A systems approach to the evaluation of natural resource management initiatives

Adopting a new paradigm for natural resource and environmental policy that emphasises continuous change, adaptation and learning demands a new approach to evaluation to enable improvements in the way these initiatives contribute to sustainable resource use. Evaluation is fundamental to identifying change, supporting an adaptive approach that is flexible enough to meet the challenge of change, and enabling learning at individual, community, institutional and policy levels. Based on a consideration of changing approaches to natural resource management (NRM) policy and observations and experiences in the practical assessment of on-the-ground initiatives, the authors develop a set of principles for evaluation in NRM that: (a) addresses evaluation from a systems perspective, (b) links objective to consequence, (c) considers the fundamental assumptions and hypotheses that underpin core policy or program objectives, (d) is grounded in the natural resource, policy/institutional, economic, socio-cultural and technological contexts of implementation in practice, (e) establishes practical and valid evaluation criteria by which change can be monitored and assessed, (f) involves methodological pluralism including both quantitative and qualitative methods to ensure rigour and comprehensiveness in assessment, and (g) integrates different disciplinary perspectives (i.e. social, economic, environmental, policy and technological). The paper develops a systems-based evaluation framework that incorporates these principles and also recognises the multiple levels and nested nature of NRM policy, namely: problem characterisation, policy formulation and intent, program logic, and on-ground implementation. Finally, we demonstrate its utility through application to three contrasting Australian case studies: a community-based Integrated Catchment Management policy implementation; a resource information delivery system; and the development of a Decision Support System.     

Multicriteria Evaluation of Water Resources Sustainability in the Context of Watershed Management1

Kang, Min‐Goo and Gwang‐Man Lee, 2011. Multicriteria Evaluation of Water Resources Sustainability in the Context of Watershed Management. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(4):813‐827. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00559.x Abstract: To evaluate water resources sustainability at the watershed scale within a river basin’s context, the Water Resources Sustainability Evaluation Model is developed. The model employs 4 criteria (economic efficiency, social equity, environmental conservation, and maintenance capacity) and has 16 indicators, integrating them using their relative weights. The model is applied to evaluate the water resources sustainability of watersheds in the Geum River basin, South Korea. A geographic information system is employed to efficiently build a database for the indicators, and the values of the indicators are normalized using the probability distribution functions fitted to the datasets of the indicators. The evaluation results show that, overall, the water resources sustainability of the watersheds in the upper basin is better than other areas due to the good environmental conditions and the dam management policies of South Korea. The analysis of the correlations among the model’s components and the comparison between the results of the model and the Water Poverty Index show that the model can provide reasonable evaluation results for the water resources sustainability of watersheds. Consequently, it is concluded that the model can be an effective tool for evaluating the states of water resource management from the perspective of sustainable development and provide a basis on which to create policies for improving any inadequacies in watersheds.     

Solid waste management and a new environmental edict: a case study from Ilorin,Kwara State,Nigeria

Summary The Government of Nigeria is increasingly aware of problems emanating from poor environmental sanitation. This awareness has led to various edicts both at the national and state levels on environmental sanitation with particular reference to solid waste management. Such an edict was critically examined for the Kwara State of Nigeria. At a glance, the edict looks impressive and timely, but a closer study reveals many loopholes some of which are outlined. Most important of these, is a failure to consider adequately the full requirements of the population. Many of the facilities needed for effective implementation are also grossly inadequate. Suggestions are made to make the campaign for increased environmental sanitation in the nation more successful.This paper further elaborates a theme first partially developed by Dr Adedibu inThe Environmentalist, Vol. 5, pp. 123–127.     

Toward an Integrated Management Plan of the Djoudj Park Water Resources: Senegal River Mouth

A new approach was needed to preserve the biodiversity of the Djoudj Park within a context marked by many constraints: drought, regulation of its hydrologic system, and anthropogenic pressure. The local management plan developed in this paper aims at the responsible management and fair distribution of the available water resources in the Djoudj Park to provide a balanced response to conservation issues and the growing needs of the local communities. The opposition between an administration determined to exercise its power and the confidence of local people weary of being stripped of their rights and cultural assets required the setting up of a consensual management plan. This plan would provide a means to determine the timing and the number of sluice gates to operate, based on an efficient command of the needs for water for each activity in the park and its surroundings. This tool will allow the park authority to take full cognizance of the needs and opinions of all interest groups but also their limits while keeping the essential functions of this wetland. It is also suggested that institutional and administrative reform be carried out to associate local populations in the definition and implementation of criteria for an integrated management of the Djoudj resources.     

Qualifying irrigation system sustainability by means of stakeholder perceptions and concerns: lessons from the Segarra‐Garrigues Canal,Spain

When planning interventions, water and land resource managers increasingly need to take the opinions of stakeholders into account. In the present study, stakeholders’ concerns in a multifunctional water system are assessed, with a focus on the debate about the sustainability of irrigation projects in stressed and competing water contexts. The selected case study pertains to the Segarra‐Garrigues irrigation canal (Spain), the promotion of which has generated social debate and mobilization, as well as pronouncements from European authorities for ensuring its environmental sustainability. Data was collected through semi‐structured interviews and analysed by means of a new codification system for identifying the affinities and conflicts arising from existing water demands. Results show that sustainability concepts are more present in civil society than in public administration and private services or the rural community. However, social sustainability and environmental sustainability are a priority for most stakeholders, while the economic perspective of sustainable development has been conditioned by the first two. These results can be used by relevant authorities as a first step in customizing their interventions, as they provide a clear initial idea of what stakeholder priorities are in the framework of sustainable development.     

Evaluating the Impacts of Mangrove Rehabilitation in Cogtong Bay,Philippines

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been hailed worldwide as vehicles toward sustainable development (SD) in coastal zones. The prominent model by which MPAs operate is through a comanagement approach, a shift from traditional top-down management. This paradigm shift must be reviewed continuously to evaluate its social and ecological impacts, thereby allowing adaptive management. We evaluated the perceived impacts of the Cogtong Bay Mangrove Rehabilitation Project (CBMRP; Philippines) by using 12 perception indicators categorized into 3 comanagement impact criteria (equity, efficiency, and sustainability). We also collected 16 contextual attributes of each respondent to determine the correlates of perceived impacts. Our results showed that there were significant improvements in all indicators under the efficiency criterion but mixed impacts in the equity and sustainability criteria. Access to resource and household income (equity) and fisheries abundance (sustainability) were perceived to have decreased during the last 15 years and were not expected to improve in the future. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the asymmetries of the perceived impacts of the CBMRP were principally caused by disparities in perceptions by gender and by location (Candijay and Mabini). This highlighted the importance of cross-scale institutional linkages between Cogtong Bay municipalities to systematically address baywide management issues. Our results further demonstrated the necessity of integrating gender issues into the evaluation of MPA impacts to ensure a robust evaluation. Finally, we recommend that a rigorous evaluation of MPAs using a common set of impact indicators should be encouraged to allow comparison of studies both spatially and temporally.     

A model of costs and resources for rural and peri-urban water supply and sanitation in the 1990s

This article develops a model of cost and financing strategies for rural and peri-urban water supply and sanitation. It suggests that significant progress towards the World Summit for Children's goal of universal access to water supply and sanitation can be made if a combination of strategies is adopted. On the cost side, significant cost reductions should be possible through efficiency in resource use and reduction of system management costs. On the financing side, it suggests restructuring the financing of the sector with improved efficiency and greater cost recovery in urban services; full recovery of operation and maintenance costs; cost sharing through community contributions in kind such as local labour and financially in rural and peri-urban water supply for basic levels of service depending on willingness and ability to pay and full cost recovery for higher levels of service; a high degree of cost recovery in rural and peri-urban sanitation; development of institutional structures for both collection and management of revenues; development of alternate financing mechanisms such as rural credit schemes and revolving funds, adapted in specific country contexts, including the required institutional mechanisms; and additional allocations from governments and external support agencies. Additional government or external financing alone, while critical, will not of itself lead to effectiveness in the use of resources. Equally, cost recovery alone cannot lead to universal access and sustainable solutions. A composite set of actions is needed within which building capacities of institutions and people is necessary for sustainability .     

Environmental indices in irrigation management

Irrigation management calls for objective criteria capable of representing the economy, reliability, and productivity of irrigation systems. These criteria must be compatible with long-term sustainability and conservation goals. The criteria representing the above goals are the economic effect of management on yield reduction, economic effect, and reliability referring to plant growth and operation of the network. In this study environmental indices are introduced to express the above criteria in quantitative terms. The inclusion of these indices at the farm and network level create a multicriteria framework for decision-making based on composite programming. An experimental study was conducted during the irrigation periods of 1989 and 1990 in Chania, Greece, concerning water delivered to 40 experimental plots, soil moisture content at the rootzone, and irrigation system operational failures. The data collected in real time were used for the calculation of the corresponding environmental indices. The variation in time and space is high and resulted in up to 62% of yield loss and low system performance (up to 7% of system temporal reliability). The study indicated that environmental indices could be incorporated to select alternatives and also to develop policies on water delivery. The final decision involves a trade-off analysis between cost of application and desired system performance. Measures of both primary objectives can be obtained using environmental indices that represent system operation aggregation at its basic levels (on farm and network).     

Evaluating the process of triple bottom line reporting: Increasing the potential for change1

Abstract

This paper presents an evaluation framework that aims to improve the outcomes of triple bottom line (TBL) reporting. Currently, most assessments of TBL reporting focus on report content. Our view is that effective evaluation of TBL reporting should go beyond reports as the outputs of a process and focus on what is being learned through the process, the capacity- and relationship-building that might eventuate, and how this impacts on the development of sustainability. To enable more effective reflection of TBL reporting processes, we developed a set of evaluation criteria focused on the process of reporting. These criteria were identified from case studies of social, environmental and/or sustainability reporting processes documented in the literature. A large number of potential criteria were synthesised into three desired outcomes of TBL reporting and 10 prompts for discussion and reflection during evaluation. This evaluation framework should assist those dedicated to challenging assumptions that inhibit progress towards a sustainable future for society.     

Measuring forest ecosystem sustainability: A resource accounting approach

A new environmental paradigm has emerged, reflecting a change in the public's understanding of resource sustainability. Forest policy makers need to be better informed about such changes to achieve economic, social, and environmental objectives in a manner that balances human needs and aspirations with ecosystem constraints. As an aid to this task, a forest resource accounting system based on the key concept of natural capital could help reshape forest policies to provide an even wider spectrum of benefits for both present and future generations by maintaining and enhancing the productive capacity of forest capital. Such a resource accounting system would provide a tool for integrating multidimensional information requirements in measuring the health of both forest ecosystems and economic systems. This paper outlines some of the features of this accounting system and proposes and framework that would integrate economic and ecological characteristics of natural resources. Forest resource accounting is urgently needed to achieve the sustainability goals of ecosystem management.     

稠油污泥的综合处理＊

依据稠油污泥的组成、特点及性质,开发了稠油污泥综合处理技术。利用稠油污水及其余热,采用适宜的预处理工艺实现含油污泥减量处理并回收其中的矿物油。预处理分离的残渣送入层燃热解气化焚烧炉中进行处理,焚烧产生的热能再用于含油污泥前期预处理和稠油污水处理产生的浮渣底泥的干化减量处理。     

USING TECHNICAL ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT TO IMPROVE DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR URBAN INSTREAM STRUCTURES1

ABSTRACT: Adaptive management is a heuristic approach to treating stream restoration projects as continuous, cyclic experiments, yielding results to be incorporated into future decisions. This comprehensive assessment views failures as surprises that are valuable lessons. Monitoring, evaluation of data, and communication of results are critical; the monitoring results trigger feedback mechanisms to invoke adaptation to the newly acquired information and communication of new hypotheses, treatments, or policies. The principles of adaptive management were applied to a monitoring study of three urban stream restoration sites in Maryland. Data were collected and evaluated for various restoration techniques, including vanes, cross vanes, step pools, root wads, imbricated riprap walls, and coir fiber rolls. Improvements to the existing Maryland design guidelines and policies were developed as the feedback mechanism. With the increasing application of adaptive management in stream restoration efforts, it is likely that repeated failures will be prevented and future restoration projects will be more successful in achieving their goals.     

Changing scenario of Himalayan agroecosystems: loss of agrobiodiversity, an indicator of environmental change in Central Himalaya, India

Environmental, biological, socio-cultural and economic variations in the Himalayas have led to the evolution of diverse and unique traditional agroecosystems, crop species, and livestock, which help the traditional mountain farming societies to sustain themselves. During the recent past, as a result of rapid changes in land use caused by socio-cultural and economic changes and various environmental perturbations, the agrobiodiversity of the Central Himalayan agroecosystems has changed steadily. A recent survey conducted in 150 different villages located along an elevated transect of the Alaknanda catchment of the Central Himalaya revealed that over a period of two decades (1970–74 and 1990–94) the cultivated area under many traditional crops had declined significantly. A micro-level study carried out in 30 villages revealed that a series of changes had occurred in land use practices over a period of 25–30 years.The loss of agrobiodiversity and the changing socio-cultural and economic dimensions and their impacts on the sustainability of Himalayan agroecosystems are emerging as major causes of concern at local/regional/national scale, and appropriate options to meet these challenges are discussed in this paper.     

Natural Resource Assessment: An Approach to Science Based Planning in National Parks

We conducted a natural resource assessment at two national parks, New River Gorge National River and Shenandoah National Park, to help meet the goals of the Natural Resource Challenge—a program to help strengthen natural resource management at national parks. We met this challenge by synthesizing and interpreting natural resource information for planning purposes and we identified information gaps and natural significance of resources. We identified a variety of natural resources at both parks as being globally and/or nationally significant, including large expanses of unfragmented, mixed-mesophytic forests that qualify for wilderness protection, rare plant communities, diverse assemblages of neotropical migratory birds and salamanders, and outstanding aquatic recreational resources. In addition, these parks function, in part, as ecological reserves for plants in and wildlife. With these significant natural resources in mind, we also developed a suite of natural resource management recommendations in light of increasing threats from within and outside park boundaries. We hope that our approach can provide a blueprint for natural resource conservation at publically owned lands.     

A Comparison of Sampling Designs for Monitoring Recreational Trail Impacts in Rocky Mountain National Park

The dual goals of the Organic Act of 1916 and Wilderness Act of 1964 are to protect natural resources and provide quality visitor experiences. Park managers need metrics of trail conditions to protect park resources and quality of visitor experiences. A few methods of sampling design for trails have been developed. Here, we describe a relatively new method, spatially balanced sampling, and compare it to systematic sampling. We evaluated the efficiency of sampling designs to measure recreation-related impacts in Rocky Mountain National Park. This study addressed two objectives: first, it compared estimates of trail conditions from data collected from systematic versus spatially balanced sampling data; second, it examined the relationship between sampling precision and sampling efficiency. No statistically significant differences in trail condition were found between the 100-m interval and the spatially balanced datasets. The spatially balanced probability-based dataset was found to be a good estimate of trail conditions when analyses were conducted with fewer sample points. Moreover, spatially balanced probability-based sampling is flexible and allows additional sample points to be added to a sample.     

Sustainable public/private partnerships for public service delivery

This article defines three kinds of public/private partnership, lists their potential benefits and explains common issues and problems in their operation with examples from developing countries. It then defines and discusses the concepts of social sustainability and financial sustainability in relation to public/private partnerships, and emphasizes the importance of applying sustainability criteria to each partner. It is argued that essentially the same criteria apply to non-profit NGOs as to for-profit firms, despite their differences in goals and values. The article concludes with some suggested strategies for effective international technical co-operation in the establishment of public/private partnerships.     

Ecological design criteria for a sustainable Canadian society

Summary The purpose of this paper is to develop specific ecological design criteria for a sustainable Canadian society. Ecological design criteria complement socio-political ones which have also been developed by the Sustainable Society Project at the University of Waterloo. The criteria derive from an evaluation of the major areas of human activity and interaction with the natural environment in light of our knowledge of ecological systems and resource management. The criteria, like the Sustainable Society Project as a whole, are an attempt to suggest needed, feasible, medium to long-term changes in human activities to comply with the ecological and socio-political limits and constraints that must be recognized in order to achieve societal sustainability. The specific design criteria identified here are not the only ones possible, desirable, or necessary — a complete and certain list is inherently impossible. But the design criteria developed here are illustrative of the kinds of changes that are necessary to achieve sustainability.Dr D. Scott Slocombe is Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, and Co-Director of the Cold Regions Research Centre, Wilfrid Laurier University. His principal research interests include ecosystem and regional planning, and management for sustainability.Caroline Van Bers was Project Manager for the Sustainable Society Project at the University of Waterloo and she received her MA from the School of Urban and Regional Planning at that University. She currently works in the State of the Environment Reporting Branch of Environment Canada.     

The Role of International Agencies in Financing Water Resource Development Projects

In 1977 the goal of safe drinking water and sanitation for all people of the world by 1990 was set out by the United Nations Water Conference in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Estimates of the financial resources needed by developing countries to meet these goals are presented. It is estimated that 60% of the resources needed will have to come from external sources, and the role of international agencies in meeting these requirements is explored. In general progress has been good, but the level of funding has not been sufficient to meet these goals in their entirety.     

Resource management as a key factor for sustainable urban planning

Due to fast urbanization and increasing living standards, the environmental sustainability of our global society becomes more and more questionable. In this historical review we investigate the role of resources management (RM) and urban planning (UP) and propose ways for integration in sustainable development (SD). RM follows the principle of circular causation, and we reflect on to what extent RM has been an element for urban planning. Since the existence of the first settlements, a close relationship between RM, urbanization and technological development has been present. RM followed the demand for urban resources like water, energy, and food. In history, RM has been fostered by innovation and technology developments and has driven population growth and urbanization. Recent massive resource demand, especially in relation to energy and material flows, has altered natural ecosystems and has resulted in environmental degradation. UP has developed separately in response to different questions. UP followed the demand for improved living conditions, often associated to safety, good manufacturing and trading conditions and appropriate sanitation and waste management. In history UP has been a developing research area, especially since the industrial era and the related strong urbanization at the end of the 18th century. UP responded to new emerging problems in urban areas and became increasingly complex. Nowadays, UP has to address many objectives that are often conflicting, including, the urban sustainability. Our current urban un-sustainability is rooted in massive resource consumption and waste production beyond natural limits, and the absence of flows from waste to resources. Therefore, sustainable urban development requires integration of RM into UP. We propose new ways to this integration.     

Capital assets and intercultural borderlands: socio-cultural challenges for natural resource management

In their design or implementation, many natural resource management (NRM) programs ignore critical socio-cultural dimensions of the challenge to advance sustainability. Building on particular ideas about culture and human ecosystems, we combine the strengths of the capital assets model of sustainability and the idea of intercultural borderlands to respond to this gap. To advance our thesis about the utility of these tools, we critically reviewed and analysed a cross-disciplinary literature relating to the socio-cultural dimensions of NRM. This paper stems from that labour and examines particular tensions that arise in land management as a result of Australians' specific colonial and postcolonial legacies. These tensions--related to ethnicity, gender, population, age and health--are among the threads in the larger tapestry that comprises the socio-cultural dimensions of NRM. For the Australian case, they are central, longstanding and persistent, and thus worthy of analysis; and they are applicable in general terms to other places with similar histories of settlement and land use.