bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Distributional Obstacles to International Environmental Policy: The Failures at Rio and Prospects after Rio1
Authors: Martinez-Alier J. 
Published: June 2007

The concept of ‘sustainable development’ as used by the Brundtland Commission was meant to separate environmental policy from distributional conflicts. Increases in income sometimes are beneficial for the environment (for instance, they allow the use of domestic cooking fuels which in some ways are less damaging to the environment), but higher incomes have meant higher emissions of greenhouse gases, and higher rates of genetic erosion. In the aftermath of the Rio conference of June 1992, this article analyses some unavoidable links between distributional conflicts and environmental policy. Often, environmental movements have tried to keep environmental resources and services outside the market, but there are now attempts to establish property rights on, and to give money values to environmental resources and services, such as agricultural genetic resources and the CO 2 absorption facility provided by the oceans and new vegetation. European ‘green’ proposals to impose an ‘eco-tax’, and proposals from India to create a world market for CO2 emission permits are considered. The issue raised by the growing Third World agroecology movement, of payment of ‘farmers’ rights’ for in situ agricultural biodiversity is discussed. The article includes a short discussion of the North American free trade agreement (NAFTA) between Mexico and the USA, in so far as it involves so-called ‘ecological dumping’, i.e. trading at values which do not include environmental costs. In the last sections, the article asks how prices in ecologically-extended markets would be formed, how much such prices will depend on distribution, and how much (or how little) such payments would change distribution of income. Environmental movements of the Poor are faced with the dilemma of keeping environmental resources and services out of the market, or else asking for property rights to be placed on them.
The Value of Ecosystem Health1
Authors: Callicott J. Baird 
Published: June 2007

The concept of ecosystem health is problematic. Do ecosystems as such exist? Is health an objective condition of organisms or is it socially constructed? Can ‘health’ be unequivocally predicated of ecosystems? Is ecosystem health both objective and valuative? Are ecosystem health and biological integrity identical? How do these concepts interface with the concept of biodiversity? Ecosystems exist, although they are turning out to be nested sets of linked process-functions with temporal boundaries, not tangible superorganisms with spatial boundaries. Ecosystem health – or normal occurrence of ecological processes and functions – is an objective condition of ecosystems, although the concept of ecosystem health allows some room for personal and social determination or construction. Ecosystem health is prudentially, aesthetically, and intrinsically valuable, although the value of ecosystem health is subjectively conferred. Biodiversity and biological integrity are different from, but not unrelated to, ecosystem health. Together these three normative concepts represent complementary conservation goals.
Towards Global Environmental Values: Lessons from Western and Eastern Experience.1
Authors: Sarre Philip 
Published: June 2007

The paper argues that new environmental values are needed as the advanced industrial economy becomes global. Reviewing a range of values from hunter-gatherer, agricultural and industrial societies, the paper suggests that environmental value systems should ideally satisfy three criteria. They should be consistent with scientific understanding of natural systems, they should lead to practical ethical and political proposals and, crucially, they should inspire aesthetic responses of pleasure and awe. Current global value systems fall short of this ideal: Gaia has the potential to combine science and awe, but lacks humane decision criteria, while sustainable development is pragmatic but environmentally minimalist and lacks aesthetic inspiration. The short term need is to integrate different strands of current positions as Hinduism combined pre-existing views. A sequence of priorities is suggested: eliminating irreversible environmental change; stabilising population change through more equitable trade; and reconsidering the boundaries, practical and aesthetic, between society and nature.
Global Population Growth and the Demise of Nature
Authors: Warner Stanley , Feinstein Mark , Coppinger Raymond , Clemence Elisabeth 
Published: June 2007

Global human population expansion is rooted in a remarkably successful evolutionary innovation. The neolithic transformation of the natural world gave rise to a symbiosis between humans and their domesticated plant and animal partners that will expand from a current 20 per cent to 60 percent of terrestrial biomass by the middle of the coming century. Such an increase must necessarily be accompanied by a concomitant decrease in wildlife biomass. We suggest that current trends in population growth are unlikely to abate for three reasons: first, there are intrinsic biological pressures to reproduce regardless of social engineering; second, the character of the domestic alliance makes it a formidable competitor to wildlife; and third, the timeframe before population doubling is, from a biological perspective, virtually instantaneous. This paper draws from a wide body of research in the biological and social sciences. We neither condone nor endorse this picture of inexorable population increase. Rather, we appeal for a change in the nature of the discussion of population among environmentalists, to focus on the question of how best to manage what wildlife will be left on the margins of a domesticated world.
A Political-Ecology Approach to Wildlife Conservation in Kenya
Authors: Akama John S. , Lant Christopher L. , Burnett G. Wesley 
Published: June 2007

Kenya has one of the highest remaining concentrations of tropical savanna wildlife in the world. It has been recognised by the state and international community as a ‘unique world heritage’ which should be preserved for posterity. However, the wildlife conservation efforts of the Kenya government confront complex and often persistent social and ecological problems, including land-use conflicts between the local people and wildlife, local people's suspicions and hostilities toward state policies of wildlife conservation, and accelerated destruction of wildlife habitats. This essay uses a political-ecological framework in the analysis of the social factors of wildlife conservation in Kenya. It postulates that the overriding socio-economic issue impacting wildlife conservation in Kenya is underdevelopment. The problem of underdevelopment is manifested in forms of increasing levels of poverty, famine and malnutrition. The long term survival of Kenya's wildlife depends on social and ecological solutions to the problems of underdevelopment.
Poverty, Puritanism and Environmental Conflict
Authors: Brennan Andrew 
Published: June 2007

The paper proposes two ideas: (1) The wilderness preservation movement has failed to identify key elements involved in situations of environmental conflict. (2) The same movement seems unaware of its location within a tradition which is both elitist and Puritan. Holmes Rolston's recent work on the apparent conflict between feeding people and saving nature appears to exemplify the two points. With respect to point (1), Rolston's treatment fails to address the institutional and structural features which set the agenda for individual human lives. The human ecology of environmental destruction cannot ignore the role of corporate actors such as banks, national governments, transnational corporations, trade unions and so on. These agents interact with each other in various ways and also have an internal structure – perhaps akin to Arthur Koestler's conception of the holarchy - which enables people working within them to avoid taking responsibility for policies that have damaging environmental consequences. As far as thesis (2) is concerned, Rolston's work shares common features with Arne Naess's deep ecology and Aldo Leopold's land ethic. All of these writers draw, perhaps unconsciously, on a tradition of sporting elitism associated with the Great White Hunter. One variety of this tradition combines elitism with a form of Puritanism
Weak Panpsychism and Environmental Ethics
Authors: Andrews John 
Published: June 2007

Weak panpsychism, the view that mindlike qualities are widespread in nature, has recently been argued for by the prominent ecofeminist Val Plumwood and has been used by her to ground an ethic of respect for nature. This ethic advocates a principle of respect for difference, the rejection of moral hierarchy and the inclusion of plants, mountains, rivers and ecosystems within the moral community. I argue that weak panpsychism cannot, convincingly, justify the rejection of moral hierarchy, as it is compatible with it. Also the intentional criterion of mind, employed by weak panpsychism, which includes teleology, has the counter-intuitive implication of giving machines moral status. I cast doubt on the claims that (i) intentionality is a necessary condition for moral status and that (ii) it is sufficient for the ascription of agency. It is suggested that any account of intentionality that allows it to be predicated of mountains, rivers etc. would be widely, and correctly regarded as a reductio of that account. Finally an aesthetic reinterpretation of weak panpsychism is offered.
The Origins, Development and Legacy of Scientific Forestry in Cameroon.
Authors: Lanz Tobias J. 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
The influence of scientific forestry in southwestern Cameroon (today Southwest Province) is examined. A brief overview of the pre-colonial and German colonial periods (1885-1916) is provided to describe the beginnings of scientific forestry and how German ideas and institutions formed the foundation for subsequent forest policies. The main focus is on British rule (1916-1940), the period in which modern forestry expanded rapidly. The final section focuses on the intellectual 'construction' of scientific forestry and how the modern legacy continues to influence current forest policies and practices.
On the Contribution of Environmental History to Current Debate and Policy
Authors: Dovers Stephen R. 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
This article proposes a strong role for environmental history in informing current policy and debate in the policy field of sustainability (or, sustainable development). The policy agenda of sustainability is noted, and the unique attributes of these policy problems identified. A three part 'typology of relevance' is proposed, comprising general historical perspectives, ecological and human baselines, and direct policy and institutional lessons. The idea of more immediate lessons is discussed further, with some indicative examples drawn from Australia. Environmental history is argued to have potential as an antidote to policy amnesia and ad hocery. Furthermore, if environmental history is to prosper, then environmental historians must construct explicit connections with pressing current issues.
Modern Forestry and Enclosure: Elitist State Science against Communal Management and Unrestricted Privatisation in Spain, 1855-1900
Authors: Sala Pere 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
The subject matter of the paper is the role played by the State Forestry Services in the making of western liberal societies in the 19th century. The Spanish Law of common lands reduction (1855) ordered the Forester Corps (Public Works Department) to prepare a survey of grazing lands, scrublands and woodlands to be sold and the ones to be retained. High mountain zones were excluded from the auctions because of their hydrogeological functions. Villages maintained the ownership of this area, but they lost the traditional autonomous management, which was transferred with sharp conflicts to the new government employees. Nevertheless, the State civil service was not monolithic. The Ministry of Finance encouraged the sale of villages land properties with the aim of repaying the public debt (the State confiscated 20 per cent of value at auction). The Ministry of Public Works wanted to keep public ownership. Forest engineers strongly fought against privatisation in the second half of the 19th century. I support the thesis that the New Silviculture reinforced an autonomous trend opposed to unrestricted land privatisation that the Liberal State could not ignore. It was an elitist social-scientific response to the ecological dangers (to be derived from unrestricted free market) with the goals of corporatism and of protecting global society and economy.
Sacred Groves and Conservation: The Comparative History of Traditional Reserves in the Mediterranean Area and in South India
Authors: Chandran M.D. Subash , Hughes J. Donald 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
Sacred groves in the ancient Mediterranean are compared with surviving groves of South India, particularly Uttara Kannada, to evaluate the roles of these refugia in maintaining balance between human groups and the ecosystems of which they are part. In the Mediterranean written records survive, and archaeological investigation provides some information. In South India, the authors observed a living if declining tradition which has persisted for millennia among village people. There data come from field surveys, folk traditions, historical documents and literature.
Empire Forestry and American Environmentalism
Authors: Barton Gregory A. 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
This article examines the influence of empire forestry on the environmental movement in the United States. It particularly examines the British Indian forestry exemplar, and traces its influence on environmental thinking in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Three central American foresters, Franklin B. Hough, Charles Sargent and Gifford Pinchot, are examined to illustrate the link between empire forestry and the massive forest reservations that mark the beginning of modern environmental movement in the United States.
The Bureaucratisation of Forest Management in India
Authors: Schug Donald M. 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
Reform and reorientation are words often heard today within government forest administrations. Efforts to change, however, are seldom accompanied by any analysis of the nature and origins of forest bureaucracies and how their structures may resist reform. This paper employs the case of India's forest administration to illustrate how the political-economic environment, authoritarianism and internal culture have militated against forest conservation and the incorporation of rural interests in forest management.
'Annihilating Natural Productions': Nature's Economy, Colonial Crisis and the Origins of Brazilian Political Environmentalism (1786-1810)
Authors: Padua Jose Augusto 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
The article analyses the trajectory of a group of Brazilian intellectuals from1786 to 1810, who inaugurated a systematic critique of the environmental damage caused by colonial economy in Brazil, especially forest destruction and soil erosion. These authors, schooled in the culture of the Enlightenment, adopted a theoretical framework centred on physiocratic economic doctrine and the 'nature's economy' encoded by Linnaeus. Their focus was political, anthropocentric, and pragmatic. They defended the natural milieu on the basis of its importance for the survival and progress of Brazilian society. Waste and destruction of natural resources were attributed to the rudimentary technologies and social practices inherited from the colonial system. They proposed an overall modernisation policy as the road to overcoming environmental degradation in the country.
'The grievous mistakes of the Vanikoro concession':

The Vanikoro Kauri Timber Company, Solomon Islands, 1926-1964
Authors: Bennett Judith A. 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
The British Solomon Islands Protectorate government, in the 1910s, encouraged logging operations on Vanikolo in order to diversify the economy and extend government control in the easternmost islands. The Vanikoro Timber Company began operations in 1926 without any reforestation clause included in its licence. Problems with the assessment of royalties on trees felled in the 1930s drew the attention of the Colonial Office to this. Little could be done to change the original agreement, but the British administration halted any major extension of logging until a Forestry Department could oversee a sustainable extraction regime, including reforestation, in the 1960s. The logging company, working under difficult conditions in an isolated area, was never a financial success and finally closed in 1964 when cheaper timbers became readily available on the Australian market. The Vanikolo people remained ambivalent towards the company, valuing its presence as a pathway to the wider world, but often resisting extension of its demands on the island's resources.
From Floods to Reforestation: The Forest Transition in Switzerland
Authors: Mather A.S , Fairbairn J. 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
The forest area in Switzerland has been expanding for more than one hundred years, after a long period of contraction culminating in an apparently accelerated phase of deforestation in the first half of the 19th century. The nature and causes of this transition from net deforestation to net reforestation are considered. It is concluded that the perception of a resource crisis played a key role, but also that various passive factors facilitated an end of deforestation and the beginning of reforestation. The question of the comparability of the Swiss case to that of modern developing countries currently experiencing rapid deforestation is considered.
Deforestation, Erosion, and Fire: Degradation Myths in the Environmental History of Madagascar
Authors: Kull Christian A. 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
Mention of the island nation of Madagascar conjures up images of exotic nature, rampant deforestation, and destructive erosion. Popular descriptions of the island frequently include phrases such as 'ecological mayhem' or 'barren landscape'. This paper compares this common wisdom and conservation rhetoric about the environmental history of Madagascar with the results of recent research by paleoecologists and others. Deforestation and erosion, while very real trends, are exaggerated due to mistaken ideas about pre-settlement forest extent and the eye-catching red soils and erosion gullies. The role of fire, principal tool of landscape change and pasture maintenance, is unnecessarily demonised. Blame is placed on the Malagasy people and problems of poverty and population growth, ignoring economic interests, historical political contexts, community politics, and the potential of the people to manage their resources positively. Finally, drawing from the recent school of thought that recognises the role of narratives, discourses, and representations in the politics of conservation, this paper concludes by illustrating the political nature of the oft-repeated story of environmental degradation in Madagascar.
The Cultural Enframing of Nature: Environmental Histories during the Early German Romantic Period
Authors: Steigerwald Joan 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
The introduction of histories of nature in the late eighteenth century posed the epistemological problem of how to bring the diversity of empirical laws into theoretical unity. Whilst Goethe and Humboldt argued for the possibility of objective histories of nature through modes of disciplined perception, Schelling emphasised the inevitable subjectivity of such histories and the impossibility of displaying visually or instrumentally the internal processes generating manifest forms. Each of these three figures used different technologies of representation to produce their environmental histories. But all three gave a central role to aesthetic judgment in representing their view of a unified history of nature.
Human-Environment Relationships in the Pacific Islands around A.D. 1300.
Authors: Nunn Patrick D. , Britton James M.R. 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
This paper traces the history of human-environment interactions in the Pacific Islands during the last millennium, focusing on three main periods: the Little Climatic Optimum, the Little Ice Age, and, in greatest detail, the transition around A.D. 1300 between the two. The Little Climatic Optimum (approximately A.D. 750-1300) was marked by warm, rising temperatures, rising sea level and probably increasing aridity. The latter condition was linked to development of water-conservatory strategies (agricultural terracing being the most common) requiring cooperation between human groups which facilitated formation of large nucleated settlements and increased sociopolitical complexity. The transition period (approximately A.D. 1270-1475) involved rapid temperature and sea-level fall, perhaps a short-lived precipitation increase. Temperature fall stressed crops and reef organisms, sea-level fall lowered water tables and exposed reef surfaces reducing their potential as food resources for coastal dwellers. Increased precipitation washed away exposed infrastructure. Consequently food resource bases on many islands diminished abruptly across the transition. The Little Ice Age (approximately A.D. 1300-1800) was marked by cooler temperatures and lower sea levels. The lingering effects of the earlier transition largely determined human lifestyles during this period. Conflict resulted from resource depletion. Unprotected coastal settlements were abandoned in favour of fortified inland, often upland, settlements.Climate change is suggested to have been a important determinant of human cultural change during the last millennium in the Pacific Islands.
From 'Useless Brutes' to National Treasures: A Century of Evolving Attitudes towards Native Fauna in New South Wales, 1860s to 1960s
Authors: Stubbs Brett J. 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
The emergence of native fauna as a theme in conservation is used to explore the changing relationship between nature and human culture in late nineteenth century and early to mid-twentieth century Australia. Ideas about fauna conservation are traced through a century-long stream of protective legislation and associated parliamentary debate in the colony of New South Wales. During this period, animal protection legislation evolved in purpose from the protection of introduced game in the 1860s, to the protection of native birds, and eventually to the protection of other native fauna, particularly marsupials. In doing so, it conflicted with laws which encouraged the destruction of marsupials in the interests of agricultural and pastoral production.
Property Rights, Development Policy and Depletion of Resources: The Case of the Central Rainlands of Sudan, 1940s-1980s
Authors: Kibreab Gaim 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
Based on a case study of the Central Rainlands of Sudan, the paper challenges the assumptions and principles underlying the tragedy of the commons model and the property rights paradigm with regard to sustainability of resources owned in common. In the particular experience of the Sudan, and this is generally true of many developing countries, state interference in customary tenurial rights rather than communal property rights has been the ultimate cause of open access conditions of use and consequently of resource depletion.