Environmental pressure groups and habitat protection in the developing world: The case of Nigeria

Summary Efforts to improve environmental protection in the developing countries continue to dominate the global agenda of environmental conservation for sustainable development. However, very little comment is made regarding the impact of the non-governmental agencies in conservation matters in the developing countries. This paper explores the nature and role of environmental pressure groups in environmental conservation in Nigeria, and discusses potential avenues of cooperation which might exist with external agencies seeking to support environmental protection efforts in the developing world through formal non-governmental channels.Dr Boyowa A. Chokor holds a PhD from the University of London. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Regional Planning at the University of Benin.     

Environmental Impact Assessment in Ghana: Current administration and procedures — towards an appropriate methodology

Summary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) now enjoys at least statutory status in a number of Third World Countries (TWCs), including Ghana. Indeed, it is now considered an important tool of policy and control, both at the central government and local/district government levels. One of the difficulties, however, in implementing EIA has been the design of an appropriate methodology, in view of the fact that most, if not all the existing methodologies are more suitable to developed countries than developing ones.It is argued that in the absence of very sound indigenous methods and approaches, some of the existing inappropriate methodologies could be adapted or domesticated in a developing country like Ghana. The current administration and survey procedure used by the Ghana EIA Authority is examined and among other recommendations, an adapted form of the matrice approach is suggested.Mr Sam C. Ofori is a Lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He is currently a PhD research worker at the Centre for Planning, University of Strathclyde. A recent paper by Mr Ofori (then Cudjoe) appeared inThe Environmentalist,10(2), 115–126.     

Socio-economic dynamics of forest loss in rural agro-ecosystems

Summary Agro-ecosystems in many of the developing economies are coming under increased pressure, especially in areas where population demands, weak economic growth, and debt burdens, are resulting in mass rural poverty and assault on environmental resources. The loss of forests is a double-edge blow for most rural and agricultural systems. The forests provide the resource substitutes for the many manufactured products which are scarce or physically and economically inaccessible, and they also provide congenial environments which support rural food systems by way of productive agricultural land opportunities.In many of the rural areas of Africa, in particular, forest stability is more threatened, and this requires both local and external responses to make sustainable development a possibility. This paper, which is based on a field study in Ghana by the author, identifies emerging socio-economic constraints in woodfuel systems in environments where demands on forest ecosystems are high. The degree to which such local socio-economic processes affect stability of forest ecosystems, and the conditions within which the research information could assist planners and resource managers towards sustainable use of forest ecosystems are analysed.Dr William Y. Osei was born in Ghana where he obtained a BA (Hons) Geography from the University of Ghana. He subsequently obtained an MA from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada and a PhD from the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada. With teaching experience in Geography at the Canadian universities of Western Ontario, Brandon and Victoria, he currently holds the position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Algoma University College.     

Investment in water infrastructure: Findings from an economic analysis of a national programme

Mixed findings emerge from this ex post Cost-Benefit Analysis of a major water investment programme in Ireland. Water supply and conservation investments, where most benefits were internal, generally proved worthwhile. Wastewater investments could not be analysed fully due to lack of environmental data. Here the authors estimated the level of ‘willingness-to-pay’ that would have been required to ‘justify’ the investments. In some cases the required level seemed implausibly high, raising questions as to prioritisation of projects. The authors recommend a more systematic approach to recording environmental benefits in future investment programmes, the next likely wave being in new EU member states seeking to meet environmental standards. The EU, as likely co-funder of these investments, should require systematic recording of environmental benefits.     

The contribution of environmental assessment by government,industry and others to the UK conservation strategy

Summary The author argues that sound, profitable and sustainable development should be pursued by all sections of the community: that there exist economic benefits to Governments in promoting sound ecological principles in development policies. He suggests that the environmental movement should be talking about development and environmental concerns as complementary issues, and believes that business enterprises should regard the limitation of environmental damage as simply one more facet of good business practice for good business reasons.Sir Arthur G. Norman, KBE, DFC, is the Chairman of The UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development (CEED) and an interview with him was recently presented inThe Environmentalist 5 (3) 163–6. This paper was given as a closing address to a Conference entitledThe EEC Environmental Assessment Directive: Towards Implementation held at the Royal Society of Arts, London on 30th–31st January 1986. The Conference was organized by the Centre for Environmental Management and Planning, University of Aberdeen, assisted by the Department of the Environment (UK), the Confederation of British Industry, the Royal Town Planning Institute, the Landscape Institute and with the participation of the Commission of the European Communities.     

A process for quantifiable evaluation of environment improvement

Summary The assessment of adverse effects of development projects is well established, as, for example, in the case of quarrying or a new urban road scheme. Environmental Improvement, on the other hand, is generally seen as a by-product of economic or development schemes. In the UK it is recognised as an important factor in attracting private sector investment, yet in project evaluation environmental improvements are often described in general terms but not quantified.Survey methods for establishing people's preferences are well established. Enhancement of the environment can be measured as a ratio by assessing the environment before and after improvement. This method has been applied in an evaluation of four case studies assessing the impact of Urban Development Grants in South Wales (Alden et al., 1987).Dr S M Romaya is an architect who possesses a planning qualification. His environmental interests relate particularly to urban centres and these form the focus of his research and many publications. In addition to conducting an architectural practice and being involved in consultancy, much of his working life has been spent in academic institutions; as an Associate Professor at the College of Engineering Technology, Baghdad; at Nottingham University; and now as a lecturer in Urban Design in the Department of Town Planning, UWIST, Cardiff. This paper was initially delivered at an Environmental Impact Assessment Conference conducted by the Institution of Environmental Sciences during October 1986.     

The environmental awareness of environmental protection bureaucrats in the People's Republic of China

Summary Over 180 environmental protection bureaucrats in the People's Republic of China were individually interviewed to determine their environmental awareness and their attitudes towards the environment. The study indicates that environmental protection bureaucrats in China have conflicting attitudes towards the relationship between man and nature, and between economic growth and environmental protection. However, they show a strong faith in science and technology's ability to solve environmental problems. The perception that too-harsh environmental protection regulations would reduce the growth potential of the economy is so predominant that it poses a serious threat to the environment of the three municipalities under investigation. It is argued that environmental management is a matter of managing human beings. To understand people, it is imperative to gain a thorough understanding of their worldview.Dr Koon-Kwai Wong is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and the Geography option co-ordinator on the China Studies course at Hong Kong Baptist University. Dr Hon S. Chan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public and Social Administration at the City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong.     

Book reviews

Dr. Earl J. “Jay” Baker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Director of the Environmental Hazards Center at Florida State University. He has conducted extensive research on hurricane evacuation problems and also has studied growth management, policy evaluation, and storm recovery issues in hurricane-prone areas. He is a member of the National Research Council’s Committee on Natural Disasters and a director of the National Hurricane Conference.     

The fiscal pit and the federalist pendulum: Explaining differences between US States in protecting health and the environment

Summary The US federal government has deliberately shifted a great deal of responsibility for protecting public health and the environment to the 50 US States. Some States are able and willing to assume control, but many others cannot or will not. It is argued that the American federal government should be prepared to intervene in those States that do not place health and environment on their agenda.Dr. Michael Greenberg is Professor of the School of Urban and Regional Policy at Rutgers as well as being an Advisory Board member to this journal. Prof. Frank Popper chairs the Department of Urban Studies and Community Health at Rutgers University. He has written extensively about land use issues and the American Great Plains. Bernadette West is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Urban Planning and Policy Development, Rutgers University. Her thesis concerns scientific and political issues in developing cancer research centers.     

The world conservation strategy: Environmental education and local initiative

Summary In the spring of 1981, Tufts University and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature began teaching the World Conservation Strategy to environmentalists working at the local level. The fourteen-week course that they offered was the first of a series of initiatives to increase public awareness of the need for local action toward the solution of global environmental problems. The success of the first course has encouraged other groups to adapt it to their own social and ecological settings, but there is a pressing need for even more public education. While several aids to teaching the World Conservation Strategy are now being developed to give local conservation educators access to the Strategy, the initiative for bringing the World Conservation Strategy to the public should continue to come from these local leaders. Frank Thibodeau is an environmental biologist and policy analyst with MA and PhD degrees from Tufts University. He is currently a Research Associate in the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy at Tufts, preparing a book on the World Conservation Strategy as a foundation for local environmental initiative under the auspicies of IUCN and the World Wildlife Fund. In addition to his writing and teaching related to the Strategy, he maintains an active research program examining the development of national and international strategies for the preservation of genetic diversity. Hermann H. Field, an urban planner and Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, was director of the Planning Office of the Tufts-New England Medical Center in downtown Boston for 12 years. In 1972 he initiated and then directed a new graduate department of Urban and Environmental Policy at Tufts University. Since 1978 he has been Professor Emeritus in Environmental Planning there. In addition to continued involvement in his department he is active on a range of levels in conservation from the local to the international, including membership on IUCN's Commission on Environmental Planning.     

Subject indicators to present the nature and limit of environmental studies in US graduate schools

Summary The purpose of this paper is to examine subjects to show the nature and limit of interdisciplinary communication in existing environmental programmes in US graduate schools. Ultimately, this analysis may provide more effective communication with the general public. Following comparative historical reviews of both the sciences and the human activity for environmental protection, and a content analysis of empirical documents used by the public, a mushroom computer model has been produced. This model is based on organizational behaviour theory and contains the following 15 subjects which were originally introduced before the lack of communication resulting from curriculum failure in the 19th century: philosophy, politics, economics, architecture, sociology, biology, medicine, agriculture, ecology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, geology, statistics. The subjects should foster effective communication with the general public, leading to more effective environmental protection.Dr Hong S. Kim is at the Environmental Studies Program, California State University, Fullerton, USA. He received a PhD from the Administration and Management Program at Walden University, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. His numerous papers are focused on environmental pollution analysis, environmental impact assessment, environmental management, and environmental law. He has written a book entitledEnvironmentology which is forthcoming.Dr James P. Dixon is the Chairperson of Health Services at Walden University, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401, USA. He was recently Professor of the Department of Policy and Administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. He was also past President of Antioch College (1959–1975). His many publications are concentrated in the areas of organizational development, public health and preventive medicine, and administration of human service organizations.     

Planning for agricultural lands in British Columbia — Progress and problems

Summary With the passage of the Land Commission Act in April 1974, the province of British Columbia emerged as one of the leading innovators in agricultural land protection in North America. The British Columbia programme is unique, in that it encompasses a variety of incentives and disincentives to restrict the development of agricultural resources. While evidence suggests that the program has been quite successful, administrative weaknesses could endanger long-term viability. Regardless of the potential problems, British Columbia's experiences provide valuable lessons for other North American governments.Owen J. Furuseth is an Assistant Professor of Geography & Earth Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He received his A.B. degree (1971) in geography and urban planning from East Carolina University and an MA (1973) from the same institution in geography. His Ph.D. (1978) was earned in geography at Oregon State University.Prior to his current academic appointment he was an Associate Planner with the Jacksonville Area Planning Board in Jacksonville, Florida. His responsibilities with the agency included land use and environmental planning.His primary research interests are in the areas of agricultural land alienation, and policies to reduce these losses. During 1980–1981, Furuseth was a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow affiliated with the graduate program in Natural Resources Management at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada. The research reported in this paper was carried out and completed while he was in Canada.     

Towards a new system of environmental governance

Summary Planning, the visible hand of government, is the resource allocation sphere that has the potential to prevent destructive conflict over resources, by creating a long term, rational, ethics-based and participatory decision-making process. Other public decision-making systems (the market, legal and political arenas), by their very nature, cannot adequately protect the environment or ensure sustainable development. However, as presently conceived, Planning⁺ cannot do so either. Reform has been impeded by an ideological bias which defines Planning as diametrically opposed to the market, such that creative alternatives to the two systems of social choice have not been developed.To address this problem, a new tri-partite structure of environmental governance is proposed. Based on an ecofeminist paradigm, it is primarily designed to constrain the potential for the abuse of power, and allow society to address environmental (ethical) as well as social (distributional) and economic (efficiency) issues. In a sense, it rationalises the social decision-making system by re-aligning rights, wants and needs with the appropriate decision-making forum (representative democracy, the market and Planning respectively). The model exposes the need to redesign all these institutions so that they better correspond to their logical functions within the resource allocation system. However, this paper focuses on the Planning system itself.Janis Birkeland was an attorney, architect and planner in San Francisco, USA. She now teaches at the Department of Architecture, University of Tasmania. This article is drawn from a longer 1990 paper Myths and Realities of Planning and Resource Allocation (Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania), which was presented at the Socialist Scholars' Conference, Melbourne, 18th July, 1991.     

Structure and function of environmental programmes

Summary In this article, the need for integrated curricula in environmental science/studies programmes is reviewed. The required competencies/outcomes for understanding and solution of environmental problems, the requirement for interdisciplinarity and incorporation of innovative skills/methods into environmental curricula, examples of ways to integrate curricula, teaching methodologies and their rationales, impacts of environmental programmes, and academic support for programmes, are also examined in this context.Dr John Lemons is Professor of Biology and Environmental Science, and Chairperson of the Department of Life Sciences at the University of New England. He is also Editor-in-Chief ofThe Environmental Professional, the official journal of the National Association for Environmental Professionals.     

Planning for environmental project implementation and development: as exemplified by the songklha lake basin planning study,Thailand

Summary This paper describes use of the economic-cumenvironmental regional development planning process (as differentiated from regional economic planning and regional environmental planning) for its first application in the Asia-Pacific region, for The Songkhla Lake Basin Planning Study, in southern Thailand. The study project was carried out, with Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan financing, as a joint venture of the national economic and national environmental planning agencies. Because of its pioneering nature, in both technical and institutional aspects, numerous lessons were learned from the project. These are described, and yield guidelines valuable for future studies of this type.Dr Harvey F. Ludwig, Chairman of Seatec International Consulting Engineers in Bangkok, has a unique record of distinguished experience in environmental engineering. This includes, in addition to his present role, experience as a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, in research (four USA national awards), in government (as Assistant Chief Engineer of the US Public Health Service Engineering Group, the predecessor to USEPA), and with numerous international assistance agencies including the World Bank, ADB, and many UN affiliates. Dr Ludwig moved to live in Bangkok in 1973 and has since been a continuing adviser to the National Environment Board of Thailand and to the Institutes of Water Resources Research of Indonesia. He is the author/coauthor of some 160 professional publications and the senior author of a textbook onEnvironmental Technology in Developing Countries, now being printed by CRC Press of Boca Raton, Florida. His work record includes projects in more than 30 Developing countries.     

In pursuit of proper contexts for sustainability in rural Africa

Summary Sustainable development is high on development analysts' agendas as people seek viable alternatives to current development concepts. These latter approaches have not satisfied people's livelihoods especially in developing countries. This paper suggests that the promotion of sustainable development must correctly identify the contexts within which it is to be pursued. It is essential to note that this is best done if people recognize that as a complex concept, sustainable development has several dimensions, including the resource base of a country/community/society; external factors impacting on it; internal factors at play within; population factors and political economic factors.For rural Africa, the context is one of small community and kinship based production groups largely dependent on their local environments for survival. It is essential to identify endogenous factors such as local knowledge bases, common property arrangements, other local social institutions and local environmental practices and to base sustainability strategies on these.There is growing awareness of the efficacy of these local indigenous systems but constraints to their promotion as a valuable resource are also significant. There is room for being hopeful that rural Africa might sustain itself if recognition of the correct contexts is sought.Mr Joseph Z.Z. Matowanyika obtained his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees respectively at the Universities of Reading and Nottingham, in the UK. He is currently undertaking research in the Department of Geography of the University of Waterloo for a Doctor of Philosophy.     

Sustainable development and the community: Lessons from the KASHA project,botswana

Summary This paper focuses on the characteristics of sustainable development as manifested in localized contexts and situations. It examines the KASHA project in Botswana, and suggests an important conceptual link between the community and sustainable development. To convey the message that there is hope and that "Sustainable Development" is possible, the paper suggests the need to document, share, describe and talk about successful programmes like KASHA.Dr Stephen Ameyaw is currently Assistant Professor of Planning in the Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary. His research interests are focused on women and development, community development, regional planning, policy and institutional development. He has conducted research in Canada, Ghana and Botswana.     

Environmental education in third world schools: Rhetoric or realism?

Summary Approaches to teaching about environmental concerns that have been successful either in Western schools or in non-formal Third World projects are unlikely to be effectively implemented in Third World schools. The perceptions of schooling in the Third World, together with the economic, political and social context in which it is conducted, present constraints that are very different. Unless these constraints are recognized, attempted reforms by environmental educators will, at best, remain only at the rhetorical level and, at worst, prove counter-productive. The paper discusses three broad categories of constraint: arising from the socio-political context of schooling, the educational system itself, and issues concerning school-village transfer. The argument is illustrated by reference to research in developing countries on similar educational reforms, such as community schooling, and with examples from the author's research in Papua New Guinea. The paper concludes with some positive lessons for those wishing to see a concern for environmental issues pervade the curriculum of schools in the Third World. The danger of making such reforms over-ambitious is stressed. To be successful, such work must be given high status in the eyes of students and teachers and examination reforms should be introduced to reinforce this.Dr Graham Vulliamy lectures in Sociology in the Department of Education at the University of York. Following field research trips to Papua New Guinea in 1979–1980, 1982 and 1986, he has a special interest in the implementation of educational reforms in developing countries. He is an executive editor of theBritish Journal of Sociology of Education and of theInternational Journal of Educational Development.     

Sustaining Ecological Integrity with Respect to Climate Change: A Fuzzy Adaptive Management Approach

A fuzzy adaptive management framework is proposed for evaluating the vulnerability of an ecosystem to losing ecological integrity as a result of climate change in an historical period (ex post evaluation) and selecting the best compensatory management action for reducing potential adverse impacts of future climate change on ecological integrity in a future period (ex ante evaluation). The ex post evaluation uses fuzzy logic to test hypotheses about the extent of past ecosystem vulnerability to losing ecological integrity and the ex ante evaluation uses the fuzzy minimax regret criterion to determine the best compensatory management action for alleviating potential adverse impacts of climate change on ecosystem vulnerability to losing ecological integrity in a future period. The framework accounts for uncertainty regarding: (1) the relationship between ecosystem vulnerability to losing ecological integrity and ecosystem resilience; (2) the relationship between ecosystem resilience and the extent to which observed indicators of ecological integrity depart from their thresholds; (3) the extent of future climate change; and (4) the potential impacts of future climate change on ecological integrity and ecosystem resilience. The adaptive management element of the framework involves using the ex post and ex ante evaluations iteratively in consecutive time segments of the future time period to determine if and when it is beneficial to adjust compensatory management actions to climate change. A constructed example is used to demonstrate the framework.     

Sub-professional training in the field of the environment

Summary The need for trained technical personnel to monitor environmental systems is emphasised and detailed. Coincident with this need is a virtual absence of appropriate training schemes. The philosophy behind and development of such a course in Farnborough College of Technology is described. This course is a multidisciplinary Higher Diploma in Environmental Analysis and Monitoring aimed specifically at training technicians to deal with pollution and its effects. The paper details course aims and objectives and outlines the programme structure. As the staff at Farnborough have initiated such a training programme, we propose to act as a resource exchange centre in this sphere. Thus our experience could aid in the curriculum development of other schemes. Gareth Rees is Lecturer in Microbiology at Farnborough College of Technology. He has a first degree in Marine Zoology and an M.Sc. in Biodeterioration of Materials. He has recently completed Ph.D. studies into ecological aspects of marine fungi. At Farnborough he is leader of the Environmental Research Group, involved in several applied environmental microbiological projects.