Food security and ecological footprint of coastal zone of Bangladesh

This paper presents the present status of food security and ecological footprint, an indicator of environmental sustainability of the coastal zones of Bangladesh. To estimate the present status of the food security and ecological footprint of the coastal zone of Bangladesh, primary and secondary data were collected, and the present status of food security and environmental degradation (in terms of ecological footprint) were calculated. To estimate the household food security, primary data were also collected from all the households in a representative selected village. A quantitative method for computation of food security in grain equivalent based on economic returns (price) is developed, and a method of measuring sustainable development in terms of ecological footprint developed by Wackernagel is used to estimate the environmental sustainability (Wackernagel and Rees in Our ecological footprint: reducing human impact on the earth. New Society, Gabrioala, BC, 1996; Chambers et al. in Sharing nature’s interest-ecological footprint as an indicator of sustainability. Earthscan, London, 2000). Overall status of food security at upazila levels is good for all the upazilas except Shoronkhola, Shyamnager and Morrelgonj, and the best is the Kalapara upazila. But the status of food security at household levels is poor. Environmental status in the coastal zones is poor for all the upazilas except Kalapara and Galachipa. The worst is in the Mongla upazila. Environmental status has degraded mainly due to shrimp culture. This study suggests that control measures are needed for affected upazilas and any further expansion of the shrimp aquaculture to enhance the food security must take into account the environmental aspects of the locality under consideration.     

Soil salinity,household wealth and food insecurity in tropical deltas: evidence from south-west coast of Bangladesh

As a creeping process, salinisation represents a significant long-term environmental risk in coastal and deltaic environments. Excess soil salinity may exacerbate existing risks of food insecurity in densely populated tropical deltas, which is likely to have a negative effect on human and ecological sustainability of these regions and beyond. This study focuses on the coastal regions of the Ganges–Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh, and uses data from the 2010 Household Income and Expenditure Survey and the Soil Resource Development Institute to investigate the effect of soil salinity and wealth on household food security. The outcome variables are two widely used measures of food security: calorie availability and household expenditure on food items. The main explanatory variables tested include indicators of soil salinity and household-level socio-economic characteristics. The results of logistic regression show that in unadjusted models, soil salinisation has a significant negative effect on household food security. However, this impact becomes statistically insignificant when households’ wealth is taken into account. The results further suggest that education and remittance flows, but not gender or working status of the household head, are significant predictors of food insecurity in the study area. The findings indicate the need to focus scholarly and policy attention on reducing wealth inequalities in tropical deltas in the context of the global sustainable deltas initiative and the proposed Sustainable Development Goals.     

基于生态足迹模型的中国发展可持续性评估

可持续发展的定量测度是可持续发展战略得心实施的重要条件，加拿大学者Mathis Wackemagel提出的生态中迹模型就是一种测量可持续的新方法，该方法通过计算支持特定区域人类社会所有消费活动所需要的土地（生态足迹）与该区域可提供的生物生产性土地（生态承载力0相比较来判断区域发展的可持续性，本文首先简单介绍了生态足迹模型的基本概念、计算方法，然后对中国2001年生态足迹进行了实证研究，研究结果表明，2001年中国人均生态足迹为1.47435hm^2而人均承载力只有1.05306hm^2，生态赤字为0.42129hm^2中国发展具有强不可持续性，现有生产、消费模式的转变是可持续发展的必然要求。     

西昌市生态空间占用及其生态系统安全评估

生态系统安全的概念应该与人类的可持续发展联系在一起,其安全的目标在于为人类的生存和发展提供持续和良好的生态服务功能,在这一意义上,生态安全就是生态系统的可持续性。生态系统安全是新兴的生态系统管理学概念,是新的环境管理和生态系统管理目标。利用生态占用分析方法,对西昌市整个生态系统的生态盈亏和生态系统安全进行评估,得出西昌市目前人均生态赤字0.6 hm2和生态安全受到挑战的结论。并进行了生态占用的敏感性分析：能源资源消耗降低10%,人均生态赤字降低5.32%;产量因子提高10%,人均生态赤字降低14.01%;能源消耗减低10%,同时产量因子提高10%,人均生态空间赤字减少降低19.33%。指出了能源循环利用、资源节约、技术革新和单位面积资源增值等为主要特征的生态产业发展对生态系统保育的意义和效应。     

广西1990-2002年生态足迹动态分析

生态足迹是一种评估区域可持续发展程度和量度维持人类的自然资源消费量的帐户工具。本文以广西为例，结广西1990、1995、2002年三个时期的生态足迹及生态承载力进行计算和分析，结果表明，12年以来，广西人均生态足迹和生态赤字均呈快速增长态势，人均生态足迹从1990年的为0.9908hm^2增加至2002年的1.3369hm^2；人均生态足迹赤字从1990年的0.5821hm^2增加至0.9521hm^2。这表明人类对自然资源的利用已经超过了生态系统的承载能力，区域生态经济系统处于人类过度开发利用的重压之下，必须引起重视。     

Measuring sustainable urbanization in China: a case study of the coastal Liaoning area

The global urbanization process poses a serious challenge to achieving sustainable development. The significance of sustainable urbanization has been increasingly appreciated, yet, very little empirical evidence has been provided for this prospect. In this paper, we use the Human Development Index and the ecological footprint to measure the sustainability of the coastal Liaoning area. We then use the quadrant map approach to determine the relationship between sustainability and urbanization. The results show that the coastal area has made progress in sustainable urbanization in the social dimension. Improvement in the environmental dimension has been dynamic. Our results indicate that sustainable urbanization is a dynamic, multi-dimensional progress that requires regular monitoring and reevaluation. This paper also highlights the importance of choosing more complete indicators for measuring the sustainability of urbanization, as no single model or measurement is sufficient for quantifying the different dimensions of sustainability.     

基于生态系统服务功能理论的生态足迹模型研究

由于传统Wackemagel and Rees生态足迹模型仅研究人类对资源的需求和生态系统供给的生物生产能力之间的差距,忽略了生态系统的其它功能,无法体现生态系统的整体性.本文以传统生态足迹模型为基础,引入生态系统服务功能价值理论,提出了基于生态系统服务功能价值的生态足迹模型.该模型以生态生产性土地的生态服务功能价值评估为基础,改进传统生态足迹模型中均衡因子和产量因子的计算方法.采用生物生产性土地的综合生态系统服务功能的价值当量因子计量生态足迹模型中的均衡因子,采用生态系统单元的单位面积生态系统服务功能价值与全国该生态系统单元的平均价值的比值表示产量因子.改进后的生态足迹模型既反映了区域人类资源消费对生物生产性土地的占用,又反映了区域人类资源消费对生态系统服务功能的使用,较科学的体现了生态系统的整体性.同时,本文以大连市2005年社会经济统计数据为基础,运用改进的生态足迹模型对大连市的生态足迹进行了测算,对研究模型进行了检验.     

Environmental sustainability practices in South Asian university campuses: an exploratory study on Bangladeshi universities

Environmental sustainability practices in universities can play an important role in helping society form a sustainable future. In this study, the roles that Bangladeshi universities play in terms of sustainability practices on their campuses are scrutinized, as well as the challenges these universities face. The existing research on campus sustainability practices in Asia is reviewed, and a new exploratory study is put forth on environmental sustainability practices in the higher education institutions of a developing country—Bangladesh. The Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework used in Canadian universities was taken as basis for determining potential environmental management indicators. Results show that environmental management practices (i.e., environmental education, research, governance and operations) are present only to a very limited extent in higher education institutions in Bangladesh.     

基于生态足迹分析的旅游地生态安全评价研究--以开封市为例

对旅游地生态安全状况进行评价具有熏要的理论意义和实践意义，根据生态足迹模型，构建了旅游地生态安全评价的指标体系和方法，并以人均旅游生态足迹和人均旅游用地承载力的比值Ⅰ来确定旅游地生态安全的状况。以开封市为研究区域，采用以上指标体系，对开封市2004年旅游生态安全状况进行了评价。研究结果表明：2004年开封市人均生态旅游足迹为0．014983hm^2，其中交通足迹最大，占到85．53％；其次是餐饮，为9．75％。人均旅游用地承载力为0．041790hm^2，生态安全度为0．36，处于一种一般状态或者说较为安全的状态。对研究结果采用旅游环境容量来进行判断，也表明研究结果较为准确地反映旅游地生态安全状况。     

A new approach to natural capital sustainable development

The three-dimension (3D) ecological footprint makes the analysis of the relationships between the demand and supply of natural capital more credible by importing footprint depth and footprint size. This article used China’s regions as the object to analyze the high-level sustainability of the natural capital from the view of “ecology – efficiency – fairness” multidimensional framework. Research showed that China’s ecological footprint has risen while bio-capacity per capita has descended in recent 20 years. This paper also discusses the spatial distribution of China’s natural capital ecological sustainability, efficiency sustainability and fairness sustainability. Finally, it builds multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) models to get multidimensional sustainability framework taking ecological sustainability, efficiency sustainability, and fairness sustainability into consideration.     

山区生态足迹的计算与分析--以大别山区岳西县为例

由加拿大生态学家William Rees和他的学生Wackernagel提出的生态足迹理论是一种定量评估区域可持续发展状态的有效方法。以岳西县2002年统计数据为依据,对岳西县2002年生态足迹进行计算与分析,结果表明,岳西县2002年人均生态足迹为0.694942hm2,人均生态承载力为0.771222hm2,人均生态盈余为0.076280hm2,岳西县处于可持续发展状态。同时,通过与全国平均生态足迹比较发现,岳西县的可持续发展是一种基于较低的经济发展水平上的资源利用效益低、生态成本高的发展状态。对生态足迹需求和生态供给的进一步分析表明,岳西县简单粗放的农业经济模式和不合理的资源利用方式不利于可持续发展,只有发展现代生态农业和生态旅游业才是全县经济社会实现可持续发展的根本出路,提出了相应对策措施。     

On Touristic Ecological Footprint of Macau

Abstract

Despite its tiny territory, Macau boasts a large volume of tourist activities, which serves as the pillar of its economy. Environment and natural resources are the cornerstone of tourism, but are also subject to the negative impact of tourism. Based on the theory and methodology of ecological footprint analysis, this paper calculated the touristic ecological footprint and deficit of Macau in 2009, in an effort to bring to light the current status of excessive consumption of resources by tourism. As the findings show, the non-transferable touristic ecological footprint and touristic ecological deficit of Macau in 2009 are respectively 18 300.891 gha and 12 737.584 gha, and the former is 3.29 times as large as the touristic ecological carrying capacity. Touristic ecological footprint of Macau is highly efficient in economic sense but currently tourism is developing in an unsustainable manner, so appropriate initiatives are in need to strike a balance between tourism development and resource conservation and to promote the sustainability of tourism industry of Macau.     

On shrimp,salt and security: livelihood risks and responses in South Bangladesh and East India

Bangladesh and India are among the world’s most populous but also most vulnerable countries to environmental risks. In addition to storms, sea-level rise, floods and droughts, local communities face a multitude of pre-existing and concomitant economic and socio-political risks. To understand these risks and how communities respond to them is critical in securing community livelihoods. We therefore ask what are the livelihood risks; how do they impact the human security of environment sensitive communities in Satkhira, Bangladesh and in Odisha, India; and, what are the responses of these communities to the livelihood risks? The communities studied in Bangladesh depend mainly on the shrimp and fish resources of the Sundarbans mangrove forest. The two communities researched at Lake Chilika in India depend on fishing and salt farming, respectively. The field research, conducted in 2012 and 2013, shows that the communities face multiple and interacting livelihood risks. While storms and floods are common environmental risks in both countries, related livelihood risks are case-specific. In Bangladesh, attacks by criminals are the major threat to human well-being, while in India, it is violent conflict between lake users. Unsustainable resource extraction is found in both study countries. In Bangladesh, shrimp farming weakens the flood protection, while in India, illegal prawn farming marginalizes poorer lake users. Accessing loans and labor migration are responses observed in both countries. We conclude that adaptation to environmental changes needs to be sensitive to the interaction between governance, local institutions and socio-economic developments.     

中国未来的粮食安全与生态可持续性问题研究——基于粮食生产过程生态足迹的实证分析

自然资源与农业生态可持续开发是保障农业生产与粮食安全可持续发展的基础。随着我国人口的增长以及人们生活水平的提高,粮食需求量逐年增加。这不但加剧了我国人多地少的矛盾,还给我国农业资源与生态的可持续发展带来了挑战。利用计量模型测算出我国人口高峰时粮食安全背景下粮食生产活动的生态足迹,然后依据生态足迹指数法判断其生态可持续性状况。结果显示,按照目前的粮食生产模式依靠自给实现粮食安全,我国人均生态足迹指数将出现负值。这意味着我国农业生态将处于不可持续的状态。解决我国“粮食 耕地”矛盾与“粮食 生态”矛盾,实现粮食安全与农业生态的协调可持续发展,一方面需要把我国目前依靠要素投入的粗放式粮食生产模式转向生态友好型的种植模式;另一方面需要改变我国依靠自给的粮食安全保障模式,通过适当降低我国的粮食自给率、增加粮食进口缓解我国农业资源与生态环境的压力。这对我国未来的农业发展道路以及粮食安全政策都具有重要的参考价值     

On Touristic Ecological Footprint of Macau

Despite its tiny territory,Macau boasts a large volume of tourist activities,which serves as the pillar of its economy.Environment and natural resources are the cornerstone of tourism,but are also subject to the negative impact of tourism.Based on the theory and methodology of ecological footprint analysis,this paper calculated the touristic ecological footprint and deficit of Macau in 2009,in an effort to bring to light the current status of excessive consumption of resources by tourism.As the findings show,the non-transferable touristic ecological footprint and touristic ecological deficit of Macau in 2009 are respectively 18 300.891 gha and 12 737.584 gha,and the former is 3.29 times as large as the touristic ecological carrying capacity.Touristic ecological footprint of Macau is highly efficient in economic sense but currently tourism is developing in an unsustainable manner,so appropriate initiatives are in need to strike a balance between tourism development and resource conservation and to promote the sustainability of tourism industry of Macau.     

Estimating willingness to pay with the stochastic payment card design: further evidence from rural Cameroon

This study reports new empirical findings of the field test of the stochastic payment card (SPC) design recently proposed by Wang (Contingent valuation of environmental resources: A stochastic perspective, 1997a; Journal of Environmental Economics & Management 32:219–232, 1997b). The purpose is to see how well this new contingent valuation method (CVM) elicitation format works in different cultural contexts, and what lessons can be drawn in general regarding its usefulness in environmental valuation. The survey is designed to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) values for an intended community-based environmental project in rural Cameroon (i.e., the control of malaria using larvivorous eating fish species). In order to estimate the bid function, Heckman’s 2-step method is used to detect, and if possible, correct for sample selection bias, an issue overlooked by the 2-step modeling approach proposed by Wang (1997a). The results suggest generally that in the presence of sample selection bias, Heckman’s 2-step estimates are more efficient and reliable for the public project in question than Wang’s proposed 2-stage modeling approach.     

Rice farming sustainability assessment in Bangladesh

Farming sustainability is primordial to long-term socioeconomic development. This study assesses rice farming sustainability in Bangladesh by developing a composite indicator (CI) under the four pillars of sustainability and examines the main determining factors. The assemblage of top-down and bottom-up approaches were applied to generate an essential set of indicators and data were collected through a household survey from 15 villages of three major rice growing ecosystems. The results revealed that less than half of the rice growers were sustainable in terms of economical viability, ecological benefits, and quality of life. By category, Boro rice farming was found to be the most sustainable, followed by Aman and Aus rice farming. Human capital development, increasing land productivity, use of resource conserving practices and technologies, and information availability and accessibility were the main factors promoting rice farming sustainability. The findings indicated that the construction of CI by employing several methodologies such as normalisation provide straightforward and clear-cut policy inputs. The major policy implications that emerged from the findings of the study are outlined to actualise rice farming sustainability, which contributes to sustainable development in Bangladesh.     

Farming adaptation to environmental change in coastal Bangladesh: shrimp culture versus crop diversification

Farming in coastal Bangladesh includes rice/shrimp and rice/non-rice cropping systems. The former has been highly profitable but has exacerbated salinization of soil and water. We evaluate the relative profitability, riskiness, and sustainability of the two cropping systems, using data from two coastal villages in Khulna District. Shrimp cultivation was initially very rewarding. However, over 12–15 years, the cropping system experienced declining profitability, increased salinity, and adverse impacts on rice cropping and the local environment. From 2009, farmers adapted the system by changing the pond (gher) infrastructure, adopting delayed planting of a saline-tolerant rice cultivar, flushing out accumulated salt with freshwater during rice cropping, and allowing the soil to dry out after harvesting rice. The budgeting results show that with current management practices, the rice/shrimp system is economically more viable (higher returns to land and labour and less risky) than the rice/non-rice system. Soil analyses showed that while salinity was higher in the gher during the dry season, it was significantly reduced in the wet season and was very similar between the two systems (1–2 dS/m). Hence, as well as being more profitable and less risky, the rice/shrimp system may well be more sustainable than previously observed.     

恩施地区生态足迹和生态承载力评价

以恩施地区2010年统计数据为依据,对其2010年的生态足迹、生态承载力、生态盈余进行计算和分析,并将生态足迹、生态承载力、生态盈余和万元GDP生态足迹分别与恩施地区贫困村分布密度进行空间耦合。研究表明：（1）恩施地区人均生态盈余为0467 hm2,人均生态承载力为0947 1 hm2,人均生态足迹为048 hm2;（2）贫困村分布密度最高的来凤县、建始县人均生态盈余很少,而贫困村分布密度最低的利川市、咸丰县、宣恩县、鹤峰县,人均生态足迹最高和最低的县分别是咸丰县、宣恩县,鹤峰县的生态承载力最高,人均生态盈余最高的是宣恩县、鹤峰县,万元GDP生态足迹最高和最低的分别是利川市,巴东县;（3）通过生态足迹的研究,提出了恩施贫困地区需放大生态比较优势,〖JP2〗因地制宜,努力将生态盈余转化为直接的经济增长,使之能够有效的帮助贫困地区脱贫致富     

Anthropogenic-driven changes with focus on the coastal zone of Mauritius, south-western Indian Ocean

Some 44% of the world's population lives within 150 km of the coast and mass migration towards the coast will continue in the decades ahead. Degrading and exhaustive uses of land, water and other coastal resources and disruption of environmental processes through degradation of environmental quality and loss of critical terrestrial and aquatic habitats can lead to serious deleterious impacts on the health and productivity of coastal ecosystems. Following the Arusha Resolution (1993), the Seychelles Statement (1996) and the Colombo CZM Workshop (1999), the need for integrated coastal zone management has become critical because of the limited land resources and unproportional domination of coastal areas in the wider Caribbean and Indian Ocean/ Pacific island states. The coastal zone of Mauritius (1,850 km², 20°S, 58°E, south-western Indian Ocean, 1.12 million inhabitants) was redefined in 1997 in the Environmental Protection Act of 1991 [Part VII (Act 34)] to include all islets within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ; 1.7 million km²). During the 1980s, the Mauritian economy underwent major structural changes successfully, with a rapid phase of industrialization diversifying into two major activities, textiles and tourism. Existing reports and data in a common framework have to be synthesized and organized to fill existing gaps in knowledge with data collection and scientific inquiries, to identify social and economic drivers and to relate socioeconomic change to demands for environmental resources (land use, water resources, marine systems) and environmental impacts as proposed under the MERMAID (Mauritius Environmental Resource Management and Industrial Development) project. Nutrient flux and sediment trace metal contamination studies are currently underway to investigate different watersheds impacted by agricultural, urban and industrial activities in the north-west of the island. There is a pressing need to integrate the natural sciences with socioeconomic disciplines as proposed by the International Human Dimensions Program (IHDP) for an integrated management of coastal zones. Three integrated pilot projects in the Pacific-Indian Ocean and wider Caribbean as identified by Land Ocean Interaction in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) in the future, including current status and changes in material fluxes from drainage basins, transboundary impacts from the ocean and atmospheric inputs, could elucidate the land–sea interactions and human dimensions of change on small islands. The sustainability of marine resources and the conservation of biological diversity will depend on a critical understanding of linkages between human activities and ecological responses and upon a citizenry that assumes ownership of these regions. Case studies would also help in investigating how humans affect transport pathways and biogeochemical cycles in small island states. Electronic Publication