Shrinking Tropical Forests, Human Agents of Change, and Conservation Policy

Abstract:  Human agents of landscape transformation in the tropics affect forests differently as the forests decline in size. Five agents of change—road builders, corporate concession holders, community forest managers, park advocates, and urban consumers—have different effects on large forests in remote tropical regions than they do on remnant forests in settled agricultural regions. Because forests vary so much in size across tropical regions, these differences in the effects of agents on forests have important implications for regional conservation efforts. To make these implications explicit, I compared the effects of the five agents in regions with large forests with their effects in regions with small forests. The comparisons indicated that, as forests declined in size, new roads no longer destroyed forests, corporate loggers left the forests, community forest managers became more effective, parks became less feasible as a means of conservation, and urban consumers initiated tree planting. My results suggest that awareness about the changing effects of humans on landscapes with shrinking forests can serve as a useful tool in formulating regionally appropriate policies for conserving tropical forests.     

生态文明视角下江苏省生态工业园区建设及区域差异分析研究

建设生态文明是关系人民福祉、关乎民族未来的长远大计,坚持节约资源和保护环境的基本国策。着力推进绿色发展、循环发展、低碳发展,形成节约资源和保护环境的空间格局、产业结构、生产方式、生活方式。生态工业园区是解决经济社会发展与资源、环境之间矛盾,建设生态文明的重要实践形式。分析了江苏省生态工业园区建设现状、区域分布及差异特征,并从生态文明建设视角分析了生态工业园区建设过程中存在的问题,提出了相应的措施和建议。     

Drivers of illegal resource extraction: An analysis of Bardia National Park,Nepal

While park-people conflicts have received worldwide attention, the extent of illegal resource extraction and the relationship with communities’ livelihoods has gained little attention in the literature. Thus this paper investigates the impact of socio-economic factors involved in illegal fuel wood and fodder extraction at Bardia National Park in Nepal. Household questionnaires, key-informant interviews and focus groups were conducted to identify different plant species used by households and explore the causes and mode of resource extraction in three buffer zone villages in the park. Altogether 50 different plants were identified by villagers that were used regularly for different livelihood purposes. Almost half of the respondents met their needs by illegally and regularly extracting resources from the park. Incentive schemes in the form of development projects were important but not sufficient in meeting the basic needs of households’ especially for such daily items such as fuel wood and fodder. The results described in this paper showed that proximity and access to resources either in the national park, the buffer zone community forest or the government forest, and impact on the livelihoods significantly influenced the likelihood of illegal resource extraction activities. Villages that differed in terms of their location to the resource base, the provision of alternative resources and influence of these on their livelihoods showed significant differences in terms of their patterns of resource extraction and use of these resources. As resource use options, resource interest, and resource extraction patterns were different between villages and dependent on circumstances specific to villages, site-specific management strategies were necessary and more influential than the enforcement of ‘one-size fits all’ policies. It is suggested that park management plans should be flexible and adaptive enough to meet site-specific contexts and to endear wider support from local communities.     

An novel identification method of the environmental risk sources for surface water pollution accidents in chemical industrial parks

The chemical industry is a major source of various pollution accidents. Improving the management level of risk sources for pollution accidents has become an urgent demand for most industrialized countries. In pollution accidents, the released chemicals harm the receptors to some extent depending on their sensitivity or susceptibility. Therefore, identifying the potential risk sources from such a large number of chemical enterprises has become pressingly urgent. Based on the simulation of the whole accident process, a novel and expandable identification method for risk sources causing water pollution accidents is presented. The newly developed approach, by analyzing and stimulating the whole process of a pollution accident between sources and receptors, can be applied to identify risk sources, especially on the nationwide scale. Three major types of losses, such as social, economic and ecological losses, were normalized, analyzed and used for overall consequence modeling. A specific case study area, located in a chemical industry park (CIP) along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province, China, was selected to test the potential of the identification method. The results showed that there were four risk sources for pollution accidents in this CIP. Aniline leakage in the HS Chemical Plant would lead to the most serious impact on the surrounding water environment. This potential accident would severely damage the ecosystem up to 3.8 km downstream of Yangtze River, and lead to pollution over a distance stretching to 73.7 km downstream. The proposed method is easily extended to the nationwide identification of potential risk sources.     

产业集聚与生态工业园的建设

区域经济发展靠产业集群的支撑。在我国的压缩型工业化进程中，自然资源短缺和环境污染问题日益严重。粗放的经济增长方式维持其可持续性的空间愈来愈小。循环经济是一种新的制度安排和经济发展方式，产业生态化趋向是发展循环经济的重要依托．而产业集聚为产业生态化创造了条件。加强生态工业园的建设能够为产业集群可持续发展提供重要保证。以“3R”为原则．根据资源条件和产业特点，运用循环经济发展方式引导产业集聚。在重、化工产业优先创建生态工业园．按照生产者、“消费者”和分解者的功能引入企业和集聚产业，构成资源循环链．形成具有竞争力的产业集群。改造原有的特色工业园区和高新技术开发区促使其向生态化层次升华．引导新的产业集聚．实现产业集群的升级和可持续发展。对于欠发达地区的资源开发型产业．推行保护性开发。产业集聚与生态园建设并举．形成优势产业集群．促进区域经济发展。     

Evaluation of Noise Pollution in Urban Parks

The present study provides an evaluation of noise pollution in six Urban Parks located in the city of Curitiba, Brazil. Equivalent noise levels (L _eq) were measured in 303 points (each point measured during 3 min) spread throughout the Parks. Measured values were confronted with local legislation (Law 10625) allowed limits, and the Parks were thus classified as “acoustically polluted or unpolluted”. Measured values were also evaluated according to international legislation: Decree no. 12 of the City Council of Rome, DIN 18005 for German cities, the World Health Organization, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Urban parks in the downtown area of Curitiba, surrounded by roads of heavy traffic and in the midst of intense commercial activities, do not satisfy any of the standards used. The most noise-polluted parks in Curitiba were the Public Walk Park and the Botanical Garden Park, with measured L _eq of 64.8 dB(A) and 67 dB(A).     

旅游还是游憩?我国国家公园的公众利用表述方式反思

自国家公园试点工作推行以来,有关国家公园到底能不能开展旅游活动以及开展什么样的旅游活动,到底是旅游活动还是游憩活动的争议从未停止。在分析“旅游”和“游憩”内涵的基础上,结合国外在国家公园利用方式的相应表述,根据我国建设国家公园的基本国情,对我国国家公园建设中的“游憩”与“旅游”问题进行了讨论。结论认为：国家公园内的“游憩”与“旅游”实际上是一体两面,在公园的功能定位与分区规划中,使用“游憩”一词比较合适,以体现国家公园的公益性目标。但在国家公园的具体运营管理中,使用“生态旅游”一词进行表述更恰当。在谈及旅游与国家公园的矛盾时,使用“旅游开发”更符合事实。     

Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Fish from Western U.S. and Alaskan National Parks — Spatial Distribution and Health Thresholds

Remote national parks of the western U.S. and Alaska are not immune to contaminants of emerging concern. Semivolatile organic compounds (SOCs) such as pesticides and PCBs can selectively deposit from the atmosphere at higher rates in cold, high‐elevation and high‐latitude sites, potentially increasing risk to these ecosystems. In the environment, SOCs magnify up food chains and are known to increase health risks such as cancer and reproductive impairment. One hundred twenty‐eight fish in 8 national parks in Alaska and the western U.S. were analyzed for contaminant concentrations, assessed by region, and compared to human and wildlife health thresholds. SOC concentrations from an additional 133 fish from a previous study were also included, for a total of 31 water bodies sampled. PCBs, endosulfan sulfate, and p,p′‐DDE were among the most frequently detected contaminants. Concentrations of historic‐use pesticides dieldrin, p,p′‐DDE, and/or chlordanes in fish exceeded USEPA guidelines for human subsistence fish consumers and wildlife (kingfisher) health thresholds at 13 of 14 parks. Average concentrations in fish ranged from 0.6‐280 ng/g lipid (0.02‐7.3 μg/g ww). Contaminant loading was highest in fish from Alaskan and Sierra Nevada parks. Historic compounds were highest in Alaskan parks, while current‐use pesticides were higher in the Rockies and Sierra Nevada. This study provides a rigorous analysis of CECs in fish from national parks and identifies regions at potential risk.     

园区循环化改造的建设成效及实施过程探索

发展循环经济对缓解环境压力、促进产业结构调整、发展生态文明、践行五大发展理念具有重大的意义。园区是我国经济发展的重要支撑,也是我国发展循环经济的重点领域。介绍了园区循环化的改造方向、改造目标及园区循环化试点工作及实践成效,并总结概括了园区循环化改造的下一步重点工作,供后续工作参考。     

产业园生态效率评价——以九发生态产业园为例

生态产业园区的发展和评价已成为包括我国在内的全球产业可持续发展研究的热点领域。生态效率指标强调以较少资源投入和较低污染排放生产更多较高质量的产品,能同时评价经济效益和环境效益,符合人类可持续发展目标,现已是指导和评价生态工业园可持续发展建设的有效工具。本文应用生态效率理论和方法,对2004年九发生态产业园的运行情况进行了效率评价和生态功能探讨,并与同年全国平均生态效率指标进行了对比,发现九发生态产业园虽然产业链网较完善,但系统实际运行的生态效率高低不一。其中,单位原材料产出率和单位废水排放产出率指标明显低于全国平均水平,表明系统的生态功能发挥不足。因此,需进一步提高九发生态产业园的资源利用效率和能源使用效率,从而增加其经济效益和环境效益、促进其可持续发展。