Incorporation of Spatial and Economic Analyses of Human‐Use Data in the Design of Marine Protected Areas

Abstract: Social, economic, and ecological criteria contribute to the successful design, implementation, and management of marine protected areas (MPAs). In the context of California's Marine Life Protection Act Initiative, we developed a set of methods for collecting, compiling, and analyzing data about the spatial extent and relative economic importance of commercial and recreational fishing. We interviewed 174 commercial fishers who represented the major fisheries in the initiative's north‐central coast region, which extends from Point Arena south to Pigeon Point. These fishers provided data that we used to map the extent of each of the fishing grounds, to weight the relative importance of areas within the grounds, to characterize the operating costs of each fishery, and to analyze the potential economic losses associated with proposed marine protected areas. A regional stakeholder group used the maps and impact analyses in conjunction with other data sets to iteratively identify economic and ecological trade‐offs in designations of different areas as MPAs at regional, port, and fishery extents. Their final proposed MPA network designated 20% of state waters as MPAs. Potential net economic loss ranged from 1.7% to 14.2% in the first round of network design and totaled 6.3% in the final round of design. This process is a case study in the application of spatial analysis to validate and integrate local stakeholder knowledge in marine planning.     

Traditional Plant Harvesting in Contemporary Fragmented and Urban Landscapes

Abstract: Ecosystem fragmentation and destruction can lead to restrictive administration policies on traditional harvesting by indigenous peoples from remaining ecosystem tracts. In New Zealand, concerns about endangered species and governmental policies that focus on species and ecosystem preservation have resulted in severely curtailed traditional harvesting rights. Although provision has been made for limited gathering of traditional plants from government‐administered conservation lands, it is unclear how much harvesting is undertaken on these lands and elsewhere and what this harvest might consist of. We interviewed seven expert Maori elders from the Waikato, New Zealand, to identify plant species they currently harvested and from where. We compared these data with the data we collected on permits issued for plant collecting on conservation lands in the same region. We sought to gain information on indigenous plant harvesting to determine the extent of permitted harvesting from conservation lands in the Waikato and to identify issues that might affect plant harvesting and management. Elders identified 58 species they harvest regularly or consider culturally important; over 50% of these species are harvested for medicinal use. Permit data from 1996 to 2006 indicated no apparent relationship between species of reported cultural significance and the number of permits issued for each of these species. Currently, few plant species are harvested from conservation lands, although some unofficial harvesting occurs. Elders instead reported that medicinal plants are frequently collected from urban and other public areas. They reported that plant species used for dyeing, carving, and weaving are difficult to access. Elders also discussed concerns such as spraying of roadsides, which resulted in the death of medicinal species, and use of commercial hybrids in urban planning. Local government may have an increasingly important role in supporting native traditions through urban planning, which takes account of cultural harvesting needs while potentially reducing future harvesting pressure on conservation lands. We suggest that active participation by the Māori community in the development and management of urban harvesting resources will result in positive outcomes.     

Indigenous Knowledge of Natural Resource Management and Population Control for Dong Ethnic Group in Guizhou Province

Dong ethnic people have rich indigenous knowledge in terms of their daily life and production, which plays an important role in the sustainable development of their village. This paper aims to understand traditional knowledge of Dong ethnic people in resource management and population control, including traditional resource management, traditional medicinal knowledge and village regulations in Zhanli Village in Southeast Guizhou Province. The research methods include key informant interview, group discussio...     

Assessing local climate action plans for public health co-benefits in environmental justice communities

Climate change presents a complex environmental health and justice challenge for the field of urban planning. To date, the majority of research focuses on measuring local climate efforts and evaluating the general efficacy of adopted climate action plans (CAPs). Cumulatively, these studies argue that socio-economic and demographic variables (such as the fiscal health of cities, city size, and median household income) are important factors in implementing climate policies. Less studied are issues of environmental justice and the impacts of climate change on population health. Through interviews with urban planners and a document analysis of CAPs, this study assesses how California cities with high levels of pollution and social vulnerability address climate change and public health. The findings of this study show that CAPs in these cities rarely analyse whether greenhouse gas reduction strategies will also yield health co-benefits, such as a reduction in the co-pollutants of climate change (i.e. ozone, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides). In many instances, the net co-benefits of health are not monetised, quantified, or even identified by local governments. In California's most impacted cities, climate planning activities and work on public health are happening in a parallel manner rather than through an integrated approach. The results suggest a need for increased opportunities for interagency coordination and staff training to conduct health analyses, free and easily accessible tools, methods for prioritising funding streams, and the development of partnerships with community-based organisations for linking climate planning with public health.     

基于水质目标管理的河流治理方案制定方法及其案例研究

针对我国河流污染程度高,污染类型复杂的现状,实施水质目标管理是河流治理的根本选择.我国在水污染总量控制的研究起步比较早,但缺少基于水质目标的治理方案编制方法的系统性研究.本文提出了适合于我国国情的基于水质目标的河流治理方案制定方法,基本框架包括水质问题诊断、目标确定与负荷分配、河流治理任务实施和实施效果评估4个基本部分.该方法以河流容量总量控制为基础,突破了传统了目标总量控制方式,并在滏阳河邢台段进行了实际应用.水环境诊断结果显示,氨氮是滏阳河邢台段主要超标污染物.以国控及省控断面为基础,在滏阳河邢台段设定了4个考核断面,设置氨氮小于10、11、12 mg·L-1,COD小于80、55、50 mg·L-1等多个组合目标情景.划定控制单元13个,核算了各控制单元水环境容量和现状负荷,并按等比例分配的原则将需削减负荷分配到排污口.基于负荷分配结果,提出通过重点工业企业和污水处理场治理控制点源污染,通过农村生活污水治理控制面源污染,通过河岸垃圾治理减少河道负荷存量,通过河流湿地建设增加负荷去除能力等一系列治理措施.     

浅析应急救援队伍在抢险救援中的应急保障能力

通过对当前应急救援队伍的装备配置和维护保养情况进行调查,结合基层队伍的专项训练情况,分析现阶段应急救援队伍应急保障中存在的薄弱点,就如何提高应急救援队伍的救援能力提出建议。     

Negotiating Indigenous knowledge at the science-policy interface: Insights from the Xáxli’p Community Forest

Despite increasing interest in learning from Indigenous communities, efforts to involve Indigenous knowledge in environmental policy-making are often fraught with contestations over knowledge, values, and interests. Using the co-production of knowledge and social order (Jasanoff, 2004), this case study seeks to understand how some Indigenous communities are engaging in science-policy negotiations by linking traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), western science, and other knowledge systems. The analysis follows twenty years of Indigenous forest management negotiations between the Xáxli’p community and the Ministry of Forests in British Columbia (B.C.), Canada, which resulted in the Xáxli’p Community Forest (XCF). The XCF is an eco-cultural restoration initiative that established an exclusive forest tenure for Xáxli’p over the majority of their aboriginal territory—a political shift that was co-produced with new articulations of Xáxli’p knowledge. This research seeks to understand knowledge co-production with Indigenous communities, and suggests that existing knowledge integration concepts are insufficient to address ongoing challenges with power asymmetries and Indigenous knowledge. Rather, this work proposes interpreting XCF knowledge production strategies through the framework of “Indigenous articulations,” where Indigenous peoples self-determine representations of their identities and interests in a contemporary socio-political context. This work has broader implications for considering how Indigenous knowledge is shaping science-policy negotiations, and vice versa.     

Using Local Knowledge as a Research Tool in the Study of River Fish Biology: Experiences from the Mekong

River fisheries are extremely important for food-security among the rural poor in many tropical countries. The growing populations and rapid industrialisation of these countries require that appropriate action should be taken to sustain the resources for future generations. However, an incomplete understanding of river fisheries biology, at the managerial level, often hampers proper planning and management. This is partly due to the difficult access to large parts of such river basins, the complex nature of the fisheries, and in many cases a severe lack of research funds. In contrast, the thousands, or often millions of people who live along the shores of the rivers and rely on the fishery for their daily survival, have a very intimate knowledge of the behaviour and biology of the fish. In this situation, gathering the knowledge of the fishers may provide politicians or planners with baseline knowledge in a relatively quick and cheap way.This paper discusses two years of research using local knowledge in the study of fish migration and spawning in the Lower Mekong Basin. The study involves semi-structured interviews with 355 expert fishermen in four countries along 2,400 km of the Mekong mainstream. By piecing together information from fishermen in different areas, we were able to construct migration maps, and provide rough estimates of the spawning period for 50 fish species. We conclude that river fisheries research can benefit significantly from local knowledge as the basis for future research.     

工程项目安全预警与应急控制隐性知识集成与共享研究

针对一些企业在安全预警、风险控制等方面的隐性知识难以集成、个体知识难以转换为组织知识、内部员工难以共享、行业组织之间难以交流等一系列问题,笔者从知识管理观念、隐性知识集成与共享激励制度、知识共享文化、知识管理组织系统、知识共享和知识交易平台等方面入手,构建了适应于工程项目安全预警与应急控制的隐性知识集成与共享系统。该研究成果为工程师们缩短在紧急状态下的应急补救决策时间,提升其对质量安全事故控制能力,提供了切实可行的实践思路。     

‘Eco-city’ to ‘disaster-resilient eco-community’: a concerted approach in the coastal city of Puri, India

The need for environmental and urban planning reached a critical point in the year 2007, when one-half of the world's population could be defined as living in cities. Urbanisation in India is also increasing at a fast rate. Urban chaos in India, emanating from the continuous ignorance of fragile ecosystems, calls for the reshaping of existing cities as ‘eco-cities’. The ‘eco-city’—a well-known concept in the western world—is new to the Indian context. While western connotations of eco-cities should not be discarded outright in the context of India, core concerns vary significantly for obvious reasons. Recognising two facts—firstly, eco-city development is altogether a fresh approach to human settlement development in India, and, secondly, the manifold increase in the vulnerability of cities—this paper discusses documented good practice, reinforcing evolution towards the eco-city vision. Lessons drawn from the examples cited are further deconstructed in the light of their contribution to urban risk reduction, which provides direction to appreciating the ‘disaster-resilient eco-community’ concept in Puri, a coastal city in India. Further, this paper attempts to unravel existing community-based practices in Puri, which are boon to the local environment and invariably reduce disaster risk. These seemingly modest neighbourhood initiatives symbolise immense societal wealth, which can be calibrated appropriately for reducing urban environmental risk as well. This paper also illustrates how a ‘disaster resilient eco-community’ approach is inevitable in the present and future contexts not only to preserve sustainable development gains but also to secure human well-being.