国际生物多样性日

生物多样性是地球上的生命经过几十亿年发展进化的结果,是人类赖以生存的物质基础。为了保护全球的生物多样性,1992年在巴西当时的首都里约热内卢召开的联合国环境与发展大会上,153个国家签署了《保护生物多样性公约》。1994年12月,联合国大会通过决议,将每年的     

生物多样性:地球的生命之网

生物多样性(Biological diversity)是指地球上的生物(包括动物、植物、微生物)在所有形式、层次和联合体中生命的多样化,包括生态系统多样性、物种多样性和基因多样性。生物多样性是地球上生命经过几十亿年发展进化的结果,它形成了一个生命网,我们人类是这个生命网上的组成部分,并依赖它生存。为了保护全球的生物多样性,1992年在巴西当时的首都里约热内卢召开的联合国环境与发展大会上,153个国家签署了《生物多样性公约》。2001年,联合国大会通过决议,将每年的5月22日定为生物多样性国际日。每年的这一天,世界各国都举行大规模的纪念活动。今年国际生物多样性日的主题为"生物多样性促进可持续发展"。为了让更多的读者了解生物多样性的重要意义,本刊整理出部分有关生物多样性的报道,以飨读者。     

中国生物多样性战略与行动计划

生物多样性战略与行动计划是指导各国开展生物多样性保护与管理,履行《生物多样性公约》的纲领性文件。为了有效地履行《生物多样性公约》,缔约方大会在《公约》生效后的第一项国际重大行动就是要求各国制定"生物多样性国家战略与行动计划"(NBSAP)。到2007年上半年,已有147个缔约国完成了其制定工作,占所有缔约国的77%,中国正在修订之中。     

习近平出席《生物多样性公约》第十五次缔约方大会领导人峰会并发表主旨讲话

正国家主席习近平于10月12日下午以视频方式出席在昆明举行的《生物多样性公约》第十五次缔约方大会领导人峰会并发表主旨讲话。习近平指出,生物多样性使地球充满生机,也是人类生存和发展的基础。保护生物多样性有助于维护地球家园,促进人类可持续发展。昆明《生物多样性公约》第十五次缔约方大会为未来全球生物多样性保护设定目标、明确路径,具有重要意义。国际社会要加强合作,心往一处想、劲往一处使,共建地球生命共同体。     

生物多样性的全球治理

生物多样性问题日益严重,依靠单个国家难以解决,而必须依靠国际社会的共同努力。生物多样性是全球治理的一个重要对象和领域。国家是生物多样性全球治理的基本主体,政府间国际组织是生物多样性全球治理的重要主体,非政府组织和跨国公司是生物多样性全球治理的重要补充,它们均在生物多样性的全球治理中发挥着应有的作用。     

加强国际合作共同推动生物多样性保护目标实现——访国家环保总局副局长李干杰

2007年10月17—18日,由国家环保总局和云南省政府主办,亚洲开发银行、欧盟驻华代表处、德国技术公司协办的"七彩云南"生物多样性国际论坛在昆明召开,国内外专家学者在论坛上就全球的生物多样性保护进行了广泛深入的学术研究和探讨。针对人类活动造成的前所未有的生物多样性丧失的状况,《生物多样性公约》各缔约方承诺到2010年在全球、区域和国家层次上大幅降低目前生物多样性丧失的速度,以此为减轻贫困并造福于地球上所有的生命作出贡献。这就是2010年生物多样性保护目标。这个目标的实现离不开所有国家的努力,中国是较早加入《生物多样性公约》的国家之一。本刊就此采访了国家环保总局副局长李干杰。     

生物多样性保护需要整体性法律规制

正《中华人民共和国国民经济和社会发展第十四个五年规划和二〇三五年远景目标纲要》提出的"实施生物多样性保护重大工程,构筑生物多样性保护网络",明确了新时期我国生物多样性保护的工作任务。2021年4月,我国《生物安全法》的正式实施也反映出生物多样性保护在国家安全体系中的重要地位。联合国《生物多样性公约》第十五次缔约方大会今年10月也将在昆明举行,反映出我国生物多样性保护与生物安全治理工作的国际影响力与话语权的提升。当前,我国生物多样性保护除了需要以保护物种、     

与政府合作,推动政策保护——可资借鉴的TNC的保护实践和理论探索

大自然保护协会多年来在保护生物多样性方面做了大量有益的工作,一方面为中国政府制定《中国生物多样性保护战略与行动计划》提供了重要依据,把生物多样性保护提升到国家战略的高度;另一方面通过探寻气候变化适应途径、保护地建设新模式等手段来实现生物多样性保护和区域经济发展双重目标,从而保障了人类和生物共同的权益和福祉。尽管保护和发展可以并行不悖,但二者间的有机平衡必须得以保障,故科学规划是实现自然保护与社会发展有序化的必要前提。     

国际生物多样性日历年主题

每年的5月22日是国际生物多样性日(International Day For Biological Diversity). L992年12月29日,《生物多样性公约》正式生效。为了纪念这一有意义的日子,根据公约缔约方大会第一次会议的建议,1994年联合国大会通过议案,决定将每年的12月29日定为"国际生物多样性日"。为了更好地开展宣传纪念活动,根据公约缔约方大会第五次会议的建议,联合国的大会通过决议,从2001年起将"国际生物多样性日"由12月29日改为5月22日。这一天是《生物多样性公约》案文通过的日期。     

引领全球生物多样性走向恢复之路

<正>生物多样性是维系地球健康、人类福祉和经济繁荣的基础，是地球生命共同体的血脉和根基。中国作为联合国《生物多样性公约》第十五次缔约方大会（COP15）主席国，在国际社会的大力支持和共同努力下，领导大会围绕“生态文明：共建地球生命共同体”的主题分两个阶段成功召开，推动达成了历史性的兼具雄心和务实平衡的“昆明—蒙特利尔全球生物多样性框架”（以下简称“昆蒙框架”）等一揽子具有里程碑意义的成果，为全球生物多样性治理擘画了蓝图、确定了目标、明确了路径、凝聚了力量，将引领全球生物多样性走上恢复之路，     

BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS AND BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ESTUARINE/COASTAL POLLUTION1

ABSTRACT: Sustained interest in and concern about the health status of the aquatic environment has resulted in extensive research focused on (1) effects of pollution on survival, growth, and reproduction of resource species at all life stages; (2) diseases of fish and shellfish, as they may be related to pollution and as they may serve as indicators of environmental stress; and (3) contaminant body burdens in fish and shellfish - their effects on the aquatic animals and their potential effects on humans. Effects, lethal and sublethal, of pollutants on life history stages of fish and shellfish have been documented, as have impacts on local stocks in badly degraded habitats, but as yet there has been no adequate quantitative demonstration of effects on entire aquatic species - probably because of the difficulty in sorting out relative effects of the many environmental factors that influence abundance. Sublethal effects, especially those that result in disease, have been examined intensively, and some diseases and disease syndromes have been associated statistically with pollution. Other pollution indicators (biochemical, physiological, genetic, behavioral, and ecological) have also received some attention, as have body burdens of contaminants in aquatic species. Research, especially that conducted during the past decade, has done much to clarify the many pathways and toxic effects of contaminants on aquatic animals, and has also helped to identify mechanisms for survival of fish and shellfish in the presence of environmental changes caused by human activities.     

Definition Procedures Have Little Effect on Performance of Environmental Classifications of Streams and Rivers

Mapped environmental classifications are defined using various procedures, but there has been little evaluation of the differences in their ability to discriminate variation in independent ecological characteristics. We tested the performance of environmental classifications of the streams and rivers of France that had been defined from the same environmental data using geographic regionalization and numerical classification of individual river valley segments. Test data comprised invertebrate assemblages, water chemistry, and hydrological indexes obtained from sites throughout France. Classification performance was measured by analysis of similarity (ANOSIM). Geometric regions defined by a regular grid and without regard to environmental variables and a posteriori classifications based on clustering the test datasets defined lower and upper bounds of performance for a given number of classes. Differences in classification performances were generally small. The ANOSIM statistics for the a posteriori classifications were around twice that of all environmental classifications, including geometrically defined regions. The hydro-ecoregions performed slightly better for the invertebrate data and the network classification performed slightly better for the chemistry and hydrological data. Our results indicate that environmental classifications that are defined using different procedures can be comparable in terms of their ability to discriminate variation of ecological characteristics and that alleged differences in performance arising from different classification procedures can be small relative to unexplained variation. We conclude that definition procedures might have little effect on the performance of large-scale environmental classifications and decisions over which procedures to use should be based primarily on pragmatic considerations.     

Journalists' views of advertiser pressures on agricultural news

All major journalism ethical codes explicitly state that journalists should protect editorial copy from undue influence by outside sources. However, much of the previous research on agricultural information has concentrated on what information various media communicate (gatekeeping studies) or communication's role in increasing innovation adoption (diffusion studies). Few studies have concentrated specifically on organizational and structural constraints that might adversely affect agricultural journalists' ethical standards; those that have, focus largely on farm magazines. A study of newspaper reporters who cover agricultural news found that the most pressing ethical concern is the effect of advertiser (agri-business) pressure on editorial copy, and that their concerns in general parallel those of farm magazine writers and editors. The majority reported being in situations in which they might be exposed to advertiser pressure, including pressures to change or withhold editorial copy. Large minorities suggested that advertising pressures affect the overall environment in which agricultural journalists work, and more than one in ten said they allow advertiser pressures to influence editorial decisions. The newspaper reporters who cover agricultural beats showed slightly more resistance to advertiser pressure than did farm magazine editors in a parallel study.     

Provincial development plans in Zimbabwe: an analysis of their content,structure and methodology

Zimbabwean provincial plans were instituted to help in the achievement of the national goal of the creation of an egalitarian, socialist and integrated society. The national goal itself was adopted as an antithesis to the dualist society characterised by spatial, economic, social, politican and technological inequalities that Zimbabwe inherited from colonialism. This meant that provincial plans had to play both a functional (or growth allocating/distribution) and a territorial (or redistribution) role.

This paper reviews their role in achieving the national goal by examining their functions, content, structure and methodology. The paper concludes that because of their nature, provincial plans are not suitable tools for the achievement of the national goal.     

Effect of Light on Biodegradation of Estrone, 17β‐Estradiol,and 17α‐Ethinylestradiol in Stream Sediment

Biodegradation of [A‐ring ¹⁴C] Estrone (E1), 17β‐estradiol (E2), and 17α‐ethinylestradiol (EE2) to ¹⁴CO₂ was investigated under light and dark conditions in microcosms containing epilithon or sediment collected from Boulder Creek, Colorado. Mineralization of the estrogen A‐ring was observed in all sediment treatments, but not epilithon treatments. No difference in net mineralization between light and dark treatments was observed for ¹⁴C‐E2. Net mineralization of ¹⁴C‐E1 and ¹⁴C‐EE2 was enhanced in light treatments. Extents of ¹⁴CO₂ accumulation and rates of mineralization were significantly greater for E2 than E1 under dark conditions, but were comparable under light conditions. These results indicate substantial differences in the uptake and metabolism of E1 and E2 in the environment and suggest biorecalcitrance of E1 relative to E2 in light‐limited environments. The extent of ¹⁴CO₂ accumulation and rate of mineralization for EE2 in dark treatments were less than half of that observed for E2 and generally lower than for E1, consistent with previous reports of EE2 biorecalcitrance. However, ¹⁴CO₂ accumulation and rates of mineralization were comparable for EE2, E2, and E1 under light conditions. These results indicate photoactivation and/or phototransformation/photodegradation processes can substantially enhance heterotrophic biodegradation of estrogens in sunlit environments and may play an important role in estrogen transport and attenuation.     

Bioremediation of Soils by Plant–Microbe Systems

Abstract

Sustainable ecosystems can be designed to eliminate environmental toxins and reduce pathogen loads through the direct and indirect consequences of plant and microbial activities. We present an approach to the bioremediation of disturbed environments, focusing on petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) contaminants. Treatment consists of incorporating a plant-based amendment to enhance ecosystem productivity and physiochemical degradation followed by the establishment of plants to serve as oxidizers and foundations for microbial communities. Promising amendments for widespread use are entire plants of the water fern Azolla and seed meal of Brassica napus (rapeseed). An inexpensive byproduct from the manufacture of biodiesel and lubricants, rapeseed meal is high in nitrogen (6% wt/wt), stimulates >100-fold increases in populations of resident Streptomyces species, and suppresses fungal infection of roots subsequently cultivated in the amended soil. Synergistic enzymatic and chemical activities of plant and microbial metabolism in root zones transform and degrade soil contaminants. Emphasis is given to mechanisms that enable PHC functionalization via reactive molecular species.     

National minerals policies and stakeholder participation for broad-based development in the southern African development community (SADC)

This paper explains how the well-accepted concept of improved stakeholder participation during mineral policy development leads to a national mineral policy that accommodates the diverging views and interests that allows wide acceptance of decisions, enhancing the success of implementation and, ultimately, national benefits. This process is based on lessons learnt during the South African experience and has been successfully applied in the development of the Namibian and Malawian national minerals policies. An effective policy in the SADC will engineer the delicate balance between poverty reduction and an internationally competitive minerals sector. This balance enhances the possibility of long-term economic growth and development in the SADC region. The overriding advantage of this strategy is that it generates ‘home-grown’ policy instruments and implementation of mineral law with which stakeholders can identify. This process presents a new challenge to traditional policy formulation strategies in emerging economies and the bottom-up approach, linked to wide political support, allows the potential realisation of national objectives.     

Energetics and environmental costs of agriculture in a dry tropical region of India

The present article, based on a study of five village ecosystems, assesses the energy efficiency of rain-fed agriculture in a dry tropical environment and the impact of agricultural activity on the surrounding natural ecosystems. Agronomic yield is insufficient to meet the food requirement of the human population, hence 11.5%–49.7% of the required amount of food grains are imported from the market. Energy requirements of five studied agroecosystems are subsidized considerably by the surrounding forest in the form of fodder and firewood. Natural ecosystems supply about 80%–95% of fodder needs and 81%–100% of fuelwood needs. The output-input ratio of agriculture indicated that, on average, 4.1 units of energy are expended to obtain one unit of agronomic energy. Of this, 3.9 units are supplied by the natural ecosystem. In addition, 38% of the extracted firewood is marketed. The illegal felling and lopping of trees result in ever-increasing concentric circles of forest destruction around the villages and together with excessive grazing results in savannization. The forests can be conserved by encouraging fuelwood plantations (0.7 ha/ha cultivated land) and developing village pastures (1.6 ha/ha cultivated land) and reducing the livestock numbers. Agricultural production in the region can be stabilized by introducing improved dry farming techniques such as intercropping, planned rainwater management, and adequate use of fertilizers.     

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY “METROPOLITAN WATER MANAGEMENT INSTITUTIONS?”1

ABSTRACT The term “institution” and several variants are used frequently in the literature on metropolitan water management. The state-of-the art investigation on which this paper is based revealed that 1) many uses of the term do not include careful definitions; 2) many users of the term seemed unaware of the general, theoretical literature on the subject of institutions; 3) there was little consistency among uses, either in the practical literature dealing with water or in the conceptual literature dealing with theories of institutions or institutionalization; 4) some usages were without significant meaning; 5) in many cases the term was used as a kind of “black box” to account for behavioral, societal, or managerial factors; 6) the term was often used as a synonym for “organization”. This latter use is frequently found in federal reports, including National Water Commission studies, and is most unfortunate because it tends to slight significant social-psychological factors. A suggested definition is: “An institution is the structured result or outcome of a process by which values are articulated, arranged, and communicated, having continuity over time, and influencing behavior of persons who did not necessarily participate in formulating those values (norms).”     

Waste minimisation in practice

One of the major hindrances to waste minimisation on a construction site is the difficulty in establishing a methodology and using this methodology to benchmark future construction projects. This paper introduces SMARTWaste, a software tool that has been used to audit, reduce and target waste arisings on a construction site. This tool tries to link the construction process and the waste hierarchy. That is reducing waste on a construction site rather than landfilling it. Three applications of the SMARTWaste software will be discussed using case studies from three different types of construction. An evaluation of these case studies shows that, by implementing a waste minimisation scheme on-site, you can improve material recovery for reuse. Also, by using the waste arisings as a benchmark you can reduce your waste arisings on future sites. Application of SMARTWaste or a similar waste minimisation tool on a wider basis could reduce waste arisings and could result in a built environment that consumed less natural resources and energy, and also produced less pollution and waste. Such a built environment would be environmentally and socially more responsive and responsible.