德国公司环境报告评估

1994年进行了德国公司环境报告的第一次排名.1995年和1998年又进行了两次排名,以确定环境报告和陈述的数目已增加的程度,及其质量是否有所改善.基于所使用的基准,已经显示公司报告的质量有颇大差异.虽然总体质量有了改善,但大多数报告都有许多重要不足.     

Environmental breaches and resource losses in a Mexican biosphere reserve and development of a simple resource management model

SUMMARY

The causes for environmental breaches producing losses to the forest resources in the biosphere reserve Mariposa Monarca in Mexico have been investigated, mainly using methods of spatial analysis. It was demonstrated that the availability of forest resources themselves does not affect the frequency of breaches but does have consequences on the amount of resource loss per breach. Furthermore, a strong dependency on the traffic ways was demonstrated. The larger the distance to the traffic ways, the lower is the frequency of breaches. This behaviour could be described mathematically and led to the result that 38% of the breaches can be considered as caused by traffic ways. A weak dependency on the number of inhabitants could be found but no dependency on socioeconomic parameters. Taking into account the results of this analysis, a simple resource management model was developed, using a differential equation. It estimates the future development of natural resources. The model is implemented in a Geographic Information System. Sample calculations underline the importance of the supervising actions and show the possibilities of the model with respect to the measures that have to be taken to preserve natural resources in a supervised national park.     

Spatial variability of nitrous oxide and methane emissions from an MBT landfill in operation: Strong N2O hotspots at the working face

Mechanical biological treatment (MBT) is an effective technique, which removes organic carbon from municipal solid waste (MSW) prior to deposition. Thereby, methane (CH₄) production in the landfill is strongly mitigated. However, direct measurements of greenhouse gas emissions from full-scale MBT landfills have not been conducted so far. Thus, CH₄ and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from a German MBT landfill in operation as well as their concentrations in the landfill gas (LFG) were measured. High N₂O emissions of 20–200 g CO₂ eq. m^?2 h^?1 magnitude (up to 428 mg N m^?2 h^?1) were observed within 20 m of the working face. CH₄ emissions were highest at the landfill zone located at a distance of 30–40 m from the working face, where they reached about 10 g CO₂ eq. m^?2 h^?1. The MBT material in this area has been deposited several weeks earlier. Maximum LFG concentration for N₂O was 24.000 ppmv in material below the emission hotspot. At a depth of 50 cm from the landfill surface a strong negative correlation between N₂O and CH₄ concentrations was observed. From this and from the distribution pattern of extractable ammonium, nitrite, and nitrate it has been concluded that strong N₂O production is associated with nitrification activity and the occurrence of nitrite and nitrate, which is initiated by oxygen input during waste deposition. Therefore, CH₄ mitigation measures, which often employ aeration, could result in a net increase of GHG emissions due to increased N₂O emissions, especially at MBT landfills.     

Regional consequences of the way land users respond to future water availability in Murcia, Spain

Agricultural development in the Murcia autonomous region, Spain, has led to overexploitation of groundwater resources, and climate change will further increase pressures. Policy options to tackle the current unsustainable situation include the development of inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) schemes from wetter regions in the north and the introduction of taxation to further control groundwater abstraction. Under these scenarios, farmers with current access to water could face higher water cost, whereas farmers in areas where water was previously not available could see first time availability of water resources. In this paper, we combine discrete choice-based interviews with farmers in the Torrealvilla catchment, in which they indicate how they would adapt their land use under different scenarios, with an input–output model to assess the aggregate effects of individual land use decisions on the economy and water consumption of the Murcia region. The paper presents steps taken in the development of an input–output table for Murcia, including disaggregation of the agricultural sector, accounting for sector water use and consideration of back- and forward linkages. We conclude that appropriate taxation can lead to better water use efficiency, but that this is delicate as relatively small changes in prices of agricultural products can have significant impacts on land use and water consumption. Although new IBWT schemes would enable water to be used more efficiently, they would considerably increase regional water consumption and the regional economy’s dependence on water. As this is not sustainable under future climate change, water saving development pathways need to be explored.     

Evaluating farmers’ likely participation in a payment programme for water quality protection in the UK uplands

Maintaining drinking water quality is essential to water companies and their customers, and agricultural non-point source pollution is a major cause of water quality degradation. In this paper, we examine the potential use of payments financed by a water company as incentives for farmers to adjust their agricultural land management practices in order to protect water quality. We use a choice experiment (CE) to measure farmers’ minimum willingness to accept (WTA) requirements to adjust agricultural land management practices in Nidderdale and the Washburn valley (Yorkshire, UK) under a potential local payment for ecosystem services (PES) programme. Latent class analysis of farmers’ CE responses was used to quantify the size and spread of farmers’ preferences and minimum WTA values for compensation payments, and to investigate potential drivers of preference variation. Analysis suggested that the emphasis on sheep or cattle/dairy production within mixed farming businesses in this area provides a partial explanation for the considerable observed heterogeneity in preferences and minimum WTA requirements for participation in a potential PES programme.     

Farmer typology, future scenarios and the implications for ecosystem service provision: a case study from south-eastern Spain

Farming communities are increasingly expected to manage their agricultural activities in ways that ensure sustainable flows of a wide range of ecosystem services for society. The land use and management choices that farmers make are dependent upon their socio-economic characteristics and background, and in turn have important implications for the landscape and associated ecosystem services. Thus, a better understanding about the linkages between the characteristics of farmers, farm management and land use is important for managing multifunctional agro-ecosystems. In this paper, we first develop a typology of farmers for Torrealvilla catchment in Murcia, Spain, according to the characteristics of their households and farm management (e.g. the farmer’s age, household income, water access, land tenure and farm labour). This analysis distinguishes six types of farmers. Secondly, we analyse the link between farmer typology and the farmers’ responses to a number of scenarios. The scenarios describe different likely changes to agriculture in the catchment in terms of environmental constraints (irrigation water availability and rainfall pattern) and environmental policy regulation (water taxation and subsidies). This exercise enables us to explore the range of future land use changes that are likely to occur in the study area. The results indicate that: rain-fed agriculture is expected to experience gradual but extensive abandonment; vegetable/fruit farming and pig/animal rearing are likely to stagnate or even decline; and growing of grapes is likely to expand. Thirdly, we qualitatively evaluate how future land use changes are likely to affect key ecosystem services in the study area including future agricultural production and associated local income generation, erosion control, maintenance of the groundwater table and various cultural services associated with a heterogeneous agro-ecosystem. Particular changes such as expansion of grape production will increase food production and local income at the cost of further depletion of the aquifer and increased risk of salinisation. The outcomes of the study highlight that, to be effective, the design of agri-environmental schemes and other government interventions (e.g. specific compulsory regulations on farming practices and associated water use) should carefully take into account the characteristics of the farmers within the area of interest, their land uses and the possible diversity of responses to policy and environmental drivers. Opportunities exist for future studies quantifying the extent of the impacts of ecosystem service provision through formal models combining farmers’ land use decision-making and spatially explicit modelling of landscape processes.