Ecological Information System: Analyzing the Communication and Utilization of Scientific Information in Mexico

/ This study is concerned with the role that communication can play in facilitating the utilization of ecological information by different sectors of society involved in environmental decision-making. The ecological information system is used as a conceptual framework. This system is a model for the analysis of interactions between three sectors involved in the management of natural resources: researchers in ecology, change agents, and rural producers. Two case studies of organizations carrying out scientific research aimed at finding and implementing sustainable strategies of resource management were carried out. The purpose was to examine how real situations function in terms of communication strategies and to analyze such situations in relation to the model proposed. The analysis revealed the importance of promoting the feedback of information from change agents and rural producers to the research sector and the incorporation of this information into the research process. It also emphasized the relevance of having "active utilizer constituencies" within the rural producers who make demands upon the entire system in order to satisfy information needs. The creation of linkage systems facilitating the connection between the generation and utilization of information was supported. In particular, the establishment of special teams within research institutions is proposed, which could promote the links between the sectors through the use of communication as an instrument of work.     

Valuing wildlife: a review of methods

The paper analyses the costs and benefits of conserving wildlife and reports part of a wider research project which aims to estimate the benefits of certain ecological types and habitats, and to compare the outcome of different techniques used to value wildlife. The authors outline a range of philosophical, technical and methodological problems in deriving cardinal measures of costs and benefits.     

SOIL CONSERVATION PRACTICES AND WATER QUALITY: IS EROSION CONTROL THE ANSWER?1

ABSTRACT: This paper is a computer simulation analysis of an agricultural nonpoint pollution problem. Computer modeling is a universally applicable tool that can be used for establishing the linkages between and the quality of agricultural runoff in both surface and subsurface flow. The tradeoffs between the costs of soil conservation practices and water quality are reported, and the economic implications of such tradeoffs are discussed. Soil and nutrient losses resulting from crop production practices are analyzed using a field-scale computer simulation model (CREAMS). No-till planting, reduced tillage, and sod waterway systems are more cost effective than other practices for controlling soil and nutrient runoff losses. Nitrate leaching losses are increased slightly by most soil conservation practices. Terrace systems and permanent vegetative cover impose the greatest societal cost for water quality protection. Public cost sharing and tax incentives encourage farmers to adopt expensive structural practices, and policies are needed to get cost-effective practices implemented on critical acreage. Extensive treatment of land is necessary for agricultural best management practices (BMPs) to significantly improve water quality in areas that are intensively farmed.     

Public intervention in rural housing markets

This paper is a revised version of one presented to the Regional Science Association Conference, University of Leeds, September 1983.

The extent of rural poverty is largely hidden, yet mean rural incomes are lower than in urban areas. Equally, the differential between low incomes and high minimum house prices in rural areas not always acknowledged. This paper looks at the planning response to these problems against alternative approaches including discriminatory policies against second home owners in rural areas. The paper concludes by identifying a solution restricting private development and augmenting public‐sector provision in rural areas.     

Flood information systems: Needs and improvements in Eastern India

Flood warning systems offer a large potential for reducing human losses and property damage in flood-prone regions. This article illustrates why official organized systems should not be relied on completely in either developing or developed societies. It then discusses an indigenous flood warning system in a rural area of Eastern India, its value, and its importance in providing an alternative means of detecting, interpreting, and relaying flood warning information to the ultimate users of this information, i.e., those populations most at risk from floods.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is operated by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

“Down in the forest something stirred”: issues raised by the Lyndhurst planning inquiry

The Planning Inquiry is used in Britain as a vehicle for resolving conflicts between energy developments and land use in areas of high ecological or amenity value. This is a report of one such inquiry; the Lyndhurst Inquiry which has been regarded as a test case of establishing oil and gas reserves against the importance of environmentally sensitive areas. The ultimate decision is seen as indicative of the complexity of issues involved.     

石化企业中密闭采样存在的问题与对策

对石化企业在密闭采样器应用过程中存在的标准滞后、规格不一、器具过重等问题进行了分析,并提出了解决问题的对策建议。     

燃煤企业大规模低碳资源化处置污泥的对策研究

分析了燃煤企业低碳化现状和利用污泥资源化的可能性。针对目前燃煤企业处置污泥缺少系统规划、缺少政策支持、缺少处置监控、缺乏处置技术规范和关键技术基础研究不够等问题,提出了统筹规划污水处理行业污泥处置,强化落实国家污泥处理处置政策,加强污泥处理处置行业的监控、技术规范和污泥处置关键技术的基础研究等燃煤企业大规模资源化处置污泥的对策。     

清洁生产审核在酿造企业的应用

清洁生产审核是实施清洁生产的重要前提,也是企业实现清洁生产最成熟最有效的手段。在对桌酿造企业进行清洁生产审核中,针对行业特点,结合企业自身情况,提出并实施无／低费方案17项,中／高费方案3项。可节电1058kwh／a,节水2．26万t／a,减少废水排放2．26万t／a,减少固废（损失原料）排放45t／a,制曲室空气质量明显改善,产生效益39．4652万元／a。该企业在实现了降低单住产品（食醋）水耗和酱油原料损失率的同时,也实现了经济、环境和社会效益的统一,为酿造企业今后的清洁生产审核积累了经验。     

From the ground up: holistic management and grassroots rural adaptation to bovine spongiform encephalopathy across western Canada

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been documented in 28 countries and adversely affected farmers and rural communities around the world. Our study examines the impacts of and adaptive responses of producers to BSE in western Canada. Moreover, it explores the role that holistic management (HM), and its combined focus on environmental, social, and economic sustainability, might play in mitigating the effects of BSE. One survey was sent to 835 HM producers and another to 9,740 producers across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. The disease, and concomitant climate change and low commodity prices, had devastating impacts on both groups. Yet, HM producers were much more optimistic about their ability to adapt to BSE and the future of agriculture than their non-HM counterparts. Social networks, namely HM clubs and the larger HM community, enabled these producers to mitigate the impacts of BSE. Agronomic responses, especially those associated with rotational grazing and increases in on-farm biodiversity were also important. That HM has been such an effective adaptive response to BSE indicates the importance of this and other grassroots responses to rural crises, whether they be associated with zoonotic diseases or indeed environmental change as a whole.