Common property resources in drylands of India

Common property resources are areas of land or water being used by a community or a group of communities. These have special significance to peoples and communities who depend on them for their livelihood. The commons in all arid districts of India include village pastures, community forests, wasteland, common threshing grounds, waste dumps, watershed drainage, village baoris¹, talabs², nadis³ and ponds, and tanks, rivers, rivulets, wetlands, riverbeds, community conserved areas, protected areas, Dhaam⁴ or Dhooni⁵, culturable wastelands, barren & un-culturable land, etc. The area under commons often ranged from 9 to 28% of total village area. Appropriation of the commons by the state for building essential infrastructure such as schools, clinics, veterinary hospitals, housing for government functionaries, SEZ and industrial corridors, etc. is a cause of serious concern. Presently the ownership rights over CPRs are not clear and there are many who claim ownership, some at State level but also like local bodies. The 12^th plan of the Planning Commission of India recognized and highlighted the need for favourable land tenure arrangements, institutional design and programme architecture in order to achieve effective governance and management of the commons. The revitalization of CPRs is crucial for protecting livelihoods, as well as for biodiversity conservation and for the improvement in arid microclimatic conditions. Dialogue continues on the status of common property resources, the available legal framework and some policy related issues for its conservation through strengthening of local institutions and capacity building for stakeholders.     

Political transition and emergent forest‐conservation issues in Myanmar

Political and economic transitions have had substantial impacts on forest conservation. Where transitions are underway or anticipated, historical precedent and methods for systematically assessing future trends should be used to anticipate likely threats to forest conservation and design appropriate and prescient policy measures to counteract them. Myanmar is transitioning from an authoritarian, centralized state with a highly regulated economy to a more decentralized and economically liberal democracy and is working to end a long‐running civil war. With these transitions in mind, we used a horizon‐scanning approach to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar's forests, including internal conflict, land‐tenure insecurity, large‐scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams. Averting these threats will require, for example, overhauling governance models, building capacity, improving infrastructure‐ and energy‐project planning, and reforming land‐tenure and environmental‐protection laws. Although challenges to conservation in Myanmar are daunting, the political transition offers an opportunity for conservationists and researchers to help shape a future that enhances Myanmar's social, economic, and environmental potential while learning and applying lessons from other countries. Our approach and results are relevant to other countries undergoing similar transitions.     

Farmers' perceptions of constraints to plantain production in Ghana

SUMMARY

Plantain (Musa AAB), a primary food crop in Ghana, is a key component in sustainable agricultural systems in high rainfall zones. Recently, there has been a substantial yield decline and reduction in plantation life. To elucidate the context in which intervention strategies should be developed, a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was conducted at five villages in the major plantain-producing belt of Ghana. The importance of plantain as a preferred food was confirmed, although farmers tended to sell plantain for cash income, using cheaper, less preferred alternatives for home consumption. Farmers identified decreasing soil fertility, the high cost of labour for weeding, pests and diseases, lack of good quality planting material and marketing-related issues as the major production constraints. Due to declining productivity in less fertile regions, plantain has been replaced with other food crops such as cassava and maize. Farmers overestimated the importance of insect pests but were unaware of the extensive damage that could be caused by nematodes and the foliar disease, black sigatoka. They observed, however, that pest damage is more severe when soil fertility is poor. Clearly, integrated pest management is likely to be most effective when practiced within the context of cropping systems management; sustainable strategies that are being developed for resource-limited plantain farmers in Ghana are discussed.     

The importance of defining focal assemblages when evaluating amphibian and reptile responses to land use

Habitat loss and degradation are primary threats to amphibians and reptiles, but the relative effects of common land uses on assemblages and the mechanisms that underlie faunal responses are poorly studied. We reviewed the effects of four prevalent types of habitat alteration (urbanization, agriculture, livestock grazing, and silviculture) on amphibian and reptile species richness and abundance by summarizing reported responses in the literature and by estimating effect sizes across studies for species richness in each land‐use type. We then used a multinomial model to classify species as natural habitat specialists, generalists, and disturbed habitat specialists and examined variation in effect sizes for each land‐use type according to habitat specialization categories. There were mixed conclusions from individual studies, some reporting negative, neutral, or positive effects of land use on species richness and total abundance. A large proportion of studies reported species‐specific effects of individual species abundance. However, in our analysis of effect sizes, we found a general trend of negative effects of land use on species richness. We also demonstrate that habitat associations of common species and species turnover can explain variation in the effect of land use on herpetofauna. Our review highlights the pervasive negative effects of common land uses on amphibians and reptiles, the importance of identifying groups vulnerable to land‐use change (e.g., forest‐associated species) in conservation studies, and the potential influence of disturbance‐associated species on whole assemblage analyses.     

我国城市生活垃圾处理行业2010年发展综述

简述了2010年我国城市生活垃圾处理的总体状况;归纳了2010年国家发布和实施的有关标准和政策;介绍了2010年新批准申请CDM的填埋气体利用项目和垃圾焚烧发电项目、垃圾堆肥项目,以及新投入运行的生活垃圾焚烧发电厂;对城市生活垃圾处理行业的发展进行了展望。     

西北干旱区发展节水农业保障体系研究

水资源短缺已成为西北干旱区严重的制约因素之一.实施节水型农业模式,成为促进西北干旱区农业持续发展、生态环境保护乃至整个社会经济发展的必要选择.结合西北干旱区水资源开发利用的现状和节水农业发展中存在的主要问题,构建了西北干旱区节水型农业发展的保障体系:加强宣传培训,提高节水农业意识;制定科学规划,促进农业持续发展;构建完整体系,支持节水农业发展;健全法律制度,保障节水农业发展.     

喷射火的人工扰流脱火规律试验研究

通过专门设计的人工扰流脱火同步数据采集试验平台,对喷射火的脱火规律进行了研究,重点分析了扰流介质、扰流流量、入射距离及喷射火尺寸对脱火规律的影响.结果表明:扰流介质为空气时,人工扰流能够使微尺寸(0.1mm级别)喷射火产生脱火;对于小尺寸(mm级别)喷射火,将空气扰流中加入一定比例的CO2才能使其脱火,但较易熄灭;喷射火尺寸的增大使得脱火所需的扰流流量大幅增加,同时脱火距离也有所增大,但不同尺寸喷射火的脱火规律相似,脱火距离随扰流流量增加逐渐增加,之后趋于平缓,随入射距离增大而减小,直至无法脱开.     

Exploring guerrilla gardening: gauging public views on the grassroots activity

The literature on guerrilla gardening is developing rapidly. The majority of these accounts currently derive from North America, with little academic exploration apparent beyond this context: they focus explicitly on the grass-roots gardeners and show little regard for those surrounding the action's location. Guerrilla gardeners often colonise land not only without the permission from authorities, but also with little regard for those who surround the space; transforming areas without consulting with the local communities. This paper explores those affected by guerrilla gardening; grounding our argument in evidence gathered from the activities of three guerrilla groups. In doing so, we investigate the public's views of several informal gardening projects, questioning their value and impact on the surrounding areas. The emerging responses are very mixed, ranging from positive comments about improving aesthetics, to negative remarks surrounding the practices of some groups. Ultimately, this paper demonstrates how, although often promoted and perceived to be a constructive activity, guerrilla gardening can result in adverse impacts on those who surround colonised sites.     

安徽沿江地带生态农业可持续发展的实证考察——以芜湖一市三县为例

伴随工业化而出现的现代“石油农业”,在200年的时间里,严重破坏了人类赖以生存的自然生态环境,农业污染带来的食品污染直接危害着人类的健康,从而迫使各国转而研究可以替代“石油农业”的可持续农业发展模式。生态农业由此应运而生。中国改革开放以来,因为工业化和农业现代化的快速推进,已经造成国土环境的严重污染,而中部地区都是农业大省,在人口压力必须自我消化的背景下,唯有大力发展生态农业才可能步入经济社会可持续发展的正常轨道。本课题是基于安徽沿江地带芜湖市及所辖三县的实证调研,试图通过对芜湖地区生态现状和生态农业发展的制度环境分析,为安徽农业可持续发展提供一个可资借鉴的参照样本。     

吉林省循环农业发展的研究

吉林省是农业大省,农业要实现持续发展,很重要的是资源的可持续利用,发展循环农业能以最小的成本获得最大的经济效益和生态效益,对于吉林省改善农村生产、生活、生态环境有着非常重要的作用和意义。本文阐述了循环农业的概念及基本原则,分析了吉林省农业经济现状,并根据吉林省自身农业特点,并从推进工农业复合循环经济、发展生态农业、建设农业循环经济示范园区等三方面提出吉林省循环农业发展的方向,最后提出发展循环农业相关建议。