Multivariate analysis of watershed health and sustainability in Turkey

National hydrological network data between 1970 and 2002 for 96 stations across 25 watersheds were used to monitor annual trends in 13 variables: streamflow rates, water temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), sediment concentration and eight nutrient levels (Na, K, Ca+Mg, CO₃, HCO₃, Cl, SO₄ and boron). The dataset was analysed with multiple linear regression (MLR) models, principal components analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (CA). The Turkish watersheds have experienced a significant increase in pH, K, CO₃ and a significant decrease in streamflow rate and sediment concentration between 1970 and 2002, with considerable spatial variations. There was also an increasing trend in streamwater temperature, at a rate of 0.05°C yr^–1 (p > 0.05). The MLR models had high r ² values of 69.6% to 99.9% at p ≤ 0.001 for 12 out of the 13 variables, with r ² of 42% for boron (p < 0.05). PCA reduced the dimensionality of the dataset to four principal components that explain most (81.7%) of the variance. CA was able to distinguish six geographically associated groupings of watersheds with similar attributes in concordance with the climate zones of Turkey, despite the use of different clustering methods (complete, McQuitty, average, centroid and single linkage methods). Multivariate analyses of dynamic watershed characteristics provide the basis on which preventive and mitigative measures can be tailored to secure and enhance watershed health and sustainability.     

Genuine saving rate: An integrated indicator to measure urban sustainable development towards an ecocity

The construction of an ecocity is gradually gaining attention as an indicator of sustainable development. Genuine saving rate (GSR), which takes account of various impacts of economic activities including depletion of natural resources, costs of environmental pollution and long-term environmental damage, can be used as an integrated indicator to measure the status quo and potential of sustainability for an ecocity. This paper discusses the concept of an ecocity; and analyses the time-series of GSR in Suzhou between 1991–2001 as a case study used to develop a standard method of measuring sustainability. The status quo and trends in urban sustainability in six case study cities in China are then evaluated and compared. The results show the current status: Suzhou (23.6%), Guangzhou(18.9%), Ningbo (14.7%), Yantai (13.1%), Yangzhou (11.7%) and Sanming (7.9%). The study demonstrates that GSR provides not only a linkage by which local governmental departments for resources management, environmental protection, finance and planning can be connected directly, but also an effective analytical tool for the planning and construction of an ecocity as well as decision-making support for local governments.     

Environmental quality and its impact on the local economy: A case study from Dongguan,South China

Industries that pollute the environment developed in the early 1990s in Dongguan City, especially those in the middle and lower valley of the Dongjiang River (waterside area) have seriously affected water and air quality and hence have affected soil quality through polluted water irrigation and precipitation. Investigation of the economic growth and environmental pollution in the 32 township units in the City from 1990 to 2000 also reveals that environmental pollution has affected the history of the development of the towns or townships in the waterside region in the delta of the River Dongjiang, especially the towns near the river mouth, and has prevented their industry from upgrading and hence has slowed down their economic growth. The impact of environmental pollution on economic growth is most severe in the towns along the lower valley, or in down-wind regions. In contrast, economic development in the protected area of the upper valley of the waterside region indicates that environmental protection that strictly controls the discharge of pollutants does not restrict the development of the local economy.     

Environmental change and vulnerability in the Usangu plain,southwestern Tanzania: Implications for sustainable development

Natural resources are important assets for sustainability of rural livelihoods and economic development. The objectives of the study were to assess linkage of environmental change to emerging water scarcity, livelihoods insecurity and decline in wildlife biodiversity and hydropower generation in the Great Ruaha ecosystem, and to discuss policy lessons for sustainable development. Literature survey, participatory assessments, collection of records from stakeholders, participatory observations and a questionnaire survey were used. Participatory assessment found that increasing water scarcity is associated with degradation of land, vegetation cover and change in rainfall intensity and duration. Rainfall change is supported by 83% of respondents and rainfall trends analysis. About 42% of variation in cereal production is described by the rainfall amount variability. Analysis of trends for per capita cereals production from district records showed a significant (p < 0.05) decline over the years. Changes in water flows in the Great Ruaha River have been evident since 1993, and have affected wildlife diversity in the Ruaha National Park and power generation from the Kidatu hydroelectric plant downstream. Human livelihood activities, exclusiveness, weak coordination and collaboration between sectors and institutions in policy formulation and implementation have played a role. The pro-poor policy formulation through integrated planning, strong coordination and collaboration is recommended for sustainable development.     

Strategic Environmental Assessment and the World Bank Group

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is mandated by an increasing number of countries and agencies. SEA has become a reliable and useful tool in reducing environmental and social impacts of plans, policies and programmes. The main elements of SEA are outlined with examples. The status of SEA in the World Bank is discussed. The case is presented that the World Bank should apply SEA to country lending strategies, programme lending, technical assistance, and to its budget.     

Designing for nature and sustainability

Humankind is now using natural resources more rapidly than natural systems can replace them and has been doing so for approximately two and a half decades. Moreover, both natural capital and the ecosystem services it provides are being diminished at an unprecedented rate. Finally, the human population is expected to increase by three billion by 2050. This situation is clearly unsustainable, but it can be made less so by redesigning societal wastes so that they benefit the biospheric life-support system. Nature initiates and maintains a system of energy and nutrient cycling and, if the system integrity is maintained, provides alternative and redundant means that help stabilize functional capacity. The system is composed of opportunistic individuals that compete with other individuals to acquire the resources essential to their survival. The interrelationships within this aggregation of individuals (i.e. system components) are based on energy flow. This self-organizing and self-maintaining system is increasingly stressed by human activities. Humans are a part of, not apart from, this system and are governed by the same laws of nature. In short, an ecologically-based economic system is essential to sustainable use of the planet. The planet's life-support system has been a superb model of sustainability, which humans should emulate and become a part of more than they now are. When the biospheric life-support system is stressed to the point of disequilibrium, the results are disastrous for societies, individuals and ecosystems. Evolutionary processes have produced replacement systems following the five great biological extinctions. However, the probability is high that the next replacement system will not be as suitable for humankind as the present system. Sustainable practices are intended to prevent biospheric disequilibrium and maintain the present environmental conditions so favorable to humankind, including posterity.     

An overview of the impacts of changes in common property resources management in the context of globalisation: A case study of India

Socio-economic development of mankind and well-being depend on the environment and the way in which development influences the environment. Thus, environment and development are interdependent. In fact, economic development is closely linked with the development of resources. These resources can be classified into three categories: public goods, semi-public goods (also known as common property resources) and private goods. In poor countries common property resources make a valuable contribution to the sustainable livelihoods of rural populations. The impact of globalisation on the commons shows various patterns of ownership, control, use and misuse. The commons were subjected to degradation as well as conservation in the process of centralized management in India. After the reform period, the administration of natural resources was given significant attention by specialized departments such as the Forest Department and the Revenue Department. All the land, apart from private land, was regarded as state property and controlled by the state. This paper highlights the need to examine the common property resources sector in the context of wider economic policy reform processes in the Indian economy.     

Living with living systems: The co-evolution of values and valuation

This article explores features of the environmental valuation process through a co-evolutionary approach. Based on established works concerning complexity, living systems, and social, economic, evolutionary and hierarchy theories, it is argued that a special form of recursive co-evolution takes place between articulated values and methods of value articulation, within the environmental valuation system. It is proposed that this co-evolutionary approach provides new insights into (1) the process of environmental preference formation and (2) the phenomenon of value incommensurability. Finally, it is suggested that this approach also reveals that monetary unit-based environmental valuation methods are counter-productive to their own purpose of 'taking the economic worth of un-priced environmental goods and service into account.' This constitutes a new critique of monetary valuation, which is not addressed by a pragmatic defence of the practice. It is suggested that, in lieu of monetary valuation, taking the economic worth of these phenomena into account may be better served by focusing efforts on the design of new value articulation methods that are capable of expressing their priceless economic worth.