bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Imperial Science Rescues a Tree: Global Botanic Networks, Local Knowledge and the Transcontinental Transplantation of Cinchona
Authors: Philip Kavita 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
During the course of the nineteenth century, the rise in the number of British troops stationed in India, along with the increasing number of women and children who joined the colonial administrators, made military and public health a matter of imperial concern. Malaria in particular was responsible for thousands of English deaths. Worried at the South American monopoly over the quinine trade, British colonial administrators and scientists put together an ambitious plan that was to result in the establishment of an enormous global network of exploration, collection and systematisation of botanical knowledge, a centralised array of botanical gardens, and a colonial science of natural resource management. This paper follows the official records of the quinine story, in particular the memoirs of Sir Clements Markham, an employee of the East India Company and an amateur geographer who volunteered to undertake the exploration of the Peruvian forests in search of the cinchona tree. I use the case of the cinchona tree to examine the rhetoric of colonial science in conjunction with its economic and political functions. I suggest that in order to understand how ideas of progress are constituted by historically specific constructions of nature, we can draw methods and insights from at least three fields. I write this from within the field of Science Studies, which I seek to open up to insights from the study of colonial political economy and from the field of Environmental History
Meteorological Service in Fifteenth Century Sandwich
Authors: Brimblecombe Peter 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
Minstrels (or waits) in the 15th century Port of Sandwich walked the streets at night and woke mariners with information about wind directions. The provision of this simple meteorological service may have been required to encourage merchant ships to use the harbour, which had become particularly tortuous as a result of silt accumulation in the River Stour. An increased frequency of east winds during the Little Ice Age would also have made the harbour difficult for sailing ships to leave.
The Control of Alkali Pollution in St. Helens, 1862-1890
Authors: Hawes Richard 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
The attempts of Angus Smith and his colleagues to control alkali pollution after 1863 are usually seen as being a success. This study of St. Helens, Lancashire, once an important centre of soda production, shows that although the alkali inspectors were eventually able to limit the release of hydrochloric acid gas, they found great difficulty in curbing the generation of other noxious fumes, particularly hydrogen sulphide. Despite the intervention of the town council, prohibitive legislation and many critical reports, the manufacturers were reluctant to adopt a technique of sulphur recovery or to change the way they dumped their waste acid. Local economic importance proved to be sufficiently powerful to deflect regulation from any source.
Humans and Forests in Pre-colonial Southeast Asia
Authors: Reid Anthony 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
Until about fifteen centuries ago the interaction of humans with the Southeast Asian rainforest was primarily one of interdependence. Trees were felled for food and aromatic woods, and in dryer zones to burn in a process of shifting cultivation, but population pressures were low enough for routine regeneration. Before the modern era of plantation agriculture and mechanised logging, two great changes had already affected the environment profoundly: (1) the elaboration of permanently irrigated rice fields in upland valleys, creating substantial areas of permanent agricultural land progressively from about the 8th Century, and making possible greater concentrations of population, both agricultural and urban; (2) the rapid growth of commercial agriculture from the fifteenth century, primarily in pepper but later also sugar, cloves, gambier and coffee, which permanently deforested large areas of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Vietnam and the Malayan Peninsula. Parallel with this development was the increased commercial felling of forest trees for the export of sandalwood from Timor and sappanwood from Siam. The retreat of large mammals, notably elephant and rhinoceros, was one measure of these changes.
The Environmental Impact of Industrialisation in South Wales in the Nineteenth Century: 'Copper Smoke' and the Llanelli Copper Company
Authors: Newell Edmund , Watts Simon 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
The development of industrial towns on the south-western side of the south Wales coalfield, such as Llanelli, Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot, was based to a large extent upon the growth of metal industries. This paper focuses on a major environmental problem associated with this development: that of 'copper smoke' produced by the region's important copper smelting industry. The first part of the paper discusses the social, economic and legal history of the copper smoke problem, and the technology employed to control emissions. The second part deals with the chemical composition of copper smoke and estimates the output and dispersion of copper smoke and other metal fumes from the Llanelli Copper Co.'s works in the 1860s using a Gaussian plume model. It is argued that the extent of long and short range deposition of sulphur and heavy metals from these works was significantly high and that the industry was therefore a major polluter, particularly when copper smelting was at its peak in the region in the mid- to late- nineteenth century.
Degrading Land: An Environmental History Perspective of the Cape Verde Islands
Authors: Lindskog Per A. , Delaite Benoit 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
This paper discusses changes in land and vegetation cover and natural resources of the Cape Verde Islands since their colonisation. This isolated group of islands in mid-Atlantic was first colonised by the Portuguese around 1460. The paper discusses both physical and human causes of land-cover changes, including changes in climate, land-use, land tenure, economic, political and social systems. The actual consequences of the first centuries of European colonisation of the Cape Verde Islands were very different from the idealised view of tropical islands as Gardens of Eden that was current in Europe during the early colonial period. The sources discussed in this paper provide evidence of catastrophic degradation of the land and vegetation of these islands: from a dry but 'well-wooded' savanna with 'great quantity of grass', and 'streamlets of water' at the time of colonisation to a near desert landscape today, especially at the lower altitudes. A major cause of this degradation, perhaps indirect but still decisive, may have been a political and economic system that permitted an appallingly shortsighted exploitation of the land. The major direct mechanism of this process was probably overexploitation of the vegetation-cover by people and their goats. Despite the evidence for human causes behind this ecological disaster, the possibility cannot be excluded that there has also been a change in climate purely due to physical causes. If, however, the first colonisers had been conscious of the fragility of the ecosystem they came to occupy, these islands could still have profited from the advantages of a dry savanna with trees and a continuous grass cover, as do the Bermudas, which have remained a 'terrestrial paradise' thanks to the protection of the cedar forests since their first settlement in 1622. The reason why the 'fortunate' islands of Cape Verde should be reafforested thus becomes evident. Human beings frequently have a good perception of the symptoms of environmental degradation, but they rarely perceive the causes of such changes. In particular, they do not see themselves as agents in relation to nature. Instead they attribute environmental degradation either to God, destiny, etc., or to more earthly powers, which results in resignation relative to environmental problems. Compared to the length of human life most environmental changes, e.g. land degradation and climatic changes, are slow processes, noticeable only over decades. This may explain why it is difficult for humans to comprehend the causal mechanisms behind such changes. It may be crucial to understand these human perceptual processes if the human causes of environmental degradation are to be countered.
Deforestation in the Owambo Region, North Namibia, Since the 1850s
Authors: Siiskonen Harri 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
Early European travellers were impressed by the trees and forests of the Owambo region, north Namibia. As they became better acquainted with the Owambo way of life, Europeans began to warn of deforestation in the region. This article explores environmental change and especially deforestation in the Owambo region since the 1850s. The paper discusses the crucial elements affecting deforestation in north Namibia: population growth and settlement patterns, land use practices, the structure of production, consumption patterns of wood, and valuations related to forests.
The Politics of Fire and Forest Regeneration in Colonial Bengal
Authors: Sivaramakrishnan K. 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
This paper contends that recent scholarly interest in systems of colonising knowledge, whether called 'scientific forestry' or 'development', has paid inadequate attention to the historical processes shaping such knowledge production in specific colonial locations. Taking a processual approach, the paper examines the conflicted constitution of scientific forestry in India through regionally varied experiences of forest management in Bengal sal ( Shorea robusta ) forests. The case of fire, and disputes surrounding its perceived role in forest regeneration across eastern India, is used to understand and demonstrate the complex mutually transformative linkages between social categories like nature, culture, history and power.
Legal Instruments for Sustainable Environmental Management inNepal
Authors: Oli Krishna Prasad 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
Recent and current environmental legislation in Nepal is described, and its relation to sustainable development analysed. Modern legislation often conflicts with traditional local patterns of land management. Examples of these traditional arrangements are given, and it is argued that to be successful in the long term, development programmes instigated by government and line agencies must take more account of established local practices.
From Resource Scarcity to Pollution Problem: The Production and Environmental Impact of a Swedish Alum Works, 1723-1877
Authors: Svidén John , Eklund Mats 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
Wood scarcity at Lovers Alum Works (LAW) restricted the amount of alum produced during a large part of the period of activity (1723-1810s). The increasing local scarcity of wood and the insufficient road network were the main reasons why LAW started to use alum-shale as fuel in the beginning of the nineteenth century. When the fossil energy source replaced wood the short term fluctuations in alum production between different years became much smaller and the production of alum in the region was able to expand. This has been interpreted as an example of how geospheric raw materials enabled the rapid production expansion during the early industrial revolution.Cadmium and sulphur emissions were estimated from element analysis of the shale and data on the use of shale and other raw-materials. During the shale fuel period (1810s-1877) the emissions of volatile substances such as cadmium and sulphur increased.Pollution and resource scarcities are two different forms of environmental impact which tend to have different effects at different times in regard to production. Resource scarcity problems tend to have a regulating effect on production while pollution problems tend to lack this self-regulating effect on production.
The Two Cultures Revisited: Environmental History and the Environmental Sciences
Authors: Worster Donald 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
The gap between the sciences and the humanities persists in our intellectual life, with significant consequences. The new field of environmental history represents an opportunity to bridge that gap, since it requires historians to become more conversant with the environmental sciences and apply their insights to the study of the past. I give examples of where that conversation has been has been helpful in rewriting history. However, the scientists are in need of the historians and humanists more than they commonly acknowledge. Environmental problems have their source in human culture, and to solve those problems we need the insights of the humanities.
Tar Production in Colonial North America
Authors: Airaksinen Mikko 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
It was only natural for the large countries and colonial powers of the 18th century to employ their heavily wooded areas and possessions as sources of forest products. This is how the French wanted to use Canada, the British, America and the Swedish, their eastern half, Finland. It was not solely the natural environment that determined the choice of these areas, however, but also other aspects of the environment: political, military, economic and colonial. To illustrate this, we will examine the example of tar-making.
Down by the Riverside: The Disappearing Bottomland Hardwood Forest of Southeastern North America
Authors: Saikku Mikko 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
The rapid expansion of European culture since the fifteenth century has greatly altered the face of the countryside all over the world. Among the most dramatic examples of this are the changes in North American nature wrought by Europeans since the seventeenth century. It has been estimated that between the arrival of the first European colonists in the early seventeenth century and the adoption of sustainedyield forestry in the first decades of the twentieth century, the original forest cover of the United States over that same period was reduced by more than 80 percent.1 This article traces the history of human impact on bottomland hardwood forests of the southeastern United States, to show how enormous were the alterations brought about by Europeans in the southeastern bottomland hardwood forest ecosystem. Documentation of the different human activities in the area, from prehistoric times to the twentieth century, aims to place the dramatic decline of this forest type in a broader context of human-induced environmental change in North America.
Lessons from South Africa: War and Wildlife Protection in the Southern Sudan, 1917-1921
Authors: Carruthers Jane 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
For a few years at the end of the First World War, James Stevenson-Hamilton, warden of the Kruger National Park in South Africa, was employed in the Sudan civil service, Despite the dissimilar human history and natural environments of South Africa and the Southern Sudan, Stevenson-Hamilton's experiences in Mongalla province were informed by his professional life in South Africa and his comments on the game protection initiatives in the Sudan at that time are relevant to the modern conservation doctrine of sustainable yield. In the early 1920s Stevenson-Hamilton was responsible for drafting Sudanese game protection legislation which endured for a number of decades.
Conflicts Over Water in 'The Little Drought Age' in Central Mexico
Authors: Endfield Georgina H. , O'Hara Sarah L. 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
Mexico represents one of the most climatically sensitive regions of the world. Over the Colonial period, prolonged drought episodes had severe impacts on all sectors of society, particularly indigenous rural populations. This paper employs a variety of colonial historical records to document the nature and extent of these impacts within the context of prevailing social, political and economic conditions. It is clear that access to water has long been a source of contention especially during drought episodes. Resource monopolisation by individuals and institutions such as the church served to exacerbate this situation particularly during the 18th century.
Ecology and Ideology in the General SystemsCommunity
Authors: Hammond Debora 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
This paper gives an account of the participatory, democratic and pluralistic perspectives of Boulding and other important figures in the General Systems Community (GSC). It contrasts their perspectives with the technocratic approach of H.T. Odum, as analysed in particular by Peter Taylor. It argues that GSC's concern with systems in relation to their environment is more complex than simply mediated energy, information or currency flows crossing the boundaries of Odum's systems. This ensures there is no privileged place for an outside observer/manipulator of the GSC system; in fact, the analyst is often part of the GSC system. Moreover, the interactions within GSC systems are not reduced to a simple metric, such as Odum's energy currency.
'Wilderness' and the Multiple layers of Environmental Thought
Authors: Haila Yrjö 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
'Wilderness' has become a widely used term in environmentalist discussion as a symbol for caring about nature. I review first the historical background: the term was adopted by US environmentalists in the 19th century to describe a nostalgic striving to get into contact with pure, unspoiled nature outside of human influence, in a sanctuary of genuineness and originality; this ideal was strengthened by its adoption by American nationalists. The background, however, lies in European Romanticism. Adoration of supposedly untouched nature arose as a counterpart to the depiction of nature as a unified system obeying eternal laws, amenable to human, rational exploitation. This idea of 'wilderness' cannot, however, be given any accurate empirical meaning and it rests on an assumption that a boundary can be drawn between 'natural' and 'unnatural' human activity, but this is impossible; furthermore, all assumed 'wilderness' areas have actually been inhabited by aboriginal people for millenia. The idea of 'wilderness' thus brings forth one example of how nature has been constituted as the 'other' of the western society. In this constitution, 'nature' and 'natural culture' have always belonged together. As an alternative, I discuss the possibility of recognising an element of 'wildness' inside human everyday existence. Henry David Thoreau was a pioneer of this view. Wildness everywhere present is a totally different idea from a wilderness having a concrete reference somewhere 'outside of' human influence. Thus, the fact of ecological crisis actually means rediscovery of nature rather than 'end of nature' as suggested by the famous slogan of Bill McKibben. I finish by suggesting that Thoreau's ever-present 'wildness' might be used as a building block along the path toward a 'nature contract', that is, a changed relationship to nature such that the prevailing attitude of domination and exploitation would be substituted with respect and care. This requires that the radical contextuality of human existence be recognised, and uncontrollable, 'wild' elements in this position be respected.
Ecological Metaphors and Environmental Rhetoric: An Analysis of
The Ecologist
and
Our Common Future
Authors: Coutinho Marilia 
Published: June 2007

Abstract

This paper discusses two different environmental political projects, the journal
The Ecologist
and the report
Our Common Future
. The former deems it necessary to substitute current patterns of production and transformation of the social structure with radical alternatives, claiming that they lie at the roots of our environmental as well as social crisis. The latter rejects this thesis and prescribes minor administrative changes, regarding the environmental problems as management problems with management solutions. Both, however, employ terms and often concepts derived from Ecosystem Ecology to build up their ideas of 'stability', 'limits' and 'control'. Since the environmental issue has recently become an unavoidable problem for scientific as well as political fields, there is a great deal of traffic between these two domains, leading to concepts and ideas in one domain being transported to the other.
Nature's Ombudsmen: The Evolution of Environmental Representation in Sweden
Authors: Hillmo Thomas , Lohm Ulrik 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
In Sweden, during the 20th century, a number of different groups or institutions have nominated themselves as being Nature's representatives. This essay deals with the ideas, motives or reasons for nature conservation advanced by these groups. Three successive regimes of regulation are identified, which can be codified on the basis of their underlying characteristics as 'entailed estate', 'common land' and 'reservation'. The essay also reflects on the growing political interest in nature conservation and the gradual shift of power from the individual to the state, and how this transfer of power is authorised.
Forest Rights, Privileges and Prohibitions: Contextualising State Forestry Policy in Colonial Tanganyika
Authors: Neumann Roderick P. 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
This paper analyses the development of state forest management in Tanganyika and its effects on African access and use rights within the larger context of British colonial governance. It explores how the ideologies and interests represented by scientific forestry, the League of Nations Mandate, indirect rule, and the general process of African peasantisation intersected in complex and contradictory ways to restructure African forest rights. Efforts to resolve contradictions resulted sometimes in the spatial segregation of African and Forest Department interests, sometimes in uneasy compromise, and, ultimately, in a steady erosion of peasant access to forest lands and resources.
Simulating the Past: Reconstructing Historical Land Use and Modeling Hydrological Trends in a Watershed Area in Java
Authors: Nibbering Jan Willem , de Graaff Jan 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
Historical data on land use can be used as input into watershed models to simulate past hydrological conditions and erosion. A better understanding of past conditions is useful to position the present situation on a dynamic scale and to assess future trends and options therefrom. Conversely, knowledge acquired from bio-physical studies of the present can be used to get a better grasp of certain phenomena in the past. This has been done with a watershed model which was developed for the upper Konto watershed area in Java. After a general introduction on conditions in the upper Konto watershed area and the purpose and design of the watershed model, this article describes the origin, nature and quality of the historical land use data, and how they were interpreted, complemented, balanced and eventually incorporated into the model. The results of the simulation of historical watershed conditions are presented and their plausibility is discussed in the light of historical evidence. A comparison of the modeling results for past conditions and for present conditions shows that the hydrological effects one may wish to achieve with land use changes in the future specified in different development scenarios are unlikely to be of the same order of magnitude as the changes that have occurred over the last 150 years.