Involving local farmers in rehabilitation of degraded tropical forests: some lessons from Ghana

The role of community-based plantation development in forest rehabilitation and poverty alleviation is a pressing issue for the government of Ghana. In this paper, we present an analysis of the prospects of a community-based plantation using taungya systems and indigenous trees as means to forest rehabilitation and livelihood improvement in Ghana. The project management strategies, communication process and incentive mechanism and their impact on local participation are discussed with the aim to recommending a mechanism through which local farmers can best be involved in rehabilitation of degraded sites in the future in Ghana. Data were collected through a survey using personal interviews of 431 farming households and ten key informants from ten communities living in scattered hamlets in and around forests reserves. The results show a high rate of local participation in project tree planting activities. Four years after the project’s initiation, about 250 ha of plantations had been established using twelve priority indigenous and one exotic species and farmers had indicated improvement in their farming practices and availability of food and forest products. Restoring forest quality as a timber resource and associated values, getting money, food stuff and timber and non-timber for domestic use, and having access to fertile land for farming were the top three issues prioritised by respondents as motivational factors for engaging in the project activities. Overall, this project demonstrates that reversing tropical forest degradation is possible. For this we need local involvement in tree domestication combined with activities that addresses livelihood needs and environmental concerns. This case also demonstrates the prospects of utilising indigenous tree species, not only exotic species that dominated tree planting in the past, for plantations and landscape rehabilitation in Ghana. Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Soil burdens of persistent organic pollutants - Their levels, fate and risk. Part II. Are there any trends in PCDD/F levels in mountain soils?

Good quality data apt for an assessment of temporal trends of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDDs/Fs) in soils are difficult to obtain since there is a general lack of information on their residues in soils. Variability of soil profiles, non-homogeneity of samples, and often also inconsistency of applied sampling procedures further complicate this problem. To assess spatial and temporal trends of contamination, three soil sampling campaigns have been performed over the period of 12 years at the mountain forest sites in the Czech Republic. Relation between the air, needle and soil contaminations was addressed in addition to time-related variability of soil. It has been confirmed that soil is a good matrix for evaluation of spatial distribution of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) but difficult for establishment of temporal trends. A slow rate of the soil-forming processes and their site-specificity was generally the major source of uncertainties.     

国外关于稳定化/固化的有毒有害污染物的渗漏实验方法的研究进展

以水泥为基质的稳定化 /固化 (Stabilization/solidification)的方法在国外广泛用于无机、有机、有毒有害污染物的最终处置 ,已经有数十年的历史。论文较全面地介绍了拟合被这种稳定化 /固化过程处理过的污染物在自然界条件下短期和长期的污染物泄漏过程 ,即所谓短期、长期的渗漏行为的实验方法和数学模型 ,并总结了现有几种用来模拟短期或长期渗漏行为的渗漏实验方法和适用于这些实验方法的数学预测模型的应用条件。     

基于GIS技术的工业废气主要污染物排放电子地图表征

简要介绍了辽宁省污染源动态管理地理信息系统,并依托该系统完成了基础环境数据与电子地图的关联编辑,用直观图片表征了辽宁省工业废气主要污染物区域排放情况。     

涂料稀释剂中的有机污染物分析

采用HP-5毛细管柱分离涂料稀释剂中的有机组份，气相色谱-质谱联用技术定性分析涂料稀释剂中的有机组份，FID检测器定量分析，采用面积归一法计算主要成份的体积分数，并对该涂料稀释剂的毒性进行评估。     

Instability of cytogenetic parameters and genome instability in Betula pendula Roth

The seed progeny of weeping birch (Betula pendula Roth.) have been used as a test object for monitoring the state of the environment in the city of Voronezh. An increase in the number of cytogenetic disturbances observed in the root meristem cells of birch seedlings provides evidence for genome instability in the test species.     

多沙大河的扩散示踪研究

污染物在水体中的扩散规律研究已引起越来越多人的关注。通过现场扩散示踪实验求得扩散系数，进而对污染物的扩散规律予以定量描述，是一种可靠易行的方法。对黄河托克托至河曲段的实际研究表明，以Ｃｒ２Ｏ或Ｆ－为示踪剂，运用Ｔａｙｌｏｒ模型进行多沙大河的污染物扩散规律研究可以取得满意的结果。同时，利用现场示踪实验结果与经验公式的结合可以预测不同情况下的纵向扩散系数，从而得出污染物的允许排放量，这将有利于污染物在水体中行为的深入研究。     

Risk assessment of the use of PAS100 green composts in sheep and cattle production in Scotland

A generalized quantitative risk assessment for the use of source-segregated green waste (SSGW) compost use in livestock production is presented. This assessment focussed on potential risks associated with a specific product, PAS100 compost that meets the UK publicly available specification 100 and represents the majority of compost available for use in extensive Scottish livestock systems. A hazard screening approach was used to identify all potentially hazardous agents present in compost. A total of 497 potentially hazardous agents were screened, with 147 finally put forward for quantitative risk assessment. Scenarios modelled in the assessment included surface application of compost to grazing land and also incorporation into soil and subsequent uptake by fodder crops. Risk estimates were compared to those associated with six comparator materials, including various sludges, slurries and farm yard manures. Overall, five potentially hazardous agents (PCB28, PCB138, PCB153, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD, Clopyralid) returned a hazard quotient >1 but within margins of uncertainty, indicating that further investigation may be required. Within the limitations of available information, SSGW compost was found to pose less risk to grazing livestock, or the environment, than other commonly-used soil amendments. While this assessment relates to a specific product/standard used in the UK, the methodology could easily be applied to other composts/products/situations. Therefore these results have wider applicability.     

Regeneration of spent organoclays after the sorption of organic pollutants: A review

Clay minerals modified with organic ions, also known as organoclays, have found applications in a wide range of organic pollution control fields because of their excellent sorption capacity towards organic pollutants. Regeneration of the spent organoclays after the sorption of organic pollutants is of great importance during their application in pollution control. In this review, the reported methods for the regeneration of the spent organoclays are summarized, including biological degradation, photo-assisted oxidation, chemical extraction/desorption, supercritical extraction, thermal desorption, et al. The characteristics and applications of these methods are briefly described. It shows that most of these methods have been developed for regenerating spent organoclays from wastewater treatment. The biological regeneration method, as an in situ, low cost and easy-operating method, is applicable for regenerating spent organoclays not only from wastewater treatment, but also from soil and groundwater remediation.     

Kinetic assessment of persistent halogenated xenobiotics in cell culture models: comparison of mono- and poly-halogenated compounds

We evaluated the suitability of single and multiple cell type cultures as model systems to characterise cellular kinetics of highly lipophilic compounds with potential ecotoxicological impact. Confluent mono-layers of human skin fibroblasts, rat astrocytoma C6 cells, non-differentiated and differentiated mouse 3T3 cells were kept in culture medium supplemented with 10% foetal calf serum. For competitive uptake experiments up to four different cell types, grown on glass sectors, were exposed for 3 h to ¹⁴C-labelled model compounds, dissolved either in organic solvents or incorporated into unilamellar lecithin liposomes. Bromo-, or chloro-benzenes, decabromodiphenylether (DBP), and dichlorodiphenyl ethylene (DDE) were tested in rather high concentration of 20 μM. Cellular toxicity was low. Compound levels were related to protein, DNA, and triglyceride contents. Cellular uptake was fast and dependent on physico-chemical properties of the compounds (lipophilicity, molecular size), formulation, and cell type. Mono-halogenated benzenes showed low and similar uptake levels (= low accumulation compounds). DBP and DDE showed much higher cellular accumulations (= high accumulation compounds) except for DBP in 3T3 cells. Uptake from liposomal formulations was mostly higher than if compounds were dissolved in organic solvents. The extent of uptake correlated with the cellular content of triglycerides, except for DBP. Uptake competition between different cell types was studied in a sectorial multi-cell culture model. For low accumulation compounds negligible differences were found among C6 cells and fibroblasts. Uptake of DDE was slightly and that of DBP highly increased in fibroblasts. Well-defined cell culture systems, especially the sectorial model, are appropriate to screen for bioaccumulation and cytotoxicity of (unknown) chemical entities in vitro.