南非--踏上寻梦之旅

置身于现代文明的都市中，我们经常会迷失自己，每天面对的是空气污染、噪音污染和灵魂污染，个人空间越来越少，生存的压力让人喘不过气来，心灵与心灵之间的距离也越来越远。     

南非的世界遗产

素有“彩虹之国”美誉的南非，自然景观非常丰富优美，令人叹为观止：植物丰茂，动物繁多，可称得上是草绿、花香、天蓝、水清。南非的良好自然环境，适宜动植物种类的生长。在仅有122万平方公里的土地上，已知的生物种类数量排名世界第二。     

南非概况

地理状况南非是非洲大陆最南端的国家，东北与莫桑比克为邻，北边与津巴布韦、博茨瓦纳接壤，西北边的邻国是纳米比亚。南非境内另有莱索托和斯威士兰两个邻国，各以山脉为天然国界。南非位于凌波波河 (Limpopo) 以南，位置在东经16o 30’～ 16o 33’，南纬22o 到55o 之间。国土总面积达122.104万平方公里，约为美国德州的三倍，英国的五倍，但只占全非洲陆地面积的4%。岸地区、Great Escarpment 山脉、内陆高原 ( Highveld )以及东北部的副热带平原。南非位居赤道以南，属南半球，四季的变迁和北半球相反。十月至三月是夏季，四月到九月…     

南非的环境公益诉讼

<正>废除种族隔离后,南非非常重视环境保护,建立了相当先进的环境法律体系,并辅以严格的环境执法和司法手段,其中作为环保利器的公益诉讼制度可以说居功至伟,在落实公众参与、监督政府和企业履行环境职责方面发挥了重要作用。     

Institutional dynamics and climate change adaptation in South Africa

Climate change is a multi-dimensional issue and in terms of adaptation numerous state and non-state actors are involved from global to national and local scales. The aim of this paper is first to analyse specific institutional networks involved in climate change predominantly at the national level in South Africa and second to determine how different stakeholders perceive their role vis-a-vis climate change adaptation. Within the South African context there is a gap in understanding and evaluating how institutional networks operate and thus the findings of this work may help inform and strengthen such relationships in the future. Results showed that few institutions fully understand the implications of adaptation and their roles and responsibilities have not yet been properly defined. Constraints relating to capacity, lack of awareness and poor information flow need to be addressed. Climate change is perceived as an important issue although problems such as poverty reduction and job creation remain national priorities. Most importantly this research has demonstrated how adaptation challenges the hierarchical manner in which government works and a more collaborative approach to climate change adaptation is needed. Adaptation needs to be mainstreamed and institutional networks need to be strengthened in order for adaptation mechanisms to be effectively implemented.

南非:环境保护的私人力量

<正>南非位于南半球,非洲大陆的最南端,地处南纬22度到35度之间,面积为121.9万平方公里,人口约为4700万,是非洲大陆经济最发达的国家,因其多民族和多元文化的融合而被称为"彩虹之国"。南非境内共有20座国家公园,此外还有不少的省区管理和私人运营     

通过诉讼推动环境公正——美国加利福尼亚州与南非的比较

美国加利福尼亚州（以下称加州）法律明确将环境公正规定为：“在制定执行环境法律法规政策时,公平对待所有种族文化背景与经济收入的人。”环境工作的关键就是执法,而执法的条件是要有明确的法律,有执法的意愿,并有充足的人力资源起诉环境违法行为。诉讼在保证环境公正中正在起着越来越明确的角色。     

两位"森林小王子"南非"赴训" 中国虎野化工程拉开序幕

9月1日,世界上最古老的老虎亚种的后代一两只中国虎崽(又名华南虎),从北京启程,经香港赴南非,接受世界首创的老虎科学野化训练。“拯救中国虎”形象大使著名影星杨紫琼及有关人员在香港举行了热情的欢迎及欢送仪式。“拯救中国虎”团队和中国政府代表团将一路护送虎崽至比勒陀利亚北部的马亚潘尼500公顷的野化区接受训练。中国虎野化工程正式拉开序幕。     

Power line insulator pollution and power dips in natal,South Africa

Air pollution is a recognized factor in power transmission line failures in South Africa, causing insulator flashovers which lead to power dips. A number of management strategies are in operation to try to overcome the problem. A severe faulting episode which occurrence of three major contributing factors. paper. It is concluded that the episode resulted from the concurrence of three major contributing factors. These were the presence of an atmospheric circulation with high air pollution potential, the occurrence of runaway forest, veld and cane fires and a long period of below average rainfall prior to the event. The slow buildup of salt and industrial pollution during winter, the likelihood of dew formation which wetted the insulator surface making it conductive, and the rapid buildup of carbonaceous material all contributed to the faulting episode.     

Adaptation to climate change in Ethiopia and South Africa: options and constraints

Climate change is expected to adversely affect agricultural production in Africa. Because agricultural production remains the main source of income for most rural communities in the region, adaptation of the agricultural sector is imperative to protect the livelihoods of the poor and to ensure food security. A better understanding of farmers’ perceptions of climate change, ongoing adaptation measures, and the decision-making process is important to inform policies aimed at promoting successful adaptation strategies for the agricultural sector. Using data from a survey of 1800 farm households in South Africa and Ethiopia, this study presents the adaptation strategies used by farmers in both countries and analyzes the factors influencing the decision to adapt. We find that the most common adaptation strategies include: use of different crops or crop varieties, planting trees, soil conservation, changing planting dates, and irrigation. However, despite having perceived changes in temperature and rainfall, a large percentage of farmers did not make any adjustments to their farming practices. The main barriers to adaptation cited by farmers were lack of access to credit in South Africa and lack of access to land, information, and credit in Ethiopia. A probit model is used to examine the factors influencing farmers’ decision to adapt to perceived climate changes. Factors influencing farmers’ decision to adapt include wealth, and access to extension, credit, and climate information in Ethiopia; and wealth, government farm support, and access to fertile land and credit in South Africa. Using a pooled dataset, an analysis of the factors affecting the decision to adapt to perceived climate change across both countries reveals that farmers were more likely to adapt if they had access to extension, credit, and land. Food aid, extension services, and information on climate change were found to facilitate adaptation among the poorest farmers. We conclude that policy-makers must create an enabling environment to support adaptation by increasing access to information, credit and markets, and make a particular effort to reach small-scale subsistence farmers, with limited resources to confront climate change.     

Root studies on grass species in a semi-arid South Africa along a degradation gradient

Understanding changes in hydrological characteristics of rangeland ecosystems with degradation is essential when making rangeland management decisions in arid and semi-arid areas to ensure sustainable animal production. The impact of rangeland degradation on root production, root/shoot ratio and water-use efficiency was therefore determined for a semi-arid rangeland, over a 7-year period (1999/00 to 2005/06 growing seasons).Water-use efficiency (WUE) is defined as the quantity of above- and/or belowground phytomass produced over a certain period of time per unit of water evapotranspired. Sampling was from rangeland artificially maintained in three different rangeland conditions, viz. good, moderate and poor.As much as 86, 89 and 94% of the roots for rangelands in good, moderate and poor conditions, respectively, occurred at a depth of less than 300 mm. Root mass was strongly seasonal with the most active growth taking place during March and April. Root mass appears to be greater than aboveground phytomass for this semi-arid area, with an increase in roots in relation to aboveground phytomass production with rangeland degradation. The mean monthly root/shoot ratios for rangelands in good, moderate and poor conditions were 1.16, 1.11 and 1.37, respectively. Rangeland degradation significantly lowered above- and belowground phytomass production as well as the water-use efficiency. The mean WUE (root production included) were 4.79, 3.54 and 2.47 kg ha⁻¹ mm⁻¹ for rangelands in good, moderate and poor conditions, respectively. These water-use efficiency observations are among the few also including root production in its calculation. As a proportion of annual phytomass, litter fall of 7.17, 4.64 and 3.41% was obtained for rangelands in good, moderate and poor conditions, respectively. Increasing rangeland degradation increased the replacement of total root system by about 10 months and decomposition time of litter by 6 months.The importance of a well-established root system for sustainable production in the semi-arid rangelands cannot be overemphasized.