Attitudes Toward Wilderness Study Areas: A Survey of Six Southeastern Utah Counties

Southeastern Utah is a region of world-renowned red-rock sandstone formations, large tracts of federal public land, rural communities centered on agriculture and extractive industries, and is often at the epicenter of environmental protection efforts in the western United States. Environmental groups have proposed formal Wilderness designations for much of the regions public land—proposals that have been actively fought by rural community leaders who do not want large areas locked-up from traditional livelihood and recreational uses. The debate over wilderness designation in the region has been characterized in the media as one that is particularly contentious and polarizing. A survey of southeastern Utah residents was conducted in order to better understand this conflict. The survey focused on attitudes toward wilderness designation and management. We found that residents of southeastern Utah have negative attitudes towards the designation and management of Wilderness Study Areas. We propose that these attitudes should be carefully considered and engaged in future policy and management decisions. We suggest that negative opinions expressed by residents of southeastern Utah are not directed primarily at the concept of environmental protection but rather at the strong perception that these programs and initiatives have been carried out in a heavy-handed manner and dominated by outside influences that have overwhelmed local voices.     

Environmental problem-solving and land-use management: A proposed structure for Australia

A three-tiered structure of land-use and environmental management is here proposed for Australia. The structure is based on the idea that environment means the environment of people, and that environmental problems arise when a change in the interaction between people and their environment leads to conflicts about the use of land and resources. The heterogeneity of society means that a range of human aspirations and value systems must be satisfied by environmental managers. Existing methods of environmental management fail to achieve these objectives, due to inadequate perception of environmental problems by decision-makers, and the inability of currently available impact assessment techniques to resolve human conflicts associated with the use of land and resources. The main work of planning and managing land use and the environment would be carried out by regional authorities, supported by federal and state policy. Examples are given of moves towards regional administration in England and Wales, Western Australia, Australia and New Zealand. Community participation in the decision-making process is essential and can be achieved by electoral representation to the authoritative bodies and through procedures that ensure informed public comment on planning proposals.     

Sewage as a resource: a case study of afforestation using sewage irrigation in Jaipur,Rajasthan, India

Summary Human beings use huge quantities of water every day for drinking, cleaning and various cultural functions and dispose of it as wastewater within sewage. With increase in population, the magnitude of this waste is multiplying enormously and beyond the recycling capacity of local ecosystems to become a major health and environmental hazard. Re-use of wastewater for afforestation purposes in the form of sewage silviculture combines the dual benefit of water conservation with environmental sanitation. Such experiments are being carried out at the World Forest Arboretum in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Biological treatment of the sewage before application, to improve its irrigational quality, to remove harmful chemicals and to prevent the risk of these passing into the human food chain is being undertaken. The aquatic weeds Lemna and Eichhornia are being used to purify the wastewater. The technique is both economically viable and ecologically sustainable.Dr Rajiv K. Sinha is assistant professor in Human Ecology at the University of Rajasthan.     

The challenge of sustainable tourism

The paradigm of sustainable tourism is discussed in terms of analysing what it actually means. Certain questions are raised and these include the means of its measurement, the question of intergenerational impacts and how these may be assessed, the determination of what exactly is meant by environment, the aspect of tourism as an industry and, with specific reference to tourism in the developing world, the potential for neocolonialism. It is argued that, although sustainable tourism may be a worthwhile goal, inherent problems in the definition and measurement of its success make it an elusive if not academic target. The challenge of sustainable tourism is to see it in a broader context as but one tool of development and to ensure that it is examined in the context of the local community as well as a global perspective.     

Naturalness In Biological Conservation

Conservation scientists are arguing whether naturalness provides a reasonable imperative for conservation. To clarify this debate and the interpretation of the term natural, I analyze three management strategies – ecosystem preservation, ecosystem restoration, and ecosystem engineering – with respect to the naturalness of their outcomes. This analysis consists in two parts. First, the ambiguous term natural is defined in a variety of ways, including (1) naturalness as that which is part of nature, (2) naturalness as a contrast to artifactuality, (3) naturalness as an historical independence from human actions, and (4) naturalness as possession of certain properties. After that, I analyze the different conceptions with respect to their implications for the three management strategies. The main conclusion is that there exists no single conception of naturalness that could distinguish between the outcomes of the three management methods. Therefore, as long as the outcomes of the different methods are regarded as being of a different value in conservation, we should either abandon the idea of naturalness as the guiding concept in conservation or use the term natural only in the ways that take both its historical and feature dependent meanings into consideration.     

Towards a new system of environmental governance

Summary Planning, the visible hand of government, is the resource allocation sphere that has the potential to prevent destructive conflict over resources, by creating a long term, rational, ethics-based and participatory decision-making process. Other public decision-making systems (the market, legal and political arenas), by their very nature, cannot adequately protect the environment or ensure sustainable development. However, as presently conceived, Planning⁺ cannot do so either. Reform has been impeded by an ideological bias which defines Planning as diametrically opposed to the market, such that creative alternatives to the two systems of social choice have not been developed.To address this problem, a new tri-partite structure of environmental governance is proposed. Based on an ecofeminist paradigm, it is primarily designed to constrain the potential for the abuse of power, and allow society to address environmental (ethical) as well as social (distributional) and economic (efficiency) issues. In a sense, it rationalises the social decision-making system by re-aligning rights, wants and needs with the appropriate decision-making forum (representative democracy, the market and Planning respectively). The model exposes the need to redesign all these institutions so that they better correspond to their logical functions within the resource allocation system. However, this paper focuses on the Planning system itself.Janis Birkeland was an attorney, architect and planner in San Francisco, USA. She now teaches at the Department of Architecture, University of Tasmania. This article is drawn from a longer 1990 paper Myths and Realities of Planning and Resource Allocation (Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania), which was presented at the Socialist Scholars' Conference, Melbourne, 18th July, 1991.     

Crisis,argument, and agriculture

Scholarly critics such as Wendell Berry, as well as the popular media, frequently refer to problems associated with agriculture as the agricultural crisis or the farm crisis. Despite the identification of a problem or problems as symptomatic of this crisis, scant attention is paid to why the situation is a social crisis as opposed to a problem, tragedy, trend, or simple change in the structure of agriculture. This paper analyzes the use of social crisis as applied to the state of modern agriculture and, by extension, other crises such as those in legitimation and morality. It concludes that, although important social values associated with farming as a way of life may be in danger of being lost, the crisis we may be facing with respect to agriculture is more properly understood as a sociopolitical crisis that has broader implications than simply the loss of farms or traditional farming values. Indeed, what is in danger of being lost is our ability to affect a secure and sustainable political-economic system.     

Educating the South Pacific about the environment

Summary Environmental education is currently fashionable. However, some educators are viewing it with suspicion as a trendy subject which will disrupt their carefully planned syllabii which are geared largely towards the passing of examinations. In the South Pacific there have been a number of attempts to increase people's awareness of their surroundings and to build up a respect for what is loosely termed our physical environment. These programmes have included, increasing the amount of environmental examples in a range of primary and secondary school subjects, formal courses in environmental planning at the tertiary level, and conservation messages through the media.Dr Jenny Bryant is a Lecturer in Geography at the University of the South Pacific, and recently Secretary, now Acting Chairperson, of the South Pacific Action Committee for Human Ecology and the Environment (SPACHEE).     

Restoration and protection of aqueous environments by utilizing aquatic organisms

Summary Past and current uncontrolled dumping, land application and accidental spills of recalcitrant, toxic environmental pollutants such as DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pose a continued world-wide environmental threat, in particular to aquatic environments. Bioaccumulative contaminants are rapidly absorbed out of water-borne ambient environments and concentrated in the tissues of living aquatic organisms at concentrations that can range from thousands to millions of times greater than levels in the ambient environment. These absorbed levels are high enough to cause dysfunction in the organisms and potential harmful effects to humans. An established technology capable of remediating the low contaminant levels originating in the ambient aquatic environment does not currently exist. This paper proposes the macro-bioremediation process whereby certain fish and other macroscopic aquatic organisms could be used to filter, concentrate and remove bioaccumulative contaminants from polluted aqueous systems. Contaminant removal would involve the harvesting and subsequent restocking of aquatic organisms capable of bioaccumulating high contaminant levels in relatively short time periods. Tissues of harvested organisms could be composted with specialized fungus and bacteria to fully degrade the recalcitrant contaminants. The macro-bioremediation process could be used at numerous geographic locations for the restoration of natural aquatic environments, supplemental wetlands treatment and for waste-water, hazardous waste and sludge treatment augmentation.     

Socio-economic dynamics of forest loss in rural agro-ecosystems

Summary Agro-ecosystems in many of the developing economies are coming under increased pressure, especially in areas where population demands, weak economic growth, and debt burdens, are resulting in mass rural poverty and assault on environmental resources. The loss of forests is a double-edge blow for most rural and agricultural systems. The forests provide the resource substitutes for the many manufactured products which are scarce or physically and economically inaccessible, and they also provide congenial environments which support rural food systems by way of productive agricultural land opportunities.In many of the rural areas of Africa, in particular, forest stability is more threatened, and this requires both local and external responses to make sustainable development a possibility. This paper, which is based on a field study in Ghana by the author, identifies emerging socio-economic constraints in woodfuel systems in environments where demands on forest ecosystems are high. The degree to which such local socio-economic processes affect stability of forest ecosystems, and the conditions within which the research information could assist planners and resource managers towards sustainable use of forest ecosystems are analysed.Dr William Y. Osei was born in Ghana where he obtained a BA (Hons) Geography from the University of Ghana. He subsequently obtained an MA from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada and a PhD from the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada. With teaching experience in Geography at the Canadian universities of Western Ontario, Brandon and Victoria, he currently holds the position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Algoma University College.     

Ethics and the Genetic Engineering of Food Animals

Biotechnology applied to traditional foodanimals raises ethical issues in three distinctcategories. First are a series of issues that arise inthe transformation of pigs, sheep, cattle and otherdomesticated farm animals for purposes that deviatesubstantially from food production, including forxenotransplantation or production of pharmaceuticals.Ethical analysis of these issues must draw upon theresources of medical ethics; categorizing them asagricultural biotechnologies is misleading. The secondseries of issues relate to animal welfare. Althoughone can stipulate a number of different philosophicalfoundations for the ethical assessment of welfare,most either converge on Bernard Rollins principle ofwelfare conservation (Rollin, 1995), or devolve intodebates over the ethical significance of animaltelos or species integrity. The principle of welfareconservation prohibits disfunctional geneticengineering of food animals, but would permit alteringanimals biological functions, especially when (as inmaking animals less susceptable to pain or suffering)do so improves an individual animals well being.Objections to precisely this last form of geneticengineering stress telos or species integrity asconstraints on modification of animals, and thisrepresents the third class of ethical issues. Most whohave formulated such arguments have failed to developcoherent positions, but the notion of species being,derived from the 19th century German tradition,presents a promising way to analyze the basis forresisting the transformation of animal natures.     

Ecological principles,biodiversity, and the electric utility industry

The synthetic field of conservation biology uses principles derived from many different disciplines to address biodiversity issues. Many of these principles have come from ecology, and two simple ones that seem to relate to many issues involving the utility industry are: (1) Everything is interconnected (and should usually stay that way), and (2) We can never do merely one thing. The first principle can be applied to both the biotic and physical environments that are impacted by industrial activities. Habitat fragmentation and the loss of physical and biotic connectedness that results are frequently associated with transmission rights-of-way. These problems can be reduced—or even turned into conservation benefits—by careful planning and creative management. The second principle applies to the utility industry's programs to deal with carbon released by burning fossil fuels. Ecological knowledge can allow these programs to contribute to the preservation of biodiversity in addition to addressing a pollution problem. Without careful ecological analyses, industry could easily create new problems while implementing solutions to old ones.     

Mangrove mapping in Ecuador: The impact of shrimp pond construction

A cooperative mangrove mapping project between the Ecuadorian Center for Remote Sensing (CLIRSEN) and the University of Delaware was begun in August 1982. The objectives of the project were to create historical maps of mangrove ecosystem extent and change, while transferring aerial photographic interpretation techniques to Ecuadorian personnel. The result of this cooperation was a series of three 125,000 scale maps of historical mangrove extent and change from 1966 to 1982 in the southern Gulf of Guayaquil. This multitemporal study showed a 16% decrease in mangrove extent and a 27% increase in shrimp pond development. If these rates of change prevail into the future, mangroves in Ecuador will reach parity with shrimp ponds in 1984 and completely disappear by mid-1990. Recognizing the significance of this loss to shellfish and fish production along the coast, Ecuadorian scientists at CLIRSEN have subsequently initiated a nationwide mangrove mapping program to create a historical base for future mangrove management strategies.     

Wastewater reuse in Muslim countries: An Islamic perspective

Recycling wastewater seems to have become a highly useful technique for meeting the shortage of fresh water in all parts of the world. It seems all the more important for Muslim countries because a large number of these countries face acute fresh water shortage. This paper views the problem from an Islamic viewpoint, that is, in the light of the Qur'n, theSunnah, andFiqh works.In Islamic law, water is classified into three categories oftahr,thir, andmutanajjis. The last two categories can be transmuted intotahr water and thus may be used for all mundane as well as religious purposes if they are assimilated into the overall supply oftahr water. This would be lawful from the Islamic viewpoint even without treating the water. To make use of modern technology in order to recycle wastewater effluents after treatment seems quite in keeping with the spirit and letter of the Islamic teachings.     

Environmental accounting: Neo-classical framework or alternative?

Summary Traditional environmental accounting framework is based on a neo-classical economic theory that treats environmental assets and liabilities as if their contribution to economic acitivity were similar to that of conventional, marketed assets and liabilities. The environment is viewed as a producer of outputs consumed by other productive economic sectors. It is proposed in this article that the environment is not only a producer of outputs, but also an output itself. The environment requires not only its protection, but importantly its continual improvement. Under this framework environmental accounting as a discipline is split into two categories: corporate environmental accounting and social environmental accounting. Two information streams exist under this framework: products-oriented information and environment-oriented information.Dr Simon S. Gao is a Senior Lecturer in the Accounting and Finance Division of the Business School at Staffordshire University. He obtained a BA in Economics in 1993, and an MA in Accounting and Finance, in 1987, both from Shaanxi Institute of Finance and Economics, China. He was recently awarded a PhD from Faculty of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam (The Netherlands). His research intersts include among others, environmental accounting and reporting, environmental cost and risk analysis, and environmental asset management. He has published papers widely on accounting and finance issues.     

A course in Environmental Planning and Management

Summary This paper describes a 13-weeks, third-year course in Environmental Planning and Management developed and taught by the authors. Initiated in 1969, the course consists of a mix of lectures, seminars, workshop/laboratory sessions and field-based projects. The objectives of the course are for students: to become aware of the need for, and the complexities of, environmental management; to be able to criticise constructively work done by environmental agencies and consultants, managers and decision makers; and to learn and apply some of the methods and techniques used in environmental management.Topics covered by the current syllabus are: concepts of resource and environment; constitutional aspects; international law and the environment; Australian and Canadian environmental legislation and agencies; human manipulation of ecosystems; energy subsidies; modification of biogeochemical cycles; population dynamics and cropping; fisheries; national parks and reserves—policies in different countries; international heritage areas; environmental assessment (including impact assessment, land evaluation, land capability and land suitability assessment); and regional, integrated land-use and environmental planning and management. Techniques taught include: field surveys and interviewing; laboratory analysis of selected water quality, sediment and soil parameters including nutrient concentrations, heavy metal and pesticide residues; and for some students, applications of geographic information systems (GIS) technology following preceding GIS courses.A major problem is selecting the most appropriate mix between the social and natural sciences—appropriate, first in terms of students' heterogeneous skills and backgrounds, and second, in terms of understanding the causes of environmental problems and issues, and devising practicable solutions.     

Environmental perceptions of Irish and Bavarian pupils: an empirical study

The present study deals with the evaluation of environmental/ecological perceptions of secondary school pupils. It has two major objectives. Firstly, to administer a measurement instrument to explore ecological/environmental perceptions for a sample of approximately 900 Irish secondary school pupils aged between 12 and 16 years. The operation and use of three subscales, environmental behaviour, utilization of nature and consideration for conservation, was based on a previous study undertaken in Bavaria, but its structure, dimensionality and reliability was further assessed using psychometric procedures. Secondly, the study monitored the differences in these dimensions between Irish and Bavarian pupils. Common items within the subscale structure were selected from both samples to form a truncated item selection and to function subsequently as the basis for the final factor analysis applied to the combined Irish–Bavarian sample. Comparisons on this basis indicated substantial differences in attitudes and environmental behaviour between pupils from both regions: the Irish sample favoured less conservational values, but more patronage for the utilization of nature and it revealed less willingness to take and plan action in individual environmental behaviour. In addition, the Irish sample disclosed a significantly greater gender difference in the two subscales.     

Labelling ecofriendly products in india — an emerging option for environmental production

Summary The labelling of ecofriendly products has been introduced in a number of developed countries to assist in the protection of the environment. Recently, developing countries like India, have introduced the scheme. This paper examines the steps involved in establishing the Indian Ecomark. For the successful implementation of the scheme the effective coordination of a number of agencies is necessary. Consumers, as well as manufacturers, have to be educated in the longterm benefits of the scheme. Initiatives necessary for the successful implementation of Ecomark have been highlighted.Mr S. S. Arvind is a member of faculty at the Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology, at the Administrative Staff College of India. He is currently on secondment to the Centre for Technology Development, Clark University, 950, Main Street, Worcester MA 01610-1477, USA. Mr E.V. Muley is a scientist working for the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110003, India.     

Non-Point-Source Impacts on Stream Nutrient Concentrations Along a Forest to Urban Gradient

We conducted statistical analyses of a 10-year record of stream nutrient and sediment concentrations for 17 streams in the greater Seattle region to determine the impact of urban non-point-source pollutants on stream water quality. These catchments are dominated by either urban (22–87%) or forest (6–73%) land cover, with no major nutrient point sources. Stream water phosphorus concentrations were moderately strongly (r²=0.58) correlated with catchment land-cover type, whereas nitrogen concentrations were weakly (r²=0.19) and nonsignificantly (at < 0.05) correlated with land cover. The most urban streams had, on average, 95% higher total phosphorus (TP) and 122% higher soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and 71% higher turbidity than the most forested streams. Nitrate (NO₃), ammonium (NH₄), and total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations did not vary significantly with land cover. These results suggest that urbanization markedly increased stream phosphorus concentrations and modestly increased nitrogen concentrations. However, nutrient concentrations in Seattle region urban streams are significantly less than those previously reported for agricultural area streams.     

Uncertainties associated with the assessment of vegetation

The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) attempts to portray the current character of a given ecosystem. This provides a Baseline against which future possible changes can be assessed. Ecosystems, however, are dynamic and in a constant state of change. Consequently, data representing a single year reflect conditions only for that year and can be misleading if compared against any other year. In addition to this temporal variation, considerable spacial variation exists in species composition and cover. Ample sampling is required to compensate for this heterogeneity. Variation, or background noise, can be minimized by the use of similarity indexes and sampling over a period of at least two years.