Tracking collaboration: forest planning and local participation on the San Juan National Forest,Colorado

The proliferation of community-based collaborative approaches to public land management and planning has spawned many questions regarding issues of community representation and the effects of participation for local residents. This paper presents a longitudinal assessment of local resident participation in collaborative forest planning on local community–forest relations in southwestern Colorado. Using survey data of participants involved in the San Juan National Forest's forest plan revision community study groups from 1998 to 2003, we assess participation in terms of community representation and the effects of community-based collaboration upon individuals' forest uses, forest values, and the level and form of involvement in forest management and planning activities. Results show that community representation remains slanted towards existing active stakeholders, and that while forest values, uses, and frequencies of involvement change little, participants cite positive effects in terms of the development of new knowledge, personal relationships, and greater confidence to engage in forest management affairs.     

Social capital as a facilitator of pro-environmental actions in the USA: a preliminary examination of mechanisms

In this article, the mechanisms through which social networks impact individuals' environmentally significant actions are examined through a pilot study. A conceptual model was developed and in-depth interviews were performed with individuals in a North Carolina town in order to understand the mechanisms through which social capital facilitates pro-environmental actions. Individuals with higher social capital were found to act pro-environmentally because they value the collective interest rather than out of self-interest. Social capital was found to play a role in the formation of this valuation mainly through micro-level socialisation processes, particularly by instilling decision-making processes based on values in individuals, which informed individuals then applied to environmentally significant decisions. The results also suggest that the prevalence of the norm of engagement with environmental issues in an individual's social network can be an especially important promoter of pro-environmental actions. The study suggests that the culture of social networks is particularly important in the formation of ecological citizens.     

人力资本对农户兼业行为及其离农决策的影响研究——基于家庭整体视角

农户兼业行为演化的实质是由家庭成员个体就业行为决策和家庭集体劳动分工决策共同决定的,而人力资本通过影响非农就业对农户兼业决策具有内生作用,但这种作用机制既包括农民个体层面,更涉及农户整体层面。基于家庭整体视角分析了农户人力资本的理论特性,提出了农户人力资本对家庭兼业行为及其离农决策存在双重影响效应的研究假设,在此基础上,运用长三角地区1036户农户调研数据进行了实证研究。结果表明,农户劳动成员平均人力资本数量水平提升和成员间人力资本结构差距缩小,对提升农户非农化兼业程度以及增强其主动离农意愿具有积极意义,其中农户人力资本结构效应对农户离农决策更为显著;进一步比较发现,教育和迁移人力资本对长三角兼业农户的非农化发展和离农意愿具有显著促进作用,而受不同因素影响,健康和以非农工龄为衡量的技能人力资本的作用效应总体却并不明显。文章认为,要把促进兼业农户人力资本发展作为推动其非农兼业升级与离农决策的立足之本,在当前农地征用补偿政策思路上,要从单纯重视对失地农户短期"经济补偿",向扶持家庭成员人力资本投资以增强其长期非农就业发展之"能力补偿"转变,进而构筑可持续生计保障。     

桓仁岩堆地貌特征与属性初探

在建的田师傅-桓仁铁路途经过桓仁地区,发现一种奇特的地貌景观——岩堆。围绕岩堆地貌的特征及成因开展了野外调查,并进行了遥感解译。结果表明:岩堆属于冰缘地貌的一种类型,是古石河或石海;岩堆发育区与震旦系下统钓鱼台组地层分布区有对应关系;钓鱼台组地层岩性为厚层石英砂岩,发育节理裂隙,有利于冻融风化形成岩堆,且耐化学风化,有利于长久保留至今。桓仁岩堆的深入认识,不仅对涉及岩堆的工程建设有实际指导意义,也有助于丰富本溪国家地质公园的内容,推动特色景观的建设。     

Can home gardens scale up into movements for social change? The role of home gardens in providing food security and community change in San Jose,California

Urban policymakers and sustainable food activists have identified urban agriculture as an important strategy for confronting a host of urban problems, including food insecurity, health disparities, access to urban green space and community economic revitalisation. Much recent work on urban agriculture has examined community and school gardens, but little research has been undertaken on home gardens as a solution to urban problems. This article examines a home-gardening programme in San Jose, California, La Mesa Verde, asking whether some of the benefits found in community gardens can be found in home gardens. Specifically, we look at financial, health and community benefits, examining the potential of home gardens to become forces for broader social change. We ask whether gardens can become agents of cultural preservation, self-determination, particularly for recent immigrants who use these spaces to build identities and work towards collective action and self-determination.     

Social Capital and Fisheries Management: The Case of Chilika Lake in India

This article shows how social capital impacts fisheries management at the local level in Chilika Lake, located in the state of Orissa in India. In Chilika, the different fishing groups established norms and “rules of the game” including, but not limited to, spatial limits that determine who can fish and in what areas, temporal restrictions about when and for how long people may fish, gear constraints about what harvesting gear may be used by each group, and physical controls on size and other characteristics of fish that may be harvested. A survey of the members of fishing groups has shown that the bonding social capital is strong within the Chilika fishing groups. Bonding and bridging social capital keeps the fishers together in times of resource scarcity, checks violations of community rules and sanctions, and strengthens the community fisheries management. In contrast, linking social capital in Chilika appears to be weak, as is evident from the lack of trust in external agencies, seeking the help of formal institutions for legal support, and increasing conflicts. Trust and cooperation among fishers is crucial in helping to build the social capital. A social capital perspective on fisheries governance suggests that there should be a rethinking of priorities and funding mechanisms, from “top-down” fisheries management towards “co-management” with a focus on engendering rights and responsibilities for fishers and their communities.