To trade or not to trade: Firm-level analysis of emissions trading in Santiago,Chile

Whether tradable permits are appropriate for use in transition and developing economies—given special social and cultural circumstances, such as the lack of institutions and lack of expertise with market-based policies—is much debated. We conducted interviews and surveyed a sample of firms subject to emissions trading programs in Santiago, Chile, one of the first cities outside the OECD that has implemented such trading. The information gathered allows us to study what factors affect the performance of the trading programs in practice and the challenges and advantages of applying tradable permits in less developed countries.     

The use of the ecological footprint in local politics and administration: results and implications from Norway

Our experiences calculating a local ecological footprint of Oslo form the basis for a discussion of key methodological aspects supporting the use of local sustainability indicators. The footprint's strength is its ability to communicate simply the complexity of global environmental challenges. Initially developed for measuring per capita consumption at the national level, the footprint has been adopted at local and regional levels. We argue for adjustments in the footprint methodology when shifting from a national to a local policy context, to ensure the indicator's applicability in local politics and administration. First, the analysis should be limited to consumption aspects relevant to the local environmental policy agenda. Second, the analysis should integrate as much genuine local data as possible. We argue also that a standardised methodology based on the national footprint approach, with the main purpose of international benchmarking of cities, cannot but reduce the indicator's usefulness for administrative/political guidance, due to the methodology's lack of transparency and inability to identify local variations.     

Modification of ecological footprint evaluation method to include non-renewable resource consumption using thermodynamic approach

This study is to modify the ecological footprint methodology by incorporating non-renewable or abiotic resources as an additional category. The use of abiotic resources can be quantified as global hectare by using thermodynamic approaches. A detailed case study on various countries including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Japan, USA, and Vietnam shows the advantage of using the new modified ecological footprint (EF) as an indicator for sustainable development. The modified EF includes not only biotic resources, but also the abiotic resources. The case study indicates that the modified EF differs from the traditional EF up to 123% in the case of Belgium, and 90% in the case of Australia. For developing countries such as Brazil and Vietnam, the differences are relatively smaller (21% for Brazil and 9.4% for Vietnam). The estimated total ecological footprint of the world using the new method implies more serious problems associated with over consumption than using results from the original ecological footprint method.     

Adaptive environmental management of tourism in the Province of Siena, Italy using the ecological footprint

Adaptive management as applied to tourism policy treats management policies as experiments that probe the responses of the system as human behavior changes. We present a conceptual systems model that incorporates the gap between observed and desired levels of the ecological footprint with respect to biocapacity. Addressing this gap (or 'overshoot') can inform strategies to increase or decrease visitation or its associated consumption in the coming years. The feedback mechanism in this conceptual model incorporates a gap between observed and desired ecological footprint levels of tourists and residents. The work is based on longer-term and ongoing study of tourism impacts and ecological footprint assessments from the SPIN-Eco Project. We present historical tourism and environmental data from the province of Siena, Italy and discuss the use of discrete, static environmental indicators as part of an iterative feedback process to manage tourism within biophysical limits. We discuss a necessary shift of emphasis from certain and static numbers to a process-based management model that can reflect slow changes to biophysical resources. As underscored by ecological footprint analysis, the energy and material use associated with tourism and local activity can erode natural capital foundations if that use exceeds the area's biological capacity to support it. The dynamic, and iterative process of using such indicators as management feedback allows us to view sustainability more accurately as a transition and journey, rather than a static destination to which management must arrive.     

建设生态强市 共享生态文明

本文通过分析仪征市创建国家生态市在实践过程中所采取的措施、取得的成效、获得的经验和面临的困难,提出相关思路和对策,为该市生态文明建设打下基础。     

The ecological awareness of Bulgarian industrial managers

Summary Over 600 industrial managers in Bulgaria were individually interviewed to determine their ecological awareness and their attitudes towards the environment. The interviews took place at an unusual time in 1990 when these managers were beginning to move from a position of government control and interference, but were becoming affected by a situation of increasing economic difficulties. Various specific profiles of environmental awareness of the managers were registered, depending on the technologies used by their industrial enterprise, the degree to which the labour force was acquainted with the environmental hazards, and the pressures from the ecological movements and legislature.Unfortunately, at the time of the interviews, few of teh managers-despite two-thirds of their industrial enterprises being strong or intermediate polluters-were under serious pressure to resolve their ecological problems, and many (44 percent) were unaware of these problems. Repeated studies of this nature will hopefully demonstrate improvements in the ecological awareness of the managers which may result from legislative and educational measures proposed, in part, by the authors.Dr Ivan T. Chalakov is the senior author of this paper which has been prepared by the staff of the Institute of Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Drs Chalakov, Kotzewa and Todorova are Research Fellows in the Department of Sociology of Science Psychology respectively. The other authors assisted with this research.     

The valuation of historical sites: a case study of Valdivia,Chile

The economic valuation of cultural heritage is an area of increasing interest and an important research topic in the emerging field of cultural economics. Many services and values associated with cultural heritage are not traded in markets, and their estimation requires methods developed for the valuation of non-market goods, such as those used in environmental economics. This paper applies the contingent valuation method with double dichotomous choice to estimate the value of historical sites in the city of Valdivia, Chile. The valuation exercise was implemented by designing a hypothetical guided walking tour to a cluster of historical sites in the city centre, and surveying tourists visiting the city during the summer of 2004. Parametric and non-parametric statistical methods were used to estimate the survival distribution and the mean and median estimates of the willingness-to-pay (WTP). The study emphasizes the importance of explicitly treating heterogeneous preferences and the sensitivity of the survival distribution to the estimation methods used.     

Use of ecological regions in aquatic assessments of ecological condition

Ecological regions are areas of similar climate, landform, soil, potential natural vegetation, hydrology, or other ecologically relevant variables. The makeup of aquatic biological assemblages (e.g., fish, macroinvertebrates, algae, riparian birds, etc.) varies dramatically over the landscape, as do the environmental stresses that affect the condition of those assemblages. Ecoregions delineate areas where similar assemblages are likely to occur and, therefore, where similar expectations can be established. For this reason, ecological regions have proven to be an important tool for use in the process of ecological assessment. This article describes four examples of the use of ecological regions in important aspects of environmental monitoring and assessment: (1) design of monitoring networks; (2) estimating expected conditions (criteria development); (3) reporting of results; (4) setting priorities for future monitoring and restoration. By delineating geographic areas with similar characteristics, ecological regions provide a framework for developing relevant indicators, setting expectations through the use of regional reference sites, establishing ecoregion-specific criteria and/or standards, presenting results, focusing models based on relationships between landscape and surface water metrics, and setting regional priorities for management and restoration. The Environmental Protection Agency and many state environmental departments currently use ecoregions to aid the development of environmental criteria, to illustrate current environmental condition, and to guide efforts to maintain and restore physical, chemical and biological integrity in lakes, streams, and rivers.     

The phosphorus footprint of China's food chain: implications for food security, natural resource management, and environmental quality

Efficient use of phosphorus (P) for producing food, preventing water pollution, and managing a dwindling rock P reserve are major challenges for China. We analyzed P stocks and flows in the Chinese food chain to identify where P use efficiency can be improved, where P leaks to the environment, and the research, technologies, and policies needed to improve P use. We found a high degree of inefficiency; of 6652 Gg P entering the food chain, only 1102 Gg P (18%) exit as food for humans. The greatest inefficiencies were a large build-up of soil P (3670 Gg P yr; 52% of P inputs) and high P losses to the environment from animal production (1582 Gg P yr; 60% of excreted P). Improving P use in China must focus on national-scale nutrient management strategies, better animal nutrition, and adoption of technologies and policies to reduce P discharges from the animal sector and recycle P as manures in agriculture.     

Ecosystem management to achieve ecological sustainability: The case of South Florida

The ecosystems of South Florida are unique in the world. The defining features of the natural Everglades (large spatial scale, temporal patterns of water storage and sheetflow, and low nutrient levels) historically allowed a mosaic of habitats with characteristic animals. Massive hydrological alterations have halved the Everglades, and ecological sustainability requires fundamental changes in management.The US Man and the Biosphere Human-Dominated Systems Directorate is conducting a case study of South Florida using ecosystem management as a framework for exploring options for mutually dependent sustainability of society and the environment. A new methodology was developed to specify sustainability goals, characterize human factors affecting the ecosystem, and conduct scenario/consequence analyses to examine ecological and societal implications. South Florida has sufficient water for urban, agricultural, and ecological needs, but most water drains to the sea through the system of canals; thus, the issue is not competition for resources but storage and management of water. The goal is to reestablish the natural system for water quantity, timing, and distribution over a sufficient area to restore the essence of the Everglades.The societal sustainability in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) is at risk because of soil degradation, vulnerability of sugar price supports, policies affecting Cuban sugar imports, and political/economic forces aligned against sugar production. One scenario suggested using the EAA for water storage while under private sugar production, thereby linking sustainability of the ecological system with societal sustainability. Further analyses are needed, but the US MAB project suggests achieving ecological sustainability consistent with societal sustainability may be feasible.     

The effects of social desirability on self-reported environmental attitudes and ecological behaviour

There are several claims in the literature that social desirability concerns affect people’s response to self-reported measures of environmental attitudes and ecological behaviour. However, only a few empirical studies have indirectly evaluated the impact of social desirability on environmental issues measures, and those who did have found only a low impact. This article describes two studies that explicitly address whether socially desirable responding has direct and moderating effects on self-reported environmental attitudes and ecological behaviour. Results from correlational and moderated multiple regression analyses from both studies showed that social desirability had only a weak direct effect on environmental attitudes (but not ecological behaviour), and had no moderating effect on the environmental attitudes–ecological behaviour relationship. Implications of these findings for research on environmental issues are discussed.

Analyzing the cost effectiveness of Santiago, Chile's policy of using urban forests to improve air quality

Santiago, Chile has the distinction of having among the worst urban air pollution problems in Latin America. As part of an atmospheric pollution reduction plan, the Santiago Regional Metropolitan government defined an environmental policy goal of using urban forests to remove particulate matter less than 10 microm (PM(10)) in the Gran Santiago area. We used cost effectiveness, or the process of establishing costs and selecting least cost alternatives for obtaining a defined policy goal of PM(10) removal, to analyze this policy goal. For this study, we quantified PM(10) removal by Santiago's urban forests based on socioeconomic strata and using field and real-time pollution and climate data via a dry deposition urban forest effects model. Municipal urban forest management costs were estimated using management cost surveys and Chilean Ministry of Planning and Cooperation documents. Results indicate that managing municipal urban forests (trees, shrubs, and grass whose management is under the jurisdiction of Santiago's 36 municipalities) to remove PM(10) was a cost-effective policy for abating PM(10) based on criteria set by the World Bank. In addition, we compared the cost effectiveness of managing municipal urban forests and street trees to other control policies (e.g. alternative fuels) to abate PM(10) in Santiago and determined that municipal urban forest management efficiency was similar to these other air quality improvement measures.     

Assessment of the rangelands of southwestern Santiago del Estero, Argentina, for grazing management and research

Native rangelands of the southwest part of the province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, are a key source of forage for cow-calf operations. The objectives of this study were to delineate the ecosystem units of the area, to describe the associated plant communities and to interpret the role that physical factors and disturbances such as fire and grazing have had in the changes of the structure of these plant communities. This information is needed for developing recommendations for grazing management, for prescribing appropriate improvement practices (e.g. shrub control, prescribed fire) and as guidelines for future research. The ecosystem was divided into smaller units using a hierarchical method, the categories of practical importance being 'range unit' and 'range site'. They represent the catchment and hillslope scale of the water runoff-runon phenomenon, respectively. Vegetation was sampled using a block and cluster sampling design, registering tree, shrub, forb and grass species frequency, and the standing aerial biomass of the herbaceous layer in a sampling unit=1 ha. Environmental data (topographic position, fire frequency, current and past use, and tree and shrub cover) were also registered for each sampling unit. Indirect ordination of sampling units classified according to range units and range sites, and correlation with environmental variables were performed using multidimensional scaling (MDS) as well as the vector fitting technique. Standing forage and stocking rate were estimated from biomass data. Results indicate that 'range site' is the ecosystem unit that should be considered for management purposes since it correlates well with plant communities: tall, hardwood forests are located on upland sites, woodlands are located on midland sites and savannas are located on lowland sites. Dense shrub thickets dominate in areas rated in poor condition, irrespective of range site. Disturbances such as fire and current and past use have a significant positive and negative correlation with range condition, respectively, suggesting that a state and transition model would explain vegetation dynamics better than the succession model. The estimated stocking rate in lowland sites in good condition was 2 ha UG(-1), while in upland sites in poor condition the stocking rate was 90 ha UG(-1). Active (fire, mechanical treatments) rather than passive (grazing management) methods should be used for range improvement in order to achieve the full potential of the ecosystem.     

生态功能区建设中政府行为的价值取向和评判标准

生态功能区建设中的政府行为,不仅涉及发展困境与生态环境保护间矛盾的协调问题,更涉及维护经济社会和资源的可持续发展等问题。因此,生态功能区建设中政府行为需要确立以发展生态经济为核心、以强化生态服务为根本、以塑造生态文化为基础、以构建生态制度为保障和以维护生态安全为目标的价值取向,并从合法性、合理性、效益性和发展性等四个方面的标准,对政府行为的优劣进行全方位、多层次、全面而系统的评判。     

The capacity of duckweed to treat wastewater: ecological considerations for a sound design

Duckweed species are promising macrophytes for use in sustainable wastewater treatment due to their rapid growth, ease of harvest, and feed potential as a protein source. This paper reviews growth rates of different duckweed species on wastewater and ammonia toxicity to duckweed and summarizes insights into the mechanism of organic matter and nutrient removal. Results were gained from laboratory experiments in small, shallow, duckweed-covered semicontinuous batch systems. Growth rates on different types of wastewater vary considerably among different species. Ammonia is toxic for duckweed in both the ionized and un-ionized forms. Duckweed, however, can be used to treat wastewater containing very high total ammonia concentrations as long as certain pH levels are not exceeded. The degradation of organic material is enhanced by duckweed through both additional oxygen supply and additional surface for bacterial growth. The duckweed mat with attached bacteria and algae is, independent of the loading rates, responsible for three-quarters of the total nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loss in very shallow systems. Based on our results we suggest that full-scale pilot plants with duckweed should be shallower than the range encountered in the literature. A harvesting schedule that allows doubling times of 2 to 3.5 d, maintenance of a full coverage, and plug flow conditions are recommended.     

徐州市建设生态园林城市的概况及几点建议

创建生态园林城市越来越成为一个很响亮的提法,成为一种趋势。然而,在这个过程中势必要出现各种问题。如何处理这些问题呢?对于徐州市来讲,创建生态园林城市有其自身的优势,当然也会遇到不少问题,本文在简单介绍了徐州建设生态园林城市的概况之后,对创建过程中出现的某些问题提出了几点建议,重点就环境治理方面的问题阐述自己的看法。     

A human ecological assessment of air quality management: A convergence in economic and ecological thinking?

Traditional air pollution management practices are examined using the human ecological framework adopted by Boyden and others (1981) in their study of Hong Kong—the biohistorical or biosocial approach. The subsequent analysis of current air quality management practices assesses their effectiveness in protecting the overall health of both humans and the natural environment. The uncertainties inherent in air pollution management practices which emerge highlight the need to reduce emissions rather than rely on scientific knowledge to define clean air. The assessment also clearly defines roles for research in various areas such as atmospheric models, health effects, and environmental damage. The final recommendations emphasize the need for the introduction of such incentives to reduce emissions as economic instruments and warn against using health information to define clean air. Health and environmental damage information can, however, be used in risk assessment strategies together with atmospheric dispersion models.