Biodiversity: gaps in knowledge

The Convention on Biological Diversity set conservation of biodiversity on the world agenda. Gaps in knowledge need to be addressed for actions to be effective and sustainable. Gaps include: species diversity, micro-organisms and their ecological roles, ecological and geographical status of species, human capacity to assess and forecast bio-ecological degradation. Requirements for global inventories call for worldwide collaboration. Criteria for setting priorities need to be formulated and agreed.Biodiversity in an eco-geographical region, the southern Mediterranean, is discussed as a case study. Outlines of national actions to contribute to world endeavor are outlined.     

Environmental management: An experiment in orientation in India

Summary Environmental management is a most critical input for achieving ecologically sound and balanced economic growth. It is essential that policy-makers and administrators accept the significance, principles and practices of environmental management, otherwise implementation of projects will not include the environmental protection measures. Environmental management training programmes for decision-makers are, therefore, essential. In India, The Department of Environment has initiated workshop for top level managers for sensitizing them to environmental management concepts. The experience in organizing and conducting such programmes may be of value to organizations in other developing countries, and is summarised in this paper.     

Forest Conflict in Thailand: Northern Minorities in Focus

This paper aims at exploring the local background of and solutions to the forest conflict in upland areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, who are called hill tribes, in northern Thailand. A so-called hill tribe problem has been officially identified as a result of the slash-and-burn cultivation and other perceived problems, such as opium poppy cultivation, illegal immigration, and the suspicion of disloyalty to the state. This has created distrust and tension between the groups and authorities. The local conflict has recently been related to the dilemma of conserving the forest from all human interference, while many people live and make their livelihood within and adjacent to the protected areas. Furthermore, as the results imply, strictly protected areas and reforestation have also increased the competition over land and natural resources and, thereby, the likelihood of local conflicts. The scarcity and pollution of water, illegal logging, and poor fire control have contributed to the conflicts between local communities. The conflicts between the local communities and officials have been nourished by political and public discussions. Using definitions and terms with negative connotations and ignoring the heterogeneity between the groups or labeling some groups as malevolent have increased distrust and strengthened existing stereotypical images. Conflict resolution starts with efforts toward better mutual understanding, and changes in structures and attitudes are necessary. Local cooperation, utilization of traditional methods, and local institutions are central to conflict solving.     

Patterns in groundwater quality: Selected observations in Iowa

Groundwater quality in Iowa varies with depth, location, ownership of well, time of sampling, and geologic features. Samples from deep wells (>30.48 m or 100 ft) are highly mineralized with sulfates and carbonates (calcium and magnesium), whereas the mineral content in samples from shallow wells (<30.48 m or 100 ft) is relatively much lower. Nitrate as a percent of dissolved solids is negligible in samples from deep wells and reaches as high as 3 to 5% in samples from shallow wells. Shallow wells, in particular non-public wells, are highly susceptible to nitrate contamination (with an average concentration of 27.8 mg/l) compared with any other category of wells studied. In shallow non-public wells, the concentration of nitrate from recent geologic deposits (31.61 mg/l) is more than twice the level found in corresponding public wells from similar deposits (13.35 mg/l). Shallow non-public wells are also subject to sharp seasonal fluctuations, with a peak nitrate concentration of 55.81 mg/l in the month of May, possibly because of spring runoff from agricultural and other surface sources. These observations are further supported by the results of nitrate analyses from a large number (over 44,000) of private wells in Iowa. Eighteen percent of these private wells were found to exceed the maximum contaminant level of 45 mg/l nitrate (NO₃ ^?). A higher proportion of the shallow wells (<30.48 m or 100 ft) exceed the maximum contaminant level of 45 mg/l (3867 out of 13,625 or 28.4%). It is proposed that the observed variability in groundwater quality be used as a first step in developing a strategy for strengthening state-wide groundwater quality monitoring programs. Strong state-wide programs would be of considerable assistance to policy makers in the resolution of major groundwater quality issues.     

Time series in M dimensions: The one-dimensional case: Pollution in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal

A nonstationary time-series model is used to examine the changes occurring at sampling stations on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Using data from upstream sampling sites, downstream levels of dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids, nitrates and nitrites, and ammonia are accurately predicted. The method is simple, insensitive to extreme values, and responsive to changes in the system.     

Fuelwood Prices in India: Policy Implications

The price of fuelwood has been increasing at a rate higher than that of the consumer price index in most of the major urban centres of India. Today, in terms of cost per unit of energy delivered, fuelwood is more than twice as expensive as kerosene for cooking. This has immense public policy implications. A number of complementary policy interventions are needed so that forests can be saved and the stability of energy supplies can be achieved in developing countries.     

Minerals in East-West trade: An overview

This paper examines recent trends in East-West trade in general. During the later 1960s and early 1970s trade between East and West grew faster than world trade. But after 1976 this growth slowed as trade between Eastern Europe and the West collapsed, although the USSR continued to trade with the West. It is shown that the second oil price rise in 1979 produced enhanced terms of trade for the USSR. The major products traded between East and West are identified and it is noted that the future direction of East-West trade will be profoundly influenced by whether or not the USSR undertakes significant economic reform.     

Agro-Biodiversity Conservation in Europe: Ethical Issues

While it is commonly acknowledged that the ecosystemic, and the inter- and intra-specific diversity of natural life is under threat of being irremediably lost, there is much less awareness that the diversity in agro-ecosystems is also under threat. This paper is focused on the biodiverse agro-ecosystems generated by landraces (LRs), i.e., farmer-developed populations of cultivated species that show among- and within-population diversity and are linked to traditional cultures. The aim of this work is to arouse concern about their loss, to explain how they can be conserved, and to discuss values that support maintaining and/or restoring on-farm agro-biodiversity. Although agriculture has relied on biodiverse agro-ecosystems for millennia, most of them have disappeared or are disappearing due to profound transformations in the socio-economic context. This is discussed with particular reference to the European situation. The positive values of LRs and LR systems that support their conservation are discussed along with possible objections. The conservation of LRs and LR systems can be well justified on ethical grounds. In particular, the complex intertwining of the biological and cultural contexts of LR systems, which continuously creates new adaptive responses to the changing socio-economic and eco-physical processes, is a value that strongly motivates conservation, particularly when the needs of future generations are considered.     

Sustainability in context: An Australian perspective

This article examines the concept of sustainability (sustainable development, sustainable societies) with a view to providing a means of considering the idea in such a way as to be more useful to concerns of policy. A brief background is given, covering the historical development of the concept, the constituent ecological and social concerns that lie behind it, and some aspects of the sustainability debate in Australia. Some attributes of a sustainable future, as evident from the literature, are listed. The value base of the concept is recognized, and the correct place for sustainability concerns is identified within a simple policy-making model. The complexity of such a model in the real world is explored using a list of thecontexts of sustainability, illustrated with examples from Australian natural resource management. Finally, the more dynamic and flexible nature of patterns of production and consumption in more sustainable societies is recognized and explained, as are two guiding directives to be applied in the search for models which display characteristics of sustainability.     

ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING: Risk Assessment in the Face of Controversy: Tree Clearing and Salinization in North Queensland

/ Several lines of evidence were followed to assess the risk of salinization after tree clearing in the upper Burdekin River basin in north Queensland. Conceptual, biophysical process-based approaches (pedological interpretation, event tree analysis, one-dimensional water balance modeling, and Boolean spatial analysis) were compared to empirical methods and field evidence. The convergence of all lines of conceptual reasoning to the conclusion that there exists a risk of salinization in north Queensland, consistent with field evidence of naturally occurring waterlogging and salinity, strengthens the argument against tree clearing.     

Agriculture in North Africa: Sociocultural aspects

This article documents, in the cases of Libya and Egypt, situations that occur in many other nations: conversion of farmlands to nonagricultural uses, exhaustion of nonrenewable water resources, irrigation leading to waterlogging and salinization of agricultural lands, development that does not benefit people in the regions being developed, etc. It is suggested that use of natural resources should be in accord with nationally determined priorities and should occur in a sustainable manner.     

Recycling in Brazil: Challenges and prospects

This article presents a comparative analysis of the performance in formal and informal areas that deal with solid waste in Brazil. The article demonstrates that there has been significant progress in areas related to recycling and that this progress has been based mainly on informality and on the precarious labour conditions for the pickers of recyclable materials. The article also focuses on the problems found in the model for waste recovery that is being implemented in Brazil and that is based on allocation of precarious waste recovery facilities; this model has mostly small operational capabilities even in large municipalities. These problems are discussed in contrast to the great challenges imposed by the new legal framework of the country. Finally, the article proposes a categorisation of the technological models of material recovery facilities (MRFs) based on their degree of automation and nominal capacities in a manner similar to that used worldwide for incineration plants.     

Spider management in agroecosystems: Habitat manipulation

Based on the literature and on work conducted in Israel, the management of spider populations through habitat manipulation was found to be very helpful in controlling pest insects in various crops. Spiders were found to be reduced or eliminated by non-selective insecticides, although some resistance has been noted