary forest, detailed knowledge of the threats faced by these native ecosystems was urgently needed. Accordingly we conducted field surveys through the various plant communities on the island in order to answer particular questions regarding the vulnerability of native vegetation remnants to invasive, introduced plant species.

Our results indicated that most invaders colonize human-disturbed sites most successfully. However, such alien plants are also frequent in the Réunion primary forest remnants, with at least 62 species penetrating into areas which have experienced no or little human disturbance. Nevertheless, the forest remnants were still mainly dominated by indigenous or endemic plant species and maintain what is, presumably, their original vegetational structure.

The most threatening plant invaders are the trees Psidium cattleianum and Ligustrum robustwn, the bramble Rubus alceifolius, the shrubs Fuchsia magellanica and Lantana camara, and the herbaceous Hedychium gardnerianum, Boehmeria macrophylla, and Boehmeria penduliflora.

We found the early stages of primary succession on young volcanic sites to be dominated by aggressively expanding populations of alien species. It appears very unlikely that native species will replace the invaders as the succession proceeds, and furthermore the survival of many indigenous species probably hinges on the active control of alien species.

In order for alien plant management efforts to be successful, we propose a priority ranking based on the current and potential future extent of specific infestation, the rate of spread, the difficulty with which a species can be controlled, and its ecological impact on the areas invaded.

Finally, the long-term survival of the Réunion ecosystems depends largely upon the drawing up and implementation of an adequate overall conservation policy regarding human-caused invasions by alien plants in the native vegetation.
Fisheries Development and Resource-usage Conflict: A Case-study of Deforestation Associated with the Lake Chad Fishery in Nigeria
Authors: Neiland Arthur E. , Verinumbe I.
Published: August 2009

A predicted rejuvenation of the Lake Chad fisheries in central Africa, associated with the passing of severe drought conditions in its Sahel environs, is likely to increase significantly the pressure placed on other local resources. In the case of the tree resources, it can be demonstrated that the concentration of population and fish-processing activity along the western lakeshore, will further exacerbate the existing local deficit between demand and supply, leading to increased tree-loss with ultimately devastating results culminating in desertification.

The problem is outlined and discussed in the context of both local and national economic considerations. Particular attention is given to the relationship between increasing demand for fish products in Nigeria as a whole, associated with expansion of population and rapid urbanization, and the commercialization of fisheries production in the Chad Basin leading to much-increased fuel-wood usage. It is clear that Government must play an active, much-expanded role in regulating this situation if severe resource depletion and environmental degradation is not to occur in the foreseeable future.
Use and Non-use Values in the Conservation of Ichkeul National Park, Tunisia
Authors: Thomas David H.L. , Ayache Fethi , Hollis G. Edward
Published: August 2009

Non-use existence values are now widely considered to be an important justification for conservation in developed countries. Using the same approach to promote conservation in less-developed and developing countries, with their normally severe economic and social problems, is often wholly inappropriate, as existence values in less-developed and developing countries are usually very small. Conservation on grounds of ethics and aesthetics is a luxury which many of those latter countries do not feel able to afford, or often genuinely cannot.

The establishment of the Ichkeul National Park in northern Tunisia was based primarily on non-use, existence values, but the survival of its wetlands is now threatened by a programme of dam construction. However, the Lake and marshes of Ichkeul have a number of important values and functions. These include livestock grazing on the marshes, the Lake's fisheries, the existing and potential value of the Park as a tourist resource, the role of the rivers in water-table recharge, and the function of the marshes in the ‘free’ treatment of sewage and purification of water. It can be shown that the economic gains from taking measures to prevent degradation of the wetland, namely by releases of water from the dams to maintain the marshes, would outweigh the economic benefits from the use of water in agricultural irrigation, and effectively maintain much of the international significance of the National Park and its surroundings.

It is suggested that promotion of conservation in lessdeveloped countries is likely to meet with much greater success if economic arguments, based on a site's usevalues, are given priority in the approach of conservation organizations from developed countries. The significance of non-use values to nationals of the less-developed and many developing countries is still very minor, although, as their living standards improve, such prospects are likely to improve also. In many instances at least, by raising due awareness of the economic use-values of natural systems, it will be possible to provide a good case for a site's conservation.
Human Distance and Birds: Tolerance and Response Distances of Resident and Migrant Species in India
Authors: Burger Joanna , Gochfeld Michael
Published: August 2009

In this report we describe a method of examining the tolerance of birds to humans, namely by measuring the distance to which birds will allow a person to approach them before flying off (flush distance). We studied the tolerance of Indian birds to approaching people by recording the flush distance for 925 individuals of 138 species of residents (birds breeding in India) and migrants (birds that are not known to breed in India). Over 20% of the variance in flush distance was accounted for by the number of people situated within 50 m, the distance to the closest person, the bird's migratory status, the number of people approaching, the time of day, and the bird's total body-length (including tail).

For migratory species, 43% of the variability in flush distance was accounted for by distance to the closest other person, time of day, number of people originally within 50 m, number of people approaching, flock size, and species size. For resident species, only 18% of the variance was accounted for by distance to the closest other person, number of people within 50 m, and number of people approaching. Migrants were thus more responsive to the effect of humans, and their response was also influenced by their own size (body length) and flock size. Migratory species were less tolerant of people, flushing sooner than residents, and being more sensitive to the number of approaching people.

We suggest that resident birds in North India have become habituated to the non-violent protective behaviour of the Hindu people towards birds, whereas migrants from farther north are more wary. Alternatively migrants, being less familiar than residents with the local predators and hiding places, may be more wary than residents on their home territory. Enhanced wariness results in more time spent alert or fleeing, with resultant greater energy-demand and decreased time for feeding.
Tourism, Environment, and Sustainable Development
Authors: Butler Richard W.
Published: August 2009

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the effects of tourism and related developments upon the environment of ‘destination areas’. The increasing popularity of the concept of sustainable development has resulted in tourism being viewed as an activity which could easily be developed along those appropriate lines. It is argued, however, that such a viewpoint is often simplistic and naïve, because of a lack of understanding of the complex nature of tourism. While tourism is dependent upon the environment for much of its well-being, the prevailing lack of knowledge, responsibility, and long-term planning, has often resulted in development which is neither environmentally nor culturally sympathetic to the host area and community.

A broad definition of environment is necessary in this context, encompassing both the physical and human realms and also Nature's, as is an equally wide view of human leisure activities, which needs to include far more than tourism. It is necessary to take a critical view of some alternative approaches to mass-tourism, which have been suggested as appropriate for environmentally significant areas; for at least some of the problems resulting from tourism-related developments are more profound, and less easily solved, than has often been suggested. Solutions are inevitably a combination of compromise and positive planning and management, and successful examples are difficult to find. Improved understanding of the complex nature of tourism, and of its linkages to the environment, is crucial if a symbiotic relationship is to be attained and maintained.

It is necessary to appreciate that tourist destination areas evolve and change over time, both responding to, and being altered by, changes in tourism. They are not static environments, and need responsible and pro-active planning and management. Reliance upon local initiatives, uncoordinated planning, and self-regulation in a situation of ill-defined responsibility, will not result in a secure long-term future for either the tourist industry or the environment of the destination area. Coordination of policies, pro-active planning, acceptance of limitations on growth, education of all parties involved, and commitment to a long-term viewpoint, are prerequisites to the successful linking of tourism and sustainable development.
Man-induced Global Change of Climate: The IPCC Findings and Continuing Uncertainty Regarding Preventive Action
Authors: Bolin Bert
Published: August 2009

The question of a gradually changing climate due to Man's emissions of ‘greenhouse’ gases has now become a major political issue. Scientific assessments during the early 1980s, and an international conference in Villach in Austria in October 1985, brought this issue firmly onto the political agenda. The World Commission on Environment and Development, popularly referred to as the ‘Brundtland Commission’, presented its final report to the United Nations in 1987, and their General Assembly discussed, on that basis, the matter of a Man-induced global change of climate for the first time in the autumn of 1987.
A Methodology for Assessment of External Issues Facing National Parks, with an Application in Costa Rica
Authors: Schelhas John
Published: August 2009

Effective implementation of conservation and development strategies, such as buffer zones adjacent to national parks, requires tailoring these strategies to a park's individual external situation. A methodology is presented for conducting an assessment of adjacent land and local population issues for national parks. The methodology covers three principal subjects: (1) biological conservation issues, (2) the relationship between the park and local people, and (3) the socioeconomic situation of park neighbours.

The methodology was applied to lands adjacent to Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica. The application provides a brief summary of the Park's external situation, for use in management and planning, and identifies the most effective types of conservation and development strategies for the region. In this case, the methodology identified the principal issue facing the Park as being the rapid conversion of lowland forest to pasture on lands adjacent to the Park. Solutions to this problem include stopping the cycles of migration and colonization that drive people to settle forested lands, and increasing the importance of forest in local land-use systems.
Competing for Water on the Indus Plain: Is There a Future for Pakistan's River Dolphins?
Authors: Reeves Randall R. , Chaudhry Abdul Aleem , Khalid Umeed
Published: August 2009

The total population of Indus Dolphins, numbering perhaps 500 individuals, is subdivided by barrages into five or six subpopulations. At least two of these are so small (fewer than 20 animals) that they have little chance of survival past the next few decades. If dispersal occurs at all, because of barrages it will apparently only be downstream, causing a net loss to upstream subpopulations. The subpopulation in Sindh Dolphin Reserve, between Sukkur and Guddu barrages, is relatively large and apparently well-protected. However, the small size of the Reserve, its geographical position near the downstream end of the species range, and the political and economic instability of the area, taken together, mean that this subpopulation is at considerable risk. The need for additional reserves upstream of Guddu Barrage, to improve the prospects of the species' survival, is clear.

The subpopulation downstream of Taunsa and Panjnad barrages is unquestionably the largest in Punjab, and its protection should be a high priority of the Punjab Government. Apart from the obvious need to prevent both direct capturing and accidental killing, the Dolphins' aquatic habitat must be carefully safeguarded. Any additional withdrawal of water from the Indus and its tributaries, whether for agriculture or industry, would be inimical to Dolphin conservation. Moreover, any project involving changes to the river system's hydrography and water-quality, even if expected to have no net effect on discharge levels in the main channels, should be evaluated critically for the potential impact on Dolphins.

It is important to emphasize that responsibility for the fate of Indus Dolphins and the many other organisms affected by major water-development schemes, is shared by a number of countries in addition to Pakistan. We hope that foreign governments, in their efforts to support Pakistan's economic development and relieve poverty in the subcontinent by assisting in the planning and financing of water megaprojects, do not in the process contribute to the impoverishment of the client country's, and in turn the world's, ecological heritage.
The Saint Lawrence Beluga: A Concerted Effort to Save an Endangered Isolated Population
Authors: Prescott Jacques
Published: August 2009

In September 1988, more than 300 participants attended the First International Forum on the Future of the Beluga, held in Tadoussac, Quebec, Canada. This Forum, organized by the ‘Fondation pour la Sauvegarde des Espèces Menacées’ (FOSEM), was intended to contribute to the development and the implementation of a survival strategy for the endangered St Lawrence population of the White Whale or Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) by bringing together representatives of all the parties concerned. Exceeding all expectations, this event caught the attention of the press and the general public in such a way that the White Whale of the St Lawrence became a prominent symbol of our growing concern for environment in eastern Canada.

This paper is intended to present an overview of the facts and efforts that contributed to the success of the First International Forum on the Future of the Beluga as a casestudy showing how contributions from NGOs and the general public can help to improve the situation of an endangered species and the prospect of stabilization of that part of the human environment of which it has formed a prominent feature from time immemorial.
The Earth's Living Matter: Biosphere and Soils
Authors: Kovda Victor A.
Published: August 2009

The last three decades of the Author's research work were devoted to the Earth's soil cover both on dry land and under shallow waters. That soil cover could emerge on the Earth only after life had appeared, even though only in primitive forms. The soil cover is a product of organisms' activities and their interaction with mineral surroundings; therefore it could not appear on the Earth in the absence of living matter. If it was not for life, the soil cover would not have existed. V.I. Vernadsky always considered terrestrial soils as ‘bioinert bodies’ formed as a result of the long-term interaction of living matter and rocks (Vernadsky, 1940). According to modern theories, the Earth, like other planets of the Solar System, was formed 4–5 thousand million years ago from a thickened mass of different lifeless minerals. It could include huge asteroids and fragments of mineral rocks, big and small meteorites, and cosmic dust. Up to the present, the Earth's surface has accepted annually some 5–6 million tons of diverse cosmic dust and many meteorites of different sizes.
Applying Environmental Interpretation in Protected Areas of Developing Countries: Problems in Exporting a US Model
Authors: Ham Sam H. , Sutherland David S. , Meganck Richard A.
Published: August 2009

Interpretation is most effective when its form and content are adapted to the situations in which it will be presented. Although many developed countries have a long and rich tradition of interpretation, the physical, financial, and socio-economic, differences among and within developing nations suggest that this tradition will not always apply there. As our colleagues in developing countries look for interchange and suggestions, the temptation to impose our model—and the difficulty for them to accept it—will be great.

Interpreters in developing countries need to pursue a different model—one which gives relative emphasis to interpretation's role in strategic environmental education for target audiences. Though not altogether excluding the visitor service function that is frequently emphasized in US protected areas, interpretive programmes in many developing countries are often included as just one component of country-wide environmental education master-plans aimed at establishing sustainable development as a national ideology.

Host countries sometimes accept the conventional model too readily, often because the only available training materials are translated from these sources. When application falls short of expectations, in-country interpreters usually blame themselves or conclude that interpretation ‘just isn't for us—rather than questioning the model they have been handed. Universities must also share some of the responsibility for this sorry state of affairs. International students studying at US or European institutions sometimes return home better prepared to work as interpreters in those countries’ protected areas than in those in their own countries. Trainers and teachers, whether working at home or elsewhere, need to do a better job of listening to their students. They need to learn what it is like to be an interpreter in that student's country, and they need to learn what it is like to be part of the audience. Would we accept anything less of our own mentors and interpretive trainers?

Clearly, a superior strategy to exporting our model of interpretation is to assist developing countries in arriving at their own. Over many decades, interpreters in the US and other developed countries have developed a profound knowledge about their craft. Although much of it will not apply everywhere, some of our ideas may have widespread application. The key will be to determine which ones these are. Working with our developed country colleagues, learning with them and through them, we can explore together a range of possibilities that neither of us is able to envision alone. Filtered through our cultures and individual realities, the ideas which have merit will be identified and put to test. Others will be rejected. In the very best scenario, both parties will learn, and sustainable environmental quality will be the result.
The Fertility Plateau in Costa Rica: a Review of Causes and Remedies
Authors: Holl Karen D. , Daily Gretchen C. , Ehrlich Paul R.
Published: August 2009

The decline and subsequent above-replacement plateau in Costa Rican fertility rates illustrates a demographic pattern that is apparent in other developing countries. This paper discusses the complexity of factors that contribute to the fertility plateau in Costa Rica. These contributory factors include the social and economic status of women, socio-economic conditions in general, lack of government commitment to and supply of family planning services relative to demand, deficient sex and family-planning education, and the powerful institutional influence of the Catholic Church.

We then discuss possible strategies, for developing and developed nations alike, to slow and eventually halt the exponential growth of the global human population. For this quintessential need the most important strategies, we suggest, are targeted education for both sexes and provision of comprehensive contraceptive and abortion services.
The Future of the Sahara
Authors: Cloudsley-Thompson John L.
Published: August 2009

Long-term climatic variations over the past 400,000 years, disclose a cyclical alternation of cold or glacial phases. At the present time, the world is experiencing one of its warmer climatic periods. Nevertheless, summer insolation has decreased sharply during the last 9,000 years and, apart from human influences, a gradual reduction in temperature might well be expected to occur during the next 50,000 years. On the other hand, if the human-induced ‘greenhouse effect’ manifests itself as is sometimes forecast, climatic changes will take place much faster, and temperatures could reach higher levels than in any of the post-Pleistocene interglacial phases. The future of the Sahara depends to a considerable extent upon which of these trends actually manifests itself.
Village Ecocomplex Functioning With Common Property Resources: A Case-study on Coastal Orissa, India
Authors: Sahoo Hara Prasad , Misra Malaya Kumar
Published: August 2009

A study of the status of Common Property Resources (CPRs) in the coastal areas of Orissa, India, was made during 1989–90 to investigate privatization of land and its socio-economic implications for the rural poor.

The proportion of CPR land to the total area of the villages was 20%, and the persons per hectare of CPR land numbered 70. High density of population in these areas imparts tremendous pressure on the natural resources. The area of the CPR lands in the villages has declined by 40% since ad 1950.

The main cause of decline of CPRs is privatization. Transfer of CPR land to poor people through various social welfare programmes for their private use, and illegal occupation of the CPR land leading to subsequent legalization, were two important factors which resulted in large-scale privatization. The rural poor depend on CPRs for food, fodder, and fuel, in a variety of ways. Due to privatization, they have collectively lost a significant part of their source of livelihood in recent years.
The Role of Local People in the Successful Maintenance of Protected Areas in Madagascar
Authors: Durbin Joanna C. , Ralambo Jonny A.
Published: August 2009

In Madagascar, as practically throughout the world, many protected areas were originally created with little consideration for the resource requirements of local people and consequently are now suffering from acute pressure from local exploitation. In an attempt to redress the problems, integrated conservation and development projects have been initiated. The original aims to protect a representative ecocomplex are now expected to be achieved by understanding people's requirements and enhancing traditional practices or providing alternatives, and the aims have been expanded to promote the sustainable use of resources also outside of reserves.

These two projects, at Andohahela and Soalala, are duly considered, using a framework that has been developed to understand local people's behaviour in relation to resources. Economic, energy, cultural, and ecological, factors, acting as interdependent systems, are considered. The economic, energy, and cultural, factors influence each other, acting together to define the values or resources to people and driving their behaviour in relation to those resources. The behaviour affects the ecological system and may alter the availability of useful resources, depending on the level of use and their resilience. The availability of resources affects the energetic effort required to collect them, so establishing a feedback link.

The aims of the projects are to establish ecological equilibria that protect the reserves and enable sustainable use to be made of resources outside the reserve. To achieve these goals they must influence people's behaviour suitably. Strategies include strengthening feedback from the ecological system, and providing energy or economic incentives. Development activities which aim to promote sustainable use of resources and protect biodiversity, through maintenance of the protected area, are assessed. Many projects give a high priority to income generation and improved access to social services; however, the conservation aims of a project often require a better targeted, resource management-based development package. This paper advocates the consideration of economic, energy, ecological, and above all cultural, factors in the design of effective activities for conservation and development projects.
Studies on, the Topsoil of an Underground Coal-mining Project
Authors: Kundu Nishit K. , Ghose Mrinal K.
Published: August 2009

The coal-mining industry plays a vital role towards meeting the energy demands of the people of India. Whether the mining is opencast or underground, however, it affects the environment and ecology of the region. Land is a non-renewable resource and is the main component damaged by mining. In India, exploitation of minerals was carried out in early days with virtually no regard for land protection. Underground mining causes subsidence of strata, mine fires, disturbance of the water-table, topographic disorder, and damage to the land-use pattern.

A fact-finding survey was made at an underground coal project of Raniganj Coalfield in Eastern India, to assess the impact of mining on the topsoil, the study area being described. Generally the soils of the local agricultural land are brownish-grey and smooth while those of the ‘danga’ lands are yellowish brown with fine rock materials, the textural quality being, respectively, sandy loam and loamy sand. Field tests such as infiltration rate and field capacity were measured at all the sampling locations, and graphical representation of the infiltration rates are given.

Infiltration rates of ‘danga’ land were found to be higher than those of agricultural land, due to their generally coarser texture. Field capacity of agricultural lands were found to range from 17.94 to 21.05%, and of ‘danga’ lands from 12.86 to 14.65%. Wilting coefficients were found to range from 5.31 to 6.75% for agricultural land and from 4.70 to 5.25% for ‘danga’ land. Bulk density, soil pH, conductivity, moisture content, and fertility status of the area, were also studied and the results discussed. Soils are deficient in nutrients. Kharif crops give an average yield of 5.05 quintals (each of 100 kg) per acre (0.405 ha) and Rabi crops only 4.88 quintals per acre. Underground mining activity will create land subsidence and disturb the water-table, finally having a negative impact on the topsoil of the area.
Energy Conservation and Fuel Production by Processing Solid Wastes
Authors: Alter Harvey
Published: August 2009

Disposal of municipal solid wastes may result in needless environmental damage and loss or degradation of land. In addition, the material and fuel resources contained in the wastes remain unused. The extents of these latter in the entire United States are estimated in this paper.

New terms are introduced to aid more precise estimation than hitherto of the amount of energy which can be conserved through processing and recovering the resources in municipal solid waste. Further, the likely rate of implementation of resource recovery in the U.S. is predicted on the basis of a simple model which relies on the assumption that the rate of implementation is proportional to the number of plants that are or will be actually on-line.

There is a great temptation to combine the rate of implementation with the sum of the energy potentially recoverable from the various sources of wastes, and to convert the answer to, for example, so many barrels of oil per day. As is indicated in the discussion, this exercise in not technically justified. Nonetheless, the energy that is potentially recoverable from solid wastes has an arithmetic equivalence of the order of magnitude of 1 million barrels of oil per day (1.6 × 106 m3, or 158 × 106 litres) in the United States alone, and even more if a generous fraction of agricultural and crop residues could be garnered for processing. This order of magnitude, perhaps as much as substitution equivalence, should be compared with the stated U.S. goal of conservation of 2 million barrels of oil per day (presumably also an arithmetic equivalence) from all sources by the end of 1977—not just from solid wastes (Ford, 1975).

The analogy of solid waste as an ‘urban ore’ has been used to the point of almost becoming trite. Nevertheless it may well be timely to extend the analogy to waste as an urban oil-well or coal-mine.
Ecology and Restoration of Mangrove Shorelines in Florida
Authors: Teas Howard J.
Published: August 2009

Mangroves play an important role in estuarine ecological systems as well as in shoreline protection. Such large areas of mangroves have been lost by dredging, land-filling, and other means, that it has become important to develop techniques for restoring or replacing them. Such techniques are needed both for the sake of restoring the mangroves as a valuable shoreline habitat and to estimate their monetary value, which must at least equal the restoration cost.

It is accordingly suggested that future destruction of mangroves be permitted only if they are subsequently replaced at the same site or at some appropriately developed alternative site.

Mangroves have been planted at several sites in Florida, and planting success has been evaluated. Mangroves of several sizes have been planted at a variety of sites that differed in shoreline energy, tidal depth, root-parasite prevalence, substrate type, salinity, and public access. Counts and measurements made after periods of up to 4 years indicated that shoreline energy, tidal depth, and vandalism, were the most important factors limiting mangrove establishment and survival.

Planting costs were estimated from collecting and planting by research assistants and from estimates of the price of larger (3-years-old) nursery-grown trees. Planting cost estimates were $462/acre ($1,140/ha) for unrooted Red Mangrove propagules spaced 3 feet (91 cm) apart, $1,017/acre ($2,500/ha) for established Red, Black, or White, Mangrove seedlings spaced 3 feet (91cm) apart; and $87,500/acre ($216,130/ha) for 3-years-old trees of Red, Black, or White, Mangroves spaced 4 feet (123 cm) apart.