Ecosystem services in global sustainability policies

Global sustainability policies, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the Aichi Targets, aim to ensure sustainable development, including improved human well-being and the conservation of nature. Although not yet explicitly used to evaluate the progress towards sustainable development, the ecosystem service concept implies a direct link between biodiversity and human well-being. This study explores how and which ecosystem services are currently considered in the SDGs and the Aichi Targets. We also identify which information might be already available for monitoring the progress towards their goals by reviewing national ecosystem assessments. This allows the identification of the main knowledge gaps for monitoring progress towards these global sustainability targets.There is a wealth of information on all major ecosystem services categories which is directly relevant for the Aichi Targets and the SDGs. The top 25% most cited ecosystem services across both policy documents are: Natural heritage and diversity, Capture fisheries, Aquaculture, Water purification, Crops, Cultural heritage & diversity and Livestock. Most monitoring information recommended for the global sustainability goals, as well as in the information available from national assessments, is biased towards supply related aspects of ecosystem services flows. In contrast, there is much less information on social behaviour, use, demand and governance measures. Indicators are rarely available for all aspects of a specific ecosystem service.The national statistical bureaus currently in charge of providing observations for reporting on SDGs, could be well placed to address this bias, by integrating ecological observations with socio-economic statistics into socio-ecological indicators for ecosystem services flows. IPBES can potentially address the gaps identified in this paper by improving coverage of the different dimensions of ecosystem services flows.     

Occupant behavior in a six-storey office building fallowing severe earthquake damage

In the Imperial County, California, earthquake of 15th October 1979, the Imperial County Services Building was seriously damaged — and has subsequently been demolished. At the time of the earthquake there were approximately 123 occupants in the six-storey reinforced concrete building which housed a number of county service departments. This paper investigates occupant behavior in a building subjected to an earthquake, and describes, in detail, what people do during and immediately subsequent to the shock.     

农地分配制度不是农地冲突的根本原因——基于湖北和湖南农村问卷调查的实证分析

农地冲突是当前我国农村经济发展和城镇化进程中的普遍问题,在—些地方相当突出,严重影响了农村的社会稳定和经济发展,探讨农地冲突的原因有助于化解农村矛盾及构建和谐繁荣的农村社区。本文利用笔者在湖北和湖南两省收集到的数据,应用Logit概率模型实证分析了农地分配制度、非农就业收入及其差距和人力资本等可能引起农地冲突的因素的影响。与通常的看法不同,本文并没有发现农地分配制度是农地冲突的显著诱因,原因可能在于我国的农地在改革初期是按人口或劳动力平均分配的,其后的调整大多也是经农民自主协商按照市场规则完成的,并没有引起农民的明显不满,因而也就没有成为农地冲突的诱因。本文的研究结果还表明,非农就业收入、非农就业收入差距和家庭人力资本对农地冲突的影响显著,非农就业收入越低,其差距越小,家庭人力资本越多,农地冲突发生的概率越大,是农地冲突的主要诱因。这表明非农就业收入越少,农民通过非农就业增加家庭收入的隧道效应越弱,对农业收入的依赖性越大,农地就越重要,农地冲突越容易发生;家庭男性成员越多,家庭社会地位越高,在打架斗殴和上访诉讼中越占优势,农地冲突也越容易爆发。因此,为了减少农地冲突,应采取切实措施,促进农村劳动力向非农部门转移,加强农村法制建设,限制丛林行为。     

陇东南贫困地区人力资源开发现状与对策

陇东南贫困地区人力资源开发滞后,制约了经济的快速发展。以控制人口数量,大力推进教育发展和城市化进程,优化人力资源配置和激励机制为主导的人力资源开发战略对策成为促进陇东南贫困地区经济发展的必然选择。     

Relations between Urban Bird and Plant Communities and Human Well‐Being and Connection to Nature

Abstract: By 2050, 70% of the world's population will live in urban areas. In many cases urbanization reduces the richness and abundance of native species. Living in highly modified environments with fewer opportunities to interact directly with a diversity of native species may adversely affect residents’ personal well‐being and emotional connection to nature. We assessed the personal well‐being, neighborhood well‐being (a measure of a person's satisfaction with their neighborhood), and level of connection to nature of over 1000 residents in 36 residential neighborhoods in southeastern Australia. We modeled these response variables as a function of natural features of each neighborhood (e.g., species richness and abundance of birds, density of plants, and amount of vegetation cover) and demographic characteristics of surveyed residents. Vegetation cover had the strongest positive relations with personal well‐being, whereas residents’ level of connection to nature was weakly related to variation in species richness and abundance of birds and density of plants. Demographic characteristics such as age and level of activity explained the greatest proportion of variance in well‐being and connection to nature. Nevertheless, when controlling for variation in demographic characteristics (examples were provided above), neighborhood well‐being was positively related to a range of natural features, including species richness and abundance of birds, and vegetation cover. Demographic characteristics and how well‐being was quantified strongly influenced our results, and we suggest demography and metrics of well‐being must be considered when attempting to determine relations between the urban environment and human well‐being.     

A global security approach towards implementing sustainable development in southern Africa

SUMMARY

An interactive and incremental developmental approach to sustainable development is proposed. It requires broad public participation, is based on the development of a shared value system for civic society and norms which determine the behaviour of states. It is aimed at building commitment rather than directing change. This is achieved by simultaneoulsy harnessing the notions of ‘positive human survival’ adopted from Global Security theory and a co-evolutionary approach to human socio-economic constructs. Modern threats to Nation States can be regarded as ‘threats without enemies’, are not compatible with traditional views of sovereignty, and confronting such threats frequently requires co-operative behaviour and good neigbourliness from states. Principles likely to underpin an evolving shared value system for Nation states and civil society include: democracy, equity and diversity. In order to deal with the uncertainty of evolving socio-economic constructs and the conceptual pluralism inherent in modern societies, public agencies need to develop significant mediation, negotiation and facilitation skills. This view has significant implications for National and Regional policy, and the democratisation of information and the development of early warning capabilities about potential threats to human security are pivotal.     

Why the poor pay with their lives: oil pipeline vandalisation, fires and human security in Nigeria

Since its discovery in Nigeria in 1956 crude oil has been a source of mixed blessing to the country. It is believed to have generated enormous wealth, but it has also claimed a great many lives. Scholarly attention on the impact of oil on security in Nigeria has largely focused on internal conflicts rather than on how disasters associated with oil pipeline vandalisation have impacted on human security in terms of causing bodily injuries and death, destroying livelihoods and fracturing families. This paper examines how pipeline vandalisation affects human security in these ways. It identifies women and children as those who are hardest hit and questions why the poor are the most vulnerable in oil pipeline disasters in this country. It recommends the adoption of a comprehensive and integrated framework of disaster management that will ensure prompt response to key early warning signs, risk-reduction and appropriate mitigation and management strategies.     

Effects of habitat and landscape fragmentation on humans and biodiversity in densely populated landscapes

Landscape fragmentation has often been seen as an only ecological problem. However, fragmentation also has a societal perspective, namely, in how humans perceive landscape fragmentation and in how landscape fragmentation potentially influences human well-being. These latter aspects have rarely been addressed so far. The inter-relationship of ecological and human dimensions of landscape fragmentation becomes especially evident when looking at the landscape where most people in industrial countries live, namely in suburban and urban areas. In these areas, landscape planners and environmental managers are confronted with the problem that landscapes should fullfil various functions, often with conflicting goals, e.g. nature reserves to enhance species richness vs. recreational areas for city-dwellers. We reviewed the ecological and sociological literature relevant for fragmentation in suburban and urban landscapes. In an interdisciplinary approach, we evaluated whether there are similarities and dissimilarities between the ecological and the human aspects of landscape fragmentation. We found important similarities. An example is that for both, humans and biodiversity, the loss of semi-natural areas has more drastic effects than the fragmentation of these areas per se. However, there are also relevant differences. We concluded that in densely populated landscapes a shift from responsive planning to an intentional design of environments is therefore needed.     

海上钻井平台井喷事故人因失误分析

井喷是海上钻井平台的重要威胁，而人因失误又是造成井喷的主要原因，所以对井喷事故人因失误分析对指导海上钻井安全有重要意义。本文建立了井喷事故人因失误类故障树模型，并对此进行定量分析。根据井喷事故的4个指标并结合风险图得到降低风险所需的置信水平，然后使用训练屏障和 GPS 定位屏障将风险降低到可接受水平。最后通过蝴蝶结模型将安全屏障对风险的影响清楚的展示出来，为人因失误的预防和控制提供指导。