Framing frontier governance through territorial processes in the Brazilian Amazon

The policy intervention to enforce property rights and control deforestation frontiers is often undermined in the Brazilian Amazon, and this intervention problem is considered to be stemming from weak frontier governance. However, little has been understood how this governance can be strengthened in the context of social change. Drawing on a literature review of the Amazon development and sociological studies of space, this article argues that frontier governance is characterised by the co-generation of two territorial processes: the official settlement implementation (physical spacing) and the spontaneous settlers' shaping of the vernacular community (production of place). The co-generation process opens new deliberative space where both state and non-state actors claim authority over the intervention. Therefore, strengthening frontier governance involves empowering this emerging authority to be able to promote public engagement with sustainable development on the frontier. The article uses the regional history and ethnographic material collected in the southeast of Pará to illustrate the discussion.     

An ecological analysis of predominant land uses in the Brazilian Amazon

Summary The land uses that now predominate in Brazil's Amazon Region are unlikely to produce sustainable yields. They also tend to close off potentially sustainable alternative uses. Cattle pasture — either productive or abandoned — now occupies most deforested land. Small farmers plant pasture after using the land for a year or two under annual crops, while large cattle ranches plant pasture directly after clearing. The principal motive for planting pasture is often its low cost and high effectiveness as a means of securing speculative land claims — not beef production.Pasture and cattle yields are low and, after use for about a decade, the planted grasses are out-competed by secondary forest species or inedible grasses. Depletion of available phosphorus in the soil is a major cause of yield decline; Brazil's relatively modest phosphorus deposits, virtually all of which are outside of Amazonia, make fertiliser use not feasible for the vast areas now rapidly being converted to pasture. Converting a substantial portion of Amazonia to pasture would have potential climatic effects. Areas that can be planted in annual and perennial crops are restrained by world markets, as well as by soil quality and Brazil's limited stocks of the inputs needed for intensive agriculture.Recent initiatives for agricultural-ecological in Brazil's Amaoznian states could be a first step toward more rational land use. Immediate measures are needed to slow deforestation, to discourage unsustainable uses and to make sustainable alternatives profitable.Professor Philip Fearnside is currently Research Professor in the Department of Ecology at the National Institute for Research in the Amazon. The paper has been modified from an earlier version presented at the International Symposium on Alternatives to Deforestation held in Belém, Pará, Brazil in January 1988.     

Social-environmental certification: Sustainable development and competitiveness in the mineral industry of the Brazilian Amazon

This article examines the relationship between increased metal mining and sustainable development in the eastern section of the Amazonian state of Pará in Brazil. Since the early 1980s, mining has grown rapidly in Pará and local mining operations have become global leaders in the production of iron, manganese, bauxite, aluminum, gold, copper and — in the near future — nickel. To stay in tune with global standards, these companies have committed themselves to the principles of sustainability and have obtained certification for both social and environmental aspects of their activities. The article looks into whether such certification is linked to sustainable development of the relatively poor regions where these companies operate. The main findings are that: (1) there is a visible association between certification and improved performance by the companies, but not with the development of nearby areas; and (2) social‐environmental certification processes place more emphasis on ecological variables than on social ones.     

Abandoned artisanal gold mines in the Brazilian Amazon: A legacy of mercury pollution

The modern gold rush in the Brazilian Amazon attracted millions of people to become artisanal miners in order to escape complete social marginalization. The rudimentary nature of artisanal mining activities often generates a legacy of extensive environmental degradation,both during operations and well after mining activities have ceased. One of the most significant environmental impacts is derived from the use of mercury (Hg), which is illegal for use in gold amalgamation in Brazil, but continues to be the preferred method employed by artisanal gold miners. The general population is unaware of the capricious nature of mercury and artisanal mining activities. Moreover, individuals in positions of political or economic infiuence tend to be negatively biased towards artisanal mining and government policies do not effectively address the realities of these activities. Affected communities have consequently been ignored,and mistrust towards outside parties is high. Not surprisingly, miners are suspicious of and unlikely to employ externally derived solutions to reduce mercury emissions. This article reviews the use of mercury in artisanal mining and highlights the role miners, governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have played in communicating facts, perpetuating myths and deriving solutions for mercury pollution. This article also raises some key concerns that must be addressed to understand the behaviour of mercury in the environment and identifies solutions for problems facing communities where artisanal gold mining operations have been abandoned.     

Technical and Institutional Innovation in Agroforestry for Protected Areas Management in the Brazilian Amazon: Opportunities and Limitations

Tropical forest countries are struggling with the partially conflicting policy objectives of socioeconomic development, forest conservation, and safeguarding the livelihoods of local forest-dependent people. We worked with communities in the lower Tapajós region of the central Brazilian Amazon for over 10 years to understand their traditional and present land use practices, the constraints, and decision making processes imposed by their biophysical, socioeconomic, and political environment, and to facilitate development trajectories to improve the livelihoods of forest communities while conserving the forest on the farms and in the larger landscape. The work focused on riverine communities initially in the Tapajós National Forest and then in the Tapajós–Arapiuns Extractive Reserve. These communities have a century-old tradition of planting rubber agroforests which despite their abandonment during the 1990s still widely characterize the vegetation of the river banks, especially in the two protected areas where they are safe from the recent expansion of mechanized rice and soybean agriculture. The project evolved from the capacity-building of communities in techniques to increase the productivity of the rubber agroforests without breaking their low-input and low-risk logic, to the establishment of a community enterprise that allowed reserve inhabitants to reforest their own land with tree species of their choice and sell reforestation (not carbon) credits to local timber companies while retaining the ownership of the trees. By making land use practices economically more viable and ecologically more appropriate for protected areas, the project shows ways to strengthen the system of extractive and sustainable development reserves that protects millions of hectares of Amazon forest with the consent of the communities that inhabit them.     

Improving the Urban Stream Restoration Effort: Identifying Critical Form and Processes Relationships

Stream restoration projects are often based on morphological form or stream type and, as a result, there needs to be a clear tie established between form and function of the stream. An examination of the literature identifies numerous relationships in naturally forming streams that link morphologic form and stream processes. Urban stream restoration designs often work around infrastructure and incorporate bank stabilization and grade control structures. Because of these imposed constraints and highly altered hydrologic and sediment discharge regimens, the design of urban channel projects is rather unclear. In this paper, we examine the state of the art in relationships between form and processes, the strengths and weaknesses of these existing relationships, and the current lack of understanding in applying these relationships in the urban environment. In particular, we identify relationships that are critical to urban stream restoration projects and provide recommendations for future research into how this information can be used to improve urban stream restoration design. It is also suggested that improving the success of urban restoration projects requires further investigation into incorporating process-based methodologies, which can potentially reduce ambiguity in the design and the necessity of using an abundant amount of in-stream structures.     

乡村旅游市场调查与市场分析

在乡村旅游课题研究的基础上,提出了“三重型”乡村旅游市场调查方法,并对乡村旅游市场特点进行了分析。以福建省永春县乡村旅游案例进行实证研究,旨在指导和促进我国日益火热的乡村旅游发展。     

传统平原农区乡村多元分化与新型城乡形态建设路径研究

构建新型城乡形态是推进城乡融合的重要着力点。基于产业结构专门化水平和乡村性指数的定量测度,对苏北地区县域乡村类型及差异化城乡形态建设路径进行了探索。结果表明:苏北地区农业主导型、工业主导型、商旅服务型和均衡发展型县域分别占12%、16%、12%和60%;弱乡村性县域呈分散组团分布,中等乡村性县域沿淮河生态经济走廊呈东西轴向延伸,强乡村性县域边缘性特征明显。据此,从现代农业发展、新型工业支撑、生态绿色创新、三产融合互动等方面提出新型城乡形态建设路径。     

试论加强城乡结合部的环境保护

随着我国城市化进程的不断加快，城乡结合部经济、社会飞速发展。在发展过程中，城乡结合部环境污染和资源破坏问题日益突出，为此，必须完善城乡结合部环境保护立法和执法，切实做好环境规划工作，实现环境保护与经济、社会的协调发展。     

论信息与城乡一体化

首先重新归纳了城乡一体化的内涵,然后通过具体分析信息与城乡经济发展、信息与三大市场、信息与城乡生态环境建设、信息与城乡社会、文化融合等来阐述了信息推进城乡一体化进程的作用机理,最后提出6条建议来促进城乡一体化.     

论城市环境基础设施市场化运营中的政府规制

本文分别从市场准入、价格、服务质量以及风险等方面，对城市环境基础设施市场化运营中的政府规制进行了具体分析。     

土地市场景气指标体系及评价模型的建立

以徐州市为例建立了土地市场景气指标体系及评价模型。首先在建立指标体系时运用定性的方法对大量指标进行了初选,然后用主成分分析法确定土地市场景气指标体系,并运用层次分析法确定各指标的权重。在建立景气评价模型时,分析了传统扩散指数模型的缺陷,提出了合理的改进模型。同时,针对扩散指数与合成指数反映的土地市场运行状况之间的差异,引入了精度比较概念,在此基础上选择精度较高的指数进行土地市场景气状况评价。最后运用建立的评价模型对徐州市2001-2006年土地市场景气状况进行了评价,并对2007年徐州市土地市场运行状况进行了预测。分析表明,建立的景气指标体系及其评价模型能够较准确地评价和预测土地市场景气状况．     

苏州乡村旅游客源市场特征及开发对策

通过市场抽样调查方法，分析了苏州市乡村旅游客源市场结构特征、乡村旅游者出游行为特征和乡村旅游者需求偏好特征。研究结果表明，苏州市乡村旅游客源市场以近距离为主，苏州本市居民和上海构成一级客源市场，社会中上层群体、家庭、城市学生和城市离退休人员是苏州乡村旅游四类重点细分市场，苏州乡村旅游客源市场需求表现出由初级化向高级化发展的趋势，并提出相应的开发对策。     

山东省统筹城乡人口布局发展研究

探讨了建国后山东城乡人口布局的历史演变特征,分析了自然因子和人文因子对城乡人口空间布局的影响,对城乡人口年龄结构、经济结构和文化素质结构进行了比较分析。通过分析得出,建国以后山东城乡人口布局在城市化进程中不断优化,特别是改革开放以后,城乡人口布局演变加快,说明经济快速发展成为推动城乡人口布局变动的主要因素。     

云南境内金沙江流域城乡关系与协调发展战略研究

以金沙江流域为例,从城镇化发展及其辐射影响、城乡经济发展差别、城乡居民生活水平、城乡生产要素的流动与配置、城乡商品流通、城乡社会发展改革、城乡公共服务设施、城乡社会保障8个方面对金沙江流域城乡关系进行了分析,总结了限制城乡区域协调发展的思想观念、政策、城市发展和农村发展基础等方面的因素。基于金沙江流域城乡区域协调发展的基础和前景,提出了加快城镇及农村村镇建设发展、推进农业产业化发展进程、完善城乡基础交通网络、建设农村社会公共服务设施体系、加快实施城乡生态建设工程的五大战略,以及保障实施的政策建议与措施。     

烟台地区县域经济发展与城乡统筹

县域经济是烟台地区经济的主体,对增加农民收入、缩小城乡差距、推进城乡社会经济的统筹与协调发展发挥了重要作用.从分析烟台地区城乡收入差距现状及其变化特点入手,利用SPSS11.0统计分析软件,通过多元回归分析,探讨了城乡差异与县域经济发展、城市化水平、工业化程度等诸因素间的关系.结果表明,在影响城乡差距的诸多因素中,县域经济的作用是最为直接和明显的.最后,就发展县域经济、缩小城乡差别,实现城乡统筹、协调发展的对策进行了深入探讨.