Even International Summits Must Be Localised: A youth perspective on the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development

Max-Neef's theory of human-scale development (HSD) directs attention to an issues-based, locality specific agenda through self-identification of community issues by local people. This paper reports on a two-day HSD workshop run on the Gold Coast where an eclectic group of 20 participants worked through Max-Neef's framework to diagnose their communities' current reality, visualise what their community could be and discuss how to 'build bridges' between the current reality and their Utopian community. This work is part of a broader research programme looking at participatory community development.     

WATER USE CONFLICT NEAR MADISON,NEBRASKA1

ABSTRACT: Nebraska statutes give first preference for use of ground water to domestic purposes, second to agriculture, and third to manufacturing or industrial purposes. Rapid growth in the number of irrigation wells has caused an increasing number of water use conflicts. One such conflict arose from the installation and use of an irrigation well near Madison in Madison County, Nebraska. Pumping from the irrigation well coincided with head declines in nearby domestic wells screened in the same sand and gravel, but appeared unrelated to water level changes in wells screened in a higher saturated sand. A drawdown-recovery test was performed to determine the degree of hydraulic connection between the wells involved. Operation of the irrigation well was determined to be the cause of the head decline in nearby domestic wells screened in the same sand and gravel. Partly as a result of this conflict, legislation recently introduced into the state legislature would require that wells of higher preference be “reasonably” constructed if wells of lower preference are to be held liable for head loss.     

Handling and Survivorship of African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus) in Five Ecosystems

Populations of the African wild dog, Lycaon pictus have declined throughout their range in sub-Saharan Africa during the last 20 years. It has been hypothesized that handling of wild dogs led to local extinction of a study population in the Serengeti-Masai Mara ecosystem. In this paper we compare rates of mortality and disappearance in handled ( n = 305) versus unhandled ( n = 135) dogs to test the hypothesis that handling leads to increased mortality of Lycaon . We examine data from five ecosystems in which Lycaon have been handled. Our data show that there is no effect of handling on the longevity of Lycaon in any ecosystem studied. Given these data, a more parsimonious explanation of the decimation of the Serengeti-Mara Lycaon population would be that disease alone was responsible for the population collapse and that researcher handling of Lycaon was correlated with, but not causal to, this mortality.     

Solid phosphorus phase in aluminum- and iron-treated biosolids

Stabilization of phosphorus (P) in sewage sludge (biosolids) to reduce water-soluble P concentrations is essential for minimizing P loss from amended soils and maximizing the capacity of the soil to safely serve as an outlet for this waste material. The chemical form at which P is retained in biosolids stabilized by Al(2)(SO(4))(3) x 18H(2)O (alum) or FeSO(4) x 7H(2)O (FeSul) was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray elemental spectrometry (EDXS) and by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Both treatments resulted in the formation of a Ca-P phase, probably brushite. Phosphorus was further retained in the alum-treated biosolids by precipitation of an Al-P phase with an Al/P molar ratio of about 1:1, while in the FeSul-treated biosolids, P was retained by both precipitation with Fe/P molar ratios of 1:1 or 1.5:1, and by adsorption onto newly formed Fe hydroxides exhibiting an Fe/P molar ratio of up to 11:1. All of these mechanisms efficiently reduced P solubility and are crucial in biosolids environmentally safe agronomic beneficial use for this waste product; however, each P phase formed may react differently in the amended soil, depending on soil properties. Thus, the proper P stabilization method would depend on the target soil.     

Global Conservation Priorities

The following is an overview of the June 1998 Issues in International Conservation, which was inadvertently omitted from that issue. The editorial staff regrets this oversight.     

Lyme Disease and Conservation

Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness that is widespread in North America, especially in the northeastern and northcentral United States. This disease could negatively influence efforts to conserve natural populations in two ways: (1) the disease could directly affect wild animal health; and (2) tick control efforts could adversely affect natural populations and communities. Lyme disease affects several domestic animals, but symptoms have been reported in only a few wild species. Direct effects of Lyme disease on wild animal populations have not been reported, but the disease should be considered as a possible cause in cases of unexplained population declines in endemic areas. Methods available to manage ticks and Lyme disease include human self-protection techniques, manipulation of habitats and host species populations, biological control, and pesticide applications. The diversity of available techniques allows selection of approaches to minimize environmental effects by (1) emphasizing personal protection techniques, (2) carefully targeting management efforts to maximize efficiency, and (3) integrating environmentally benign techniques to improve management while avoiding broad-scale environmentally destructive approaches. The environmental effects of Lyme disease depend, to a large extent, on the methods chosen to minimize human exposure to infected ticks. Conservation biologists can help design tick management programs that effectively lower the incidence of human Lyme disease while simultaneously minimizing negative effects on natural populations.