Fast Track Land Reform Programme,tenure security and investments in soil conservation: Micro‐evidence from Mazowe District in Zimbabwe

The government of Zimbabwe launched the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in 2000 as part of its ongoing land reform and resettlement programme which aims to address a racially skewed land distribution. Its goal has been to accelerate both land acquisition and redistribution, targeting at least five million hectares of land for resettlement. This paper investigates the impact of the FTLRP on its beneficiaries' perceptions of land tenure security, and how these subsequently impacted soil conservation investments. Evidence suggests that the programme created some tenure insecurity, which adversely affected soil conservation investments among its beneficiaries. We find support for the contention that households make land‐related investments to enhance security of tenure. The results underscore the need for the government of Zimbabwe to clarify and formalize land tenure arrangements within the programme.     

Redeveloping derelict and underused historic city areas: evidence from a survey of real estate developers

Are economic incentives and regulatory relief useful tools for encouraging reuse of abandoned or under-utilised urban sites with historic buildings? Answering this question is of key importance for many European cities and for older US cities, and has important implications in terms of urban sustainability and “smart growth” initiatives. This study uses conjoint choice experiments to explore the relative importance of economic incentives, regulatory relief, land use and property regime offerings at under-utilised historic sites in Venice, Italy. Real estate developers and investors were surveyed, and asked to choose between pairs of hypothetical projects in three Venice locations, as well as between one of these projects and the alternative to do a development project elsewhere. Statistical models of the responses to these choice questions indicate that respondents were sensitive to the price of acquiring the land (and hence to any policies that influence prices), and particularly sensitive to the property regime that would be granted to developers and investors and to the allowable land use. It is concluded that the city should focus on offering land uses and property regimes that are more in tune with developer demand.     

武汉市蛇类市场初步调查

2006年4月—2008年9月对武汉市蛇类市场进行了调查,共记录了25种蛇类,隶属4科15属。其中列入CITES(2005年)附录Ⅱ的蛇类3种,列为《中国物种红色名录》濒危(EN)物种1种、易危(VU)物种13种、近危(NT)物种1种,湖北省重点保护蛇类8种,国家"三有"保护蛇类22种。武汉蛇类贸易以食用为主,占贸易量的80%以上。分析了蛇类大量贸易的原因,对蛇类市场管理和保护提出了建议。     

文物保存环境调湿净化一体化装置的效果评价

相对湿度是文物保存环境的一个极其重要的参数,NOx耦合水分对于文物的破坏性很大。在前期开发的空气净化器的基础上,研究了空气净化和湿度调节系统集成技术和参数,考察了空气净化器各单元对NOx的去除率,并评价了流量和相对湿度的影响,结果发现不同净化单元的设置合理有效。相对湿度低的情况下,氮氧化物去除率较高,达到96%以上,但在相对湿度较高的情况下则降低为66%。将空气净化器串联了调湿装置后,发现调湿器调湿效果显著,在各种环境湿度的情况下能有效的保持展柜的湿度。但在降湿效果上有待提高,调湿器的结构以及参数需要进一步优化。     

中国水旱灾害特点及水利减灾措施效果排序研究

改革开放以来,农村减灾防灾投入不断加强,水利减灾措施对农业发展做出了巨大贡献。特别是2011年中央进一步强调加强水利基础设施建设的重要作用,决定在"十二五"期间加大水利投资,新一轮的水利建设正在全国全面展开。为了更有效地发挥水利综合减灾措施的作用,合理地进行投入,科学配置各种水利减灾资源,必须了解和掌握灾害承受体如水库、堤防等的承灾能力状况,以指导我们合理安排水利减灾投入。应用灰色关联分析法对各个减灾措施的效果进行了排序分析,并据此提出了对今后投入调整的建议。     

节能的目标责任制与自愿协议

节能目标责任制和节能自愿协议作为两种不同的节能管理手段,在我国节能管理工作中发挥了不同的作用,对二者进行模式总结和比较分析,对我国未来的节能政策制定和政策工具选择具有重要意义.研究结果表明,节能目标责任制和节能自愿协议都发生在政府与企业之间,涉及一定时期内的企业节能目标,由政府与企业签订书面承诺,并有相应的评估监督方法.同时二者又存在不同的模式和特征,在具体的实施主体、指标的选择以及激励约束机制等方面存在诸多差别."十一五"期间,我国工业企业节能取得巨大成效,这与节能目标责任制的实施密不可分,而节能自愿协议在机制创新方面有着更为重大的制度意义,它代表了在节能管理领域基于自愿的市场机制对我国传统行政命令型资源环境管理模式的补充,它的进一步推进将为我国未来多种机制并存的节能管理提供更多有益的经验和借鉴.     

湖南双季稻区耕作模式的环境影响评价

以湖南双季稻区双季稻-马铃薯(CT1)、双季稻-黑麦草(CT2)、双季稻-紫云英(CT3)、双季稻-油菜(CT4)、双季稻双免栽培(CT5)5种保护性耕作模式为例,应用生命周期评价方法,从单位面积投入、单位面积产量、单位经济效益的环境影响三个角度评价不同保护性耕作模式的环境潜在影响.结果表明:从单位面积物质投入的角度评价结果显示,CT3模式的潜在环境影响综合指数较对照模式(双季稻-冬闲,CK)低4.72％,而其他模式则比CK高出11.95％-45.20％,平均增加了29.02％;从单位面积产量的角度评价结果显示,CT5模式的潜在环境影响综合指数比CK高34.55％,两其他模式则比CK低1.57-45.93％,平均降低24.29％;从单位经济效益的角度评价结果显示,CT5模式的潜在环境影响综合指数比CK高23.93％,而其他模式则比CK低29.07-49.06％,平均增加了24.88％.综合考虑,与CK对比,CT3和CT4模式对环境的潜在影响较小,CT2居中,CT5和CT1模式则较大.     

简析绿色产业在威海的振兴及其发展的启示

通过剖析绿色产业的概念及科学内涵,系统地阐述了国内外绿色产业体系构建的特点及进展,详细描述了威海市以绿色能源、节能减排、农村环保、循环经济和生态农业为主导的绿色产业体系,总结了威海市利用区位优势及地理条件,将发展绿色产业与环保模范城市、生态市创建等活动相结合,把绿色产业体系建设纳入国民经济与社会发展规划,采取加大关键技术研究推广力度,加速绿色产业工业园创建等一系列举措推进绿色产业发展,为利用绿色产业发展机遇振兴地区经济提供有益借鉴。     

Social factors mediating human–carnivore coexistence: Understanding thematic strands influencing coexistence in Central Romania

Facilitating human–carnivore coexistence depends on the biophysical environment but also on social factors. Focusing on Central Romania, we conducted 71 semi-structured interviews to explore human–bear (Ursus arctos) coexistence. Qualitative content and discourse analysis identified three socially mediated thematic strands, which showed different ways in which perceived interactions between people, bears and the environment shape coexistence. The “landscape-bear strand” described perceptions of the way in which the landscape offers resources for the bear, while the “landscape-human strand” related to ways in which humans experience the landscape. The “management strand” related to the way bears was managed. All three strands highlight both threats and opportunities for the peaceful coexistence of people and bears. Management and policy interventions could be improved by systematically considering the possible effects of interventions on each of the three strands shaping coexistence. Future research should explore the relevance of the identified thematic strands in other settings worldwide.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0760-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Shrines in Central Italy conserve plant diversity and large trees

Sacred natural sites (SNS) are instances of biocultural landscapes protected for spiritual motives. These sites frequently host important biological values in areas of Asia and Africa, where traditional resource management is still upheld by local communities. In contrast, the biodiversity value of SNS has hardly been quantitatively tested in Western contexts, where customs and traditions have relatively lost importance due to modernization and secularization. To assess whether SNS in Western contexts retain value for biodiversity, we studied plant species composition at 30 SNS in Central Italy and compared them with a paired set of similar but not sacred reference sites. We demonstrate that SNS are important for conserving stands of large trees and habitat heterogeneity across different land-cover types. Further, SNS harbor higher plant species richness and a more valuable plant species pool, and significantly contribute to diversity at the landscape scale. We suggest that these patterns are related not only to pre-existent features, but also to traditional management. Conservation of SNS should take into account these specificities, and their cultural as well as biological values, by supporting the continuation of traditional management practices.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0738-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.