Development of a composite climate change vulnerability index for small craft harbours

Coastal areas around the world are threatened by an accelerated sea level rise (SLR), storm surges and coastal flooding related to climate change. These threats, together with the land use pattern of coastal areas, could create a dangerous mix for coastal communities and could result in major socio-economic and environmental consequences. Apart from human settlements, seaports are likely to be most vulnerable to climate change because they are located at areas exposed to SLR and storm surges or at mouths of rivers susceptible to flooding. To remain efficient and resilient, seaports must anticipate the impacts of climate change and proactively prepare for SLR, increased flooding, and more frequent extreme storm events. This paper presents the analytical and empirical aspects of an integrated vulnerability index (VI) for small raft harbours based on the methodology of the IPCC for coastal vulnerability assessment. Six corresponding steps are adopted to assess the fishing ports VI (VIP-F) considering geophysical and socio-economic parameters. The proposed index is applied to 47 fishing boats and small commercial harbours of Lesvos, Greece. The proposed methodology can be adapted for assessing the vulnerability of major ports.     

Starting point or solution? Community-based marine protected areas in the Philippines

In 1985, in response to declining coral reef conditions, local residents and officials established small, no-take marine sanctuaries on Balicasag and Pamilacan Islands through a community-based process. The implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs) on Balicasag and Pamilacan Islands has been a partial success. As a direct result of protection, living hard coral cover has increased by 119% in Balicasag's sanctuary and by 67% in the non-sanctuary during the period 1984 to 1999, but Balicasag's reef is increasingly affected by breakage from anchors from dive boats and Crown-of-thorns starfish infestations. During the same period, living hard coral cover decreased by 20% in Pamilacan's sanctuary and by 45% in the non-sanctuary from 1984 to 1999. The decrease in living hard coral cover in Pamilacan's sanctuary is most likely a result of the 1998 bleaching event, Crown-of-thorn starfish and possible storm damage. Although there was an initial increase in the economically important target fish abundance in the Balicasag sanctuary and non-sanctuary and in the Pamilacan sanctuary during the first two years of implementation in the mid-1980s, there has since been a significant decline. Mean target fish abundance for the Balicasag non-sanctuary at 230 (+/- 65) individuals per 500 m2 is not significantly different from control sites without MPAs on nearby Panglao and Cabilao Islands at 164 (+/- 67) individuals per 500 m2. In general, fish abundance and diversity inside and outside the sanctuaries peaked in 1986, a year after the establishment of the sanctuaries when enforcement was strictest. Therefore, despite considerable success in enforcing regulations associated with these small MPAs at Balicasag and Pamilacan Islands, a trend of declining fish abundance and species richness among economically valuable species immediately outside the no-take areas highlights the limitations of small and isolated MPAs. This study contributes to the growing sentiment that it is not realistic for scattered, small no-take areas to maintain fish abundance and diversity on surrounding reefs when intensive fishing effort immediately adjacent to no-take areas removes most fish that exit these areas. This finding emphasizes the importance of nesting individual MPAs within broader management regimes that lead to overall fishing effort reduction and networking of MPAs. Among other recommendations, the authors advocate for continued support for community-based MPAs, a network of MPAs, reduced fishing effort in areas surrounding the MPAs and other management measures to improve the quality of the coral reef habitats.     

A 'Principled' Approach to Complex Emergencies: Testing a New Aid Delivery Model in the Nuba Mountains

This paper provides an analysis of the Nuba Mountains Programme Advancing Conflict Trans-formation (NMPACT) as an example of an operational response in a complex emergency that innovatively addressed an incipient food security crisis. NMPACT is notable for having brought together an array of actors around a common principled agenda and for being the only operational programme in the Sudan to which both warring parties subscribed during the conflict. The key features of the programme are presented and the main innovative elements are reviewed, including the role of the principles of engagement and the 'political humanitarianism' of NMPACT. The paper looks at how NMPACT broke from traditional externally driven responses to food insecurity, and, drawing on lessons from Operation Lifeline Sudan, adopted an approach that focuses on capacity building, sustainable agriculture and market revitalisation, alongside conflict transformation and peace-building. The limitations of the model are also assessed, and preliminary lessons regarding its replication in other complex emergency contexts are presented.     

广西沿海台风灾害风险评估初探

分析了广西沿海台风灾害危险度的影响因素，并用打分法给沿海１６个区段划分了台风灾害风险等级。最后探讨了台风风险评估与沿海地区经济发展的关系．     

贫困地区生态综合补偿转移支付法制研究

生态综合补偿的提出表明国家对生态补偿关注的重点从资金的来源转向资金使用的效果，其中转移支付法制是影响生态综合补偿效果的主要变量。从中央和地方两个层面的立法来看，贫困地区生态补偿转移支付立法从维护公平正义提供倾斜性补偿资金，转向促进“绿色发展”“绿色减贫”的生态补偿整体性效益建设。然而，整体上，相关法制建设尚显不足，如贫困地区利益未充分表达、补偿资金使用自主权未能充分发挥、整体性监督考核机制不健全等。原因在于，扶贫政治思维淡化了贫困地区生态综合补偿法律制度的属性，覆盖面难以普及；不同利益诉求造就了贫困地区生态综合补偿转移支付制度约束；行政放权的非制度化影响贫困地区生态补偿转移支付整体性效益。应以实现可持续的自我发展权新理念加强贫困地区生态综合补偿转移支付的法律制度化建设，明晰贫困地区生态综合补偿中转移支付的重要地位，夯实基础性财权，同时构建适应生态综合补偿的整体性考核机制。     

Evaluation of management effectiveness of protected areas in the Volta Basin,Ghana: perspectives on the methodology for evaluation,protected area financing and community participation

ABSTRACT

Protected areas are widely recognized as an important strategy for biodiversity conservation. Most of the sites are, however, poorly managed as resource exploitation by fringe communities and low government funding, among other things, threaten their management effectiveness. We used the World Commission on Protected Areas framework for designing management effectiveness evaluation systems, with the Rapid Assessment and Prioritization of Protected Areas Management (RAPPAM) methodology as a tool, to evaluate six components of the management cycle at six sites in Ghana for their management effectiveness. We examined the robustness of RAPPAM as an evaluation tool in the African context. The results showed that most of the sites evaluated are vulnerable and exposed to various degrees of pressure and threats, including poverty in the nearby communities, adjacent land-use and encroachment. On RAPPAM, we noted that apart from inconsistencies in some of the assessment scores due to the biases associated with the self-assessment approach of the methodology, the management effectiveness framework places little emphasis on financing and community participation, though both play major roles in the management process. We proposed a modification of the framework within the African context, to address effectively the underlying courses of pressure and threats facing Ghana’s protected areas.     

Land-Cover Assessment of Conservation and Buffer Zones in the BOSAWAS Natural Resource Reserve of Nicaragua

The BOSAWAS Natural Resource Reserve of Nicaragua was established in 1991, to protect a portion of the remaining tropical rain forest and to promote the sustainable use of the region's resources. Information required to effectively manage the reserve includes the extents and locations of present land-cover types and recent land-cover changes in the management use zones that were delineated by local indigenous communities. These zones include areas designated for conservation, limited resource extraction, agriculture, and watershed protection. Land-cover for 1986 and 1995 was identified for three of the communities from remotely sensed images and then input into a geographic information system database to identify land-cover types within these management use zones. For both dates of the analysis, advanced forest was the dominant land cover, with the conservation zones entirely forested. The amount of both agricultural land and scrub/early secondary forest increased between the two dates, with much of these land-cover classes occurring in the agriculture zones. Conflicts between the land-cover present and designated use were identified in some of the limited-use buffer and watershed protection zones. Changes between 1986 and 1995 were identified by overlaying the two land-cover data sets. Three change processes were identified as occurring: deforestation, reforestation, and reconversion. Changes were concentrated in the agriculture zones but were found to occur in every type of zone, except for conservation. The results of this study will establish baseline information for the future management of the BOSAWAS Reserve, an important component in uniting conservation areas along the Central American isthmus.     

广西石山区土地石漠化的成因及防治对策

石漠化即喀斯特荒漠化、石化,是广西生态环境最突出的问题。为了促进石山区经济的可持续发展,作者采用了文献调查、实地调查、定性分析和定量分析等方法探讨了广西石漠化的成因和防治对策,认为导致广西石漠化加剧的因素是多方面的,既有自然的、更有人为的;其治理也是一个系统工程,需要在释放人口压力、提高人口素质、调整产业结构与布局、加大整治力度、执行财政补偿制度等方面继续努力。     

积极促进环保产业成长实现可持续发展

论述了促进环保产业发展的重要性，指出了环保产业发展中应着重解决的问题。