The Belt and Road Initiative and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: seeking linkages for global environmental governance

ABSTRACT

Global environmental cooperation serves as an important part in the Chinese ideal of building a Community with a Shared Future for all Human Beings. The report of 19th CPC National Congress indicates that China is committed to proactive mitigation under the Paris Agreement and further participating in global environmental governance under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and both of which are largely integrated to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). BRI are also closely linked with South–South environmental and climate cooperation proposed by China from previous UN summits. Based on shared ideas, intersected agendas, and compatible governance approaches, BRI and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development grow increasingly relevant and they might form synergies based on increasingly interactive relations. In sum, seeking and intensifying the linkages between BRI and 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs) could address global environmental governance deficits and enhance cooperation among nations.     

Evaluating the success of functional restoration after reintroduction of a lost avian pollinator

Conservation translocation is a common method for species recovery, for which one increasingly frequent objective is restoring lost ecological functions to promote ecosystem recovery. However, few conservation translocation programs explicitly state or monitor function as an objective, limiting the ability to test assumptions, learn from past efforts, and improve management. We evaluated whether translocations of hihi (Notiomystis cincta), a threatened New Zealand passerine, achieved their implicit objective of restoring lost pollination function. Through a pollinator-exclusion experiment, we quantified, with log response ratios (lnR), the effects of birds on fruit set and seed quality in hangehange (Geniostoma ligustrifolium), a native flowering shrub. We isolated the contributions of hihi by making comparisons across sites with and without hihi. Birds improved fruit set more at sites without hihi (lnR = 1.27) than sites with hihi (lnR = 0.50), suggesting other avian pollinators compensated for and even exceeded hihi contributions to fruit set. Although birds improved seed germination only at hihi sites (lnR = 0.22–0.41), plants at sites without hihi had germination rates similar to hihi sites because they produced 26% more filled seeds, regardless of pollination condition. Therefore, although our results showed hihi improved seed quality, they also highlighted the complexity of ecological functions. When an important species is lost, ecosystems may be able to achieve similar function through different means. Our results underscore the importance of stating and monitoring the ecological benefits of conservation translocations when functional restoration is a motivation to ensure these programs are achieving their objectives.     

Using ecosystem-services assessments to determine trade-offs in ecosystem-based management of marine mammals

The goal of ecosystem-based management (EBM) is to support a sustainable and holistic multisectored management approach, and is recognized in a number of international policy frameworks. However, it remains unknown how these goals should be linked to assessments and management plans for marine fauna, such as mammals and fish stocks. It appears particularly challenging to carry out trade-off analyses of various ocean uses without a framework that integrates knowledge of environmental, social, and economic benefits derived from nonstationary marine fauna. We argue this gap can be filled by applying a version of the ecosystem-service approach at the population level of marine fauna. To advance this idea, we used marine mammals as a case study to demonstrate what indicators could operationalize relevant assessments and deliver an evidence base for the presence of ecosystem services and disservices derived from marine mammals. We found indicators covering common ecosystem service categories feasible to apply; examples of indicator data are already available in the literature for several populations. We encourage further exploration of this approach for application to marina fauna and biodiversity management, with the caveat that conceptual tensions related to the use of the ecosystem service concept itself needs to be addressed to ensure acceptance by relevant stakeholders.     

An ecological framework for contextualizing carnivore–livestock conflict

Carnivore predation on livestock is a complex management and policy challenge, yet it is also intrinsically an ecological interaction between predators and prey. Human–wildlife interactions occur in socioecological systems in which human and environmental processes are closely linked. However, underlying human–wildlife conflict and key to unpacking its complexity are concrete and identifiable ecological mechanisms that lead to predation events. To better understand how ecological theory accords with interactions between wild predators and domestic prey, we developed a framework to describe ecological drivers of predation on livestock. We based this framework on foundational ecological theory and current research on interactions between predators and domestic prey. We used this framework to examine ecological mechanisms (e.g., density-mediated effects, behaviorally mediated effects, and optimal foraging theory) through which specific management interventions operate, and we analyzed the ecological determinants of failure and success of management interventions in 3 case studies: snow leopards (Panthera uncia), wolves (Canis lupus), and cougars (Puma concolor). The varied, context-dependent successes and failures of the management interventions in these case studies demonstrated the utility of using an ecological framework to ground research and management of carnivore–livestock conflict. Mitigation of human–wildlife conflict appears to require an understanding of how fundamental ecological theories work within domestic predator–prey systems.     

Prenatal diagnosis of thalassemia major by fetal blood analysis: Experience with 1000 cases

In this report we have summarized our experience with the prenatal diagnosis of β-thalassemia in 1000 pregnancies followed at least until 12 months after birth. In the majority of these cases, the thalassemia lesion was the nonsense mutation at the codon corresponding to amino acid 39, which produces the hematological phenotype of β-thalassemia. Fetal blood sampling was carried out by placental aspiration, by which a sufficient amount of fetal blood for analysis was obtained in the majority of cases (99 per cent). The fetal mortality associated with fetal blood sampling was 6·3 per cent. Those placental samples contaminated by maternal cells were successfully purified by Ørskov lysis. Fetal blood was analysed by globin chain synthesis on CM–52 columns, which gave reliable results. Two misdiagnoses (0·2 per cent) have been made of which one was due to a non-globin protein co-migrating with the β-chains while the other resulted from a misclassification of the type of thalassemia segregating in the family.     

Detoxifying moniliformin in grains and water

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Prenatal diagnosis of a new syndrome: Holoprosencephaly with hypokinesia

Markedly decreased fetal activity (akinesia/hypokinesia) is usually readily apparent to experienced mothers, and frequently this concern leads to attempts at prenatal diagnosis. We report prenatal diagnosis of two fetuses with congenital contractures, markedly decreased fetal movement, and microcephaly due to severe holoprosencephaly. Such familial recurrence to phenotypically normal parents suggests a newly recognized autosomal recessive or X-linked syndrome that is readily detectable by prenatal ultrasonography.     

First-trimester diagnosis of Meckel–Gruber syndrome by transabdominal sonography in a low-risk case

Meckel–Gruber syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder often resulting in neonatal death within a few hours of life. The condition is usually diagnosed ultrasonographically in the second trimester and earlier diagnosis has been mainly confined to high recurrence risk pregnancies. We describe the earliest non-invasive diagnosis of this condition at 12⁺² weeks' gestation in a patient with no previous history using transabdominal ultrasound. Pregnancy termination was declined. Subsequent development of anhydramnios in the mid-trimester resulted in poor fetal visualization. We propose that first-trimester diagnosis of this condition is not only possible but preferable, as normal liquor volume facilitates visualization of fetal anatomy.     

Prenatal diagnosis of Pallister–Killian syndrome: Resolution of cytogenetic ambiguity by use of fluorescent in situ hybridization

We report a case of Pallister-Killian syndrome initially diagnosed prenatally as tetrasomy 21. A 33-year-old primiparous woman was noted at 24 weeks' gestation to have moderate polyhydramnios. Ultrasonography showed diminished fetal stomach filling, hydronephrosis, and prominence of the cisterna magna. Cytogenetic analysis of cultured amniocytes was initially interpreted as mosaic tetrasomy 21: 46,XX/47,XX,+i(21q). The patient was then referred to our centre for genetic counselling. At 34 weeks' gestation, a dysmorphic infant was delivered and died within 30 min. Physical features were consistent with the Pallister-Killian syndrome. Renal, gastrointestinal, and central nervous system anomalies were found at post-mortem examination. Analysis of peripheral lymphocytes revealed 5 per cent of cells with a marker chromosome, while 92 per cent of cultured fibroblasts had this same marker. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) using an alpha-satellite probe for chromosomes 13 and 21 failed to hybridize to the marker, while a chromosome 12 centromeric probe unequivocally identified it as an i(12p). Use of FISH can provide rapid, specific prenatal diagnosis of ambiguous marker chromosomes and improve prenatal counselling.     

Environmental Se–Mo–B Deficiency and its Possible Effects in Jiantou Keshan Disease Area in Shaanxi Province, China

Keshan disease (KD) occurs in a wide geographic belt stretching from the Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China to Yunnan Province in southwestern China, including Huangling County, Shaanxi Province. In order to research relationships between eco-environmental geochemistry and KD pertaining to Se, Mo, B, Zn, Mn, and Cu, this investigation was conducted in the Jiantou KD area in Huangling County, one of the areas in China where the incidence of KD is highest. Environmental samples (rock, soil, plant and childrens hair) were collected from the area. Se in plants is low, ranging from 0.03 to 0.06 µg Se g^–1 in corn, potato and soybean. Se contents in childrens hair are normal or reach the limitation of dangerous level. This study reports 0.18 µg Se g^–1, B <40 µg g^–1, and Mo <1.0 µg g^–1 in aeolian soil, 0.14–0.38 µg Mo g^–1 and 3–8 µg B g^–1 in corn and potato (daily staple food for local human beings in the area). The Jiantou KD area is one where the elements Se, Mo and B are deficient. It is proposed that the deficiency of elements Se, Mo and B may be involved in the pathogenicity of KD with respect to the eco-environmental system because Se, Mo and B are essential micronutrients for plants and human beings. It seems that there is no significant relationship between the Zn–Mn–K–Pb–Ba associations and KD.