Landscape planning and the estate landscape

The country estate has a particular place in the English countryside and its contribution to the landscape scene is distinct and valuable. The paper describes an approach to planning a large country estate of parkland, woodland and estate villages in Cheshire. A Reconnaissance Survey led to the Outline Strategy for six ‘landscape types’ discovered on the estate. The Landscape Conservation Plan is described and the crucial importance of conservation measures is emphasised.     

Initial participation in UK set‐aside and ESA schemes

Under UK set‐aside introduced in 1988, farmers who agree voluntarily to divert at least 20% of their annual cereal area into fallow or other approved use for a 5‐year period may receive annual payments of up to £200 per hectare; whilst in the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs) designated in 1986 and 1987 in parts of the UK, annual area payments are made to farmers who agree voluntarily to manage eligible land in environmentally acceptable ways. It is argued that participation in a voluntary land diversion scheme may depend upon the favourability of farmer attitudes and upon the financial attractiveness of the particular scheme. The determinants of farmer attitudes and the relative importance of attitudes and economics in affecting the entry decision may however vary from farmer to farmer. Consideration of this leads to the definition of four types of farmer. Participation is then predicted under various assumptions: that all farmers are profit‐motivated; that all are profit‐influenced; that all are scheme‐influenced; and that all are peer‐influenced. This sets limits between which, it is argued, participation will in practice fall; and it enables a general discussion of the factors affecting participation. The initial participation rates in UK set‐aside and ESA schemes in England and Wales are reviewed and analysed using the method developed.     

“新三农”视域下中国耕地利用的可持续集约化：概念认知与研究框架

耕地利用的可持续集约化为保障粮食安全、农业绿色发展和资源永续利用提供了新思路,对于深化农民主体地位、夯实农业发展的现代化导向、破解“新三农”复杂的问题集合具有重要的现实意义。系统梳理国外可持续集约化的思想缘起,辨析可持续集约化的内涵差异,厘清“新三农”视域下中国耕地利用可持续集约化的逻辑本源;基于要素融合—结构重整—功能优化的运行轨迹,遵循耕地利用系统过程—格局—机制—效应的逻辑进路,尝试从学理辨析、水平测度、演化机理和优化调控等方面厘清耕地利用系统基本问题域并阐释其研究主题,构建耕地利用可持续集约化的研究框架。探索性提出未来研究需重点关注的农业生态空间—人地关系—耕地利用可持续集约化等科学问题,探讨因素+机理、功能+系统、过程+格局、尺度+界面的关键路径。     

Development of plant communities on set-aside in England

A survey of land taken out of production from the early 1990s onwards under the European Union's set-aside policy in England was carried out in 2008, to record plant communities in set-aside of different ages, effects of distance from the field edge, sowing and soil type. Communities were classified using the Countryside Vegetation System (CVS), Ellenberg indicators and Grime CSR strategy. Species richness declined with distance from the field boundary. Annuals declined with age of set-aside. In older set-aside, perennials dominated, 40-50% of species were grasses, and grasses covered over 70% of the area. Sown areas had a higher proportion of grass species and a lower proportion of wind-dispersed species. Perennial forbs increased over time in naturally regenerated swards but decreased on sown swards. Annuals and grasses were more prevalent on light soils, with more bare ground on heavy soils. Most transects fell into CVS aggregate classes ‘tall grassland/herb’ and ‘fertile grassland’. Ellenberg fertility values decreased initially but then stabilised. Competitor scores increased, and ruderal scores declined, with age. In general, the rate of change declined with age. Although few sites had plant communities of significant conservation interest, the value of set-aside is likely to be primarily to maintain botanical diversity in intensively farmed areas, as well as providing food and habitat for fauna.     

中国股市账面市值比效应成因分析：基于行为金融视角

本文将账面市值比分解为反映公司基本面的有形收益和反映投资者主观预期的无形收益,以1994-2008年间在沪深两市交易的A股公司为研究样本,实证考察投资者对账面市值比中不同元素的反应,结果显示,投资者对公司发展前景的主观预期过分乐观或者悲观引发市场过度反应,随着市场回归理性,股票收益发生反转导致账面市值比效应。     

绥化市农村环境污染现状与对策

绥化市是我省的农业大市,粮食年产量占全省的五分之一,其中肇东是全国粮食产量最高的县级市,绥化市还是寒地黑土特色物产地,寒地黑土以土壤肥沃,土质疏松,有机物含量高,最适宜农业耕种而闻名于世,是世界上稀有的土地资源。由寒地黑土培育出的农作物,玉米淀粉含量、大豆蛋白含量、亚麻纤维含量和甜菜原糖含量等均高出全国平均水平。1全市农村环境污染概况从我市农业污染区域分布特征上看,主要表现为:城市周边近郊和蔬菜区重于农区,水田区重于旱田区,河流下游区重于上游区,经济作物区重于粮食产区,种养业生产结构单一区重于非单一区。农村面源污染呈逐年加重趋势,有些地方环境容量超负荷运转,超出了生态自我修复能力。从污染客体和污染物类型上看主要有:水体污染、土壤污染和农产品残留三大类。我们从水体污染也能看出污染程度和现状。呼兰河是我市的母亲河,流经我市总长度为345km,流域面积为27305km2,占总流域面积的76.3%,占全市总面积的79.5%,有大小支流36条,农业灌溉用水约90%来自呼兰河水系。从这几年我们对其监测结果看,呼兰河及主要支流的污染特征为有机污染。高锰酸盐指数、生化需氧量、氨氮、溶解氧污染指标等在各个河段水体均有超标样本出...     

新环境下高校财务风险防范机制的建立

新环境下高校财务风险研究是一个全新的研究领域;给高校财务管理带来了知识资本确认、计量及资源配置等难题.建立我国高校财务风险防范与管理机制,积极支持多元化办学,拓宽高校资金来源渠道,加强财务监督,扩大办学规模、增强整体竞争力、提高办学效益已成为各个高校发展的共同趋势.拟从分析高校财务风险面临新环境开始,进而提出防范财务风险的对策,为高校决策者如何降低高校财务风险进行有益的探索.参7.     

《巴黎协定》时代的气候融资:全球进展、治理挑战与中国对策

本文首先辨析了"气候资金"与"气候融资"两个基本概念,且通过对包括《巴黎协定》在内,最新的气候资金相关法律文件、信息通报、文献资料、智库报告的研究和系统梳理,指出全球气候融资发展趋势表现在全球气候融资缺口正在持续扩大;资金来源更加市场化;发展金融机构募集、管理和分配了大部分的公共资金;新型经济体用款权受到挤压,也呈现出更大的出资潜力;稳定的碳价格被认为是全球实现"零排放"长期减排目标的核心机制。与此同时,气候资金治理体系也处在关键的转型期,目前气候资金治理正在向"自下而上"的模式过渡,《公约》外平台承担了"气候风险主流化"的多重功能,但需要警惕"自下而上"的治理模式有绕过"共同但有区别责任"的风险,且绿色气候基金运作规则的导向性作用值得关注。据此,本文在最后提出了一系列治理建议。建议我国应积极影响国际气候资金机制运营规则和技术规则的制定,避免发达国家以及代表其利益的国际组织制定的标准片面地发展为国际规则;支持在全球设定渐进的、可预测的、可信的碳价格,并且肯定将气候与环境风险因素内生化的核心思想理念;与绿色气候基金开展多方位合作,推动气候公共资金治理规则转型;加强与世界银行在气候融资领域的合作;借G20平台逐步发展为气候融资政策突破和工具创新的引领者。     

Establishing a measurement,reporting, and verification system for climate finance in post-Paris agreement period

The measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) of climate finance was originated from discussions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It has been one of the key issues of global climate negotiations since 2009 and will continue to be of significant importance in addressing climate change and strengthening international trust. This paper analyses the concept, the objective, and the progress of the MRV of climate finance based on reviews of the latest literature and think-tank reports regarding climate finance regime and MRV. Following the analysis, challenges faced with the MRV of climate finance are illustrated. This paper presents that the comparability of climate finance data needs to be improved due to the variety of methodologies used for disaggregating climate finance. In addition, the integrality of the MRV system of climate finance has been impaired by the lack of feedback mechanism from the recipients to the contributors in reporting system. Furthermore, although accounting system of climate finance has been developing and improving, it remains incapacity in providing accurate data on disbursed climate finance. Responding to the above challenges, this paper proposes the key tasks in establishing a comprehensive MRV system for climate finance at international level. The tasks involve developing a measurement system with consistent data basis and accounting basis, a reporting system with more detailed guidance and standardized formats, as well as a verification mechanism balancing top-down and bottom-up review processes. In the last section, this paper concludes that the establishment of an improved MRV of climate finance requires concerted cooperation and negotiations between developed and developing country Parties under the UNFCCC. As one of the few developing country donors to the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), China is suggested to clarify its propositions as a developing country in aspects such as concept, coverage, and architecture of climate finance and MRV system, and gain bargaining power in improving operating and technical rules of international climate finance regime.     

Choice set formation for outdoor destinations: The role of motivations and preference discrimination in site selection for the management of public expenditures on protected areas

Effective public expenditure currently dominates the management focus of many protected areas. This calls for explicit modeling of constraints and motivations that, respectively, obstruct and stimulate visits to selected outdoor destinations. Choice set formation is the result of screening and/or inclusion of specific sites (alternatives) to form the set of sites considered in real choices. Evidence shows that the omission of a structural representation of choice set formation is harmful to econometric inference. Yet, the literature has largely ignored the underlying behavioral phenomenon. We show, using a discrete choice experiment involving selection among seven recreational sites in an Italian national park, that choice set formation is behaviorally relevant, even after controlling for preference discrimination. Motivations (why visit?) are important determinants of preliminary site screening for choice set inclusion, as well as site selection, justifying the additional value of such modeling extension.