bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
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.
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.
What is an Ecodisaster?
Authors: Cloudsley-Thompson John L. 
Published: August 2009

The term ‘ecodisaster’ may be defined as ‘a global catastrophe of the human species’. Any ecodisasters occurring in the near future will, almost certainly, be caused, directly or indirectly, by the present overpopulation of the world, accompanied by unwise and irresponsible disregard of environmental deterioration.The suggestion is made here that Man's first and, it is to be hoped, last, ecodisaster may already have begun. Although not dramatic, it is taking the form of a steady decline in the standard of living nearly everywhere, coupled with massive pollution, and widespread malnutrition in the under-developed countries of the world. It will persist until world population eventually becomes adjusted to environmental resources.It is ironical that control of the pests and diseases which have inflicted so much misery on mankind in the past, should have helped to engender the present population explosion with all the hunger and privation that accompany it in the under-developed regions of the world.
Connections Between Climate and Desertification
Authors: Hare F. Kenneth 
Published: August 2009

The widespread fear that the Earth's deserts are spreading was reawakened by the major 1968–73 drought in Sahelian West Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia, and parts of Kenya. There appears, however, to be no firm evidence that a permanent desiccation of the arid zone is in progress. Instead, the evidence suggests that ‘desertification’—defined as the spread of desert surfaces, regardless of cause—results more immediately from faulty land-use practices and their interaction with prolonged natural drought episodes.Desertification appears to be a process of degradation of grassland, scrub, or savanna, ecosystems under the impact of overstocking or excessive cultivation. During periods of desiccation there is widespread destruction of perennial vegetation, compaction of soil (especially near watering places), and deflation of fine materials (wind erosion).Such surfaces are lighter-coloured than native vegetation, and reflect more sunlight. This may enhance atmospheric subsidence, and hence intensify drought. Loss of surface organic litter may also act as a positive feedback for drought.Prediction of such episodes is at least some years away, but three possibilities exist for such prediction: use of cyclical variations, where present; time-lagged teleconnections; and general circulation modelling.Reduced infiltration in some arid areas, combined with excessive withdrawals in others, have lowered both shallow alluvial and deep fossil ground-water tables—in some areas to the point at which stock water-supply can no longer be maintained.
Reclamation of the Sahara
Authors: Cloudsley-Thompson John L. 
Published: August 2009

Arab oil money is currently being invested in agricultural development of the Sudan. To halt desert expansion and to develop arid regions are different problems, however. The former could not be achieved without stronger political and sociological measures than would be acceptable to the inhabitants. The latter may be financially rewarding, but agricultural schemes may be attended by considerable risks that are often overlooked until too late.It is argued that small improvements may prove to be sounder investments than grandiose schemes, and that the latter, if adopted, should always be tested by experimental pilot projects prior to any wide implementation.
The Impact of Development Projects on Estuarine and Other Wetland Ecosystems
Authors: Elkington John B. 
Published: August 2009

Wetlands represent significant reservoirs of wildlife and natural diversity, in addition to any role which they may play in underpinning the productivity of river, estuarine, and offshore, fisheries. Various campaigns have been mounted to publicize their value and plight, but it is argued that the pressures for development and economic growth are often such that the ecological issues are obscured.The biology of the estuarine environment is discussed as a first step to evaluating the impact of pollution and land-use policies. The impacts of urban, agricultural, and recreational, uses of wetland areas are reviewed, with particular reference to wetland ecosystems in Third World countries.The paper concludes by arguing that the estuarine environment needs to be considered as a single ecosystem, and that an understanding of the carrying capacity of a given environment is a necessary precondition for sound management policies. The destruction of natural resources in the process of development planning effectively inflates the costs of that development, emphasizing the need for an ecological basis for planning decisions. The importance of experiment in evaluating alternative land-use options (such as intensive fish-farming) is stressed, and a simple model for ecologically sound development is proposed which could apply to Lake Manzala, in the Arab Republic of Egypt's Northern Wetlands.
Simple Techniques for Monitoring Footpath Erosion in Mountain Areas of North-West England
Authors: Coleman Rosalind A. 
Published: August 2009

Very precise measurements of the movement of coarse-textured, unconsolidated materials may be meaningless. Therefore the study of individual processes operating on footpaths may require a different approach. However, for identification of changes of reasonable dimensions, methods such as those described above are inexpensive, quick, and require no technical expertise. It may be argued that, for path management, erosion that is too limited to be measured by these methods is too limited to be a problem. It can certainly be argued that the problem of spatial correlation implies a large number of measurements. What is lost in lack of precision may be more than compensated for by the gain in data from the larger area and wider variation in site-types that it is possible to monitor with such simple techniques.To monitor the effects of recreation in mountain areas, it is desirable to be able to measure any change in path-state and relate this to recreation factors at different seasons and under different sit; -conditions. Three methods of measurement have been considered in this paper, corresponding to three time-scales. Aerial photography has been used to demonstrate trends over the long term, and has proved adequate to differentiate between path sections with differing resistance to erosion.Short-term measurement has been carried out relative to known fixed positions. Two methods are suggested. One is less precise, but simple and widely applicable, and can be used for measurement intervals of six months to one year. The other is more detailed and can be used for measurement intervals of a few days, but is limited in its application by practical considerations.It is suggested that simple techniques used at a large number of different types of site may be more effective than detailed measurements at a few sites.
American Conservation Viewpoints
Authors: Shin Suk-han 
Published: August 2009

The evolving conservation views and movements in the United States are characterized by their changing social goals and the resultant alteration of attitudes towards the physical environment. Our examination results in a six-stages classification of conservation views: (1) the naturalist view, which was based on the idea of undisturbed harmony of Nature; (2) the utilitarian view, which was highly influenced by Gifford Pinchot's conservation philosophy of ‘common goods for common men’ in natural resource use; (3) the ethical view, which resulted from an awareness that increasing consumption combined with increasing population would deplete resources and depress living standards; (4) the developmental view, or a technocratic approach to resource development, which rejected a fixed inventory of natural resources and perceived an everincreasing resource base; (5) the aesthetic view, which valued the aesthetic contribution of natural resources more than the economic contribution, i.e. amenity valueversuscommodity value of natural resources; and (6) the ecological view, which is based on the concept of an ecosystem wherein Man is an integral and inseparable part of the total environment and is responsible for the maintenance of the total environment.These conservation views of the United States reflect a historical conflict between progressivist and preservationist philosophies of natural resource use. The conflict derives from changing societal concepts of resource scarcity regarding their physical, economic, or qualitative, aspects. The current ‘ecological’ view remains uncertain in terms of its concept of scarcity.
Studies on Biological Control of Intermediate Hosts of Schistosomiasis in Western Kenya
Authors: McMahon J. P. , Highton R. B. , Marshall T. F. de C. 
Published: August 2009

The experiment described was conducted in water impounded by earth dams, for local water-supply, in Nyanza province, Kenya. Control of snails was attempted by introduction of the malacophagous fish Astatoreochromis alluaudi; other species were also introduced. The schedules of introduction of fish were varied between the reservoirs, and one was left as a control without any introduction of fish. The necessity for the establishment of a fish-rearing pond, prior to large-scale stocking, is emphasized.Assessment of snail control was made by scooping for snails, catches being expressed per man-hour. This was carried out both before and after introduction of fish, over a total period of 15 years. It is concluded that the data indicate that A. alluaudi did reduce the numbers of some species of snails—particularly Biomphalaria pfeifferi and, to a lesser extent and with less certainty, Bulinus spp.Two other introduced fish species, Tilapia zillii and T. leucosticta, did not appear to be associated with any fall in snail numbers.