Measurement and assessment of carrying capacity of the environment in Ningbo, China

Carrying Capacity of the Environment (CCE) provides a useful measure of the sustainable development of a region. Approaches that use integrated assessment instead of measurement can lead to misinterpretation of sustainable development because of confusion between Environmental Stress (ES) indexes and CCE indexes, and the selection of over-simple linear plus models. The present paper proposes a comprehensive measurement system for CCE which comprises models of natural resources capacity, environmental assimilative capacity, ecosystem services capacity, and society supporting capacity. The corresponding measurable indexes are designed to assess CCE using a carrying capacity surplus ratio model and a vector of surplus ratio of carrying capacity model. The former aims at direct comparison of ES and CCE based on the values of basic indexes, and the latter uses a Euclidean vector to assess CCE states. The measurement and assessment approaches are applicable to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and environmental planning and management. A case study is presented for Ningbo, China, whereby all the basic indexes of ECC are measured and the CCE states assessed for 2005 and 2010.     

PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGIONAL ASSESSMENT: THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE WATER RESOURCES OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN1

ABSTRACT: The Pacific Northwest (PNW) regional assessment is an integrated examination of the consequences of natural climate variability and projected future climate change for the natural and human systems of the region. The assessment currently focuses on four sectors: hydrology/water resources, forests and forestry, aquatic ecosystems, and coastal activities. The assessment begins by identifying and elucidating the natural patterns of climate vanability in the PNW on interannual to decadal timescales. The pathways through which these climate variations are manifested and the resultant impacts on the natural and human systems of the region are investigated. Knowledge of these pathways allows an analysis of the potential impacts of future climate change, as defined by IPCC climate change scenarios. In this paper, we examine the sensitivity, adaptability and vulnerability of hydrology and water resources to climate variability and change. We focus on the Columbia River Basin, which covers approximately 75 percent of the PNW and is the basis for the dominant water resources system of the PNW. The water resources system of the Columbia River is sensitive to climate variability, especially with respect to drought. Management inertia and the lack of a centralized authority coordinating all uses of the resource impede adaptability to drought and optimization of water distribution. Climate change projections suggest exacerbated conditions of conflict between users as a result of low summertime streamfiow conditions. An understanding of the patterns and consequences of regional climate variability is crucial to developing an adequate response to future changes in climate.     

Forest Naturalness: Criterion for Decision Support in Designation and Management of Protected Forest Areas

The article analyses the possibilities of developing an integrated indicator and a model of the assessment of forests naturalness using the data from the database of mountainous spruce forests situated in the Western Carpathians of Slovakia. The article presents two variants of such a model, one based on discriminant analysis, while the second one using an additive approach. The analysis of the data from mountainous spruce forests revealed significant indicators of forest naturalness degree: the arithmetic mean of the ratio between crown length and tree height, the deadwood volume, the coverage of grasses, the coverage of mosses and lichens, and the aggregation index. In addition, the coefficient of variation of tree diameters was included in the final model, since its presence in the model had a positive influence on the correctness of the classification of the forest naturalness degree. The correctness of the classification of the proposed discriminant model was 74.5%. For the additive model, the ranges of the values of the integrated indicator were defined for every degree of forest naturalness by taking into account the error ranges of the arithmetic mean values and the percentiles of the values in individual degrees of forest naturalness. The overall correctness of the classification with the additive model was 63.4%. In the second step, the scheme how to apply the classification model of the forest naturalness degree in the decision-making process of designating as a forest protected areas was proposed. In this scheme, the degree of forest naturalness is considered as a basic criterion for the determination of nature-conservation value of forest ecosystems. As further decision-making criteria we identified the possibility to restore, or the possibility to improve the naturalness of less natural forest ecosystems, which are designated as protected; the occurrence of the endangered species; and the occurrence of other natural values.     

Mapping wetlands in the Lower Mekong Basin for wetland resource and conservation management using Landsat ETM images and field survey data

The Mekong River Basin is considered to be the second most species rich river basin in the world. The 795,000 km(2) catchment encompasses several ecoregions, incorporating biodiverse and productive wetland systems. Eighty percent of the rapidly expanding population of the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB), made up in part by Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam, live in rural areas and are heavily reliant on wetland resources. As the populations of Cambodia and Lao PDR will double in the next 20 years, pressure on natural resources and particularly wetlands can only increase. For development planning, resource and conservation management to incorporate wetland issues, information on the distribution and character of Mekong wetlands is essential. The existing but outdated wetland maps were compiled from secondary landuse-landcover data, have limited coverage, poor thematic accuracy and no meta-data. Therefore the Mekong River Commission (MRC) undertook to produce new wetland coverage for the LMB. As resources, funding and regional capacity are limited, it was determined that the method applied should use existing facilities, be easily adaptable, and replicable locally. For the product to be useful it must be accepted by local governments and decision makers. The results must be of acceptable accuracy (>75%) and the methodology should be relatively understandable to non-experts. In the first stage of this exercise, field survey was conducted at five pilot sites covering a range of typical wetland habitats (MRC wetland classification) to supply data for a supervised classification of Landsat ETM images from the existing MRC archive. Images were analysed using ERDAS IMAGINE and applying Maximum Likelihood Classification. Field data were reserved to apply formal accuracy assessment to the final wetland habitat maps, with resulting accuracy ranging from 77 to 94%. The maps produced are now in use at a Provincial and National level in three countries for resource and conservation planning and management applications, including designation of a Ramsar wetland site of international importance.     

ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCE POLICY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

This article analyzes the official and non-official responses of Filipinos to the depletion of some renewable natural resources (particularly water quality). Contrary to popular assumption, and contrary to official statements of the Philippine government at international conferences, it appears that environmental depletion is a political issue in the Philippines. The reasons for the salience of resource and environmental issues are discussed. The dilemma of the Philippine government is that it is committed to economic progress, but the resources which make that progress possible are in short supply. Timber, soil and clean water are endangered by deforestation, erosion and pollution. However, conservation and environmental protection are expensive in the short run. The Philippines faces a problem common to developing tropical countries.     

CLASSIFICATION OF LANDSCAPES USING QUANTITATIVE AND CATEGORICAL DATA, AND PREDICTION OF THEIR SCENIC BEAUTY IN NORTH-WESTERN SPAIN

The present study approaches the environmental assessment of landscapes in two steps: first, through the determination of the relevant characteristics that influence the perception of a sample of galician landscapes, in north-western spain, using both quantitative data and categorical data; and second, by obtaining a list of predictors of scenic beauty for a sample of landscapes. Predictors were related to two of the most fertile approaches to landscape assessment: the psychophysical and cognitive paradigms, the latter including five different models to explain landscape preference. Our results support the existence of a classification criteria that is common to most subjects. The criteria followed by subjects to derive this classification were: presence/absence of water, artificiality of landscape, powerfulness of landscape, and human presence in the landscape. With respect to assessment of scenic beauty, our results showed that both the psychophysical and the cognitive paradigm were able to explain to a high degree the preference scores. The relationships found between predictors from both paradigms indicate that it would be possible to integrate them into a more general model of landscape assessment.     

Surveying and mapping of natural resources by remote sensing

Sustainable economic development requires detailed knowledge of the natural resources of any nation. Acquiring the needed information by conventional means may require a large investment in time, personnel, and therefore, in cost. A viable alternative is space-age technology which provides the necessary tools to conduct surveys of natural resources in a timely manner. Such technologies can obtain the required data by means of digital sensors, radar imaging systems and stereo cameras. These data can be utilized to map structures that may contain oil and gas deposits, recognize high concentrations of economic minerals, and discover regions with fertile soils and good potential for groundwater. Those applications warrant greater use of remote sensing methods and techniques by the international scientific community, particularly for the development of natural resources in the Third World. This paper represents a general review of the available, and easily interpretable, space-borne data that are useful in the mapping of natural resources.     

Mining investment promotion

Attitudes in developing countries with respect to private investment in natural resources have changed substantially in recent years. Countries must now compete for such investment by ensuring that policies pertaining to state participation, financing, marketing and taxation of mining ventures provide the investor with returns that are commensurate with the risks taken. Governments must also be prepared to help the investor compete on world markets through lower capital and operating costs. This entails granting exemptions of customs, excise and value added taxes as well as providing for policies on taxation, government participation, industrial relations, safety and environment, and procurement and personnel that are in line with international mining industry standards. Efforts to promote mining sector investment through the strengthening of technical ministries, preparation of basic geological and project information, investment symposia and an international mining council can be helpful in bringing opportunities to the attention of the investment community. But, these efforts can only succeed if the policy changes now being put into place continue to evolve and contribute to an atmosphere in which entrepreneurship and private investment can flourish.     

Re-thinking relationships between environmental attitudes and values for effective coastal natural resource management in Ghana

The coastal zone of Ghana is home to about a quarter of the total population of the country and its importance has been well emphasised in policy documents, such as the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda, the National Climate Change Policy as well as the National Environmental Policy. However, environmental degradation remains a critical issue as dependence on coastal natural resources continues to increase, and its effect is being felt more strongly by certain groups than others. This paper identifies women as key stakeholders, and through an empirical assessment highlights the need to factor their environmental attitudes and values into efforts to manage the coast in an integrated manner. The results show that respondents generally had positive environmental attitudes, which did not translate to good environmental behaviour. Respondents placed the greatest importance on the coastal natural resources as sources of wealth creation and of food, values which are often described as being “anthropocentric”. Hence, initiatives that could win the support of the local people and also help manage coastal resources effectively are those that link the livelihoods and well-being to coastal natural resource management.     

基于Meta分析的中国水资源价值移位研究

Meta分析价值移位方法是国际上资源价值评价领域关注的热点,国内相关研究较少。水作为重要的自然资源,研究其价值是解决我国水资源问题的关键途径。本文搜集我国水资源价值评估实证研究结果,建立效益移位基础数据库,应用基于Meta分析的函数效益移位方法,对我国水资源价值移位做实证研究,探讨效益移位法在我国水资源价值评估领域的可应用性及发展前景。结果表明:①水资源所在地、人口密度、水质、供水成本和利润以及对最大水费承受程度的差异会影响地区水资源价值变化;②模型平均移位误差在可接受范围内,可用于快速评估地区水资源价值;③省级层面水资源价值呈现出沿海高于内陆,华北、华东和西南高于其他地区的空间分异 规律。     

主要发达国家碳达峰碳中和的实践经验及对中国的启示

气候变化问题是人类社会共同面临的重大挑战，关系到人类生存和各国利益。推进碳达峰碳中和是中国的一项重大战略决策，是负责任大国对国际社会的庄严承诺，也是推动高质量发展的内在要求。本文归纳分析欧盟、美国、日本、韩国、德国、英国等主要发达经济体碳达峰的经济社会特征、碳中和的路径共识，系统梳理推动实现碳达峰碳中和的经验举措，对比分析中国国内进展和差距，并提出重点借鉴的国际经验与启示。研究发现，中国已经逐步具备实现碳达峰国家的基本特征，但相比发达国家，在降碳效果核算评估、低碳安全高效能源系统构建、碳价格传导机制设计、低碳技术创新和新业态模式打造、法规制度系统化构建等方面仍有差距，仍需加强政策驱动和重点国际经验借鉴，进一步优化“双碳”目标评估指标体系，将构建清洁、低碳、安全、高效能源系统作为能源生产和消费革命的主要目标，有序推进碳排放权交易市场建设和能源资源市场化价格调控，强化绿色低碳技术的研发创新，加快构建形成系统性推动“双碳”目标的法规体系。     

Integration of Environmental Assessment into the Regional Development Planning Process of the Galilee

/ The Galilee region on the northern edge of Israel constitutes more than 15% of the state's territory, supplies more than half of its drinking water needs, and is an important recreational resource and destination for Israelis. One of the main objectives of the plan for the Galilee was to devise a regional physical and economic development strategy for the years 1992-2007 that would arrest the trend of emigration of its residents, attract newly arrived immigrants to the region, and at the same time protect natural resources and environmental quality. This paper is limited to discussion of the environmental aspects of the plan. It analyzes spatial concepts for distribution of projected population growth, evaluates environmental impacts of alternative plans, and proposes a decision-making framework and tools for minimizing natural resources loss from development at the local level. Assessment of potential environmental impacts generated quantitative data of natural resources areas. Application of the data in the plan evaluation stage showed that the alternative that concentrated most of the new development in central Galilee was the second-best choice environmentally, but was preferred as the best choice for overall qualities. The planning study offers an alternative environmental impact assessment (EIA) process to the one presently used in Israel by incorporating environmental considerations at the initial plan-making stage and not at the plan-approval stage. It demonstrated that in order to be effective, environmental assessment and land-use planning should be seen as one effort that is integrated from the start and in each stage of the plan-making process.KEY WORDS: Environmental assessment; Development planning; Galilee     

A System Method for the Assessment of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Mountain Watershed Areas: The Case of the “Giffre” Watershed (France)

In the last fifty years, many mountain watersheds in temperate countries have known a progressive change from self-standing agro-silvo-pastoral systems to leisure dominated areas characterized by a concentration of tourist accommodations, leading to a drinking water peak during the winter tourist season, when the water level is lowest in rivers and sources. The concentration of water uses increases the pressure on “aquatic habitats” and competition between uses themselves. Consequently, a new concept was developed following the international conferences in Dublin (International Conference on Water and the Environment – ICWE) and Rio de Janeiro (UN Conference on Environment and Development), both in 1992, and was broadly acknowledged through international and European policies. It is the concept of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). It meets the requirements of different uses of water and aquatic zones whilst preserving the natural functions of such areas and ensuring a satisfactory economic and social development. This paper seeks to evaluate a local water resources management system in order to implement it using IWRM in mountain watersheds. The assessment method is based on the systemic approach to take into account all components influencing a water resources management system at the watershed scale. A geographic information system was built to look into interactions between water resources, land uses, and water uses. This paper deals specifically with a spatial comparison between hydrologically sensitive areas and land uses. The method is applied to a French Alps watershed: the Giffre watershed (a tributary of the Arve in Haute-Savoie). The results emphasize both the needs and the gaps in implementing IWRM in vulnerable mountain regions.     

基于生态足迹的新疆可持续发展评价

生态足迹是分析国家或地区自然资源可持续利用的重要指标.利用FAO数据、新疆统计年鉴等自然资源生产与消费数据、人口数据,采用可变世界单产法计算了2000-2009年新疆生态足迹.结果表明:从2000-2009年间,新疆的人均生态足迹显著上升,生态赤字有逐渐加大的趋势.生态协调系数DS显示,新疆的资源利用超出生态环境的承载范围,其发展模式是不可持续的.     

后疫情时期全国碳市场政策对经济和排放的影响

新冠肺炎疫情暴发一年多以来,国际国内形势仍面临极大不确定性。疫情显著降低了短期排放水平,但是经济恢复政策和疫情发展形势的不确定使得对未来经济发展和碳排放的判断变得复杂,碳排放是否会反弹对实现《巴黎协定》目标造成挑战,已经投入运行的全国碳市场能多大程度发挥政策效果等问题值得关注。本文首先定量评估了疫情对经济和环境的短期和长期的影响,基于此分析疫情后全国碳市场政策的实施效果。结果显示:疫情造成中国经济活动以及碳排放短期显著下降,2020年中国全年的GDP增长较基准情景下降3.84%,能源消费和碳排放分别较基准情景下降4.47%和5.12%。但是,接下来的十年内,GDP会逐渐恢复至基准情景,累计碳排放较基准情景增加0.06%。在没有其他气候政策干预的情况下,疫情带来的短期减排效应不足以保障中国各项气候目标的实现,落实碳市场政策十分必要。疫情之后启动全国碳市场,可以促进投资、减少能源使用和碳排放,到2030年,能源消费将下降7.44%,碳排放下降10.49%,碳价为229.73元/t。国外疫情若在2021年还不能得到控制,将会继续影响中国的对外贸易,使得中国GDP损失略有提高,但不会改变国内疫情之后经济恢复的大趋势。     

自然资源资产负债表编制的理论与实践

自然资源资产负债表在国内外都是一个全新的课题,然而学术界关于自然资源核算、环境经济核算、国家资产负债表编制和生态系统服务评估等方向的研究由来已久,为我国自然资源资产负债表的编制提供了大量可资借鉴的学术成果。本文在综述相关领域研究进展的基础上,基于会计学、经济学、资源环境科学等学科视角论述了自然资源资产负债表编制的理论基础,辨析了自然资源资产、负债和净资产等核心概念的内涵,从基本假设、表式结构、数据来源等方面探讨了自然资源资产负债表的框架体系,并回顾了当前自然资源资产负债表编制的实践经验,以期为深化自然资源资产负债表研究提供科学参考。     

The draft articles on the law of international watercourses adopted by the International Law Commission: an overview and some remarks on selected issues

In 1994, after more than twenty years of work, the International Law Commission of the United Nations adopted a set of thirty-three draft articles on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses. In the same year, the draft articles were submitted to the General Assembly with a view to the adoption of an international convention. The present paper analyzes and comments upon some of the major issues dealt with in the draft articles, devoting special attention to the substantive legal principles governing the utilization of international rivers and the protection of related ecosystems. Various questions still remain open for consideration by the Working Group convened by the General Assembly in 1996–1997 for the elaboration of a definitive convention. In spite of this, the draft articles adopted by the International Law Commission stand as an important achievement in the effort at codification of the law of international water resources. The present article was written within the framework of the research project "Technical aspects of the international law of the sea" which is being carried out at the Faculty of Law, University of Milan, Italy.     

ENVIRONMENTAL THRESHOLD FUNCTIONS FOR USER ORIENTED RESOURCE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT1

ABSTRACT: Managers of water related outdoor recreation resources want to provide facilities and recreational opportunities of high quality that are attractive to recreationists. The reported research develops a relevant site quality assessment and measurement procedure called environmental threshold modeling. This modeling procedure is based upon the idea that individuals (i.e., recreationists) have specific, identifiable evaluative criteria which can be expressed as a mathematical function of various site characteristics. The function of interest is called a threshold function because it separates acceptable recreational settings from unacceptable settings. Individual specific threshold functions can be easily aggregated to form a population specific threshold function that estimates the proportion of a population that would find the recreational setting acceptable for some specific activity. Presented in this paper are illustrative calibration results based upon survey data collected from recreational canoeists using the Pine River in Michigan's Manistee National Forest.     

An End-Users Oriented Methodology for Enhancing the Integration of Knowledge on Soil–Water-Sediment Systems in River Basin Management: An Illustration from the AquaTerra Project

Research results in environmental and socio-economic sciences are often under-used by stakeholders involved in the management of natural resources. To minimise this gap, the FP6 EU interdisciplinary project AquaTerra (AT) developed an end-users’ integration methodology in order to ensure that the data, knowledge and tools related to the soil–water-sediment system that were generated by the project were delivered in a meaningful way for end-users, thus improving their uptake. The methodology and examples of its application are presented in this paper. From the 408 project deliverables, 96 key findings were identified, 53 related to data and knowledge, and 43 describing advanced tools. River Basin Management (RBM) stakeholders workshops identified 8 main RBM issues and 25 specific stakeholders’ questions related to RBM which were classified into seven groups of cross-cutting issues, namely scale, climate change, non-climatic change, the need for systemic approaches, communication and participation, international and inter-basin coordination and collaboration, and the implementation of the Water Framework Directive. The integration methodology enabled an assessment of how AT key findings meet stakeholders’ demands, and for each main RBM issue and for each specific question, described the added-value of the AT project in terms of knowledge and tools generated, key parameters to consider, and recommendations that can be made to stakeholders and the wider scientific community. Added value and limitations of the integration methodology and its outcomes are discussed and recommendations are provided to further improve integration methodology and bridge the gaps between scientific research data and their potential uptake by end-users.