Bottom up and top down: analysis of participatory processes for sustainability indicator identification as a pathway to community empowerment and sustainable environmental management

The modern environmental management literature stresses the need for community involvement to identify indicators to monitor progress towards sustainable development and environmental management goals. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of participatory processes on sustainability indicator identification and environmental management in three disparate case studies. The first is a process of developing partnerships between First Nations communities, environmental groups, and forestry companies to resolve conflicts over forest management in Western Canada. The second describes a situation in Botswana where local pastoral communities worked with development researchers to reduce desertification. The third case study details an on-going government led process of developing sustainability indicators in Guernsey, UK, that was designed to monitor the environmental, social, and economic impacts of changes in the economy. The comparative assessment between case studies allows us to draw three primary conclusions. (1) The identification and collection of sustainability indicators not only provide valuable databases for making management decisions, but the process of engaging people to select indicators also provides an opportunity for community empowerment that conventional development approaches have failed to provide. (2) Multi-stakeholder processes must formally feed into decision-making forums or they risk being viewed as irrelevant by policy-makers and stakeholders. (3) Since ecological boundaries rarely meet up with political jurisdictions, it is necessary to be flexible when choosing the scale at which monitoring and decision-making occurs. This requires an awareness of major environmental pathways that run through landscapes to understand how seemingly remote areas may be connected in ways that are not immediately apparent.     

Management of mine spoil for crop productivity with lignite fly ash and biological amendments

Long-term field trials using lignite fly ash (LFA) were carried out in rice crops during the period 1996-2000 at Mine I, Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Tamil Nadu. LFA, being alkaline and endowed with an excellent pozzolanic nature, silt loam texture, and plant nutrients, has the potential to improve the texture, fertility, and crop productivity of mine spoil. The rice crops were the first, third, fifth, and sixth crops in rotation. The other crops, such as green gram (second) and sun hemp (fourth), were grown as green manure. For experimental trials, LFA was applied at various dosages (0, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 t/ha), with and without press mud (10 t/ha), before cultivation of the first crop. Repeat applications of LFA were made at the same dosages in treatments of up to 50 t/ha (with and without press mud) before cultivation of the third and fifth crops. Press mud, a lightweight organic waste product from the sugar industry, was used as an organic amendment and source of plant nutrients. Also, a recommended dosage of chemical fertilizer, along with gypsum, humic acid, and biofertilizer as supplementing agents, was applied in all the treatments, including control. With one-time and repeat applications of LFA, from 5 to 20 t/ha (with and without press mud), the crop yield (grain and straw) increased significantly (p < 0.05), in the range from 3.0 to 42.0% over the corresponding control. The maximum yield was obtained with repeat applications of 20 t/ha of LFA with press mud in the third crop. The press mud enhanced the yield in the range of 1.5-10.2% with various dosages of LFA. The optimum dosage of LFA was 20 t/ha for both one-time and repeat applications. Repeat applications of LFA at lower dosages of up to 20 t/ha were more effective in increasing the yield than the corresponding one-time applications of up to 20 t/ha and repeat applications at 50 t/ha. One-time and repeat applications of LFA of up to 20 t/ha (with and without press mud), apart from increasing the yield, evinced improvement in the texture and fertility of mine spoil and the nutrient content of crop produce. Furthermore, some increase in the content of trace and heavy metals and the level of gamma-emitters in the mine spoil and crop produce was observed, but well within the permissible limits. The residual effect of LFA on succeeding crops was also encouraging in terms of eco-friendliness. Beyond 20 t/ha of LFA, the crop yield decreased significantly (p < 0.05), as a result of the formation of hardpan in the mine spoil and possibly the higher concentration of soluble salts in the LFA. However, the adverse effects of soluble salts were annulled progressively during the cultivation of succeeding crops. A plausible mechanism for the improved fertility of mine spoil and the carryover or uptake of toxic trace and heavy metals and gamma-emitters in mine spoil and crop produce is also discussed.     

An efficient technology to treat heavy metal--lead--contaminated soil by microwave radiation

Microwave (MW) technology can be used to vitrify contaminated soil wastes and immobilize heavy metal ions in soils. More than 93% of the Pb(II)-contaminated soil was vitrified to a glass/ceramic formation after 30 min of MW radiation. In a 6-year study, the Pb(II) concentration of the vitrified soil in the leaching test was less than 1.0 mg/l, which is substantially below the USEPA regulatory limit of 5.0 mg/l.     

Framing of Geoengineering Affects Support for Climate Change Mitigation

The growing recognition that climate change mitigation alone will be inadequate has led scientists and policymakers to discuss climate geoengineering. An experiment with a US sample found, contrary to previous research, that reading about geoengineering did not reduce conservatives’ skepticism about the existence of anthropogenic climate change. Moreover, depending on how it is framed, geoengineering can reduce support for mitigation among both conservatives and non-conservatives. When geoengineering is framed as a major solution, people worry less about climate change, leading to reduced mitigation support. When framed as disastrous, people perceived geoengineering as riskier, also leading to a decrease in mitigation support. A more moderate framing of geoengineering as a partial solution is less susceptible to moral hazard effects. Overall, results suggest that geoengineering will not lessen political polarization over anthropogenic climate change, and could undercut support for mitigation efforts. Instead, framing geoengineering as a small piece to solving a big puzzle seems to be the best strategy to weaken this potential moral hazard.     

The Effect of Vaccinium vitis-idaea on Properties of Mountain-Meadow Soil under Alpine Lichen Heath

Russian Journal of Ecology - Abstract—The study of the effect of mycorrhiza symbiosis on the transformation of carbon and nitrogen compounds in soils is important in view of the necessity to...     

以膨润土为辅助添加剂固化/稳定化污泥的试验研究

针对传统以水泥固化污泥,带来的水泥用量大与固化体的浸出液pH过高等问题,提出了以膨润土为添加剂辅助水泥固化/稳定化污泥的思路.通过开展无侧限抗压强度试验、毒性浸出试验,测量掺入膨润土后污泥固化体的强度、重金属浸出率、浸出液COD及pH值,研究该固化/稳定化方法的效果.结果表明,膨润土的掺入极大地提高了固化体的抗压强度,将掺入量为0.4(相对污泥的质量比)的水泥一半用膨润土替代时,固化体的强度提高了6左右.体积安定性也能够满足要求.随膨润土掺入量增加,固化体中锌、铅的浸出率与浸出液的pH值呈现不断减小的趋势,锌与铅的浸出率分别由6.9%下降至0.25%,9.6%下降至5%,pH值由12.3下降至12.1.在强碱条件下及烘干或风干条件下,铜会随着有机物的分解而析出,从而增加铜的浸出率,而膨润土的加入能弥补水泥造成的强碱环境及风干或烘干过程对固化污泥中铜的稳定产生的不利影响.     

Statistical comparison and correlation of zinc and lead in estuarine sediments along the western coast of Mauritius

Cr, Zn and Pb were quantified using atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) from urban and rural estuarine sediments collected along the western coast of Mauritius during the period July 2002-January 2003. The mean concentration of Cr (225.4 mg kg(-1)), Zn (107.0 mg kg(-1)) and Pb (27.0 mg kg(-1)) in sediments along the six estuaries can be considered below those from contaminated estuarine sediments. Zn and Pb were significantly higher in urban sediments downstream St. Louis River compared to a rural estuary at Tamarin at 5% significance level. Zn was also significantly lower in Tamarin compared to Petite Riviere Noire estuary. Cr was however not significantly different in sediments from the six estuaries and could be considered of basaltic origin and were correlated to neither lead nor zinc. The concentration of Zn and Pb were greatest in the more urbanised upper and lower reaches of the St. Louis estuary during the period of study and were also significantly positively correlated in the estuarine sediments indicating that the cycling of Pb and Zn were linked indicating a common source for Pb and Zn. The potential sources of Pb and Zn in the urban estuarine sediments were considered to arise from road runoff causing significant quantities to be trapped. At present, compared to contaminant levels found in the UK and elsewhere, Mauritius still looks relatively uncontaminated but there is growing concern about heavy metal contamination in urban estuaries. There is therefore a need for long-term studies in estuarine management to involve integrated strategies in which water-sediment interactions in estuaries need to be considered and international standards for sediment quality developed. Such studies undertaken in the future would further the understanding of the biogeochemical processes of estuarine systems in Mauritius which could then be used in environmental development schemes and effective coastal zone management.     

Preparation of gasification feedstock from leafy biomass

Dried leaves are a potential source of energy although these are not commonly used beside to satisfy daily energy demands in rural areas. This paper aims at preparing a leafy biomass feedstock in the form of briquettes which can be directly used for combustion or to extract the combustible gas using a gasifier. Teak (Tectona grandis) and rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) leaves are considered for the present study. A binder-assisted briquetting technique with tapioca starch as binder is adopted. Properties of these leafy biomass briquettes such as moisture content, calorific value, compressive strength, and shatter index are determined. From the study, briquettes with biomass-to-binder ratio of 3:5 are found to be stable. Higher mass percentage of binder is considered for preparation of briquettes due to the fact that leafy biomasses do not adhere well on densification with lower binder content. Ultimate analysis test is conducted to analyze the gasification potential of the briquettes. Results show that the leafy biomass prepared from teak and rubber leaves has calorific values of 17.5 and 17.8 MJ/kg, respectively, which are comparable with those of existing biomass feedstock made of sawdust, rice husk, and rice straw.