Environmental service payments: evaluating biodiversity conservation trade-offs and cost-efficiency in the Osa Conservation Area, Costa Rica

The cost-efficiency of payments for environmental services (PES) to private landowners in the Osa Conservation Area, Costa Rica, is evaluated in terms of the trade-off between biodiversity representation and opportunity costs of conservation to agricultural and forestry land-use. Using available GIS data and an 'off-the-shelf' software application called TARGET, we find that the PES allocation criteria applied by authorities in 2002-2003 were more than twice as cost-efficient as criteria applied during 1999-2001. Results show that a policy relevant assessment of the cost-effectiveness of PES relative to other conservation policies can be carried out at regional level using available studies and GIS data. However, there are a number of data and conceptual limitations to using heuristic optimisation algorithms in the analysis of the cost-efficiency of PES. Site specific data on probabilities of land-use change, and a detailed specification of opportunity costs of farm land, labour and capital are required to use algorithms such as TARGET for ranking individual sites based on cost-efficiency. Despite its conceptual soundness for regional conservation analysis, biodiversity complementarity presents a practical challenge as a criterion for PES eligibility at farm level because it varies depending on the set of areas under PES contracts at any one time.     

Land use change and carbon exchange in the tropics: I. Detailed estimates for Costa Rica,Panama, Peru,and Bolivia

Our group, composed of modelers working in conjunction with tropical ecologists, 3 has produced a simulation model that quantifies the net carbon exchange between tropical vegetation and the atmosphere due to land use change. The model calculates this net exchange by combining estimates of land use change with several estimates of the carbon stored in tropical vegetation and general assumptions about the fate of cleared vegetation. In this report, we use estimates of land use and carbon storage organized into sixlife zone (sensu Holdridge) categories to calculate the exchange between the atmosphere and the vegetation of four tropical countries. Our analyses of these countries indicate that this life zone approach has several advantages because (a) the carbon content of vegetation varies significantly among life zones, (b) much of the land use change occurs in life zones of only moderate carbon storage, and (c) the fate of cleared vegetation varies among life zones. Our analyses also emphasize the importance of distinguishing between temporary and permanent land use change, as the recovery of vegetation on abandoned areas decreases the net release of carbon due to clearing. We include sensitivity analysis of those factors that we found to be important but are difficult to quantify at present.     

Baseline assessment for environmental services payments from satellite imagery: a case study from Costa Rica and Mexico

In this study we evaluate the accuracy of four global and regional forest cover assessments (MODIS, IGBP, GLC2000, PROARCA) as tools for baseline estimation. We conduct this research at the national scale for Costa Rica and for two tropical dry forest study sites in Costa Rica (Santa Rosa) and Mexico (Chamela-Cuixmala). We found that at the national level, the total forest cover accuracy of the four land cover maps was inflated due to an overestimation of forest in areas with an evergreen canopy. However, the four maps greatly underestimated the extent of the deciduous forest (dry forest); an ecosystem that faces high deforestation pressure and poses complications to the mapping of its extent from remotely sensed data. For the tropical dry forest sites, all maps have low forest cover accuracies (mean for Santa Rosa: 27%; mean for Chamela-Cuixmala: 56%). This has implications for policy implementation.     

Living the green city: Freiburg's Solarsiedlung between narratives and practices of sustainable urban development

The solar settlement (Solarsiedlung) in Freiburg, Germany, has been widely hailed as an eco-city or green city neighbourhood and a blueprint for sustainable urban development. However, as there is a noticeable lack of critical analysis of what constitutes Solarsiedlung as an “eco-city”, this paper studies narratives and practices of sustainable urban development. First, we look at Solarsiedlung as a best-practice model – a narrative that was produced and perpetuated by architects, urban planners, investors and academics celebrating this neighbourhood as a technologically leapfrogging, economically sound and socially integrated project. Second, we explore the everyday practices and lived experience of the residents in Solarsiedlung. Bringing together these two perspectives, we contribute to a more comprehensive understanding and critical reading of the interplay between the ecological, economic and social dimensions of sustainable development as seen from different viewpoints. Findings indicate that Solarsiedlung as a best-practice model is embedded in growth-oriented neoliberal strategies that are in conflict with the everyday practices and lived experience of the residents. Our findings put into question the widely assumed transferability of best-practice models in sustainable urban development.     

Structuring international development decisions: confronting trade-offs between land use and community development in Costa Rica

For more than half a century, research and practice in international development has focused on improving the quality of life of people living in developing regions of the world. Recently, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have recognized the need to blend insights from experts and community stakeholders in development decisions. Research in the decision sciences tells us that these kinds of multiparty and multiattribute decisions are extremely challenging. However, recent experience using structured decision-making (SDM) approaches suggests that the quality of both expert and stakeholder input, and resulting decisions, can be improved by ensuring that people address a series of basic principles relating to identifying objectives and their associated attributes, estimating the consequences of proposed actions, and directly confronting trade-offs that arise during the evaluation of management alternatives. In this paper, we provide an overview of SDM and then discuss a research initiative aimed at applying the approach to a pressing international development problem in rural Costa Rica: management of the lucrative but also environmentally destructive pineapple industry. The objectives of this research were twofold: First, we sought to help inform policy decisions by eliciting land management preferences regarding the pineapple industry from people living in communities surrounding plantations. Second, we evaluated the effectiveness of the SDM approach in a developing community context.     

额尔齐斯河流域河谷林可持续发展的问题与对策

围绕着河谷林现状及在可持续发展中存在的一些问题,探讨了河谷林保护与发展对策,一是必须重新认识河谷林的重要地位;二是必须调整河谷林林分结构增加有林地面积提高河谷林质量;三是必须提高全流域社会经济发展水平,四是在额河流域必须走农林牧协调发展的道路。     

Education at the Commission on Sustainable Development: the perception of the international community

This paper explores the role of education as it might assist in achieving a sustainable world. It examines the perceptions of the international community present at the seventh session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). A survey was conducted of 146 delegates and UN staff over the two weeks of the Commission's session in April 1999. The survey identified the primary importance placed on education as a cross-cutting theme of sustainability and the need for efforts to be co-ordinated to achieve education for sustainable development at all levels. To make further progress for implementing Agenda 21, the task management by UNESCO must improve through instigation of a supportive reporting system at the CSD. The education community must receive appropriate support and funding to make effective progress at local and national levels to implement the work programme for education, public awareness and training.     

Sustainable development: Scientific and ethical assessments

The problem of assessing the sustainability of human development is discussed in theoretical and practical terms.In Part I, two theoretical tools for describing the challenge of assessing sustainable development are introduced and briefly discussed: (i) the use of an energetic model to describe the dynamic interaction between the human and the biophysical compartment; (ii) basic concepts derived from the hierarchy theory applied to the development of human society. Sustainable and ethical development of human society requires the consideration of three hierarchical levels: the biosphere, the societal and the individual level. Such a holistic assessment can be obtained by integrating scientific and ethical considerations.In Part II, data illustrating the current terms of the dilemma of human development are presented and discussed within the theoretical frame provided in Part I. It is argued that even if we had a better understanding of the consequeces of human activity on the biosphere, current modes of organization of human society and its economic activity do not readily enable adequate planning for the sustainable development of mankind. Ideologies that can bias the discussion and the assessment of sustainable and ethical development are discussed. No solution is at hand; therefore, when we consider human development today, we are facing a high level of uncertainty.     

Sustainable development in the Clean Development Mechanism: the role of Designated National Authority in China and India

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) emerged under the Kyoto Protocol to facilitate collaboration between developed and developing countries in order to mitigate greenhouse gases. The CDM allows developed countries to receive credits towards meeting their obligatory targets by investing in emission reduction projects in developing countries. The countries are required to set up a Designated National Authority (DNA) to approve the CDM projects. This paper examines the role of the DNA in ensuring sustainable development, using the empirical case of China and India. Three aspects of the DNA's role are examined: the institutional structure, the policy context and the CDM project market. All three aspects highlight the important role of the DNA in meeting the countries' sustainable development priorities.     

Quantitative assessment of people-oriented forestry in Bangladesh: a case study in the Tangail forest division

Forests represent more than just a livelihood to many people in developing countries. In Bangladesh, for example, overwhelming poverty and socio-economic pressures have resulted in an unstable situation where intensive pressure on forest resources is having increasingly negative consequences for the population. Some studies have evaluated the benefits of people-oriented forestry activities from an investment, as well as a participant, point of view. In the study area located in the Tangail Forest Division, a total of 11,854 ha of woodlot, 2704 ha of agroforestry and 945 km of strip plantations have been raised in a benefit-sharing program that is inclusive of land encroachers and other economically disadvantaged people. Since 2000-2001, a total of 3716 ha of woodlot, 890 ha of agroforestry and 163 km of strip plantations have been harvested to the benefit of 6326 individuals. Investment analysis indicates that woodlot plantation is not financially viable but agroforestry is the most profitable. These results were somewhat unexpected since initial analysis suggested that the woodlot plantation profit would be greater than, or at least equal to, that of the agroforestry plantation if the number of planted seedlings per unit area was taken into account. The per unit area net present value (NPV) was highest in the agroforestry plantation ($1662) and negative in the woodlot plantation (-$397). The benefit cost ratio (BCR) was also highest in the agroforestry plantation (1.64) and lowest in the woodlot plantation (0.86). This study also showed that some individuals who were formally classified as encroachers have now become vital stakeholders. On average, participants received $800, $1866 and $1327 over the course of 13 years from strip, agroforestry and woodlot plantations, respectively. Average annual return per participant was $62, $144 and $102, respectively, which was in addition to each individual's yearly income. This added income is a significant contribution to monetary resources and improves socio-economic conditions at a grass roots level. Overall then this program can be considered a financial success as a plantation raising strategy. However, despite this financial progress, the program cannot be considered a true form of participatory people-oriented forestry because it shows serious deviations from the original concept or model for participatory people-oriented forestry that is outlined in the project document. These discrepancies are especially notable with regard to (i) beneficiary selection, (ii) gender equity, (iii) professional attitude and corruption, (iv) funding and (v) program approach. However, other countries faced with similar challenges of forest overuse and degradation may adopt this practice for achieving self-reliance and environmental stability.     

朝阳开发区造纸工业园建设可持续发展研究与实践

针对朝阳开发区造纸工业园控制性详细规划,采用层次分析法构建规划环境影响评价指标体系,在此基础上,分析朝阳开发区造纸工业园建设的可持续发展水平,为朝阳开发区造纸工业园建设环境决策的科学性提供技术依据。朝阳开发区造纸工业园区域发展规划实施后,规划各期区域整体可持续发展水平基本保持稳定,均为Ⅲ级,即可持续发展水平为中等。经济子系统和社会子系统可持续发展水平各期逐渐下降,而环境子系统可持续发展水平各期呈上升趋势。这说明,随着园区的进一步发展,其环境效益日益明显。     

Conflict and Engagement: An Empirical Study of a Farmer-Extension Partnership in a Sustainable Agriculture Program

Stakeholder engagement is a crucial conceptof extension education. Engagement expressesdemocratic values of the land-grant mission byproviding opportunities for stakeholders to influenceprogram planning, including setting the agenda andnegotiating resource allocations. In practice, theconcept of engagement guides the formation ofpartnerships among extension, communities, industry,and government. In the area of sustainableagriculture, however, stakeholders may conflict,presenting challenges to the engagement process.Results from a study of a Canadian sustainableagriculture program, produced using culturalanthropology and participatory action research, detailchallenges of the engagement process that led toreconstruction of a farmer-extension partnership.Notable in the early phase of the reconstructionprocess were critical reflection, stakeholder forums,exclusion through caucusing, and coalition building.An argument for a neo-pragmatist view provides atheoretical basis for understanding counterintuitivedimensions of engagement revealed by the study.     

国民素质的提高与可持续发展

可持续发展是当今国际社会共同关心的一大主题，其核心就是协调人，自然，社会的相互关系，以促进社会的可持续发展，其中人的素质的提高是实现可持续发展的关键因素。文章分析了国民素质在可持续发展中的重要作用，以及可持续发展对国民素质的综合要求，并提出了提高国民综合素质的途径。     

四川生态旅游农业模式及其可持续发展之浅见

本文论述了生态旅游农业的特点和四川发展生态旅游农业的优势和意义,归纳了四川生态旅游农业的几种模式,并对四川生态旅游农业可持续发展提出了几点浅见。     

Geo—Network在区域可持续发展中的应用与前景

地理信息网络是最近几年随着计算机及网络技术的进步而迅速发展起来的信息网络系统。本文从地理学角度研究了地理信息网络在区域可持续发展研究中的应用,并展望了地理信息网络的研究前景。     

加强生态旅游建设,促进云南旅游业的可持续发展

云南省有着独特的地貌环境、繁多的生物种类、多姿多彩的民族风情,它们构成了无与伦比的生态旅游空间.论述了云南发展生态旅游的独特优势,提出了注重人与自然和谐发展,使生态旅游逐步走向辉煌,是实现云南旅游业可持续发展的必然选择.     

可持续发展对现代化进行了生态学革命——论中国的现代化与可持续发展

本文论述了可持续发展的本质是生态文明的发展观和实现观。结合我国国情，说明可持续发展对中国社会主义现代化建设的重要性。     

资源型矿区可持续发展系统的协调性分析

资源型矿区可持续发展问题已成为人们关注的焦点.矿产资源需求的增加,开采力度的加强,资源不可避免的减少,而与矿产资源紧密相连的矿区,其生存和发展也随之面临着严峻挑战.从资源型矿区的现状出发,分析了我国矿区目前面临的问题,并从这些问题着手,提出了协调性的观点.基于协调性的观点,采用矿区可持续发展系统整体协调发展指数对资源型矿区可持续发展整体协调性进行了评价,认为资源型矿区的持续发展必须依靠其自身内部子系统的协调.     

Sustainable Development and Environmental Impact Assessment in Egypt: Historical Assessment

The achievement of sustainable development demands the integration of environment and development. To achieve sustainable development requires a close collaboration and cooperation between environmentalists and the decision-makers. The evidence is that in developing countries (Egypt, as an example) the gap is widening rather than closing. Intensive research programs are needed, for instance in the field of sustainable development and urban environmental management, to narrow that gap. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has become a management tool for achieving acceptable forms of environmentally sound development and sustainability; at best it is proving nothing more than a permit to move a project ahead.It is recommended that indicators for sustainable development and their progress be fully monitored. Performance indicators should always be established, not only for project implementation, but also during and after the implementation process to make sure that all mitigation measures are satisfactorily implemented. This can be achieved by linking the license granting authority for action to the actual implementation of these measures. To secure the environmental sustainability of an environmental project, it is also important to have the EIA document as an integral part of the license application document, and to make it available to inspectors during their necessarily frequent inspection visits.     

皖南乡村旅游可持续发展中的问题与对策

乡村旅游是新世纪我国农村发展和旅游产业发展的重要组成部分，是推动农村经济发展的重要动力。分析了皖南乡村旅游可持续发展的条件和发展中存在的问题，在此基础上提出了促进皖南乡村旅游可持续发展的对策：加强引导，普查资源，科学规划；突出个性，塑造品牌，加强乡村旅游的宣传促销工作；提升旅游产品功能，扩大旅游收益渠道；建章立制，加强对乡村旅游的规范化管理，提高服务质量。