Vietnamese Uplands: Environmental and Socio-Economic Perspective of Forest Land Allocation and Deforestation Process

Vietnam, in the ongoing transition to market economies, has to cope with high rural poverty and a dramatic process of forest loss and environment degradation, particularly in the mountainous regions. The government considers rural poverty as the main cause of environment degradation, associated with slash-and-burn cultivation and to an unclear definition of property rights on forest land. In 1993, the government launched a Forest Land Allocation programme aiming to lease forest lands to individual households and, on this basis, to solve food security problems, halt the increasing environment degradation and preserve the remaining forests.To evaluate the results of this land reform policy, two upland pilot communes have been intensively monitored. The environmental and economic impacts of the forest land reform allocation in the two study areas are presented, after providing a background on the Vietnamese situation of mountain zones. On the basis of these findings, it is discussed as to whether the current forest land allocation process may actually promote local development and natural resources conservation, and under what conditions. Deforestation problems must be tackled also with new macroeconomic policies (e.g. credit programmes to support sustainable agriculture practices) and social policy (e.g. reduction of demographic pressure), together with the reform of the State institutions (e.g. State Forest Enterprises) involved in management of the forest areas.     

水电开发对河流生态系统服务的效应评估与时空变化特征分析——以武江干流为例

水电开发对河流生态系统的影响不容忽视,科学评估其影响有助于建立更可持续的水电开发模式。以武江干流为例,利用当量因子法和功能价值评估法,分析了武江干流梯级水电开发对受淹没影响的河岸带陆地生态系统和河流生态系统服务的效益及损失,并就其对河流生态系统服务的综合效应进行了评估。结果显示：武江干流水电开发使受淹没影响的河岸带生态系统和河流生态系统本身的服务价值均出现增加,价值增量主要体现在水文调节、水资源供给等服务方面;武江干流水电开发对河流生态系统服务的正效应大于负效应,正效应主要体现在发电、水文调节、气体调节等方面,负效应主要体现在维持生物多样性、土壤保持等支持服务方面。研究认为不同规模水电站的正负效应侧重点不同,不同流域单位电能的生态损失难以直接横向比较。结合多年来武江鱼类资源跟踪调查数据,分析了鱼类生物损失指数的变化趋势,探讨了水电开发在时间上的累积生态效应及水电服务的空间格局差异。由于生物多样性等服务的影响难以用货币直接衡量,加上水域的单位面积服务价值远高于其他生态用地类型,导致负效应的价值评估偏保守,武江干流水电开发的正负效应之比偏大。     

Participatory evaluation of regional light rail scenarios: A Flemish case on sustainable mobility and land-use

Rail transit is generally acknowledged as an alternative transport mode in contributing towards sustainable mobility. In addition to minimising negative externalities, rail transit has sustainable land-use opportunities to integrate transport- and spatial planning. The objective of this paper is to determine the impact of integrative light rail scenarios and their ability to curtail private vehicle driven urban sprawl in the Flemish rhombus.The paper proposes three light rail scenarios: an infrastructural scenario; tramification scenario; and spatial rail scenario, each covering a specific landscape structure to reorganise the dispersed spatial environment in Flanders in the long-term. We used the participatory multi-actor multi-criteria analysis (MAMCA) which incorporates the objectives of all involved stakeholders to assess the impact of the scenarios.The infrastructural alternative scenario gained most support among the involved stakeholders, on the grounds of improved multimodality, enhanced user amenities, reduced implementation costs, moderated greenhouse gas emissions and mitigated infrastructural barrier effects.Despite the merits of the infrastructural scenario in terms of stakeholder objectives, few possibilities are included to elaborate upon sustainable land-use development. In response to the low performance of this assessment criterion, catalyst measures are discussed to support the implementation.     

Incorporating Geological Effects in Modeling of Revegetation Strategies for Salt-Affected Landscapes

The work highlights the difficulties of using standard sampling and statistical techniques to investigate regional phenomena and presents an integrated approach combining small-scale sampling with broad-scale observations to provide input into a modeling exercise. It is suggested that such approaches are vital if landscape- and regional-scale processes are to be understood and managed. The way in which the problem is perceived (holistically or piecemeal) affects the way treatments are designed and their effectiveness: past approaches have failed to integrate the various scales and processes involved. Effective solutions require an integrated holistic response.     

山西省水资源综合开发利用的重点与途径

山西省是缺水的能源大省。从地表水、地下水、过境水和边界水等不同利用类型水体的开发利用 ,以及节约用水、污水净化和废水的重复利用等五个方面 ,论述了山西省水资源综合开发利用的重点与途径。     

可持续发展实验区灾害风险定量估算方法研究

作者将探索性数据分析方法引入区域灾害风险的定量估算，系统地建立了区域灾害风险的定量估算方法。计算实例表明，文中给出的方法可便捷地用于可持续发展实验区灾害风险评估。     

The role of stand history in assessing forest impacts

Air pollution, harvesting practices, and natural disturbances can affect the growth of trees and forest development. To make predictions about anthropogenic impacts on forests, we need to understand how these factors affect tree growth. In this study the effect of disturbance history on tree growth and stand structure was examined by using a computer model of forest development. The model was run under the climatic conditions of east Tennessee, USA, and the results compared to stand structure and tree growth data from a yellow poplar-white oak forest. Basal area growth and forest biomass were more accurately projected when rough approximations of the thinning and fire history typical of the measured plots were included in the simulation model. Stand history can influence tree growth rates and forest structure and should be included in any attempt to assess forest impacts.     

酒泉地区城镇体系可持续发展构想

酒泉地区城镇类型较多，城镇体系中的许多关系需要统筹协调，本文侧重从城镇的规模和空间关系分析，城乡一体化和区一发展，基础产业和环境建设等三个角度，探讨了区域城市可持续发展问题。     

Preliminary Evidence for Pollen as an Indicator of Recent Floodplain Accumulation Rates and Vegetation Changes: The Barmah-Millewa Forest, SE Australia

Eucalyptus forest; and in the composition of understorey herbs, sedges, and grasslands. Pollen concentration and charcoal and organic content also exhibit post-European changes. Thus, pollen analysis provides a technique for determining changes in sediment budgets and identifying major vegetation changes in floodplains.     

Policy integration for adaptive water governance: Learning from Scotland's experience

This paper contributes to on-going attempts at bringing together two influential ideas in water governance: Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and adaptive governance. In particular, a tension remains between the call in IWRM for the use of formal institutions, such as river basin organisations, to secure public policy integration, and the assumptions in adaptive governance in favour of informal collaboration between essentially independent policy actors. To clarify this relationship, this article draws on theoretical research on public policy integration, and uses these insights in an empirical setting to identify mechanisms that can facilitate effective policy integration for adaptive water governance. The research is based on recent attempts in Scotland to implement IWRM ideas to improve flood management. Several governance mechanisms were adopted to facilitate the integration of flood, water and rural land use policies. Six Scottish policy regimes are analysed using documentary sources and interviews. Results challenge the idea that collaboration should primarily be built on either river basin organisations or informal mechanisms. We identify a mix of informal and statutory-based mechanisms which may secure political and technocratic commitment to policy integration.