Integrated catchment management in Western Australia: Transition from concept to implementation

Integrated catchment management (ICM) was introduced as state policy in 1988 to overcome land and water degradation in Western Australia (WA). Key elements of ICM are cooperation among state and local governments and landholders; involvement of landholders and local communities in identification of issues and solutions; and, agreement on common objectives. This study identifies the issues that led to the adoption of integrated catchment management in Western Australia, outlines its main characteristics, and reviews the progress and problems encountered during its initial implementation. ICM has generally been accepted and endorsed in WA. However, differences of opinion have emerged regarding exactly what it means and how it should be applied. Designing ideal organizational structures for ICM is not sufficient for it to be effective. Ultimately, people have to make ICM function, and therefore it is essential that priority be given to cultivating the good will and trust necessary for ICM to work well. ICM also requires a long-term perspective and appreciation that it requires many people and agencies to move out of current “comfort zones.” As a result, initial implementation of ICM usually will encounter turbulence and debate.     

Environmental and economic impacts of water scarcity and market reform on the Mooki catchment

Over-allocation of irrigation water has led to widespread environmental degradation in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) in Australia, prompting discussions of the water efficiency performance of irrigated industries. There is increasing pressure for irrigators to adopt water efficient practices in line with ecologically sustainable principles, especially with current drought conditions. However, there is great uncertainty surrounding the available practices to improve irrigation efficiency from both ecological and economic standpoints. This paper examines the economic and environmental impact of several possible water efficient practices and government policies, using an interdisciplinary approach combining biophysical modelling and economic modelling. This is done for the case-study of the Mooki catchment in the MDB, located in northern New South Wales, Australia.     

Toward Integrated Environmental Management for Challenges in Water Environmental Protection of Lake Taihu Basin in China

Lake Taihu is the third largest freshwater lake in China. It serves many social, economic, and ecological purposes in the drainage basin. Unfortunately, the water has been heavily polluted due to rapid industrialization and urbanization during the last two decades. Notwithstanding great efforts made so far to improve the water quality, the environmental situation is still far from being optimistic. The basin and the lake are facing a range of severe environmental challenges: rapid socio-economic development continues to place great pressures on the environment, current pollution control projects have many problems from the viewpoint of effectiveness and efficiency of their implementations, and the non-point sources of pollution such as agricultural fields, for which control is more difficult than for industrial point sources, have become the main contributors to serious eutrophication of the lake. Considering the characteristics of the environmental challenges and problems confronting the basin and the lake, we focus on integrated environmental management (IEM) as a promising and effective approach to overcome these predicaments. Current practices and problems of environmental management in the basin are examined, and potential future developments are discussed. Three aspects of the IEM are emphasized: institutional cooperation, public participation, and internalization of environmental externalities. We think these are the most critical for not only the basin but also for the whole of China to achieve a sustainable society.     

Toward Environmental Management Systems in Australian Agriculture to Achieve Better Environmental Outcomes at the Catchment Scale

Environmental Management Systems (EMS) are being trialed for Australian agricultural industries as society becomes more concerned about agricultures environmental performance. EMS is a structured approach used by farm businesses to assess, monitor, and improve environmental performance. Use of EMS in conjunction with other policy tools (such as financial incentives and regulation) in agriculture could enhance management of both on-farm and off-farm environmental issues. Based on the international standard ISO14001, EMS was designed to be applied at the individual business level. However, governments in Australia are exploring its potential to be applied at a catchment scale, among other things, for the purpose of linking farm-level actions to catchment targets. In Australia, governments and catchment management bodies are using Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) as the framework to try to achieve environmental targets set out in catchment plans. In this article, we compare aspects of the EMS and ICM frameworks and comment on the potential of using EMS to achieve catchment-scale environmental outcomes. We conclude that EMS could be a useful policy tool to improve farm management and to contribute, in part, to better off-site outcomes at the catchment/landscape scale. Recommendations on the use of EMS at the catchment scale are discussed. These include using an educational approach for EMS delivery, linking the EMS process to catchment targets, and ensuring catchment targets are realistic and achievable.     

我国环境影响评价公众参与工作存在的问题及解决对策

本文通过对我国环境影响评价公众参与发展历程的回顾和采用对比法分析各省市出台的相关公众参与的实施办法或条例的基础上,分析我国环评公众参与具体操作过程中存在公众参与作用边界被无限放大、参与对象缺乏代表性和形式单一等问题,从信息公开制度、公众参与对象的选择、公众参与形式、公示内容、公众反馈意见等方面提出提高公众参与有效性的对策和建议.     

New view of environmental health: Toward an environmental research policy for international strategies

We are witnessing a growing concern with the global dimension of many environmental issues, reflected in the increase in the number and significance of international environmental organizations. Yet there is no internationally applicable strategy for environmental research which is management oriented. A new type of research policy, which integrates ideas derived from environmental and human ecology, is required in order to deal with cultural and ecological diversity and their interactions as reflected in the ecology of landscapes. The newly defined concept of environmental health is proposed to fill this gap. This concept integrates the latest developments in landscape evolutionary ecology and environmental health, bringing out a conflict between making the environment conducive to human health and increasing the available options for supporting the essential biological and ecological processes of the environment. Lessons derived from the evolution of human environments are used in order to illustrate how health may become un umbrella for developing an environmental research policy, which could also serve as a catalyst for international environmental projects.     

Self-organization theories and environmental management: The case of South Moresby,Canada

This article presents a new approach to the analysis and management of large-scale societal problems with complex ecological, economic, and social dimensions. The approach is based on the theory of self-organizing systems—complex, open, far-from-equilibrium systems with nonlinear dynamics. A brief overview and comparison of different self-organization theories (synergetics, self-organization theory, hypercycles, and autopoiesis) is presented in order to isolate the key characteristics of such systems.The approach is used to develop an analysis of the landuse controversy in the South Moresby area of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada. Critical variables are identified for each subsystem and classified by spatial and temporal scale, and discussed in terms of information content and internal/external origin. Eradication of sea otters, introduction of black-tailed deer, impacts of large-scale clearcut logging, sustainability of the coastal forest industry, and changing relations between native peoples and governments are discussed in detail to illustrate the system dynamics of the South Moresby sociobiophysical system. Finally, implications of the self-organizing sociobiophysical system view for regional analysis and management are identified.     

Bathymetric and core analysis of the Latrobe River delta to assist in catchment management

In this study, an analysis of bathymetric surveys of the Latrobe River delta conducted in 1879 and 1992 is combined with pollen analysis of cores from the delta sediments to assist in setting management priorities for the Latrobe River catchment, a 5000 km²catchment in the south-east of Australia. Reconstructed delta surfaces from 1879 (not long after European settlement of the area) and 1992 were compared to quantify areas of net erosion and deposition. These were compared to post-European deposition depths determined by the presence of exotic pollen species in the sediment. The results indicated that: (1) average sedimentation rates in the receiving lake for the Latrobe River are less than 1 mm yr⁻¹; (2) the deposited material is fine with no material considered as bedload; and (3) the fine nature of the deposited material makes it suitable for carrying a large load of nutrients. These results created a shift in management focus from concern over sedimentation and erosion in general to a greater emphasis on nutrients. While the integrated management of catchments is implicitly contemporary, it should always be performed within a historical context. Failure to do this can lead to management priorities that do not concur with the facts of catchment response and can therefore result in inefficient resource allocation. The use of studies which provide a historical perspective on the problem are therefore critical.     

Environmental Management Systems at the Industrial Park Level in China

Environmental management systems (EMSs), such as International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001, can be used as a tool in China by industrial park managers to improve their environmental performance. This article uses the case of the Dalian Economic and Technological Development Zone (DETDZ) to show how to establish a comprehensive environmental management system (CEMS) according to the ISO 14001 standard at the industrial park level by considering local realities. The particularly interesting feature of this case study is the use of a CEMS (in this case, ISO 14001) by the administrative group of the DETDZ to develop a more comprehensive approach to the wide range of environmental issues that they face in running the zone. In essence the goal is to address many of the issues at the level of the zone. The incentives, benefits, and barriers associated with implementing ISO 14001 are described. However, implementation of an EMS should not be thought of as the ultimate objective for an industrial parks environmental management. The next steps include encouraging further public participation and taking an integrated approach leading to an industrial ecosystem, which can realize better environmental performance at the industrial park level. Yong Geng is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Dalhousie University. Raymond Côté is a professor at Dalhousie University.     

Environmental policy indicators: A systems model

This article describes and tests a systems theory-based policy indicators model. The framework is used to examine propositions about linkages between states' ecological-spatial characteristics and subsequent selected solid waste management (SWM) -related environmental policies. It was hypothesized that state characteristics of: (1) population density (used as a garbage-per-land area index), (2) population convergence within urban areas, and (3) percent population change in the interval 1980–1985, could jointly explain state variation in both the number and the vigor of SWM policy outputs. Greater levels of spatial pressure were proposed to be related directly to more numerous, more convincing policies. Proposals are grounded in the literature of organizational search theory, crisis stimulation, and technological pressure. Results revealed that the sociospatial model in fact could explain a reasonable proportion of policy variation across states. However, not all hypotheses are supported. Population change shows an indirect, rather than the anticipated direct, relationship with policy output levels. In addition, when used in the model as a pollution intensity index, population density failed to contribute significantly to an explanation of differences in state SWM policy levels. The analysis raises questions about changes occurring over time in the nature and direction of linkages between sociospatial measures and policy responses. This study suggests that strengthening policy indicator models may require questioning key assumptions and theoretical bases, conducting longitudinal studies, and factoring in political, economic, and other policy environment forces.     

Urban Environmental Management in Botswana: Toward a Theoretical Explanation ofPublic Policy Failure

For the last three and half decades, Botswana has been widely acclaimed to be one of sub-Saharan Africa's longest and most stable liberal democracies, coupled with and sustained by a growing economy. One of the major contradictions, however, within this development scenario, has been the neglect of environmental problems in the country in general, and urban environmental issues in particular. Part of the problem fueling the misconception of environmental issues in Botswana is the state's domination of the country's environmental agenda. This is linked to the power disjunction in decision-making and policy processes between state and nonstate actors over the most appropriate course of action to tackle the problems. Without adopting appropriate analytical frameworks, it is possible that the problem of urban environmental mismanagement in Botswana will persist. This article examines some of the major urban environmental issues in Botswana from neighborhood, citywide, and urban–rural interface perspectives. Further, the elite theory of public policy is used to explain constraints on policy change in the urban environmental management arena in Botswana.     

增强环境影响评价公众参与有效性的研究

本文结合《环境影响评价公众参与暂行办法》的内容和要求,根据从事环境影响评价的工作经验,提出当前环评中公众参与存在的信息公开及听证主体不尽合理等问题,并加以分析。针对如何更好地做好公众参与工作,提出诸如扩大并完善公众可以参与评价的方式和媒体参与等一系列对策建议。     

Environmental implications for disaster preparedness: lessons learnt from the Indian Ocean Tsunami

The impact of disasters, whether natural or man-made, not only has human dimensions, but environmental ones as well. Environmental conditions may exacerbate the impact of a disaster, and vice versa, disasters tend to have an impact on the environment. Deforestation, forest management practices, or agriculture systems can worsen the negative environmental impacts of a storm or typhoon, leading to landslides, flooding, silting, and ground/surface water contamination. We have only now come to understand these cyclical causes and impacts and realize that taking care of our natural resources and managing them wisely not only assures that future generations will be able to live in sustainable ways, but also reduces the risks that natural and man-made hazards pose to people living today. Emphasizing and reinforcing the centrality of environmental concerns in disaster management has become a critical priority, requiring the sound management of natural resources as a tool to prevent disasters and lessen their impacts on people, their homes, and livelihoods. As the horrors of the Asian tsunami of December 2004 continue to be evaluated, and people in the region slowly attempt to build a semblance of normalcy, we have to look to the lessons learnt from the tsunami disaster as an opportunity to prepare ourselves better for future disasters. This article focuses on findings and lessons learnt on the environmental aspects of the tsunami, and its implications on disaster preparedness plans. This article essentially emphasizes the cyclical interrelations between environments and disasters, by studying the findings and assessments of the recent Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that struck on 26 December 2004. It specifically looks at four key affected countries - Maldives, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Thailand.     

“十二五”期间我国环境法治建设存在的问题浅探

环境问题是我国当今最重要的民生问题,目前,损害人民群众利益的环境污染问题愈演愈烈,人们寄希望环境法治,然而,当前的环境法治建设存在诸多的弊端,本文探讨了我国环境法治建设中的一些问题,并提出了对策建议。     

Environmental accounting for waste management: A study of local governments in Australia

Local governments in Australia, especially in large urban areas, have faced a challenge of the growing quantity of waste generated and the diminishing space for waste disposal in recent years. The central government has demonstrated the importance of developing strategies to make full environmental costs and impacts of waste disposal and material recovery accountable for waste management decision-making. However, research into this field is limited. This paper investigates environmental accounting practices in local government waste management. From a survey conducted with local government authorities in New South Wales (NSW) Australia, it is found that overall the level of direct waste flow and activity accounting is higher than the level of hidden and external environmental cost accounting, though local governments tend to identify and use more physical information associated with waste flows and activities than relevant monetary information. External environmental impacts of waste disposal are often overlooked and show the lowest level of practices. The survey results also indicate that urban local governments have taken more environmental information into account than rural local governments, but such difference is not significant between local governments of different sizes. The complexity of waste technical services and operations is confirmed to have a positive and significant effect on the level of environmental accounting for waste management across local governments surveyed.     

ISO 14 001 at the farm level: analysis of five methods for evaluating the environmental impact of agricultural practices

Faced with society's increasing expectations, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) review considers environmental management to be an ever more critical criterion in the allocation of farm subsidies. With the goal of evaluating the environmental friendliness of farm practices, France's agricultural research and extension services have built a range of agricultural/environmental diagnostic tools over recent years. The objective of the present paper is to compare the five tools most frequently used in France: IDEA, DIAGE, DIALECTE, DIALOGUE and INDIGO. All the tools have the same purpose: evaluation of the impact of farm practices on the environment via indicators and monitoring of farm management practices. When tested on a sample of large-scale farms in Picardie, the five tools sometimes produced completely different results: for a given farm, the most supposedly significant environmental impacts depend on the tool used. These results lead to differing environmental management plans and raise the question of the methods' pertinence. An analysis grid of diagnostic tools aimed at specifying their field of validity, limits and relevance was drawn up. The resulting comparative analysis enables to define each tool's domain of validity and allows to suggest lines of thought for developing more relevant tools for (i) evaluating a farm's environmental performance and (ii) helping farmers to develop a plan for improving practices within the framework of an environmental management system.     

Beyond Experimentation: Emerging Issues in the Institutionalization of Joint Forest Management in India

/ During the last decade, a major initiative for community involvement in the management of state forest lands was started in India in the form of Joint Forest Management (JFM) programs. Despite the progress and positive impacts, the JFM program is still in the experimental phase. Latent conflicts related to caste, class, and gender issues are threatening JFM institutions at the village level. The Forest Department is also facing a number of internal conflicts as it tries to adjust to its new role under JFM. Some thoughtful and creative attempts have been made to resolve these conflicts. However, a much more concerted effort is required along with creation of suitable mechanisms at local, state, and national levels to discuss and resolve present and future conflicts.     

Environmental Auditing and the Role of the Accountancy Profession: A Literature Review

This review of the literature on environmental auditing and the potential role of accountants distinguishes between compliance audits and audits of the environmental management system. After an extensive introduction to the concept, this review focuses on the similarities and differences between an environmental audit and a financial statement audit. The general approach to both types of audits is similar, except that environmental audits are largely unregulated. Both audits place an emphasis on the evaluation of control systems, which is an argument in favor of external auditors playing a role in environmental audits. Another argument for including external accountants is their code of ethics. However, these professionals seem to be reluctant to enter the field of environmental auditing. It is argued that this reluctance is because of a lack of generally accepted principles for conducting environmental audits. If external accountants are engaged in environmental auditing, they should be part of multidisciplinary teams that also include scientists and engineers to avoid a too strong focus on procedures. Rather than treating these audits as totally different, it is proposed that there be a move towards integrated, or even universal, audits.     

Assessment of the Effectiveness of Environmental Dredging in South Lake,China

Environmental dredging is a primary remedial option for removal of the contaminated material from aquatic environment. Of primary concern in environmental dredging is the effectiveness of the intended sediment removal. A 5-year field monitoring study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the environmental dredging in South Lake, China. The concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphors, and heavy metals (Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Hg, and As) before and after dredging in sediment were determined and compared. Multiple ecological risk indices were employed to assess the contamination of heavy metals before and after dredging. Our results showed that the total phosphorus levels reduced 42% after dredging. Similar changes for Hg, Zn, As Pb, Cd, Cu, Cr, and Ni were observed, with reduction percentages of 97.0, 93.1, 82.6, 63.9, 52.7, 50.1, 32.0, and 23.6, respectively, and the quality of sediment improved based on the criterion of Sediment Quality Guidelines by USEPA and contamination degree values (C_d) decreased significantly (paired t-test, p < 0.05). Unexpectedly, the TN increased 49% after dredging compared to before dredging. Findings from the study demonstrated that the environmental dredging was an effective mechanism for removal of total phosphorus and heavy metals from South Lake. Nevertheless, the dredging was ineffective to remove total nitrogen from sediment. We conclude that the reason for the observed increase in TN after dredging was likely ammonia release from the sediment impairing the dredging effectiveness.     

Reinventing Environmental Regulation from the Grassroots Up: Explaining and Expanding the Success of the Toxics Release Inventory

/ The success of the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) stands in stark contrast to most other environmental regulations in the United States. Between its inception in 1988 and 1995, releases of chemicals listed on the TRI have declined by 45%. We argue the TRI has achieved this regulatory success by creating a mechanism of "populist maxi-min regulation." This style of regulation differs from traditional command-and-control in several ways. First, the majorrole of public agencies is not to set and enforce standards, but to establish an information-rich context for private citizens, interest groups, and firms to solve environmental problems. Second, environmental "standards" are not determined by expert analysis of acceptable risk, but are effectively set at the levels informed citizens will accept. Third, firms adopt pollution prevention and abatement measures in response to a dynamic range of public pressures rather than to formalized agency standards or governmental sanction. Finally, public pressure ruthlessly focuses on the worst polluters-maximum attention to minimum performers-to induce them to adopt more effective environmental practices. TRI has inadvertently set in motion this alternative style of regulation that has, in turn, dramatically reduced toxics emissions in the United States. By properly understanding the mechanisms that drive TRI's accomplishments, more intentional public policy designs can expand the system of populist maxi-min regulation and achieve even more rapid toxics reduction.