bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Political Ecology of Fisheries Depletion in Amazonia
Authors: Chapman Margaret D.
Published: August 2009

Because fish populations are the classical examples of common-property resources, Garrett Hardin's ‘tragedy of the commons’ is frequently cited as the cause of their decline. However, it has now been shown that many small community fisheries, as well as a number of larger commercial fisheries, are not managed according to the ‘commons’ model but rather are subject to internal limitedentry restrictions which prevent resource overexploitation. Further, Hardin's model ignores critical relationships which exist between common-property and private resources in many Third World rural societies. Changes in these relationships have significant implications for sustained yield management of common-property resources, such as fisheries, in these societies.

In Amazonia, the current changing relationship between common-property and private resources on theterra firmeuplands profoundly affects the degree of exploitation that is experienced by the region's fisheries. It also has important implications for the survival of Amazonia's flood-forests which play a critical role in the region's fisheries ecology.
Physical Soil-properties Associated with Recreational Use of a Forested Reserve Area in Malaysia
Authors: Jusoff Kamaruzaman
Published: August 2009

Forested areas of Kanching Recreation Forest exposed to concentrated recreational use tend to show signs of deterioration as indicated by soil parameters related to soil compaction. The results of the present study clearly indicate that such a deterioration of soil conditions has already occurred, though not on an alarming scale. Indeed the status of these soils remains favourable, as the figures for saturated hydraulic conductivity and plant-available water are still ‘satisfactory’, or at least were so during the period of study (1989). Surface runoff and sheet-erosion in intensively-used recreational sites must not, however, be looked upon in isolation when advising on recreational forest land-management.

A recent study in Kanching Forest Reserve, Malaysia, showed that recreational use of forested areas could adversely affect soil conditions. Soil bulk density and micropore space were significantly increased, but total porespace and macropore space were significantly decreased. Available water-holding capacity, saturated hydraulic conductivity, and particle-size distribution, were not significantly affected by recreational use on such sites, indicating that the status of Kanching Recreation Forest soil is still favourable for plant growth, or at least it was during the period of this study.
A Review of, and Research Suggestions for, Solid-waste Management Issues: The Predicted Role of Incentives in Promoting Conservation Behaviour
Authors: Heinen Joel T.
Published: August 2009

Several lines of evidence suggest that humans may be sensitive to the scale at which environmental problems occur, and that humans perceive to be more urgent those environmental problems that happen over relatively shorttime duration and at relatively local-spatial scales, compared with those that happen over greater spans of time and space. If this is true, then solutions to environmental problems should be planned accordingly: i.e. incentive-based strategies to promote some type of conservation may be more easily implemented, and most appropriately socially-based, for environmental problems that occur at the smaller societal scales. For those that occur at the larger societal scales, incentive-based strategies may be most appropriately economically-based, and are likely to be more difficult to implement, than the socially-based ones at the smaller societal scales.

This theory is explored in the context of municipal solid wastes. There is some support for the general arguments in that various types of economic incentives have been effective in reducing household wastes across the scale of cities, and some more socially-based incentives appear to be effective in small town/neighbourhood settings, though much work on these issues remains to be done.
Case-study of the Role of Environment as an Energy Externality in Geneva Vineyard Cultivation and Wine Production
Authors: Pillet Gonzague
Published: August 2009

There is a need today for accurate understanding of the relationships between economic activities and the environmental realm. In particular, it is urgent from an economic viewpoint to put quantitative meanings upon external, environmental contributions to the economy. Energy analysis and energy externality evaluation procedures are useful in this respect.
Factors Affecting Distribution of Gulls (Larus spp.) on Two New Jersey Coastal Bays
Authors: Burger Joanna , Galli Joan
Published: August 2009

The distribution and abundance of gulls were examined on Raritan and Delaware Bays from 20 April to 26 October 1982. Gull numbers were affected by seasonal, tidal, weather-related, and human disturbance, factors on both Bays. Gulls comprised from about 40 to 60% of the avifauna on the census areas, and shorebirds accounted for most of the other individuals. Peak numbers of gulls were present on Delaware Bay from May through July, and on Raritan Bay in September. Laughing Gulls (Larus atricilla) were the dominant species on both Raritan (90%) and Delaware (70%) Bays, with Herring Gulls (L. argentatus) second in abundance.
The Concept of Sustainable Economic Development
Authors: Barbier Edward B.
Published: August 2009

Increasing recognition that the overall goals of environmental conservation and economic development are not conflicting but can be mutually reinforcing, has prompted calls for ‘environmentally sustainable’ economic development. Although there are difficulties in defining sustainable development in an analytically rigorous way, there is still a need to evolve a concept of sustainability that both distinguishes it from other post-war meanings of development and is useful for practical analysis and policymaking.
The Development of a National Conservation Strategy for Australia
Authors: Wilson George R.
Published: August 2009

The National Conservation Strategy for Australia (NCSA, 1983) provides Australia with nationally agreed guidelines for the use of her living resources. It orginated from the World Conservation Strategy (WCS, 1980) and was developed through a process of public discussion which is described in this paper. A Steering Committee was established to oversee the development of the Strategy and guide a task-force. Conservation, industry, scientific, and government, interests were all represented throughout the development of the Strategy.
Foreseeable Flooding and Death of Coastal Wetland Forests
Authors: DeLaune R.D. , Patrick W.H. , Pezeshki S.R.
Published: August 2009

Relationships between sedimentation, submergence, and deterioration, of a Mississippi River deltaic-plain coastal wetland forest were investigated. Measured sedimentation rates (0.63 ± 0.35 cm per yr) as determined by 137Cs-dating were considerably less than the rapid increase in water-level (c. 1.36 cm per yr). Transplanted seedlings of Quercus lyrata (Overcup Oak) and of Taxodium distichum (Bald Cypress) survived only on the most elevated natural ridge in this swamp-forest.
Problems, Priorities, and Prospects, in Environmental Education
Authors: Park Christopher C.
Published: August 2009

Environmental education has shown lamentable inertia in scarcely capitalizing on the growth of interest in environmental issues since the 1960s. The present paper explores the general factors contributing to this, which include the failure of environmentalism as a movement to act as a catalyst for environmental education, and the problems of attempting to appeal to a wide audience of both specialists and non-specialists who each expect different things of environmental education. To date, education about the environment and education from the environment have been dominant, at the expense of education for the environment; and further problems arise in establishing both an educational niche and disciplinary horizons for the subject in order to increase its appeal to educational planners.
Environmental Education in the Market-place: A Decade of US Experience
Authors: Rajagopal R.
Published: August 2009

Undergraduate students in the United States who major in an interdisciplinary environmental studies curriculum are at a competitive disadvantage in securing entry-level environmental employment as compared with those majoring in disciplinary or specialized curricula. Major factors that separate these two types of curricula and hence affect the employability of their graduates include: a)Programme Diversity: Interdisciplinary programmes significantly vary in emphasis, course offerings, teacher strengths, and physical facilities, whereas the many specialized programmes tend to be more uniformly defined; b)Linkage: Interdisciplinary programme objectives are not clearly tied to employment needs in the public and private sectors, whereas the goals of the many specialized programmes are based e.g. on congressional mandates, personnel needs, or well-defined occupational categories; c)Federal Support: The US Environmental Protection Agency's funding for manpower-related programmes is negligible in comparison with total pollution-control expenditures—the few million dollars allocated for manpower development in the 1970s were mainly used to support targeted specialized programmes instead of general interdisciplinary programmes; and d)Occupational Definitions: Both long- and short-term environmental employment opportunities are almost always pigeonholed and defined in terms of a disciplinary background with an associated set of skills. This favours specialized-programme graduates over interdisciplinary majors for entry-level positions.

This situation can be changed with a concerted effort by faculty members, administrators, students, and employers, to become interested in fully tapping the potentials of interdisciplinary environmental majors. Towards this end, it is recommended that the faculty members (teachers) and administrators of environmental studies programmes form a national organization to promote their programmes' welfare, that students explore a double major, graduate education, or other specialized educational opportunities, and that employers investigate innovative short-courses, workshops, and intensive laboratory programmes, for retraining environmental studies majors.
Rangeland Problems of the Kainji Lake Basin Area of Nigeria
Authors: Ayeni J. S. O.
Published: August 2009

The development of much-needed grazing reserves and pastures in the Kainji Lake Basin area of Nigeria is being initiated by the Kainji Lake Research Institute with generous support from the States' and Federal Governments. However, there is a continuous overlap of interest which results in conflict among land-users such as the nomadic Fulanis, peasant farmers, and wildlife/forestry conservation authorities. Currently the Kainji Lake Basin is a major ‘food basket’ for agricultural crop production in Nigeria. The Basin is also an attractive big-game tourist centre and a traditional source of dry-season water and green grass for the migratory livestock.

Suggestions are made for a rational resource-management approach within the Basin, with establishment of rangeland reserves. Regular meetings between the representative of the Niger River Basin Development Authority, Kainji Lake National Park, States' Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the local Governments in the Basin area, should go a long way towards eliminating the sources of conflict.
Public Participation in the Environmental Review Process, with Special Reference to Coal-fired Power-plant Siting
Authors: Tobin Richard J. , Carpenter Richard A.
Published: August 2009

However one chooses to accommodate public concerns about siting of power-plants, it does seem that public participation is essential for effective environmental assessment. This is because the ultimate questions about environmental consequences of economic development are: who cares and why? Technical assessors can measure changes in biogeophysical terms, and economists can monetize these effects. The social sciences are often not capable of delivering (with adequate certainty) information that is dependant on subjective human reactions and cultural values. Serious mistakes in power-plant siting can result, if decision-makers do not communicate with affected individuals and groups.

The chances for mistakes increase if the nation concerned does not have a market economy where consumers have free choice, or a political process that regularly and effectively incorporates public values and opinions. As all nations are less effective than could be desired in these two classic means of citizen expression, it is incumbent on governments to foster public participation as an integral third channel.
Effects of Human Disturbance in Three Areas of West Himalayan Moist Deciduous Forest
Authors: Babu C.R. , Gaston Anthony J. , Chauduri A. , Khandwa R.
Published: August 2009

The vegetation cover and species richness of seven sites in mature West Himalayan moist temperate (mainly deciduous) forest were investigated. Both the percentage cover and the species richness of the shrub layer were found to have a strong negative correlation with human disturbance, as measured by distance from the nearest habitation. Ground vegetation, on the other hand, was little affected. Reduction of the shrub cover and of the number of shrub species is likely to have an adverse effect on wildlife, and casual observations suggested that this was indeed the case.
A New Global Assessment of the Status and Trends of Desertification
Authors: Mabbutt Jack A.
Published: August 2009

A reassessment of the status and trends of desertification was called for as part of a general assessment of progress in the implementation of the United Nations Plan of Action to Combat Desertification, seven years after the UN Conference on Desertification (UNCOD) in 1977. Because of the inadequate data existing at the country or state level, the basic generalization has been set at a wider regional scale. The new assessment has confirmed the global scale of the problem of desertification as presented to UNCOD, and has increased the area and populations considered to be at risk through its recognition of the threat of desertification in the sub-humid tropics. The threatened area of 4,500 million ha constitutes 35% of the land surface of the Earth, with almost 20% (850 millions) of the world's total human population. Estimates indicate that, of this area, 75% is already moderately desertified, and 30% is severely or very severely desertified.

The rural population affected by severe desertification totals some 280 millions, or 470 millions if the urban component is included, with, respectively, 135 millions and 190 millions severely affected. These are significantly larger than the figures presented to UNCOD—mainly through the inclusion of additional sub-humid land in this assessment, but partly through national population increases and growth in the extent of severely desertified land. Both in terms of areas and population affected, the so-called developing regions are shown to be those worst-hit by desertification; and within these, the tropical semiarid and sub-humid lands tend to be the most ‘critical’ areas.
The Forests of South Viet Nam in 1971–72: A Personal Account
Authors: Richards Paul W.
Published: August 2009

An account is given of the work on the forests of Viet Nam of the US Academy of Sciences' Committee on the Effects of Herbicides in South Viet Nam during 1971–74. Owing to the insecure state of the country at the time, very little work on the ground was possible. The Committee's conclusions had therefore to depend largely on observations from the air and aerial photography, and were subject to considerable errors.

The appearance after herbicide spraying of the Inland and mangrove forests as seen from the air in 1971 and 1972 is described. In the Inland forest most of the emergent trees were killed, but much of the undergrowth remained alive. In addition to the effects of herbicides, the Inland forests suffered widespread damage from bombing and other military operations. In the mangrove forests, herbicide spraying destroyed almost the whole biomass, resulting in the complete denudation of vast areas of soft sediments.
Foreseeable Effects of Nuclear Detonations on a Local Environment: Boulder County, Colorado
Authors: Bennett Jeffrey O. , Johnson Patricia S.C. , Key Jeffrey R. , Pattie Douglas C. , Taylor Alan H.
Published: August 2009

The effects on Boulder County, Colorado, of a major nuclear war are predicted. Although many of the effects of such a horrific event would be global in nature, the direct ones on Boulder County were considered in terms of being primarily due to three one-megaton blasts in Denver, situated 40 km to the south-east. Under assumed wind conditions, agricultural crops would be contaminated with radionuclides for prolonged periods, rendering them dangerous for human consumption. Loss of animal life, flooding, increased sedimentation, and extensive soil-erosion, should also be expected. Recovery times for environmental systems are difficult to predict. Indeed, unknown synergistic effects and global changes in atmospheric conditons might preclude eventual recovery.

Although numerous assumptions were made in these predictions, and the impacts described are scenario-dependent, the implications are clear: even if Boulder County received no direct hit, a nuclear war would have a devastating impact on the environmental systems that were considered.

The prognosis from this study and others for human societies and involved ecosystems in the event of nuclear war is grim. We hope that continued research and dignified publicity of results on the effects of nuclear war will increase the urgency with which solutions to the nuclear dilemma are sought.
Classification of Coastal and Marine Environments
Authors: Hayden Bruce P. , Ray G. Carleton , Dolan Robert
Published: August 2009

Marine and coastal areas are classified in this paper according to attributes of the physical environment and by the faunal assemblages involved. Oceanic and coastal-margin realms are defined and mapped with the marginal seas and archipelagos named according to their connections to oceanic realms. There are seven types of ocean realms and thirteen types of coastal-margin realms. Latitudinal symmetry is present between hemispheres and from ocean basin to ocean basin. The defining characteristics for these realms are the seasonal variations in ocean surface currents and the companion seasonal variations in the main wind-currents of the atmosphere.

Forty faunal provinces are indicated on the six maps of the oceanic and coastal realms. As sufficient database for their inclusion is not yet available, coastal marine and coastal terrestrial floristics and vegetation are not considered in this classification.

While the boundaries between faunal provinces do not always match boundaries between ocean and coastal realms, the foundation is laid for a binominal designation system with the coastal or oceanic realm as ‘genus’ and the faunal province as the ‘epithet’—e.g. Western Subtropical—Cortezian. With this system, global intercomparisons become manageable. For example, the Western Subtropical-Cortezian can be directly contrasted with the Western Subtropical—Louisianian and the Western Subtropical—Southwestern Australian.
The Conservation of Nature in Viet Nam
Authors: Pfeiffer Egbert W.
Published: August 2009

Systematic efforts to conserve Viet Nam's natural resources began (in the North) in the early 1960s with the establishment of a 25,000-hectares' area, Cue Phuong National Park, south-west of Hanoi. Since the end of the Second Indochina war, Viet Nam's Ministry of Forestry has undertaken a comprehensive programme to restore forests that were destroyed or damaged in the fighting, to inventory forests and their resources, and to develop forest management for the economy and recreation of the Vietnamese people. The Ministry of Forestry's Institute of Forest Inventory and Planning is the agency carrying out these tasks; it employs about 5,000 people, including well-trained scientists.

Before 1963, there were no regulations regarding hunting in Viet Nam. Now the Ministry of Forestry has a Department of Protection which attempts to regulate hunting of game, such as deer, Wild Pigs, Tigers, and Leopards. Many species of birds and mammals are now totally protected. These include two primates, the Indochina Gibbon and the Douc Langur, as well as three species of wild cattle, the Kouprey, Banteng, and Gaur. The Kouprey and the Javan Rhinoceros are classified as endangered species because only a few individuals are known to be still alive, at least in Viet Nam. Elephants are trapped and trained for commercial purposes and for capture of wild Elephants, while the wild herds are increasing owing to the war's end and the prevention of killing.
Evaluation in Nature Conservation Decision-making
Authors: Roome Nigel J.
Published: August 2009

This paper considers alternative approaches to the evaluation of Nature conservation resources as part of the overall process of establishing Nature conservation priorities. The techniques available for evaluation are seen to differ in their ideological base and methodology, and in the relative importance which they attach to physical and ecological features. This lack of consistency means that existing techniques only represent a partial basis for determining conservation priorities. Furthermore, the assumptions on which evaluation techniques are based tend not to be stated explicitly and often appear not to have been substantiated. These inconsistencies are due in part to ambiguity concerning the objectives of conservation, in part to the lack of research into the relationship between human demands and the features of Nature conservation resources, and in part to uncertainty as to the position of evaluation in the conservation priority-setting process.

A model of this process for setting conservation priorities is presented. It delimits ecological evaluation as an objective, value-free element in the priority-setting process—where ecological evaluation is seen to provide information which aids decision-makers in the more value-laden socio-economic elements of conservation priority-setting. The model implies that the objective and subjective elements in existing evaluation techniques are not sufficiently explicit to ensure consistency in decision-making.
Geneses and Progress of the World Campaign and Council for The Biosphere
Authors: Polunin Nicholas
Published: August 2009

Starting with some clarifying definitions of the senses in which the key words in its title are used, this paper outlines the concept and actuality of The Biosphere, which is defined as ‘The integrated living and life-supporting system comprising the peripheral envelope of Planet Earth together with its surrounding atmosphere so far down, and up, as any form of life exists naturally.’ Two ‘round- dozens’ of the key facts about The Biosphere are then given—including Mankind's constitution of an integral part of it as well as utter dependence on it and yet increasing threat to it—with emphasis on the vital importance of understanding and fostering it as our own and Nature's sole life-support. To such understanding and concomitant fostering for survival, education is the key, and to such ends the World Campaign for The Biosphere was developed through various stages and finally declared on World Environment Day 1982 with the No. 1 aim of making the concept and reality of ‘Our Biosphere intimately and personally meaningful to people of all ages and cultures throughout the world.’
Towards a Symbol for the World Campaign for The Biosphere
Authors: Vallentyne John R.
Published: August 2009

Criteria in selecting a symbol for The World Campaign for The Biosphere are analyzed around fourteen questions posed to the World Council For The Biosphere (WCB) and the International Society For Environmental Education (ISEE). To be truly supranational the symbol must be free from words and focused on mind and The Biosphere—the key end-points in the circular causal chain of ‘education for ecologically sustainable development’. As the target audience is external to WCB-ISEE, the symbol should be open to use by other organizations, and perhaps have a designated place for their identification. To the extent that the symbol poses a moral question it should be spiritual, emotive, and applicable to instances of overexploitation and excessive waste. Technology should not be automatically excluded, nor should the focus be restricted to organizations (versus people) or specific age-groups.

The essential message to be communicated is wholeness through feedback. Suitable geometric forms include irregular lines ending where they begin, circles, spheres, and (in terms of computer imagery) pulsating objects. Existing symbols with appropriate traditions to build on include: the yin-yang symbol of the Tao; the Atlas symbol of person-planet; individual life-forms such as a tree; and the glory—the shadow of a human head surrounded by concentric, rainbow-coloured circles.
Applied Ecology: An Integrative Paradigm for the 1980s
Authors: Barrett Gary W.
Published: August 2009

There currently exists an environmental spectrum ranging from ecology (i.e. a basic, theoretical research approach) to environmental science (i.e. an applied, problem-solving testing approach). It is suggested that applied ecology be recognized as an integrative paradigm which encompasses the principles, concepts, and procedures, of both ecology and environmental science in an attempt (a) to unite reductionist and holistic research approaches and educational philosophies, (b) to generate a new synthesis for addressing important ecological topics such as biotic diversity and ecosystem regulation, (c) to educate personnel across the total environmental spectrum, and (d) to develop transdisciplinary ‘centres of excellence’ which serve as vital industrial-academic-governmental focal-points for long-term, integrative research endeavours.

At present there is a dire need to develop unifying theory and coherent principles regarding the patterns, processes, and interactions, of both the natural and man-made environment. There also exists an urgent need to help solve problems related to world food production, energy resource management, genetic diversity, and environmental contamination, among many others. Further, the progress of emerging fields of study, such as landscape ecology and systems communications, will be likely to be impeded if such fields are not recognized as the synthetic interactions of numerous related disciplines. These fields of study hold great research potential for systematically addressing the above-mentioned problem-areas, but require the flexibility to merge new research approaches, technologies, and scientific theories, in an efficient, cost-effective manner. It is suggested that applied ecology serve as an integrative paradigm for these new and vital interdisciplinary fields of knowledge.
Possible Effects of Forestry on Inland Waters of Tasmania: A Review
Authors: Michaelis Frances B.
Published: August 2009

Considerable public and political debate over the environmental consequences of large-scale operations associated with Tasmania's export forest industries prompted the present review and continuing field-studies. There are no known publications on the effect of forestry on inland waters of Tasmania, but relevant research in the Northern Hemisphere, the Australian mainland, and New Zealand, is summarized.

Forest operations considered are roading, logging, and burning. In general, roading increases water-yield, reduces water quality, and modifies the physical structure of streams—particularly at bridge-sites. The impact of logging depends on the harvesting method used (generally, tractor and skidder-logging in Tasmania), the proportion of trees felled, the proportion of the catchment logged, and the precautions taken. However, stream-flows, sediment loads, nutrient levels, dissolved inorganic materials, and wood debris, all increase with logging. If riparian vegetation is cut, water temperature usually increases in summer and decreases slightly in winter, but temperature tolerances of most aquatic animals in Tasmania remain unknown. The effects of burning Australian forests are poorly understood, but there are changes in water-yield and a decrease in water quality.
Action Plan for Biosphere Reserves
Authors: Batisse Michel
Published: August 2009

On the basis of the results of the First International Biosphere Reserve Congress, jointly convened in Minsk in 1983 by UNESCO and UNEP in cooperation with FAO and IUCN, at the invitation of the USSR, and of consultations with conservation specialists and scientists which have since taken place, an Action Plan for Biosphere Reserves was adopted by the International Coordinating Council of the Programme on Man and the Biosphere at its eighth session (Paris, 3–8 December 1984) and is presented in this document as a programme framework. This framework identifies a range of actions for consideration by Governments and concerned international organizations in developing the multiple functions of Biosphere Reserves within the overall context of the MAB Programme. Those actions concretely serve the implementation of the World Conservation Strategy. While a number of actions are of a permanent nature, the stress is placed on activities which can be carried out in the period 1985–89—see the following Table.

In summary, Governments and international organizations are invited to undertake activities which will improve and expand the international Biosphere Reserve network, to develop basic knowledge for conserving ecosystems and biological diversity, and to make Biosphere Reserves more effective in linking conservation and development in fulfilling the broad objectives of MAB.
A Comparison of Two Recent Estimates of Disturbance in Tropical Forests
Authors: Melillo J. M. , Palm C. A. , Houghton R. A. , Woodwell G. M. , Myers N.
Published: August 2009

The two best-documented studies of annual rates of clearing of tropical forests appear to come to very different conclusions; the published FAO/UNEP estimate is 7.4 × 106 ha cleared annually during the late 1970s, and the NAS (National Academy of Sciences) estimate is 22.0 × 106 ha disturbed annually during the same period. Closer examination reveals that when corrections are made for differences in forest types included in the studies, and for differences in definitions of ‘deforestation’ (FAO/UNEP) and ‘conversion’ (NAS), there appears to be general agreement on the rate of deforestation in tropical closed broad-leafed forests: 5.9 × 106 ha (FAO/UNEP) and 7.5 × 106 ha (NAS) per year for the late 1970s. ‘Deforestation’ is defined according to the FAO/UNEP report and is the transformation of closed tropical-broad-leafed forests to either land in the shifting-cultivation cycle or permanently-cleared land.

‘Deforestation’ sensu FAO/UNEP is a more restricted term than the term ‘conversion’ used in the NAS report. ‘Conversion’ includes ‘deforestation’ sensu FAO/UNEP as well as: (1) the temporary clearing of fallow-cycle vegetation from land already in the shifting-cultivation cycle for short-term subsistence agriculture; and (2) the permanent clearing of fallow-cycle vegetation and thus the removal of land from the shifting-cultivation cycle.
On the Environmental and Socio-economic Impact of the Jonglei Canal Project, Southern Sudan
Authors: el Moghraby A. I. , el Sammani M.O.
Published: August 2009

The Jonglei Canal Project should be weighed against its socio-economic impacts as well as environmental considerations. If taken in a short- or long-term cost-benefit perspective, the Project we think is a justified undertaking.

One might argue: ‘let everything well alone; change is another word for disaster’. We are not contending that the Jonglei Canal Project, if duly completed, would not bring about a new mode of life for both Man and domestic and other animals. We are contending that the new mode will be a more satisfactory on than that which exists at present. Sudan aims at the transformation of traditional communities to better social and economic horizons, and not the intentional destruction of the traditional way of life. Many overlook the fact that the Nilotes are already changing, and that it is beyond the powers of the political and social systems to confine them to the past.

Nevertheless there are indications that ecologists and environmentalists are far from agreed among themselves as to whether the Jonglei canal is, on balance, a good or a bad idea. But in any case we would like to stress in conclusion that the Jonglei Canal Project is being executed at a relatively fortunate time in Man's history of awareness of the way in which he should be using his natural resources.
Principles of New Park-area Planning as Applied to the Wrangell-St Elias Region of Alaska
Authors: Wright R. Gerald
Published: August 2009

In an era of increasing land-use demands, it is getting ever-more-difficult to set aside lands for parks or equivalent units where protection rather than (multiple) use of the resource is the goal. Developing a sufficient justification for establishing an area of parkland is directly related to the proper use of well-recognized ecological principles—particularly to the fact that the area included should encompass a unique or nationally significant resource (Polunin & Eidsvik, 1979).

This paper discusses four basic criteria that were used to evaluate potential boundary and resource-management alternatives for a seven-million-ha region in south-central Alaska, much of which was eventually included in the Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve. The necessity or basing the planning decisions on sound data cannot be overemphasized. The paper discusses the different data-types used in the planning process. It was the feeling of all involved in the planning process that more was known about the natural and social resources of the new Alaskan parks than had been known about any other new areas that had been added to the system. The need for good data is particularly acute when the establishment of the parks involves considerable controversy and opposition, as was the case here.
A Solar-Hydrogen Energy System for Environmental Compatibility
Authors: Bockris John O'M. , Veziroglu T. Nejat
Published: August 2009

Our Biosphere, the only one known to exist, is under attack by various factors. Major culprits amongst these include fossil-fuel-produced air pollution, acidic precipitation (acid rains), and CO2. As we run out of petroleum and natural gas, the question becomes: what should the new energy-system be, so that the damage to The Biosphere and life can be stopped? In view of the rapid depletion of the main energy sources of the present, the fluid fossil-fuels, this paper analyses the various primary energy-options (such as coal, breeder reactors, fusion reactors, and solar energy), and also considers such possible energy-carriers as synthetic fossil-fuels and hydrogen. In this analysis, the environmental effects of various options are considered both qualitatively and quantitatively.

It is concluded that the Hydrogen Energy-system is the most efficient and economical energy-system possible, and that it results in the environmentally most compatible and permanent energy-system when coupled with solar energy as the primary energy-source. It is important now that this information be disseminated among the public in general, and environmentalists in particular, so that the implementation of the solar-hydrogen economy can be started without delay, in order to minimize any further damage to The Biosphere and its living components.
Fire Management in Coastal Sage-scrub, Southern California, USA
Authors: Malanson George P.
Published: August 2009

Wildland fire management directly affects the forces of natural selection to which plant taxa become adapted. Changes in a fire regime will often result in changes in the relative abundance of particular species, and may cause the extinction of some of them. Life-history characteristics are important indicators of adaptation to recurrent disturbance, such as may be produced by fire. The incorporation of these characteristics in a computer simulation allows of the projection of species abundance under different fire regimes.

Through prescribed burning and fire suppression, fire interval and fire intensity can be controlled to some extent. The fire intensity for given sets of fuel, site, and meteoro-logical conditions, representing given fire-intervals, is calculated with the use of a fire behaviour computer simulation. These results are incorporated in computer simulation of the demographic competition of the five dominant shrub species of coastal sage-scrub in the Santa Monica Mountains of southern California:Artemisia californica, Encelia californica, Eriogonum cinereum, Salvia leucophylla, andS. mellifera. The model incorporates resprouting proportions, seedling establishment, and growth, and assumes survivorship rates in simulating scramble competition for space. Foliar cover-values of the five species are projected for nine different fire regimes. Short fire-intervals of the order of 10–20 years, such as might occur under a regime of prescribed burning, may eliminate or greatly reduce some species, whereas longer intervals allow the maintenance of a more diverse community especially of shrubs. Fixed and variable interval-lengths do not produce appreciably different results.

This study suggests that prescribed burning at 10–20 years' intervals should not be used indiscriminately to reduce wildland fire hazard in southern California. The fire intervals that will reduce the hazard, may eliminate some dominant native shrub species. A ‘natural’ fire regime which would maintain the natural vegetation while constituting only a minimum hazard to homesites may, unfortunately, be mutually exclusive goals in the coastal sage-scrub of southern California.
Fishermen and ‘The Tragedy of the Commons’
Authors: Berkes Fikret
Published: August 2009

Fish populations are classical examples of commonproperty resources and tend to decline over time. According to the conventional wisdom, they decline through a process popularly known as ‘the tragedy of the commons’, whereby selfish users are locked into a deterministic mechanism in which they are both the villains and the victims. However, the commons paradigm is notthemodel of reality forallfisheries. There are many sustainable fisheries, and detailed studies of some of them indicate that they do not fit the commons paradigm because there are factors which violate some of the hidden assumptions of the commons paradigm.

In many community-based and small-scale fisheries, there are unwritten regulations or customary laws that prevent individuals from maximizing their private gains at the expense of community interests. Far from being owned by no one and freely open to any user, many of the fish stocks of the world are under claims of ownership by communities of fishermen who exercise use-rights and who control access to the resource. As seen in examples from Oceania and North America's west coast, open-access and common property conditions were created, and the ‘tragedy’ started only after the destruction of such traditional marine tenure systems.
Environmental Influences on the Development of Traditional Conservation in the South Pacific Region
Authors: Chapman Margaret D.
Published: August 2009

There is an urgent need for improved understanding of conservation attitudes in the Third World because of the increasing rate of resource depletion that is now occurring in the countries involved. Although conservation practices by traditional societies in the Third World have received much attention from research workers, the fact that some practices are intentional and others inadvertent has been largely ignored. However, it is the motivation for these intentional conservation measures and the environmental influences on the people who apply them, which is crucial to understanding variations in conservation behaviour among traditional societies.

Traditional conservation in the South Pacific was based on a complex system of resource-use taboos which prevented overexploitation in the limited island environment. These taboos contributed to the achievement during pre- European times of what appears from historical accounts to have been a state of relative equilibrium between island populations and their resources.

Predictability and extremeness are two environmental factors which are thought to affect the development of conservational behaviour. Both these factors were examined in the light of traditional conservation in the South Pacific. Droughts and hurricanes are the two main sources of environmental unpredictability in the South Pacific, although the islands vary considerably in the degree to which they are affected by them. It was concluded that a distinction between real and perceived environmental predictability was necessary before one could fully understand the influence of predictability upon the development of conservational behaviour in the South Pacific.
Conservation of Polar Bear Pass, Bathurst Island, and the Emerging Comprehensive Conservation Policy for Northern Canada
Authors: Fenge Terry
Published: August 2009

During 1975 to 1984, a particularly divisive debate accompanied proposals to conserve Polar Bear Pass, NWT. Virtually all interests that participated in the debate supported a more comprehensive approach towards conservation of natural areas than had hitherto prevailed, and criticized the ad hoc manner in which conservation proposals were being handled by the Federal Government of Canada.

Chastened by the experience with Polar Bear Pass, and suffering land-use allocation problems in many locations, the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development responded with a Northern Land-use Planning Policy (Diand, 1981a, 1981b), and is now developing a comprehensive conservation policy.

Future conservation reserves in northern Canada are likely to be established as a result of regional land-use planning. It is important, however, that conservation of natural areas in both Territories support northern political development and devolution of resource management authority to northern governments, and settlement of landclaims made by native peoples.
Does Mankind Really Bear a Responsibility to the Environment?
Authors: Cloudsley-Thompson John L.
Published: August 2009

Economic considerations cannot be invoked to justify long-term protection of the environment. The appeal to posterity, as Goethe pointed out, springs from ‘the pure, strong feeling of the existence of something imperishable; something that will, in the end, be gratified by finding the minority turn into a majority’. There is nothing new in the paradox expounded in the opening paragraphs of this account: Goethe also wrote that there is nothing worth thinking but it has been thought before; we must only try to think it again. In answer to the question, ‘What is your duty?’ he replied, ‘the claims of the day’.

We should not expect to find a logical reason in the future for doing what seems right now. We should do what appears to be our duty in relation to the environment, as in all else, just because it seems right to do so, and in deference to future generations. We may not be justified in believing that there can be objective vindication of our subjective feelings; but this should never allow us to close our ears to the whispering of our inner conscience. There is much that is true which cannot be assessed, yet it is on the strength of truths such as these that actions have sometimes to be based: to ignore the future would make nonsense of the present.
Environmental Education as Educational Reform
Authors: Robottom Ian
Published: August 2009

Ten years on from the landmark environmental education conference at Tbilisi, it is salutary to reflect on the extent to which some of the distinguishing characteristics espoused in the nineteen-seventies are manifest in environmental education of the 'eighties. The critical problem-solving interest of environmental education recommended in the literature of the 'seventies was consistent with the social/political concerns of the world community at the time—concerns to which the UNESCO environmental education programme was a response. However, this critical problem-solving interest is not commonplace in schools, and still represents a serious challenge to the existing patterns of schooling. Consequently the position that environmental education should entail widespread educational reform is nowadays becoming stronger and more evident.
Ecological History of Calcutta's Wetland Conversion
Authors: Ghosh Dhrubajyoti , Sen Susmita
Published: August 2009

The interest in the wetlands ecosystems on Calcutta's periphery should be understood in the context of the search for development alternatives—for locally-adapted, appropriate modes of development rather than transplantation of alien models. Too often, planners look abroad for ideas without realizing that appropriate principles and practices are present in their own backyards. We are now coming to understand that ecodevelopment entails bringing together creative techniques with the ways in which people perceive and approach the issues of quality of life through environmental changes that are in the forefront of planning debates. Human and ecologically-sound planning requires an integration of such understanding with suitable techniques and procedures.
Desertification in Western Sudan and Strategies for Rehabilitation
Authors: el Moghraby Asim I. , Ali O.M.M. , el Seed M. Tag
Published: August 2009

Sudan is one of the African countries that are most seriously stricken by drought, desertification, and famine. Although accurate assessment of the disaster is yet to be documented, published data indicate that some 40% of the human population have been affected. In the Kordofan region alone, some 2.8 million people were subjected to the famine and half-a-million died. The drought's incidence and effects in western Sudan decreased from the Desert zone southwards across the Sahelian zone to the Sudanian zone.
The Ecological Dimension of Nuclear War
Authors: Westing Arthur H.
Published: August 2009

This paper examines the widespread environmental effects,sensu stricto, that would result from a large-scale nuclear war and the resultant ecological impacts. Singled out for analysis are the effects of wildfires, radioactive fallout, enhanced ultraviolet radiation, loss of atmospheric oxygen, gain in atmospheric carbon dioxide, and reductions in sunlight and temperature; also of combinations and ramifications of these adverse phenomena.
United States' National Park Management: Values, Policy, and Possible Hints for Others
Authors: Lemons John
Published: August 2009

National park managers have to make difficult and often controversial decisions regarding how best to protect parks' resources and provide for their continuing use and enjoyment. Strictly speaking, resolution of parks' problems must be based on whether the NPS is adhering to its legislative mandate to regulate development and use and to protect parks' resources. The most basic fiduciary duties of the NPS are to manage resources in natural conditions, provide for use and enjoyment, and provide benefits for present and future generations. However, neither the legislation, judicial interpretations, nor the NPS, has defined the terms natural, appropriate forms (values) of use and enjoyment, or how to resolve intergenerational conflicts between present and future generations. Because neither scientific standards nor criteria of appropriate use have been defined, the NPS traditionally has fashioned policy by compromise—to reflect different citizen constituencies with preferences for different and often conflicting values.