Plant communities in the zone of gas field development and heavy metal accumulation by them

Heavy metal accumulation by plant communities has been studied in different zones of impact of gas field development. The contents of heavy metals in different blocks of plant communities has proved to depend not only on the location of phytocenosis but also on its species composition. Communities dominated by species of the family Poaceae contain smaller amounts of heavy metals than those dominated by species of the family Asteraceae, especially of the genus Artemisia. The order of precedence in the accumulation of heavy metals in different blocks of plant communities has been revealed.     

Perceptions toward stewardship among residents living near U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Facilities

Although stewardship has been widely defined and used in environmental management and planning, there is a dearth of studies that describe how the lay public perceives this concept. A national sample of residents in 14 states who live near DOE nuclear facilities were interviewed to delineate public understanding and awareness of the stewardship program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This study discusses the findings of the survey and discusses how institutional trust influences public participation and resident’s choices of potential stewards. Almost 40% of the respondents could not define stewardship; those who did, believed that ‘responsibility,’ ‘management,’ and ‘accountability’ are key elements of stewardship. In addition, about a third of the respondents identified Federal groups and the DOE as potential stewards. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue     

Vulnerability assessment of sea-level rise in Viti Levu, Fiji Islands

Fiji is expected to come under increasing pressure and risk from various threats resulting from climate change and sea-level rise (SLR). Fiji consists of 332 islands and thus has a predominant and large coastline. Viti Levu is the largest and most important of the islands, harboring Fiji’s capital city and most of the major towns concentrated around its coast. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the extent of possible sea-level rise using GIS, and to identify high-risk locations. Potential sea level rise was shown graphically as an output to determine where inundation or flooding would take place. This analysis allowed important areas facing risk to be highlighted for future action. Flooding/inundation can be classified into two kinds: ‘permanent inundation’, which is the result of sea-level rise with tide; and ‘temporary flooding’, also including occasional storm surge events. The inundated area was displayed under different projections and quantified. The results produced output maps showing the distribution of inundation/flooding around the island of Viti Levu as well as the extent of flooding. Six scenarios for sea-level rise were used (0.09, 0.18, 0.48, 0.50, 0.59, 0.88 m). Six scenarios for storm surge were used with return intervals of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 years. High risk and priority locations are identified as Fiji’s capital Suva, the major tourist center and arrival port of Nadi, and Fiji’s second city Lautoka. Future action, adaptation and response strategies in these identified locations must occur to reduce risk from climate change.     

中国人力资本积累的空间特征及其对经济增长的影响

教育是一个国家或地区积累人力资源的重要途径之一,也是经济可持续发展的重要基础.通过空间计量经济学方法和模型,以2000年中国县级数据为对象,进行实证研究分析,发现在中国经济可持续发展过程中,通过教育而积累的人力资本存量的作用不容忽视.教育发展对经济增长的影响会因性别不同而有所差异,男性平均接受教育的年限和女性接受教育的年限对经济增长的影响都是正向且显著,但前者贡献更大.此外,中国教育发展具有明显的空间聚集效应,在地区教育发展模式上,存在四种聚集模式,分别是H-H类型、L-L类型、H-L类型和L-H类型,这种教育发展的不均衡性,加剧了经济发展韵不平衡,对地区经济长期可持续均衡发展产生了重要影响.在方法上,当探讨具有空间聚集效应的经济可持续发展问题上,空间误差模型要优于最小二乘回归模型.     

现行财税体制下我国耕地资源数量变化的实证研究

耕地资源数量变化受到人口、经济等诸多因素的影响，而财税体制是影响耕地资源数量变化的更深屡次原因。通过数量关系的初步观察和作用机理分析说明我国现行财税体制对耕地资源数量变化存在正反两方面作用，总体来看，对耕地资源保护不利。计量结果进一步证实了我国现行财税体制对耕地资源数量变化存在显著影响。揭示了其影响的方向和大小。根据研究结果，文章有针对性地提出了增加地方财政预算收入，合理分配土地出让金比例和科学使用土地出让金等相关政策建议。     

城市游憩空间结构优化研究——以大连市为例

鉴于我国城市化的快速发展．城市居民游憩需求与供给的矛盾日益突出。本文选择城市游憩空间结构作为研究对象．综合分析现有的城市游憩空间结构和典型游憩功能区的研究成果，探讨了城市游憩需求的空间结构特征、游憩供给的空间结构特征．分析了城市游憩需求和供给空间结构特征的形成因素,提出理想的城市游憩空间结构模式。通过调研大连市主城区游憩场所的分布情况、使用情况以及大连城市游憩者的游憩需求特征,分析了大连市游憩供给和需求之间的矛盾及城市游憩空间的等级结构和整体结构。     

浅论国家环境权

随着全球环境的日益恶化和公民环保意识的不断增强，环境权理论迅速发展。国家环境权作为一项重要的环境权。在环境法理论逐步变革和权利内涵不断演进的趋势下，已成为法学界研究探讨的重要课题。通过分析国家环境权的国内、国际法律基础。论证了国家环境权的确立。利用类比的方法。阐述了国家环境权与其他宪法权利的不同之处。从权利义务的对等统一和国内国际两个层面。重新归纳了国家环境权的内容。初步构建了国家环境权的基本理论框架。     

草原旅游发展中旅游管理部门环境意识的调查研究

根据环境意识结构．设计了旅游管理部门环境意识调查问卷。其主要的指标体系包括：旅游环境知识水平、旅游环境态度、旅游环境评价和旅游环境行为四个方面。对指标体系各部分之间以及每一指标部分的每一题目之间的相对重要性进行权重的确定．而且对各部分的每道题目的各个选项予以赋分。基于权重和赋分．结合调查问卷的实际情况，设计了指标体系各部分评价模型和环境意识总体评价模型。以此来计算草原旅游发展中旅游管理部门环境意识水平的综合得分。经过分析得知，旅游管理部门环境意识模式是“环境知识制约型”模式。     

SUSTAINABILITY AT THE LOCAL LEVEL: MANAGEMENT TOOLS AND MUNICIPAL TAX INCENTIVE MODEL

The implementation of sustainable development may seem a simple concept when written on paper. However to carry-out long term actions put forward by the Agenda 21 (AG21) at the local level represents one of the main challenges as municipal governments in general do not have the capacity to effectively implement the process. Regional environmental assessment (REA) has shown to be effective in supporting decision-making not only to correct environmental problems due to past unsustainable social-economic developments but also help local governments to implement sustainable actions. However this requires long-term investments of AG21 plans and projects. The allocation of regular and consistent financial resources is one of the main ingredients for the sustainable development process. But traditional plans and projects financed by national and/or international funds may not be sustainable in the long-term because they become dependent on external funding. Research demonstrate that innovative economic instruments such as ecotaxes represent a feasible alternative to sponsor local sustainability because taxes are collected permanently by the government and could be invested in continuous actions. Ecotaxes experiences have provided important reference to structure a municipal incentive model (MIM) to sponsor AG21’s environmental plans and projects on a long-term (permanent) basis. However sustainable development cannot be solely through economic investments. A comprehensive municipal environmental management scheme (MEMS) has been established to support the incentive model. The scheme seeks not only to improve local institutional framework but also incentive continuous participation of local stakeholders at all levels of society. Participatory events and the provision of incentives (educational and financial) are key to motivate society to protect the environment and support actively the sustainable development process as emphasised in the RIO-92 Conference.