Assessing audit impact and thoroughness of VCS forest carbon offset projects

Voluntary markets transacted over $66 million USD of forest carbon offsets in 2016, according to Forest Trends, and over 99% of those offset projects were audited to a standard, primarily the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). We provide a table characterizing all 70 validated and verified forest carbon projects employing the VCS version 3.0 currently-in-use (December 2011–July 2017). We also examine two separate aspects of the audit process––impact and thoroughness––to assess the effectiveness of the costly audit process, which can consume up to one-third of offset revenue. Audit impact we measure in terms of reduction in the number of offsets from ex ante estimated to ex post approved. Audit thoroughness we measure both directly in terms of the number of auditor hours worked per project and also indirectly in terms of the total number of Corrective Action Requests (CARs)/Non-Conformity Reports (NCRs) auditors prescribe. In terms of impact, we find that Afforestation/Reforestation/Restoration (A/R/R) and Improved Forest Management (IFM) projects, though only constituting 5% of total verified offsets, demonstrate significant (p < = 0.05) reductions from ex ante estimated to ex post approved offsets, likely because auditors can easily scrutinize carbon stocks/emission factors for the commercial tree species involved in these project types. In terms of thoroughness, we find that higher ex ante estimates correlate with more total auditor hours worked and total CARs/NCRs prescribed for three of four project activity types, likely because auditors perceive larger ex ante projects as higher risk. We conclude with recommendations for the VCS to empower auditors to scrutinize carbon stocks/emissions factors from avoided deforestation projects, and also to continue to flag high ex ante projects as higher risk.     

Cultural Relevance for Rural Community Development in China: A Case Study in Bai, Jingpo and Huyaodai Communities of Yunnan Province

A three-year study over the Bai, Jingpo and Huayaodai communities in Yunnan Province reveals that the community development is significantly influenced in various ways by such cultural factors as the concepts of development; concepts and traditions of inter-community relationships, consumption, mar- riage and gender; patterns of decision-making and production, resource and income allocation; as well as the role of information dissemination systems, religion and ritual. Based on the analysis over the interactive relevance between each factor and community development, some strategies and methods for dealing with such a cultural relevance in development projects are recommended.     

Structural-temporal organization of a rodent community in the Teletskaya Taiga,Altai Mountains

The structural-temporal organization of a murine rodent community in the taiga has been studied near Lake Teletskoe, Mountain Altai. The results show that the long-term dynamics of indices characterizing community diversity depend mainly on changes in the structure of dominance rather than on the population dynamics of species. The distribution of species in the factor space corresponds to their preference for certain biotopes, from dry to relatively moist. An analysis of relationships within the rodent community has revealed the synchronous dynamics of species abundance and antiphase pattern of changes in the structural indices of dominant species.     

A critical and empirical analysis of the national-local ‘gap’ in public responses to large-scale energy infrastructures

A national-local ‘gap’ is often used as the starting point for analyses of public responses to large scale energy infrastructures. We critique three assumptions found in that literature: the public's positive attitudes, without further examining other type of perceptions at a national level; that local perceptions are best examined through a siting rather than place-based approach; that a gap exists between national and local responses, despite a non-correspondence in how these are examined. Survey research conducted at national and local levels about electricity transmission lines in the UK confirm these criticisms. Results do not support a gap between national and local levels; instead, both differences and similarities were found. Results show the value of adopting a place-based approach and the role of surveys to inform policy making are discussed.     

New York City Environmental Justice Alliance Waterfront Justice Project

This paper reviews key challenges and opportunities addressed by the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance's (NYC-EJA) Waterfront Justice Project, a citywide campaign to promote climate resilience and sustainability in urban industrial waterfront communities of New York City. NYC-EJA is a non-profit membership-driven network linking grassroots organisations from low-income neighbourhoods and communities of colour in their struggle for environmental justice. The Waterfront Justice Project is documenting community vulnerability in the context of climate change impacts, sources of industrial pollution, and demographic and socio-economic trends. This campaign is enabling community-based organisations, environmental justice communities, city planners, local and state government agencies, local business-owners, and other stakeholders to work in partnership to achieve community resilience while advocating for local jobs and promoting best practices in pollution prevention. New York City's waterfront policies ease the siting and clustering of public infrastructure, water pollution control plants, waste transfer stations, energy facilities, and heavy manufacturing uses in six areas designated as Significant Maritime and Industrial Areas (SMIAs). The SMIAs are located in environmental justice communities, largely low-income communities and communities of colour, in the South Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. New York City's local waterfront land use and zoning policies create cumulative risk exposure not only to residents and workers in the host waterfront communities, but also, in the event of storm surge or sea-level rise, to neighbouring, upland communities.     

The multiple communities of low-carbon transition: an assessment of communities involved in forest carbon measurement

In recent writing on sociotechnical transitions theory communities are mostly conceived of as being local and place-based (“grassroots”). In this paper the implications for sociotechnical transitions theory of having multiple communities operating at different geographical scales, and with different objectives, are examined through a case study of low-carbon innovation in forests. The focus of analysis is the communities promoting sociotechnical innovations in the measurement of forest carbon. Innovation is being driven by the international United Nations climate policy initiative “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation” (REDD+). The rise of REDD+ policy has prompted a flurry of activity in related scientific research, especially in the field of remote sensing. But other types of community are also actively positioning themselves as experts in forest carbon measurement: there are multiple communities at work, each with varying claims to innovation and expertise, from local (place-based) forest communities to international communities of foresters and forest ecologists. Recognition of the multiple communities operating within sociotechnical systems usefully draws our attention to the politics of innovation.     

寒区典型湿地浮游植物功能群季节变化及其与环境因子关系

安邦河湿地是一个典型的寒区湿地,本文运用功能群的方法对其浮游植物季节变化进行研究,并运用多元分析方法分析其与环境因子的关系.安邦河湿地共有浮游植物种8门104种,划分为14个功能群,分别是C、D、E、F、H1、J、Lo、M、MP、N、P、SN、X1和Y.其中重要功能群是C、D、E、J、Lo、N、P和Y.浮游植物的功能群组成季节变化明显,春季以功能群E和Lo生物量所占比例最大,分别为27.45%和20.49%;夏季以功能群D、J、P占优,为28.59%、18.53%和19.47%;秋季以功能群J、P为主,占39.65%和13.34%.可见,安邦河湿地浮游植物功能群的季节变化呈现为E+Lo→D+J+P→J+P的特点,反映了水环境特征:春季低水温低营养盐、夏季高水温高营养盐且水体混浊、秋季水温和营养盐均较高.运用冗余分析(RDA)分析浮游植物功能群与环境因子之间的关系,结果显示水温(WT)、无机氮(DIN)和溶解性磷酸盐(SRP)是安邦河湿地浮游植物功能群季节变化的主要环境因子.     

NGO collaboration in community post‐disaster reconstruction: field research following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China

The number of communities affected by disasters has been rising. As a result, non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) that attend community post‐disaster reconstruction are often unable to deliver all requirements and have to develop cooperative approaches. However, this collaboration can cause problems because of the complex environments, the fight for limited resources and uncoordinated management, all of which result in poor service delivery to the communities, adding to their woes. From extensive field research and case studies conducted in the post‐Wenchuan earthquake‐stricken communities, this paper introduces an integrated collaboration framework for community post‐disaster reconstruction with the focus on three types of NGOs: international, government organised and civil. The proposed collaboration framework examines the three interrelated components of organisational structure, operational processes and reconstruction goals/implementation areas. Of great significance in better promoting collaborative participation between NGOs are the crucial concepts of participatory reconstruction, double‐layer collaborative networks, and circular review and revision.     

紫色土丘陵坡地土壤微生物群落的季节变化

采用稀释平板法和Biolog-ECO微平板技术,以剌槐（Robinia pseudoacacia）天然次生林为研究对象,研究湖南省衡阳市紫色土丘陵坡地表层（0~10 cm）土壤微生物群落的季节变化特征。结果表明：1）夏季,土壤微生物总数,细菌数量、真菌数量和放线菌数量最高,分别为16.34×106、16.09×106、10.43×104和14.64×104 cfu·g-1干土,春季次之：11.61×106、11.45×106、5.00×104和10.65×104 cfu·g-1干土,秋季最低：5.87×106、5.78×106、4.67×104和4.08×104 cfu·g-1干土,春、夏和秋3季的差异达显著水平（P<0.05）;2）在培养168 h时,土壤微生物C源平均颜色变化率（Average well color development, AWCD）以夏季最高（1.20）,春季次之（0.88）,秋季最低（0.83）;3）土壤微生物功能多样性表现为夏季明显高于春、秋2季（P<0.05）,夏季的Patrick丰富度指数（R）（28）、Shannon-Wiener指数（H）（3.22）、Simpson指数（D）（0.96）和McIntosh指数（U）（8.20）显著高于春、秋2季（P<0.05）,而春、秋2季的R（23,24）、H（3.06,3.08）、D（0.95,0.95）和U（5.90,5.91）无显著差异（P>0.05）;4）氨基酸类、聚合物类和羧酸C源类是衡阳紫色土丘陵坡地土壤微生物偏好且利用率较高的C源类型;5）主成分分析表明,土壤微生物群落的C源利用可分为2类,一类在夏季,另一类在春、秋2季,其得分系数的分布范围分别为（2.59~6.00,2.43~5.09）和（-7.65~-1.90,-6.38~-3.43）。研究结果为科学评价湖南省衡阳市紫色土丘陵坡地土壤生境质量退化和恢复过程中微生物特征的变化提供了本底值参考。