Property rights and grassland degradation: a study of the Xilingol pasture, Inner Mongolia, China

The semi-private property rights arrangement called the Household Production Responsibility System (HPRS) was started in the early 1980s in Xilingol pasture of Inner Mongolia (China), and stimulated the development of stockbreeding. The grassland has been degrading severely with increasing numbers of livestock. Based on a historical review of property rights regimes in Inner Mongolia and empirical surveys in Xilingol pasture during 2001-2003, this paper assesses the implementation of HPRS and its impacts on incomes of households as well as the environmental impact on the grassland. It was found that HPRS does not mitigate the "Tragedy of the Commons", instead it has exacerbated the situation. It was also found that co-management of grassland and livestock among a few households presents a sustainable use of grassland to develop livestock breeding. We conclude with the recommendation that small-scale collective property rights systems should be encouraged in Xilingol pasture of Inner Mongolia.     

The Use of Irrigation Water in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv Region During Transition

The amount of water Bulgaria uses for irrigation sharply declined during the transition. Large sections of the existing irrigation systems were abandoned, and those still in use are hardly maintained. Crops such as wheat and barley have replaced more water-intensive crops, such as vegetables, rice, and maize. This problem has an impact on the future development of agriculture and the allocation of the countrys water resources. The central argument is that land fragmentation in the wake of decollectivization and restitution contributes to the irrigation systems abandonment. This article focuses on the institutional factors involved, but also considers additional factors that might have influenced the process. Further, it examines the causes driving these changes and analyzes their effect on irrigation. It is based on a review of the relevant legislation as well as fieldwork in 17 villages located in the Plovdiv region of Bulgaria. The article concludes that institutional settings, in addition to changes in large-scale market forces and the state enforcement mechanism, have contributed to the irrigation decline in Bulgaria.Published online Note: This version was published online in June 2005 with the cover date of August 2004.     

Property rights and governance of Africa's rangelands: A policy overview

Recent efforts at securing property rights in dryland Africa have generally involved several interrelated processes such as legal and policy reforms that recognize and strengthen customary rights or the seasonal rights of pastoralists, and the decentralization of land allocation and administration to lower governance levels. These solutions are in turn beset by new problems, key among them are establishing norms for local participation in decision making, preventing manipulation and capture by elites, lack of accountability of local level institutions and authorities, and the onset of a new generation of resource user conflicts. Increasing avenues through which dialogue and communication can occur among policy actors (including local communities) in order to mobilize multiple experiences, information, and to manage power relationships — a collaborative approach to policy governance — is one way of approaching the complexity paradox. This is anticipated to provide opportunity for learning, innovation and adaptability.     

几种聚电解质的合成及絮凝性能研究

合成了５种水溶性聚电解质：①丙烯酰胺－二甲基二烯丙基氯化铵共聚物（ＡＭ－ＤＭ）；②丙烯酰胺－三甲基烯丙基氯化铵共聚物（ＡＭ－ＴＭ）；③水解聚丙烯酰胺（ＨＰＡＭ）；④阳离子化聚丙烯酰胺（ＣＰＡＭ）和⑤丙烯酰胺－二甲基二烯丙基氯化铵－丙烯酸（ＡＭ－ＤＭ－ＡＣ）共聚物。对它们的结构进行了红外表征，并就絮凝能力进行了研究。结果表明：５种聚合物均具有絮凝能力且出现两个聚沉点，絮凝能力与聚合物的链结构有关。     

开发区环境影响评价中产业结构、工业布局问题探讨

通过对各工业行业污染源调查数据分析，讨论了各行业污染轻重及特征，以及各行业内部的产业结构及污染情况，提出促进开发区的经济可持续发展和产业链循环经济发展的措施。     

静液挤压技术的研究现状

此文简述了静液挤压工艺的发展过程、工作原理、工艺特性,并初步探讨了该工艺对材料组织与性能的影响.     

排污产权交易优化的理论模型及实证分析

在阐述建立排污产权制度必要性的基础上提出了排污产权交易优化的理论模型，并对理论模型在强化环境管理相的优越性进行了论述，以江苏省太湖流域重点工业污染源达标排放企业为实例，说明参与排污产权交易越广，实现双赢效果越明显。     

Forests in common: Learning from diversity of community forest arrangements in Europe

Europe has a wealth of community forest arrangements. This paper aims to transcend the diversity of locally specific terms and forms, to highlight the value of considering them inclusively. Building on methods to make sense of diversity, we use reflexive grounded inquiry in fifteen cases in Italy, Scotland, Slovenia and Sweden. Within four dimensions (forest, community, relationships between them, and relationships with wider society), we identify 43 subdimensions to describe them collectively. Our approach shows how European arrangements contribute to wider discourses of collective natural resource management. Both tradition and innovation in Europe inform options for environmental governance. Arrangements challenge the distinction between ‘communities of place’ and ‘communities of interest’, with implications for social and environmental justice. They exemplify multilevel environmental governance through both vertical and horizontal connections. Emerging from long histories of political and environmental pressures, they have a role in enhancing society’s connection with nature and adaptive capacity.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01377-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorised users.     

100-years of Australian bushfire property losses: Is the risk significant and is it increasing?

This study examines the bushfire (wildland fire) risk to the built environment in Australia. The most salient result is that the annual probability of building destruction has remained almost constant over the last century despite large demographic and social changes as well as improvements in fire fighting technique and resources. Most historical losses have taken place in a few extreme fires which if repeated are likely to overwhelm even the most professional of fire services. We also calculate the average annual probability of a random home on the urban–bushland interface being destroyed by a bushfire to be of the order of 1 in 6500, a factor 6.5 times lower than the ignition probability of a structural house fire. Thus on average and if this risk was perceived rationally, the incentive for individual homeowners to mitigate and reduce the bushfire danger even further is low. This being the case and despite predictions of an increasing likelihood of conditions favouring bushfires under global climate change, we suspect that building losses due to bushfires are unlikely to alter materially in the near future.     

从产权理论角度试论富余排污量交易制度

通过阐述产权理论的基本观点 ,分析了环境资源的产权特性 ,指出了建立与污染物排放总量控制政策相配套的富余排污量交易制度对明确环境资源的产权关系、促进外部不经济的内部化、实现资源的有效配置、激励企业积极进行污染的治理、降低污染防治的交易成本、以及有效促进环境质量的改善和提高的重要意义。富余排污量交易制度能为实现城市环境和经济的同步可持续发展奠定宏观基础 ,其应成为现代环境保护制度的一个重要研究发展方向