Incorporating Social and Cultural Significance of Large Old Trees in Conservation Policy

In addition to providing key ecological functions, large old trees are a part of a social realm and as such provide numerous social‐cultural benefits to people. However, their social and cultural values are often neglected when designing conservation policies and management guidelines. We believe that awareness of large old trees as a part of human identity and cultural heritage is essential when addressing the issue of their decline worldwide. Large old trees provide humans with aesthetic, symbolic, religious, and historic values, as well as concrete tangible benefits, such as leaves, branches, or nuts. In many cultures particularly large trees are treated with reverence. Also, contemporary popular culture utilizes the image of trees as sentient beings and builds on the ancient myths that attribute great powers to large trees. Although the social and cultural role of large old trees is usually not taken into account in conservation, accounting for human‐related values of these trees is an important part of conservation policy because it may strengthen conservation by highlighting the potential synergies in protecting ecological and social values. Incorporación del Significado Social y Cultural de Árboles Añejos a Políticas de Conservación     

Legal considerations in challenging external threats to Glacier National Park,Montana, USA

External threats to the environmental integrity of Glacier National Park, Montana, USA, fit into three categories: adverse land use practices adjacent to the Park, air pollution, and water pollution. This article identifies and evaluates the laws that Glacier National Park officials might rely upon to protect the Park against these external threats. The article also assesses the available scientific information relating to external threats, and it identifies additional information needed to establish a legal basis for challenging the threats.     

对由制定抗震救灾工作预案引起地震误传的平息与启示

本文概述了在制定和部署抗震救灾工作预案时，所引起地震误传事件的经过、对社会造成的影响，以及采取的对策和所汲取的教训。     

Utilization of Photographs for Determining Impact Indicators for Trail Management

Indicators are a key component of resource management, but selecting them can be difficult and controversial. This study explores different methods for selecting impact indicators for management of trail conditions by comparing photo survey methods (PSM) with written survey methods (WSM). A total of 661 subjects participated in interviews conducted within Mudeung- Mountain Provincial Park in Kwang-ju, Korea. PSM explained variation in acceptability better than WSM. Six major photo components (in order of importance: area of large rocks on trail, area of wood steps, area of bare roots, area of bare soil, area of small stones, and area of stone steps) explained 84.7% of the variation in acceptability of trail management conditions. This study suggests that PSM can be a useful tool for selecting impact indicators. Supported by the grant of Post-Doctoral Program, Chonbuk National University (2001)     

Value to wildlife of urban-agricultural parks: a case study from Rome urban area

Urban-agricultural parks could have some advantages to wildlife because of less intensive agricultural procedures, absence of hunting pressure, and reduced human disturbance. In this study, the breeding and wintering bird communities and the small mammal community in an urban-agricultural park of Rome were compared to those of a close urban park and a close agricultural area just outside the city. The aim was to assess the best destination and management of wildlife in natural areas at the urban–rural interface. Richness and diversity of bird communities were higher in the urban-agricultural park. Due to habitat features and probably human disturbances, but not to urbanization, predation, and competition factors, the urban park drastically reduces the abundance of decreasing open-land bird species. Abundance of these species was not significantly different in the urban-agricultural park and in the agricultural area. In the urban-agricultural and urban park, bird and mammal pest species were more abundant than they were in the agricultural area. Regarding decreasing abundance of small mammal species, no significant difference among the study areas was observed. Urban-agricultural park is a better choice than urban park for wildlife. Thus, a higher number of preserved urban natural areas should be devoted to urban-agricultural parks. However, to increase the abundance of open-land species and in general wildlife, a less intensive management of cultivated and pasture patches is necessary.     

大型公共活动风险控制研究与分析

大型公共活动人口密度大、流动性强,极易引发安全事故,造成大量人员伤亡和恶劣社会影响。笔者从风险管理角度,提出大型公共活动的风险控制程序,通过方案评估、静态评估、管控能力及应急能力等几方面对大型公共活动进行动态分析。明确划分大型公共活动场所的重点部位;将大型公共活动的管控能力预警分为4个等级,界定相应人群容量特征,并针对不同级别提出相应安全管理措施;强调整体容量,重点部位容量的确定应与项目目标协同一致,形成大型公共活动风险管理控制的新思路,对大型公共活动风险管理具有重要意义,值得在一般大型公共活动风险评估中广泛应用。     

火灾模拟结果误差分析的函数分析法

火灾试验结果和模拟预测结果常能表达成关于时间变化的曲线,为定量描述两种随时间变化曲线间相符合的程度,引入误差分析的函数分析法。采用适合于低Mach数流修正的N-S方程描述烟气的输运过程,使用大涡模拟和Smagorinsky亚格子模型,对封闭空间内的火灾过程进行数值模拟;对其计算结果的分析表明,函数分析法能定量对模拟预测曲线与试验曲线间的差别进行描述,模是两曲线值大小的相对误差的度量,余弦是两曲线形状相似程度的度量。     

DECISION-MAKING IN THE DEVLOPMENT OF URBAN WATERFRONTS FOR PARK/BUSINESS USE1

Abstract: Opportunities for the development of an amalgam of park and leisure-oriented commercial establishments in urban-core waterfont settings exist in many U.S. cities. Public awareness of the need to enhance the environmental quality of these waterfont areas has resulted in a demand for planning and implementation action. However, the lack of understanding of urban political systems has been an inhibiting factor in the development of this park/ business concept. The major factors that influence the decision-making process leading to the development of urban-core waterfronts for park/business use are identified inthis paper. Understanding this decision-making process can aid project implementation and avoid waste of planning effort in time, dollars, and productivity.     

Applying ecosystem concepts to the planning of industrial areas: a case study of Singapore’s Jurong Island

The application of ecological concepts to the industrial setting has been touched upon by literature across several disciplines. Two emerging ecological planning approaches, landscape ecology and industrial ecology, are applied here to look at alternative ways of planning industrial parks. As an emerging field, landscape ecology provides different viewpoints from the traditional approach of natural conservation, which mainly focuses on the protection of nature. The approach of landscape ecology regards the environment as a land mosaic, a mixture of natural and urban environment, which concerns a manageable human-scale environment across one or two human generations. Industrial ecology, on the other hand, goes beyond the traditional “end of pipe” idea of pollution control and learns from the ecosystem concept. The current paper is an attempt to reconcile these two fields as an integrated approach to the planning of industrial areas. Using a case study of Singapore’s Jurong Island industrial park, two fundamental issues behind the idea of landscape ecology and industrial ecology are raised. If raw materials, energy and by-products are more easily replaced or reused by technology and management, then research on industrial ecology and related knowledge will be crucial for developing natural resource substitution by innovative technology and new ways of environmental management. Where it is difficult to substitute natural resources, the skills of planning and managing natural resources will take priority over other strategies. In this situation, the knowledge of landscape ecology needs to be applied to the prediction, design and evaluation of ecologically optimum resource uses, patterns and processes in the mixture of natural, urban and industrial environment. A new concept, “nurtured landscape”, is proposed for mediating between the natural ecosystem and the urban/industrial environment. The nurtured landscape provides a basis for the development of new ecological technology using landscape to ameliorate the polluting effects of the urban/industrial neighbourhood. The planning of Singapore’s Jurong Island industrial park provides a test of applying the principles of landscape ecology and industrial ecology to the possible transformation of an industrial area.     

Developing an eco-industrial park in Puducherry region,India ‒ a SWOT analysis

Over the past few years, the eco-industrial park (EIP) concept has been emerging as a significant driving force for sustainable industrialisation. Accumulating evidence indicates that the transition of existing industries into eco-industrial networking through industrial ecology (IE) principles would provide an excellent opportunity for facilitating such innovative industrialisation. A SWOT analysis was carried out to identify the potential and constraints for the successful implementation of an eco-industrial park in the ecologically fragile coastal zone of Puducherry. The results indicated significant potential for EIP development with few challenges. The lessons learnt can be used to provide broad guidelines for facilitating EIP development in the Puducherry region and similar scenarios found elsewhere across the world, especially in developing countries.