Farm management indicators and farm typologies as a basis for assessments in a changing policy environment

This paper focuses on the assessment of farm management indicators and argues that typologies are a necessary tool for comprehensive environmental assessments. In the paper Andersen et al., [(2004a). Farming and the Environment in the European Community--using agricultural statistics to provide farm management indicators. Paper presented at OECD Expert meeting, March 2004, New Zealand. < http:webdomino1.oecd.org/comnet/agr/farmind.nsf/viewHtml/index/$FILE/Anderson_et_al.PDF> (1st of February 2006).] presented at the OECD expert meeting on farm management indicators in New Zealand in March 2004, a set of farm management indicators was presented in the framework of a typology of grazing livestock farming systems in the EU-15 (includes all Member States of the European Union before 2004). The present paper presents new results on farm management indicators within the framework of an extended typology for all farming sectors. It presents an environmentally oriented extension to the EU typology of farms currently used for assessing the situation of farming within the European Union. The extended typology is tested in relation to emerging policy issues such as environmental sustainability and rural viability by analysing some of the farm management indicators suggested in Andersen et al., [(2004a). Farming and the Environment in the European Community--using agricultural statistics to provide farm management indicators. Paper presented at OECD Expert meeting, March 2004, New Zealand. (1st of February 2006).]. Finally, recommendations in relation to the next generation EU farm typology are given.     

Multiple-resource modeling as a tool for conservation: Its applicability in Mexico

The current Mexican environmental law provides the legal basis for comprehensive land-use planning. Under the law, development of natural ecosystems must combine goals, policies, and practices towards the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of biological diversity. Thus, ecosystem manipulation must be able to counter fragmentation of natural ecosystems and isolation of natural reserves, while providing for human needs. Assessment of the potential of natural ecosystems and management impacts are required. Multiple-resource simulation is an assessment and land-use planning tool that permits managers and decision makers to comply with the law, providing a flexible, user-oriented system that can meet the needs of managers, conservationists, and researchers. A multiple-resource model and an example of how it can be applied to meet planning needs is presented for discussion.     

Interdependence with the environment: Commitment,interconnectedness, and environmental behavior

Do individuals’ perceptions of their interdependence with the natural environment affect their environmental behaviors? From the perspective of interdependence theory, we introduce a scale to measure commitment to the natural environment. In Study 1, higher levels of commitment to the environment and greater inclusion of nature in the self separately predicted higher levels of pro-environmental behavior, even when controlling for social desirability and ecological worldview. In Study 2, participants primed to experience high commitment to the environment reported greater levels of pro-environmental behavioral intentions as well as pro-environmental behavior relative to participants primed to experience low commitment to the environment. Commitment to the natural environment is a new theoretical construct that predicts environmental behavior.     

Guild management: an evaluation of avian guilds as a predictive tool

The use and applicability of the guild concept to management is evaluated and questioned. Ecological problems are never as simple as implied in using one or two guild axes. A close examination of bird communities in a ponderosa pine forest reveals little relationship between guilds or guild blocks and the responses exhibited by individual bird species or bird species groups. Response guilds changed from year to year without any obvious changes in vegetation. A three-year composite analysis shows a clearer picture of the responses of ponderosa pine forest birds to the overall interactions between structure, weather, competition, and so on. The six response groups in the composite analysis are species that (1) were absent in 1973 on most or all study plots and showed no preference for any forested site; (2) had their highest densities on the medium cut and light cut plots; (3) were absent in 1973 on most or all study plots and had their highest densities on the medium cut and light cut plots; (4) had their highest densities on the untreated, light cut, and medium cut plots; (5) had their highest densities on the untreated and light cut plots and were either absent or had greatly reduced densities on all other plots; and (6) were present only on the clearcut, except for the Rock Wren which was also on the medium cut and heavy cut plots. The overall correlation between species density and guild density was significantly higher for response guilds ( <0.05) than for any of the structural or functional guilds. The whole concept of guild management needs much more research and development before it can be recommended as a management tool.     

Culture and the environment in Ghana

The traditional culture of Ghana stressed a strong relationship with the environment, and a culturally acceptable environmental management resulted from strictures and taboos related to the land. Following its independence in 1957, Ghana has enacted laws that reflect an enlightened environmental policy. These are especially important because of the difficulties Ghana has had in its economic development using Western technology that has damaged the fragile tropical ecosystem. A key aspect of Ghana's policy is the attempt to marry scientific knowledge and traditional beliefs for environmentally sound management of Ghana's resources.     

Environmental economic,political and ethical integration in a common decision-making framework

This article develops a decision-making framework for environmental management that integrates technical, economic, political and legal, and ethical decision levels. It attempts to show how these decision levels can be ordained, integrated and interconnected and postulates a hierarchic concentric sphere system that proposes an environmental management model for long-term solutions. This model can be used as a check list for environmental management decision-making and also as a guide for environmental conflict resolution where environmental problems necessitate several levels of decision making. It integrates various environmental ethical positions and evaluates political decisions into a comprehensive, broadly applicable multidisciplinary approach. The objective of this decision-making model is to interconnect into a simplified sequence different levels of environmental management processes in order to account for sustainability, efficacy, efficiency and the acceptability of environmental management processes in the long term. This is done by observing when an environmental problem needs to be solved within a certain sphere of solutions and when it requires wider frameworks, how these can be established and how this process proves that solidarity is the widest and most reasonable sphere.     

Culture and the environment in Japan

This article discusses the environmental problems of Japan from a cultural point of view. The traditional Japanese view of nature differs from that of Western culture. During the 19th century, Japan introduced Western technology to modernize its industries as quickly as possible. Its transition into the modern industrial world was successful but resulted in serious problems. One of these was the rapid destruction of the natural environment; another, the feeling of homelessness that the Japanese people experienced in their newly Westernized surroundings.The Japanese people have now reached the point where they must reevaluate their traditional ideas about nature and their responses to technology. Their solutions to some of the problems that result from industrialization may be useful to Western countries as well.     

Culture and the environment in France

Although the French concern for environmental protection dates back several centuries, a committed movement toward environmental protection did not begin until the second half of the 19th century. The Romantic influence of Rousseau and others led to the formation of various societies aimed at protecting the French landscape.Until the most recent environmental crusades of the 1960s and 1970s, the cause of protecting the natural environment seemed to fall largely on the shoulders of scientists and anglers, who voiced their concern over increasing environmental degradation in pamphlets and recreational journals. Their pressure aided in the passage of legislation on water quality.During the 1960s, environmental organizations proliferated and, in league with student activists, played an important role in raising the environmental consciousness of the French. During the 1970s, these activists began to turn to traditional political mobilization as a way of drawing attention to their platform. Environmental activism reached its peak with the antinuclear rallies of the late 1970s. By the end of the 1970s, many environmental associations had grown up in the French culture, but the future of environmentalism remains questionable owing to a number of economic realities, including the oil crisis, which made nuclear power much more acceptable to the public.     

Perceptions of Wood in Rivers and Challenges for Stream Restoration in the United States

This article reports a study of the public perception of large wood in rivers and streams in the United States. Large wood is an element of freshwater aquatic ecosystems that has attracted much scientific interest in recent years because of its value in biological and geomorphological processes. At the heart of the issue is the nature of the relationship between scientific recognition of the ecological and geomorphological benefits of wood in rivers, management practices utilizing wood for river remediation progress, and public perceptions of in-channel wood. Surveys of students’ perceptions of riverscapes with and without large wood in the states of Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Oregon, and Texas suggest that many individuals in the United States adhere to traditionally negative views of wood. Except for students in Oregon, most respondents considered photographs of riverscapes with wood to be less aesthetically pleasing and needing more improvement than rivers without wood. Analysis of reasons given for improvement needs suggest that Oregon students are concerned with improving channels without wood for fauna habitat, whereas respondents elsewhere focused on the need for cleaning wood-rich channels for flood risk management. These results underscore the importance of public education to increase awareness of the geomorphological and ecological significance of wood in stream systems. This awareness should foster more positive attitudes toward wood. An integrated program of research, education, and policy is advocated to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and public perception for effective management and restoration of river systems with wood.     

Brownfields as a tool for the rejuvenation of land and community

Brownfields have been a powerful force attempting to advance both sustainability and economic development. The author, principally using U.S. examples, advances the belief that the true benefits potentially offered by Brownfields can only be fully realized by using tools such as found in the application of Community Benefit Agreements. In a similar way use of Community-Based Participatory Research frameworks holds out similar promise. The proof of this promise will only be found in the implementation of these models.     

Two methods to define and compute visual buffer strips in a forested environment

Several approaches can be used to define and construct visual buffer strips around proposed new facility sites in a forested environment. A visual buffer strip of a given value, defines a region around an object within which the probability of an unblocked view of all or portions of it by an observer are less than the buffer strip probability value. Two primary approaches are used to define visual buffer strips that take into account the size of the vegetative elements and their individual effects on visibility. Several variations and combinations of the approaches are possible. One approach defines a visual buffer strip based on the average probability of a clear view of points along the object by an observer; the other approach is based on the visibility of the feature as a whole. The computation and construction of visual buffer strips based on these two concepts are presented. Comparisons of the two approaches for specific feature shapes are also described.     

Jobs and the environment: An overview

This paper provides an overview of economic research on the relationship between environmental protection and employment. The paper addresses, first, the impact of existing regulation on overall employment rates, shutdowns and layoffs, and regulation-induced capital flight from developed countries. Second, the paper provides a framework for evaluating claims that, over the longer run, environmental protection measures will boost overall employment and provide the foundation for a robust, sustainable economy.     

Learning about knowledge management for improving environmental impact assessment in a government agency: the Western Australian experience

How does knowledge management (KM) by a government agency responsible for environmental impact assessment (EIA) potentially contribute to better environmental assessment and management practice? Staff members at government agencies in charge of the EIA process are knowledge workers who perform judgement-oriented tasks highly reliant on individual expertise, but also grounded on the agency’s knowledge accumulated over the years. Part of an agency’s knowledge can be codified and stored in an organizational memory, but is subject to decay or loss if not properly managed. The EIA agency operating in Western Australia was used as a case study. Its KM initiatives were reviewed, knowledge repositories were identified and staff surveyed to gauge the utilisation and effectiveness of such repositories in enabling them to perform EIA tasks.     

Culture and the environment in Britain

The British pride themselves on their long tradition of landscape management rooted in the aristocratic and landowning classes of the 18th and 19th centuries. The British also emphasize that the rise of modern pollution control began in the Victorian industrial era with the emergence of the national Inspectorates and the local Commissioners of Sewers. All these traditions are rooted in British social history, which was heavily influenced by class, power, and the changing shape of industrial and agricultural development. In modern Britain, affected by industrial recession, where concern over jobs and growth appears to dominate public and political attention, as well as public spending cuts that sap the morale and effectiveness of the major regulatory agencies, attitudes toward, and the execution of, environmental protection are undergoing a subtle but profound revolution. It is slowly but agonizingly being recognized that economic growth and social well-being cannot be disconnected from environmental processes and the limits these impose on management and technological intervention. A 21st century Britain will have to integrate conservation with development in order to survive.     

学习借鉴,走跨越式发展之路

论述了为实现全面建设小康社会的发展目标，必须走跨越式发展之路。     

Sustainable development and environmental protection: A perspective on current trends and future options for universities

Problems of sustainable development and environmental protection pose a challenge to humanity unprecedented in scope and complexity. Whether and how the problems are resolved have significant implications for human and ecological well-being. In this paper, I discuss briefly recent international recommendations to promote sustainable development and environmental protection. I then offer a perspective on the roles and prospects of the university in promoting sustainable development and environmental protection.     

Producer responsibility for e-waste management: key issues for consideration - learning from the Swiss experience

E-waste, a relatively recent addition to the waste stream in the form of discarded electronic and electric equipment, is getting increasing attention from policy makers as the quantity being generated is rising rapidly. One of the most promising policy options to address this issue is to extend the producers responsibility for their products beyond the point of sale, until end-of-product-life. This paper briefly introduces the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR) and its applicability in the area of the end-of-life management of electronic and electrical equipment (EEE). It then examines the decade-long experience of Switzerland in using EPR to manage its e-waste, elaborating on the experience of the Swiss system in overcoming specific issues, and finally wrapping up with a synopsis of the lessons for policy makers. We consider each issue as an enquiry of questions confronting a policy maker and the choices that may present themselves. The five issues discussed are: (i) the challenges in getting an EPR based system started; (ii) securing financing to ensure a self-sustaining and smooth functioning system; (iii) organising a logistics network for the take back and collection of the e-waste; (iv) ensuring compliance of the various actors involved; and finally (v) reducing the threat of monopolistic practices.     

Using biological data from field studies with multiple reference sites as a basis for environmental management: the risks for false positives and false negatives

Field surveys of biological responses can provide valuable information about environmental status and anthropogenic stress. However, it is quite usual for biological variables to differ between sites or change between two periods of time also in the absence of an impact. This means that there is an obvious risk that natural variation will be interpreted as environmental impact, or that relevant effects will be missed due to insufficient statistical power. Furthermore, statistical methods tend to focus on the risks for Type-I error, i.e. false positives. For environmental management, the risk for false negatives is (at least) equally important. The aim of the present study was to investigate how the probabilities for false positives and negatives are affected by experimental set up (number of reference sites and samples per site), decision criteria (statistical method and α-level) and effect size. A model was constructed to simulate data from multiple reference sites, a negative control and a positive control. The negative control was taken from the same distribution as the reference sites and the positive control was just outside the normal range. Using the model, the probabilities to get false positives and false negatives were calculated when a conventional statistical test, based on a null hypothesis of no difference, was used along with alternative tests that were based on the normal range of natural variation. Here, it is tested if an investigated site is significantly inside (equivalence test) and significantly outside (interval test) the normal range. Furthermore, it was tested how the risks for false positives and false negatives are affected by changes in α-level and effect size. The results of the present study show that the strategy that best balances the risks between false positives and false negatives is to use the equivalence test. Besides tests with tabulated p-values, estimates generated using a bootstrap routine were included in the present study. The simulations showed that the probability for management errors was smaller for the bootstrap compared to the traditional test and the interval test.     

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.     

Industry and the environment: Chief executive officer attitudes, 1976 and 1986

This research considers the question of changing environmental values within the leadership of firms responsible for the management of pollution as an unwanted byproduct. Information was obtained from a pair of surveys mailed to the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the 50 largest firms listed within the mining and manufacturing directories of Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming in 1976 and again in 1986. The authors found that industry CEOs were more supportive of environmental concerns in 1986 than 1976, suggesting that ecological values have become institutionalized to some extent. Yet, there is little indication that this attitudinal shift in environmental concern among CEOs has been accompanied by a willingness to spend a larger proportion of the company budget on pollution control or to improve working relationships with federal regulatory officials.