Materialphilia,biophilia, and sustainable use of the planet

SUMMARY

The intricate and complex relationships between transhumant pastoralists, livestock and environment at the high altitudes of Indian Central Himalaya has started to break down at an alarming rate. Some of the important factors attributed to this are depletion of grazing resources, commercialization of the rural economy, and integration of these communities with the mainstream of development through education and employment. Traditionally these livestock were assigned different roles in society depending upon their economic benefit and utility. The roles which once depended upon attitude to various risks, such as environmental, social and economic, have lost their significance due to changing of the production process. This paper gives an overview of the various types of roles the livestock played in the transhumant society, and how they are being replaced by the developmental process in the region, and whether the changes are sustainable for such remote regions in a developing country.     

Polyphenols and their influence on gut function and health in ruminants: a review

Polyphenols in plants can protect proteins from degradation and improve the efficiency of conversion of plant protein to animal protein (meat and milk), but can this be achieved in a way that is environmentally sustainable, profitable to the livestock farmer and is consistent with aspirations for improved livestock nutrition, health, welfare and product quality? Given that grazed and conserved forage is the bedrock of sustainable ruminant production, this paper attempts to consider what challenges are ahead in terms of enhancing productive efficiency, reducing the polluting footprint of livestock agriculture and alleviating the endemic parasitism that occurs with grazing animals.     

Towards sustainable land-use in the hills of Central Himalaya,India

SUMMARY

Over-population in relation to poor land productivity and cultivation in less fertile lands is resulting in land degradation and deforestation in UP hills. Growing demand of more food production and increasing need for more cash in hand have forced the hill people to cultivate all kinds of land, resulting in the denudation of land resources and soil erosion. These changes resulted in out migration of the area's human resource. A new management system for the revival of natural resources and the sustainable utilization of the area's human population and livestock has been proposed, involving active local participation in order to change the existing land-use to a system based on the soil fertility scale.     

Sustainable urban development: Policy framework for sustainable consumption and production

The environmental impact of consumption and production is diverse and wide-reaching: air, water and ground pollutants are emitted during different phases of a life cycle, natural resources are overexploited and ecosystems are degraded. Changing consumption patterns in Asia forecast major impacts from increased demand for electric and electronic goods, cars and processed and protein-rich food, as well as buildings. While some countries have adopted policy at a strategic level to promote sustainable consumption and production, most countries, in particular developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region, do not have a comprehensive policy on sustainable consumption and production but would have much to gain from building on this new approach. The aim of this paper is to elaborate on current theory and practice in the area of sustainable production and consumption focusing on sustainable urban development. The paper will: 1) analyse current policy thinking in the field of regional sustainable consumption and production; 2) identify issues for regional policy development in the same fields; and 3) propose regional public policy related to sustainable consumption and production patterns, such as improved energy efficiency and use of alternative energy.     

Livestock carrying capacity evaluation in an integrated farming system: A case study from the mid-hills of Nepal

The crop livestock integrated farming system practiced in hilly regions of developing countries largely depends on the ecosystem as a whole. More especifically, the livestock component of the farming system relies heavily on natural resources such as forest, grazing and agricultural land for the supply of feed and fodder. The importance of animals as agents of nutrient recycling, sources of rural energy in terms of draft power and fuel, as well as being major contributors to the farm economy, has resulted in an increased population of ruminants in these regions, creating a threat to the sustainability and productivity of these land resources. This paper is an attempt to evaluate the livestock carrying capacity of land resources and to formulate the optimum herd size compatible with the differently resourced farm categories within the sub-watershed region of the mid-hills in Nepal. Our analysis reveals that the livestock carrying capacity of the land resources at the watershed level is 11696 Livestock Units (LU), whereas current stocking is 12985 LU, suggesting an overstocking of 1289 LU at the watershed level. Total feed supply from different sources is 12668 mt/yr whereas current Total Digestive Nutrient (TDN) demand is 14060 mt/yr, a negative balance of 1393 mt/yr. The excess livestock at the sub-watershed level directly implies excess livestock holding, producing a poor nutritional status for the farm household. Linear programming analysis reveals that the farmers of large, medium and small category farms can optimize their livestock holding by a combination of 3 LU buffaloes and 4 LU goats, 2 LU buffaloes and 4 LU goats and 1 LU buffaloes and 4.4 LU goats, thus giving maximum return to the farm family without exerting pressure on fragile natural resources.     

Impacts of changes in rangeland management laws and policies on grazing flexibility and pastoral livelihoods in Inner Mongolia,China

Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of China and has a long history of pastoralism. It is a predominately arid and semi-arid region with annual precipitation of 20–500 mm from the west to east. Prior to intervention of modern rangeland management laws and policies, the pastoralists in Inner Mongolia responded to variability in ecological condition and patchiness of rangeland resources via flexible rangeland management. However, since the 1950s, some rangeland management laws and policies have affected the flexibility of rangeland management in Inner Mongolia. This study investigated the impacts of changes of rangeland management laws and policies on grazing flexibility in Inner Mongolia, and discussed whether it is desirable to allow flexibility of grazing management in Inner Mongolia, and what are the possible directions to encourage the flexibility. First, the study investigated the historical and current policies of rangeland management in Inner Mongolia from the perspective of property rights. Second, the study identified and analysed how some of the previous collectivisation and privatisation policies of the rangeland resources and livestock have affected grazing flexibility in this region. Third, this study discussed whether a higher level of flexibility of grazing management is desirable in Inner Mongolia and gave recommendations on the possible directions to encourage the flexibility of grazing management. The study drew on theories of rangeland management in Inner Mongolia, Mongolia and parts of Africa and has increased the understanding of grazing flexibility in Inner Mongolia. It is a step towards more sustainable rangeland management and development in Inner Mongolia.     

The bridge between diversity and adaptivity: Answering McIntosh and Jeffrey

SUMMARY

The emerging concept of industrial ecology (IE) has been applied in practice in few case studies on local/regional industrial recycling networks. Analogously to a natural ecosystem, the aim is to develop material cycles and energy cascades between local cooperative actors. An optimal resource basis of an industrial ecosystem is the sustainable use of local renewable natural resources. In this paper, we consider the region of North Karelia in Finland, with 19 municipalities, and hence somewhat expand the system boundaries of an industrial ecosystem case study. The current situation and two scenarios of municipal heating energy production are presented. The heating system consists of individual, district and electric heating. The heat production and related greenhouse gas emissions are considered. The current fuel use is based on imported oil and regional fuels (peat, wood wastes). Also, shares for co-production of heat and electricity (CHP) are shown. In scenario one, we assume the majority of the fuel basis in oil and absence of CHP. Scenario two illustrates nearly complete dependence on regional wood wastes and firewood with the current share of CHP. The North Karelia region provides the IE theory with a fruitful case study because the supply of waste fuels and local renewables is vast and waste utilisation technologies (CHP, fluidized bed burning) constitute a significant part of energy production. Implications of the applied scenario approach are discussed in the context of regional decision making and, in particular, for its implementation with the concepts of a regional environmental management system (EMS) and a regional industrial ecosystem management system (RIEMS).     

Learning from local knowledge: modeling the pastoral-nomadic range management of the Himba, Namibia.

It is widely accepted that successful grazing management strategies in semiarid ecosystems need to be adapted to the highly temporal and spatially heterogeneous forage production. Nevertheless, a full understanding of the key factors and processes for sustainable adaptive management has yet to be reached. The investigation of existing, successful range management systems by simulation models may help to derive general understanding and basic principles. The semi-nomadic Himba in northern Namibia applied a sophisticated management system until the mid-1990s which combined season-dependent pasture use (resulting in rainy-season pastures and dry-season pastures), preservation of reserves for drought and sanctions for rule breaking. A stochastic ecological simulation model has been developed here which represents the main aspects of this management system. With this model we analyze (1) which components of the traditional Himba strategy are essential for sustainability and (2) what happens to the state of the rangeland system under socioeconomic changes. This study shows that temporally and spatially heterogeneous pasture use yields higher productivity and quality of a pasture area than the pressure of homogeneous permanent grazing. Two aspects are of importance: (1) intra-annual heterogeneous use (resting of the dry-season pastures during the rainy season) and (2) interannual heterogeneous use (spatial extension of grazing in years of drought). This management system leads to an effective build-up and use of a buffer in the system: the reserve biomass (the non-photosynthetic reserve organs of the plants), an indicator for grazing and management history. Analyzing purchase as one form of socioeconomic change, we demonstrate that easier market access to purchase livestock may lead to a decline in vegetation quality. However, cattle production increases as long as rest periods on parts of the pasture during the rainy season are granted. Methodologically, we emphasize that simulation models offer an excellent framework for analyzing and depicting basic principles in sustainable range management derived from local knowledge. They provide the opportunity of testing whether these basic principles are also valid under different ecological and socioeconomic settings.     

Accounting for monogastric livestock as a driver in global land use and cover change assessments

Land systems are described based on various characteristics, including land cover composition and agricultural production. However, it is uncertain to what extent livestock, particularly monogastric livestock, determines land systems. We included monogastrics in a land system classification, and statistically analyzed the land cover composition and agricultural production of otherwise similar land systems with and without monogastric livestock. The results indicate that land systems with monogastrics are statistically different from their counterparts in the classification without monogastrics in terms of grassland area and crop yields, but are less different in terms of tree area, crop area, and ruminant livestock production. We then used a land systems map that includes monogastrics in the classification and a similar map that does not include monogastrics to project future changes in a novel manner that integrates livestock as a determinant of land systems. The results show that including monogastrics in otherwise similar projections yields less cropland intensification and more cropland expansion in several world regions, including Northern Africa and the Middle East. Other regions, such as Europe and Australia, were characterized by less decrease or more increase in tree area in the application with monogastrics, mainly due to the occurrence of open forests with monogastrics. This study prompts a call for improved characterization of land systems for land use and cover change (LUCC) assessments in order to better represent LUCC driven by monogastric livestock.     

喀斯特生态系统区典型县域的能值分析

应用能值理论和方法,以喀斯特生态系统区典型县石林为例,通过一系列的能值指标定量分析了该县1949—2003年的生态系统的能值流动,评价了该县自然环境生产和社会经济发展,为其制定可持续发展战略提供科学的指导。     

The evolving sedentary lifestyle among nomadic pastoralists in the humid zone of Nigeria: implications for land-use policy

SUMMARY

The humid zone of Nigeria has traditionally been considered unsuitable for extensive cattle production because of the prevalence of tsetse fly. Over the years, nomadic pastoralists, mainly Fulani, from the northern part of the country paid seasonal visits to this zone in search of pasture and water for their cattle during the dry season when the threat of the tsetse menace is less. The recent increase in the number of settled pastoralists has been associated with changing trends in the ecology and economy of the zone.

Relying on recent survey data, this paper attempts a systematic analysis of the adaptive strategies of the Fulani in pursuit of a sedentary lifestyle in the humid frontier of southwest Nigeria. Some of the adaptive strategies identified include: establishment of grazing orbits within a 20 km radius of their settlements, adjustment of herd size and structure, adoption of a multiple livelihood system, production of arable crops and appropriation of traditional social structures and kinship networks for herd management.

Long-term insecure land-holding arrangements, incessant seasonal bush burning for regeneration of pasture by the Fulani and the gradual destruction of the native forest cover are some of the problems arising from the sedentarisation of livestock production in the area. It was observed that the present land-use arrangement, even though it appears to guarantee the pastoralists security of tenure in the short term, is not sustainable in the long run, given the increasing commercialization of land in the area and rapid population growth. It was, therefore, concluded that government should put in place a land redistribution arrangement that will ensure secure land ownership by the Fulani. Development initiatives in the area should also focus on reinforcing those traditional practices of the Fulani that would guarantee a sustainable land-use system in the area.     

Potentialities,problems, policies and progress in modelling sustainable development: A dynamic,hierarchical approach

This paper discusses some of the potentials, problems, policies and progress in modelling sustainable development. After briefly describing ten approaches to modelling sustainable development, some of the methodological problems still to be resolved are addressed. It is then suggested that policies to promote sustainable development should operate at six different spatial levels connecting global, multinational, national, regional, local and individual. Attempting to model sustainable development in such a hierarchical manner is exceedingly difficult. One way of modelling sustainable development is to develop the concept of a sustainable corridor, combining ecological, economic and equity considerations in a hierarchical fashion and through space-time. A preliminary dynamic, hierarchical model is described connecting global and national patterns of development. Using global and national data for Scotland, the calibrated model, running under the business-as-usual scenario, shows that current development paths are unsustainable. It is shown that, by implementing a judicious choice of policies, a sustainable corridor for a global and a national system can be achieved. The ways in which this preliminary model can be developed to connect all six hierarchical levels are discussed.     

Exploring potential socio-ecological impacts of changes to the Loliondo Gamed Controlled Area,Northern Tanzania: the case of the pastoral village Ololosokwan

Recent plans to alter the Loliondo Game Controlled Area (GCA), a nature conservation area located in Northern Tanzania, would result in substantial reduction of rangelands in the region. We quantify the current and hypothetical levels of the aboveground Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (aHANPP) in one of the affected villages, and estimate the maximum exploitability rate of rangelands by livestock in the region. We find that the current aHANPP of the village amounts to 34–38% of the potential productivity, which could increase to 59–67% due to the altered GCA. On rangelands, livestock-induced aHANPP would increase from the current level of 30–34% to 54–61%, which is far above a maximum exploitability rate of 40–41%. Our results reveal that the intended changes to the Loliondo GCA will severely affect the current livelihood strategy of the Maasai, which is based on pastoralism.     

Participatory research and sustainable development in the Sahelo-Sudanian region

SUMMARY

A participatory research programme was conducted in the groundnut basin of Senegal, where there was a need to intensify the local farming systems. The research yielded a set of technical references and profitable innovations, which were introduced through specific development actions. The technology transfer aims at the establishment of sustainable farming systems and takes into account the climatic risks and innovation costs. Identification of research themes and implementation of results was based on various analyses: climatic analysis at regional level (establishment of climatic zones) and identification of constraints at farm level. Farmers' interests and the research results were combined to define suitable interventions for each surveyed farm, with the aim of increasing farm income and restoring soil fertility. The research also yielded elements for formulating an appropriate and realistic agricultural policy for the region. Clearly, the development of livestock farming activities is essential in bringing new economic life into the region and increasing the sustainability of farming systems in erratic climatic conditions.     

农业污染减排指标体系初步构建

控制和削减农业污染物排放总量是国家环境保护"十二五"规划的重点工作之一,但现行的环境管理及产排污量削减与控制技术中还没有完整的农业污染减排的指标体系。该文阐述了构建农业污染减排指标体系的基本原则和方法,综合考虑不同农业生产类型污染物产排过程的特点,从种植业、畜禽养殖业和水产养殖业3个方面初步构建农业污染减排指标体系,以期为研究农业主要污染物减排核算体系的关键参数和制定减排核算技术方法提供基础性技术支持。基于当前农业污染减排实施中可能存在的问题,对指标体系的进一步完善提出了相关建议。     

江西省农业可持续发展的生态安全评价

基于农业可持续发展状况建立江西省农业生态安全评价指标体系,采用聚类分析法将江西省农业生态安全度划分为不安全、较不安全、较安全和安全4个等级。从地域分异特征来看,环鄱区域生态系统遭受一定程度的破坏;赣南区域农业生态问题突出,农业生态安全性较差;赣中区域农业生态系统结构基本完整,农业生态安全状况较好。在11个地级市中吉安等6个地级市处于较安全等级,鹰潭等5个地级市处于较不安全等级。针对江西省农业可持续发展状况,探讨了农业生态安全体系建设问题。     

Seaweed for climate mitigation,wastewater treatment,bioenergy, bioplastic,biochar, food,pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics: a review

The development and recycling of biomass production can partly solve issues of energy, climate change, population growth, food and feed shortages, and environmental pollution. For instance, the use of seaweeds as feedstocks can reduce our reliance on fossil fuel resources, ensure the synthesis of cost-effective and eco-friendly products and biofuels, and develop sustainable biorefinery processes. Nonetheless, seaweeds use in several biorefineries is still in the infancy stage compared to terrestrial plants-based lignocellulosic biomass. Therefore, here we review seaweed biorefineries with focus on seaweed production, economical benefits, and seaweed use as feedstock for anaerobic digestion, biochar, bioplastics, crop health, food, livestock feed, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Globally, seaweeds could sequester between 61 and 268 megatonnes of carbon per year, with an average of 173 megatonnes. Nearly 90% of carbon is sequestered by exporting biomass to deep water, while the remaining 10% is buried in coastal sediments. 500 gigatonnes of seaweeds could replace nearly 40% of the current soy protein production. Seaweeds contain valuable bioactive molecules that could be applied as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiviral, antifungal, anticancer, contraceptive, anti-inflammatory, anti-coagulants, and in other cosmetics and skincare products.

     

Evaluation of the sustainable land use status of the North China Plain

The North China Plain is one of the most important production areas for wheat and maize in China, and also has the densest agricultural population in China. How to use and develop the limited land resources reasonably, and improve and protect them, have become issues of major concern. This paper is based on sustainability theory, reviewing the fundamental principles of sustainability, and developing an index system with which to evaluate the sustainability status of land use. We also use this method to evaluate the land-use status of the North China Plain and to analyze current factors affecting sustainable land use in this area. In addition, we propose a specific method for evaluating sustainable land use.     

Integrated river basin management in rapidly urbanizing areas: a case of Shenzhen, China

The rapid urbanization of China is causing a burden on their water resources and hindering their sustainable development. This paper analyzes effective methods to integrated river basin management (IRBM) using Longgang River basin of Shenzhen as an example, which is the city with the fastest rate of urbanization in China and even the whole world. Over the past 20 years, China has undergone a population boom due to the increase of immigrant workers and rapid development of laborintensive industries, which led to the sharp increase of water consumption and sewage discharge. However, the construction of the water infrastructure is still lagging far behind the environmental and social development, with only 32.7% of sewage in the district being treated. Currently, every water quality indicator of the Longgang River basin was unable to meet the required corresponding environmental standards, which further aggravated the water shortages of the region. Thus, an analytical framework is proposed to address the IRBM of the study area. The problems with the current management system include the lack of decentralization in decision-making, lack of enforcement with redundant plans, weak management capacity, financial inadequacy, and a poor system of stakeholder participation. In light of the principles of IRBM and the situation of the region, corresponding measures are put forward, including an increase of power given to sub-district offices, fewer but more feasible plans, capacity building among stakeholders, a combination of planning and marketing for overcoming financial inadequacy, and profound reform in the public participation system. The framework and institutional suggestions could inform similar processes in other representative river basins.     

Understanding the distribution of cattle production systems in the South American Chaco

ABSTRACT

Impacts of cattle production vary among different production systems, but data on their distribution is scarce for most world regions. In this work, we combine datasets on cattle vaccination locations and land cover in a regression framework to define and map major cattle production systems in the Argentinean Dry Chaco. We also explore how cattle occurrence relates to spatial determinants. Results indicate that the region harbors about 5.5 million heads. Cattle density was mainly described by the share of pasture (69.9%), cropland (28.1%) and aridity (23.8%). We identified 12-major cattle production systems: six cow-calf, three whole-cycle, and three fattening systems. Of these, four systems had high woodland cover (>85%). Data generated is available in a website. Understanding the distribution of cattle production systems is important to assess the environmental impacts of beef production at broad scales. Integrating vaccination data with land-cover information provides a promising avenue to identify livestock systems.