Suitability of short or long conservation contracts under ecological and socio-economic uncertainty

Acquisition of land rights has become a primary tool used to protect terrestrial biodiversity. Fixed length contracts are often used when trying to secure conservation benefits on private land in agri-environment schemes and payment for environmental services schemes, but the duration of the conservation contracts used in different programmes varies. To date, very little research has been undertaken to determine the situations in which contracts of differing lengths are optimal or when conservation agencies or groups should use a portfolio of different contract lengths rather than relying on a single type. Using stochastic dynamic programming and related heuristic methods, we investigate how the choice between short or long conservation contracts is affected by uncertainty regarding the future availability of sites and their ecological condition. We also examine the benefits offered by using a portfolio of different contract lengths. Conservation agencies must pay private landowners a premium to secure longer agreements and because of this, shorter contracts are advantageous if sites are likely to remain available for conservation in the future. Long contracts are preferred when future site availability becomes more unlikely. In contrast to uncertainty over site availability, uncertainty over future ecological conditions has little effect on contract selection and only markedly influences the choice between short and long contracts when there is heterogeneity across sites in expected conservation outcomes and future availability of sites is also uncertain. Finally, when future site availability is unlikely, the use of a portfolio of short and long contracts would offer greater conservation gains than using either type in isolation, even though this option is not yet one that is commonly found in conservation practice.     

保护层分析中独立保护层的识别研究

为阐述保护层分析(LOPA)中独立保护层(IPL)的识别规则,以及这些规则在实际应用中要注意的问题,以生产聚氯乙烯(PVC)的间歇聚合反应为例,对8个不同的LOPA场景进行分析,给出不同场景的IPL和要求时的失效概率(PFD),以及建议增加的IPL。分析结果表明,在进行IPL的识别时,应重点确认IPL的有效性和独立性。在评估IPL有效性时,应关注具有共同元件的IPL,IPL的行动能力、人员行动有效性及IPL的PFD等。在评估独立性时,应确保IPL独立于初始事件和同一场景中的其他IPL的任何构成元件。通过分析,发现PVC工艺中安全阀(PSV)设计、安全仪表功能(SIF)设计和人员行动等IPL中存在的问题,并提出相应的建议。     

局部蒸汽系统抑制熄灭油池火的实验研究

选取乙醇为燃料试样,进行不同条件下蒸汽灭火的全尺寸实验,研究了局部蒸汽系统抑制熄灭油池火的有效性及其影响因素,并探讨其灭火机理.实验结果表明:喷口直径是影响蒸汽灭火的关键因素,中等直径的喷口具有较好的灭火效率;喷口方位和燃料浓度也会影响灭火有效性;局部蒸汽系统的有效保护面积大于直接覆盖面积,对可燃气和氧气的稀释置换作用...     

规划环评中公众参与有效性案例研究

针对规划环评的特点,通过秦皇岛经济技术开发区规划环评案例分析,就如何保证规划环境影响评价中公众参与有效性进行了探讨,提出了只有做到广泛的公众代表性、有效的公众参与形式、科学的问卷设计、合理的反馈意见处理,才能发挥公众参与在规划环境影响评价工作中的作用。     

Improving protected area effectiveness through consideration of different human-pressure baselines

Previous assessments of the effectiveness of protected areas (PAs) focused primarily on changes in human pressure over time and did not consider the different human-pressure baselines of PAs, thereby potentially over- or underestimating PA effectiveness. We developed a framework that considers both human-pressure baseline and change in human pressure over time and assessed the effectiveness of 338 PAs in China from 2010 to 2020. The initial state of human pressure on PAs was taken as the baseline, and changes in human pressure index (HPI) were further analyzed under different baselines. We used the random forest models to identify the management measures that most improved effectiveness in resisting human pressure for the PAs with different baselines. Finally, the relationships between the changes in the HPI and the changes in natural ecosystems in PAs were analyzed with different baselines. Of PAs with low HPI baselines, medium HPI baselines, and high HPI baselines, 76.92% (n=150), 11.11% (n=12), and 22.86% (n=8) , respectively, showed positive effects in resisting human pressure. Overall, ignoring human-pressure baselines somewhat underestimated the positive effects of PAs, especially for those with low initial human pressure. For PAs with different initial human pressures, different management measures should be taken to improve effectiveness and reduce threats to natural ecosystems. We believe our framework is useful for assessing the effectiveness of PAs globally, and we recommend it be included in the Convention on Biological Diversity Post-2020 Strategy.     

Spatial cost efficiency in waste paper handling: the case of corrugated board in Sweden

This paper analyzes the spatial cost efficiency of the Swedish legislation regarding waste disposal handling. We focus on the case of corrugated board and recognize that the different counties in Sweden possess different economic prerequisites in terms of waste paper recovery and utilization potential. We employ data for six corrugated board mills and 20 counties and a non-linear programming model to identify the least cost strategy for reaching the politically specified recycling target of a 65% recovery rate for corrugated board. That is, the total costs of recovering a minimum of 65% in each county are calculated and compared with the case when the country as a whole recovers 65% of all old corrugated board is collected but there exist no uniform target for each county. The conclusion is that from an efficiency point of view the recovery efforts should be concentrated to the highly populated and urbanized counties, and not be uniformly divided throughout the country. In the base case, the results suggest that the cost efficient county-specific recovery rates should range from 51 to 72%.     

An Integrated Model of Public Contact Planning for Conservation Management

/ Public contact is a vital component of any program to manage natural resources. A well-planned public contact program uses a variety of strategies to create a sympathetic and environmentally aware public and to meet specific management-related objectives. A methodology is proposed that can be applied to planning public contact at any level, from media design for a specific project to corporate strategies for communication. The methodology integrates management-driven, client-driven and resource-driven planning to provide the connections essential to effective communication.KEY WORDS: Planning; Public contact; Interpretation; Conservation; Management     

松山自然保护区的生态评价

松山国家级自然保护区是华北地区自然生态环境保存比较完好的暖温带山地生态系统其组成结构复杂,类型多样,面积４１５０．３ｈｍ＾２,拥有高等植物７８３种,高等动物１８４种,本研究通过建立３个层次的生态评价指标体系,运用指标赋分和加权平均法,对松山自然保护区进行了生态评价,结果认为,该保护区的保护价值较高,在华北地区乃至全国均有典型的代表意义,目前保护区的面积,结构及经营管理可以满足保护区持续发展要求。     

环境价值核算对环境影响评价有效性的影响

阐述环境影响评价有效性概念和环境价值概念,并提出环境价值影响评价,将环境价值核算纳入环境影响评价体系中,是中国环境影响评价有效性的特殊问题。