Fluorosis - a case study from the Sambher Salt Lake region in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Assistant Professor in Human Ecology, in the Indira Gandhi Centre for Human Ecology, Environment and Population Studies at the University of Rajasthan. Although fluorine is an essential element for human growth and development, its intake in excessive amounts beyond the permissible limits can be very harmful. Dental and skeletal fluorosis are some of the common afflictions of fluorine poisoning and it can even have crippling effects in aged individuals. With the rise in industrialization fluoride contamination is increasing in the human environment as it is a basic component of the ground water. Certain regions of India, particularly the arid zones of Rajasthan, have serious fluoride problems and it has become a serious health hazard in several villages of Rajasthan.     

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.     

Tourism and the environment: A case study from Turkey

Summary Whilst tourism is widely promoted as an instrument of economic development, it may also give rise to adverse social and environmental impacts in the host community. Recent commercial tourist development in the Patara Valley, Turkey, is examined in terms of facility provision, beneficial and adverse impacts, and tourists' reactions. It is concluded that, unless specific corrective measures are taken, the future development of the industry may be unsustainable.Dr Paul Selman is a Principal Lecturer in the Department of Countryside and Landscape at Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education. Pat' Morrison is a graduate Environmental Scientist from the University of Stirling, and she is currently studying for a PhD. in Geoarchaeology at the University of Birmingham.     

略论公民环境权人类社会全体成员享有在健康、安全和舒适的环境中生活的权利

论述了公民环境权的产生、性质及内容。分析了公民环境权与可持续发展的关系及我国公民环境权的现状。     

Crop damage and livestock depredation by wildlife: a case study from Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve,India

The success of conserving biological resources in any Biosphere Reserve or protected area depends on the extent of support and positive attitudes and perceptions of local people have towards such establishments. Ignoring the dependence of the local people for their subsistence needs on resources of such areas leads to conflicts between protected area managers and the local inhabitants. Crop yield losses and livestock depredation were serious problems observed in most buffer zone villages of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. In the present study 10 villages situated in the buffer zone of Nanada Devi Biosphere Reserve (1612 km2 area) in Chamoli district of Uttaranchal, India were studied during 1996-97 using a questionnaire survey of each household (419 = households; 2253 = total population in 1991; 273 ha = cultivated area). Estimates of crop yield losses were made using paired plots technique in four representative villages for each crop species. The magnitude of crop yield losses varied significantly with the distance of agricultural field from forest boundary. The total crop yield losses were high for wheat and potato in all the villages. The spatial distribution of total crop yield losses in any village indicated that they were highest in the area near to forest and least in the area near to village for all crops. Losses from areas near to forest contributed to more than 50% of total losses for each crop in all villages. However, in Lata, Peng and Tolma villages, the losses are high for kidney bean and chemmi (local variety of kidney bean) which varied between 18.5% to 30% of total losses in those villages. Potato alone represents 43.6% of total crop yield loss due to wildlife in Dronagiri village in monetary terms. Among the crops, the monetary value of yield losses are least for amaranth and highest for kidney bean. The projected total value of crop yield losses due to wildlife damage for buffer zone villages located in Garhwal Himalaya is about Rs. 538,620 (US$ 15,389). Besides food grains, horticultural crops i.e. apple, also suffered maximum damage. Major wildlife agents responsible for crop damage were wild boar, bear, porcupine, monkey, musk deer and partridge (chokor). Monkey and wild boar alone accounted for about 50% to 60% of total crop damage in the study villages. Goat and sheep are the major livestock killed by leopard. The total value of livestock losses at prevailing market rates is about Rs. 1,024,520 (US$ 29,272) in the study villages. Due to existing conservation policies and laxity in implementation of preventive measures, the problems for local inhabitants are increasing. Potential solutions discussed emphasize the need to undertake suitable and appropriate protective measures to minimize the crop losses. Change in cropping and crop composition, particularly cultivation of medicinal plants (high value low volume crops), were also suggested. Besides, fair and quick disbursement of compensation for crop loss and livestock killing need to be adopted. Local people of the buffer zone area already have a negative attitude towards park/reserve establishment due to socio-political changes inducing major economic losses and this attitude may lead to clashes and confrontations if proper ameliorative measures are not taken immediately.     

Errant corporations, diffuse responsibilities, and the environment: ethical issues in the Orica case study

The papers in this volume deal with various aspects of the HCB legacy at the Orica plant at Botany. Whether explicitly or implicitly, they are concerned with questions of ethics; with the just distribution of burdens and benefits; with just processes for disposing of dangerous industrial waste; and with a just custodianship of the Botany environment. These ethical issues illustrate the difficulty of securing corporate accountability, and the elusiveness of responsibility within organisations. This paper reflects on some of the issues for ethics raised by the Orica case and their significance for corporate ethics.     

Environmental regulation, productive efficiency and cost of pollution abatement: a case study of the sugar industry in India

In this paper the input distance function is estimated for the Indian Sugar industry under alternative assumptions of weak and strong disposability of bad outputs. The estimated distance function is used to make the estimates of environmental efficiency, Malmquist productivity index and shadow prices of pollutants. The technical efficiency measure estimated under the assumption of weak disposability of bad outputs is utilized to test the Porter hypothesis. Marginal costs of pollution abatement functions are estimated for different pollutants of water. Pollutant specific taxes are computed using the tax-standards method.     

Farming in the urban environment of a developing nation — a case study from Ibadan metropolis in Nigeria

Summary The major characteristics, problems and prospects of farming in an urban environment of a developing nation are investigated using the Ibadan metropolitan area of Nigeria as a case study. Eight hundred farmers, made up of both part-time and full-time farmers were interviewed in five urban fringe settlements in the study area. Findings revealed that farming in the urban environment is guided by the logic of survival since most of the farmers engaged in urban cultivation are mainly low-income earners and they farm mainly to reduce their expenses on food and to supplement the family's income. The major problem confronting farming in the area is competition from non-agricultural land uses. Nevertheless, more than half (50.5 percent) of the farmers, who had been approached to sell their farmlands for non-agricultural uses in the area, rejected the offer, indicating that the prospects of continued farming are thought to be good. Measures like the sale of urban land at its agricultural value, provided the land remains in cultivation, as well as the further provision of land in and around the farmers' working places, could improve their access to land for extended farming.Dr Adeniyi Gbadegesin is a lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of Ibadan. He has published papers widely on agricultural topics.     

Alberta's oil sands reclamation policy trajectory: the role of tense layering,policy stretching,and policy patching in long-term policy dynamics

As the Canadian oil sands development matures, an increasingly important policy activity is reclamation. Reclamation has received limited attention compared with the broader discussion of oil sands expansion, however, and its past direction and future trajectory are unclear. Recent moves to reform the policy in Alberta have been interpreted simultaneously as a major change and a marginal adaptation to the existing framework. This article employs a historical-institutional perspective to help reconcile this debate and further understanding of changes to Alberta's oil sands reclamation policies over the past half century. It traces the factors and outlines the processes which have driven its evolution since 1963 with special attention paid to the 2011 Oil Sands Progressive Reclamation Strategy, the most recent attempt to reform oil sands reclamation policy. The article reveals a complex long-term pattern of policy development in which processes of ‘tense layering’ of new initiatives on top of old elements resulted in a constantly shifting policy landscape as existing policy instruments and settings were ‘stretched’ to cover new circumstances but failed to resolve tensions between successive policy layers. After 1993, however, a more reflective process was put into place in which policy feedback informed alterations intended to reduce or remove tensions between successive layers. Such a policy ‘patching’ process is shown to have helped resolve tensions associated with earlier stretching of the existing regime and adds to the vocabulary of more general studies of policy dynamics.     

Integrated mediterranean programmes and the natural environment: A case study in Greece

Summary A pilot action forming part of the Integrated Mediterranean Programmes (IMPs) was carried out in Prespa National Park, Greece, to improve the socio-economic conditions in the area and to develop the agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing and tourism. A study on the environment of the park was carried out as part of this Programme. The study evaluated the natural conditions in the area, assessed the effects of the proposed operations on the environment, suggested opportunities for socio-economic improvement and provided guidelines for the organisation of the National Park. This paper presents certain aspects of this study and describes the mechanisms and conflicts attached to environmental conservation during implementation of the IMP.Evaluation of natural conditions was made possible by studying the land cover/use changes between 1945 and 1984 using aerial photographs. It showed a continuing concentration of land use activities in the wetland, which is the nucleus of the park. The most alarming findings were of soil erosion on the watershed, accelerating ageing and eutrophication of the lake, and destruction of the wet meadows. Evaluation of the latter revealed their remarkable biological value as feeding and resting habitats of the rare waterbird species.Assessment of the effects of the projected operations on the environment was accompanied by suggestions of alleviation measures. Further development of agriculture and an expansion of the irrigation system were expected to have a severe impact on the wetland and increase the eutrophic level of the lake. Measures for cultural practices, policy and education of the farmers were suggested. It was recognised that the projected fish breeding station would also have adverse effects on the wetland, the lake and its fisheries. Construction of the hatchery on the particular site chosen by the authorities was to cause major environmental degradation in the park.Despite the documentation provided, proposals stemming from the study and mitigation measures were disregarded. Implementation of the IMP operations had detrimental ecological effects in the area. From the first stages of the Programme, and throughout its implementation, secrecy prevailed in the procedures. There was no participation of the public nor of the local government. Lack of coordination appeared between the various levels of administration nationally and within the European Community (EC). Agencies concerned with the environment lost their jurisdiction in the area, as all decision-making was undertaken in Athens by a Ministry relatively insensitive to environmental issues. Implementation of the IMP in Prespa violated national and EC legislation as well as international treaties concerning the environment. The development plan had been prepared without integrating conservation and development while no concern was given to the impact on the environment. Lessons learned from the Prespa case should be used to improve IMPs and make development sustainable.Dr Myrto Pyrovetsi obtained her doctorate at Michigan State University, USA and is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.     

Application of spatial multi-criteria analysis to site selection for a local park: a case study in the Bergamo Province, Italy

This contribution discusses a site selection process for establishing a local park. It was supported by a value-focused approach and spatial multi-criteria evaluation techniques. A first set of spatial criteria was used to design a number of potential sites. Next, a new set of spatial and non-spatial criteria was employed, including the social functions and the financial costs, together with the degree of suitability for the park to evaluate the potential sites and to recommend the most acceptable one. The whole process was facilitated by a new software tool that supports spatial multiple criteria evaluation, or SMCE. The application of this tool, combined with a continual feedback by the public administration, has provided an effective methodology to solve complex decisional problem in land-use and urban planning.     

Dispersion of odour: a case study with a municipal solid waste landfill site in North London,United Kingdom

Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills are a potential source of offensive odours that can create annoyance within communities. Dispersion modelling was used to quantify the potential odour strength causing an impact on the community around a particular MSW landfill site north of the London area in the United Kingdom. The case studies were completed with the short-term mode of COMPLEX-I, software developed by the US-EPA. The year 1998 was chosen as a source of baseline data. It was observed that by 2004, when the landfill will progress towards the west and a big band of the area towards the north would be partly/fully restored, the maximum contribution of the new sources giving higher odour concentrations would be in the southwesterly regions away from the landfill. Concentrations as high as 25.0 ou(E)/m(3) were observed with 3 min averaging time in the southwesterly areas as compared to concentrations of 20.0 ou(E)/m(3) at 10 min averaging times. However, the percentage frequency of such critical events occurring would be low. All other surrounding farms and small villages would be exposed to the concentration of 3.0 ou(E)/m(3) on certain occasions. In the year 2008, the majority of the filling fronts would be filled with wastes with no contributions from the active and operational cells. The maximum odour concentration around the landfill site for 1 h averaging time would be approximately 3 ou(E)/m(3) about 1.0 km north and 500 m west of the landfill site. For 3 min averaging time, the stretch of 5 ou(E)/m(3) band would be up to 2.5 km towards the north of the landfill site. It is argued that further analysis of the model calculations considering effects of wind direction, frequency of wind direction, stability of the atmosphere, selected odour threshold, integration time of the model, etc. would form a basis for calculating the separation distances of the landfill site from the surrounding community.     

Baseline assessment for environmental services payments from satellite imagery: a case study from Costa Rica and Mexico

In this study we evaluate the accuracy of four global and regional forest cover assessments (MODIS, IGBP, GLC2000, PROARCA) as tools for baseline estimation. We conduct this research at the national scale for Costa Rica and for two tropical dry forest study sites in Costa Rica (Santa Rosa) and Mexico (Chamela-Cuixmala). We found that at the national level, the total forest cover accuracy of the four land cover maps was inflated due to an overestimation of forest in areas with an evergreen canopy. However, the four maps greatly underestimated the extent of the deciduous forest (dry forest); an ecosystem that faces high deforestation pressure and poses complications to the mapping of its extent from remotely sensed data. For the tropical dry forest sites, all maps have low forest cover accuracies (mean for Santa Rosa: 27%; mean for Chamela-Cuixmala: 56%). This has implications for policy implementation.     

Towards environmentally sustainable industrialization: a case study of some mini iron and steel industries in India

Summary Iron and steel have been used in India since ancient times (possibly as early as 5000 BC). There are several references to the use of iron and steel in the Vedic literatures. The rust and corrosionfree iron pillar of Qutub Minar in Delhi, built 1500 years ago and the steel girders used in the temples of Orissa around AD 700–1200 still bear the testimony of these early industries. Steels are in great demand today but the large steel plants provide a limited range of steel mostly consumed in building and construction activities. In India, heavy machine tools, locomotives, automobiles, aviation, ship building and engineering tools require super grade steels with various specifications and these are met by mini iron and steel industrial plants. There are approximately 160 such plants mostly situated in big cities and towns. There are several economic and ecological advantages of these mini steel plants. They mostly use iron and steel scrap and other kinds of iron wastes from large industries as their raw material, contrary to the large plants which use iron ores as primary raw materials, the extraction processing and utilization of which involves severe environmental damage by way of deforestation and air and water pollution. Mini steel plants consume much less water and energy. The government of India has given a number of incentives to the mini steel industries by way of exemption from income tax, custom and excise duties, depreciation and investment allowances and rebates on charges for consumption of water and electricity.Dr Rajiv K. Sinha is an assistant professor in human ecology at the University of Rajasthan. Mr V.N. Bhargava is an engineer employed at the Research and Development Division of National Engineering Industries, Khatipura Road, Jaipur 302006, India.     

Backward linkage development in the South African PGM industry: A case study

Backward linkages refer to the various inter-firm relationships connecting an industry with its supply chain. Demand–supply interactions between producer firms and suppliers of original equipment, strategic inputs, components and specialised services have played an important role in the evolution of the South African mining sector, contributing indirectly to employment creation, new business growth and expansion, improved efficiency of mining operations, and new knowledge generation. This paper presents a case study of backward linkage development in the South African platinum group metals (PGM) industry and draws on the findings from a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the sector undertaken in 2007. A profile of the supply chain is provided and an assessment made of the strength and sustainability of existing linkages.     

Landfill site selection using spatial information technologies and AHP: A case study in Beijing,China

Site selection is an important and necessary issue for waste management in fast-growing regions. Because of the complexity of waste management systems, the selection of the appropriate solid waste landfill site requires consideration of multiple alternative solutions and evaluation criteria. Based on actual conditions of the study area, we considered economic factors, calculated criteria weights using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), and built a hierarchy model for solving the solid waste landfill site-selection problem in Beijing, China. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to manipulate and present spatial data. All maps are graded from 1 (lowest suitability) to 5 (highest suitability) using spatial information technologies. The candidate sites were determined by aggregation based on the criteria weights. The candidate sites are divided by ‘best’, ‘good’ and ‘unsuitable’ landfill areas. Best landfill areas represent optimal sites; good landfill areas can be used as back-up candidate sites. Our work offers a siting methodology and provides essential support for decision-makers in the assessment of waste management problems in Beijing and other rapidly developing cities in developing countries.     

Simulating Direct and Indirect Damages to Commercial Fisheries from Marine Sand Mining: A Case Study in Korea

Rapid growth in marine sand mining for construction and other uses poses environmental challenges to coastal nations virtually worldwide. Yet the development of management policies, such as a system of fees imposed on operators for damage caused by mining, has been frustrated by a lack of studies to support such measures. Adapting a Beverton-Holt bioeconomic model, this paper attempts to contribute to the estimation of external costs to commercial fisheries due to marine mining. Using the major mining area of Ongjin in Korea as a case study, we estimate economic losses in use value of commercial fisheries through the time to recovery of the injured resource stocks. Present value of lost catch over a 1-year period from mining to resource recovery is estimated at $38,851 for a single “prototype” mining site. Estimated cumulative damages due to recurring mining for 5 and 10 years are $1.5 million and $2.2 million, respectively, at 20 mining sites. Sensitivity analyses are used to examine the effects of alternative assumptions to assess the many sources of uncertainty. Using a form of meta-analysis, dose-response information is used to assess the excess mortality the mining sediment plume has on eggs and larvae and, ultimately, on the value of lost catch ($841). Also addressed is the importance of specifying the appropriate “premining” conditions against which to assess environmental losses at the mining site. Damages estimated with premining fish populations are $23,066 higher than is the case using postmining conditions. Overall, the illustrative results suggest the variety of complex conditions which influence damage to fisheries from mining and which can benefit from further study to improve management guidelines. An erratum to this article can be found at     

The Fat of the Land: Linking American Food Overconsumption, Obesity, and Biodiversity Loss

Americans’ excessive consumption of food harms their health and quality of life and also causes direct and indirect environmental degradation, through habitat loss and increased pollution from agricultural fertilizers and pesticides. We show here that reducing food consumption (and eating less meat) could improve Americans’ health and well-being while facilitating environmental benefits ranging from establishing new national parks and protected areas to allowing more earth-friendly farming and ranching techniques. We conclude by considering various public policy initiatives to lower per capita caloric intake and excessive meat consumption, and to translate this temperate behavior into substantial environmental protection.     

Tri-sector partnership for community development in mining: a case study of the SAPI Foundation and Target Fund in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

This paper explores the nature of tri-sector partnerships applied to community development in the mining sector. The case study approach was used to examine an initiative for environmental improvement and socio-economic development in the diamond province of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in the Russian Federation. The study follows the journey of this initiative from a potential tri-sector partnership model between the diamond mining company ALROSA, the Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the SAPI Foundation, to a bi-lateral partnership between ALROSA and the Government represented by the Target Fund. The study explores the community development in the diamond province in the light of economic and political transition within the mining sector of the Russian Federation.