Using plants for health: Indigenous knowledge in health care in a tribal region of Bihar,India

While the potential of indigenous knowledge for health care is fully recognised in the literature and by many health professionals, the practices of so many indigenous peoples go unrecorded and untested. Indigenous knowledge remains essentially untapped, an unwritten resource involving information, language and skills in many groups, languages, cultures and environments. An attempt is made in this paper to identify selected indigenous health technologies in a tribal area of Bihar State, India; to describe the treatments, their application and preparation; and to link the traditional practice with the relevant scientific information to test or determine the validity of the practices. These practices were found to be effective in the treatment of a variety of health problems, and most were also scientifically confirmed. The paper argues, however, that other plant uses practised by tribal people still need to be explored: in order to popularise more widely the authenticated practices; to preserve indigenous knowledge; to integrate or blend it with scientific knowledge so that health professionals and healthcare users may benefit from a wider range of healthcare strategies which are environmentally unthreatening.     

Rehabilitation of degraded community lands for sustainable development in Himalaya: a case study in Garhwal Himalaya,India

SUMMARY

An approach to the rehabilitation of degraded community lands built on people's perceptions and traditional knowledge was developed, implemented on a small scale (6 ha plot), and evaluated in terms of economic and ecological costs and benefits over a period of 5 years in a mid-altitude (1200 m) village of Garhwal Himalaya. Rehabilitation comprised establishment of water harvesting tanks, organic management of soil, agroforestry (native multipurpose trees t traditional crops), and decision making by the whole village community. Costs and benefits under irrigated and unirrigated conditions were compared. The total cost of establishing the irrigated agroforestry system was 1.23 fold that of the unirrigated one, whereas the total benefit was 2.09 fold. The average standing above-ground biomass of the 4-year-old plantation in the irrigated agroforestry system was 11.69 t/ha compared to 8.34 t/ha in the unirrigated system. Improvement in soil properties was more pronounced in the irrigated system than in the unirrigated one. Nutrient input, an input derived largely from forest biomass, in the unirrigated system was nearly 3 times higher than that in the irrigated system. It is concluded that, considering the local and national/regional/global interests in an integrated manner, agroforestry incorporating water management would be a more effective option for rehabilitating degraded community lands than the afforestation currently being attempted by the government in the mid-altitudes of Indian Himalaya.     

Poaching Risks in Community‐Based Natural Resource Management

Poaching can disrupt wildlife‐management efforts in community‐based natural resource management systems. Monitoring, estimating, and acquiring data on poaching is difficult. We used local‐stakeholder knowledge and poaching records to rank and map the risk of poaching incidents in 2 areas where natural resources are managed by community members in Caprivi, Namibia. We mapped local stakeholder perceptions of the risk of poaching, risk of wildlife damage to livelihoods, and wildlife distribution and compared these maps with spatially explicit records of poaching events. Recorded poaching events and stakeholder perceptions of where poaching occurred were not spatially correlated. However, the locations of documented poaching events were spatially correlated with areas that stakeholders perceived wildlife as a threat to their livelihoods. This result suggests poaching occurred in response to wildlife damage occurred. Local stakeholders thought that wildlife populations were at high risk of being poached and that poaching occurred where there was abundant wildlife. These findings suggest stakeholders were concerned about wildlife resources in their community and indicate a need for integrated and continued monitoring of poaching activities and further interventions at the wildlife‐agricultural interface. Involving stakeholders in the assessment of poaching risks promotes their participation in local conservation efforts, a central tenet of community‐based management. We considered stakeholders poaching informants, rather than suspects, and our technique was spatially explicit. Different strategies to reduce poaching are likely needed in different areas. For example, interventions that reduce human‐wildlife conflict may be required in residential areas, and increased and targeted patrolling may be required in more remote areas. Stakeholder‐generated maps of human‐wildlife interactions may be a valuable enforcement and intervention support tool. Riesgos de Cacería Furtiva en el Manejo de Recursos Naturales Basado en Comunidades     

Conjoint analysis for environmental evaluation

BACKGROUND, AIM AND SCOPE: Conjoint analysis and the related choice-modelling methods have been used for many years in marketing research to evaluate consumer behaviour and preferences for different kinds of product attributes. Recently, the number of applications in environmental science and management has started to grow. Conjoint analysis is found in many different forms, and the environmental studies evaluated in this review display the same range of methods as in other fields. The key characteristic of all these methods is that trade-offs are evaluated by jointly considering a number of important attributes. MAIN FEATURES: This paper is a review of the literature on environmental applications of conjoint analysis and assesses in which environmental area conjoint analysis has been most successful. The method and the design of the studies are reviewed as well. RESULTS: A total of 84 studies were found, dealing with environmental issues that were evaluated by conjoint analysis. The studies concern agriculture, ecosystem management, energy, environmental evaluation, forestry, land management, pollution, products, recreation, environmental risk analysis and waste management. DISCUSSION: Choice experiments seem to have a comparatively stronger position in environmental studies than elsewhere. Most of the environmental applications are related to natural resource management. This is somewhat surprising, but a number of reports have appeared also on product evaluation, which could be a key application area in the future. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to marketing and transportation, the number of environmental conjoint studies is rather small but increasing, and the method has proven to work effectively in eliciting preferences on environmental issues. In environmental issues, experimenters often use choice experiments, especially concerning ecosystem management and environmental evaluations. When it comes to evaluating preferences concerning agriculture, forestry, energy and products, a more traditional approach of conjoint analysis is favoured. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: Two new areas of application are identified in this review--environmental communication and expert elicitation. Conjoint analysis can thus be developed into a useful instrument for environmental risk analysis and communication, both of which are necessary for an efficient approach to risk governance.     

知识经济对云南环境科技的影响

知识经济对环境保护产生正面和负面方面的影响。对云南环境科技的影响，表现在思想观念的解放、思维方式的转变、科技方法的创新、常规技术升华、科技成果转化、环保产业结构调整等方面。我们应从不断总结、发展知识经济型环保产业、培养和储备人才等方面抓住机遇，实现云南环境科技的跨越。     

基于实时控制的智能控制在废水处理中的应用

针对废水处理系统具有时变性、非线性、复杂性和不确定性等特点,提出采用智能控制对其进行实时有效控制从而提高处理效率、降低能耗,对智能控制的主要分支模糊控制、神经网络控制和专家系统进行讨论,介绍总结了国内外专家学者应用智能控制技术实现水处理中实时控制的最新动态。结果表明,废水处理系统采用智能控制可以有效地实现实时控制,提高处理效率、降低能耗和成本。     

基于CBR和RBR的环境污染事故应急辅助决策专家系统

随着我国经济的高速发展,环境事故呈现多发态势,给人民的生命和财产安全带来了一定的隐患,辅助决策专家系统为用户提供一种使用简便、结果可靠的环境应急决策手段,可以提高环境事故应急处置的成功率。目前辅助决策专家系统多基于CBR或RBR推理模式,介绍了两种推理模式的优缺点,研究了如何将二者联合使用构建环境污染事故应急辅助决策专家系统。利用CBR推理模式得到与用户输入条件相近的案例,用户可参考案例中应急处置部分内容指导应急处置,同时利用RBR推理模式得到与用户输入条件相近的化学品MSDS信息以及相应的应急处理步骤以供用户参考,上述三部分内容共同构成了环境污染事故应急指南以供用户参考,提高环境污染事故的应急处理成功率。     

Local Perceptions of Changes in Traditional Ecological Knowledge: A Case Study from Malekula Island,Vanuatu

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is a critical global resource that may be eroding amid social and environmental change. Here, we present data on local perceptions of TEK change from three communities on Malekula Island in Vanuatu. Utilizing a structured interview (n = 120), we find a common perception of TEK loss. Participants defined two key periods of TEK erosion (roughly 1940–1960 and 1980–present), and noted that TEK decline was driven both external (e.g., church) and internal (e.g., shifting values) processes. Erosion was perceived to more comprehensive in the worldview domain than in aspects of ethnobiological knowledge and practice. These data indicate the perceived fragility of TEK systems and the complexity of TEK change. TEK systems are critical to natural resource management, and data such as these will assist in designing nuanced responses to the ongoing loss of cultural knowledge and practice.     

Aboriginal world views and colonisation: implications for coastal sustainability†

In this paper, we show how the Aboriginal people in the south-west of Australia (the Nyungar) developed systems of knowledge, of caring for country and of family relations that enabled them to survive for tens of thousands of years and continue to have importance today. The impacts of British colonisation on cultural continuity and knowledge in the south-west have been significant and include loss of land, break-up of families and massacre. These practices led to a loss of knowledge of language and culture in some cases. However, Nyungar culture is alive and dynamic, constantly being reclaimed, re-energised and rebuilt through the interaction of contemporary and traditional research praxis. Focusing on Derbal Nara (Cockburn Sound) on the coast in the southern metropolitan area of Perth, we provide case examples of the action-research-learning methodologies used by Whadjuk Nyungar Traditional Owners. We also provide examples of stories about Derbal Nara that are still alive and being recounted up to the present day, including those that account for the recent ice age and the end of the ice age 8000 years BC when sea levels rose, drowning land in the area of Derbal Nara. Finally, we argue that Whadjuk Nyungar experiences and world views based on relationality and reflexivity are central to sustainable coastal management and that in some respects there has already been a convergence of Indigenous and Western coastal management. We present a set of principles that support the development of this “third space” for coastal sustainability.     

公共部门危机学习动态过程及其知识管理研究

当前国内外对企业组织学习和危机管理的研究都已经较为成熟,在经历了几次大的危机之后,公共危机管理引起了我国许多学者的重视,但是关于高校危机学习的研究开展并不多,而国外的学者已经先一步提出了危机学习的概念并取得一些进展。随着危机种类越来越多,发生频率越来越高,高校必须要学习掌握应对危机的方法,并以此来教育学生。然而,无论是在危机管理中还是在组织学习中,知识管理都是不可或缺的一部分。因此本文以理论研究的方式,借鉴国内外学者对危机学习中知识管理的研究,希望能对高校危机学习的更深一步探索提供思路。