Five challenges to reconcile agricultural land use and forest ecosystem services in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia possesses the highest rates of tropical deforestation globally and exceptional levels of species richness and endemism. Many countries in the region are also recognized for their food insecurity and poverty, making the reconciliation of agricultural production and forest conservation a particular priority. This reconciliation requires recognition of the trade‐offs between competing land‐use values and the subsequent incorporation of this information into policy making. To date, such reconciliation has been relatively unsuccessful across much of Southeast Asia. We propose an ecosystem services (ES) value‐internalization framework that identifies the key challenges to such reconciliation. These challenges include lack of accessible ES valuation techniques; limited knowledge of the links between forests, food security, and human well‐being; weak demand and political will for the integration of ES in economic activities and environmental regulation; a disconnect between decision makers and ES valuation; and lack of transparent discussion platforms where stakeholders can work toward consensus on negotiated land‐use management decisions. Key research priorities to overcome these challenges are developing easy‐to‐use ES valuation techniques; quantifying links between forests and well‐being that go beyond economic values; understanding factors that prevent the incorporation of ES into markets, regulations, and environmental certification schemes; understanding how to integrate ES valuation into policy making processes, and determining how to reduce corruption and power plays in land‐use planning processes.     

Connecting international priorities with human wellbeing in low-income regions: lessons from hawksbill turtle conservation in El Salvador

Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) are highly endangered in the eastern Pacific Ocean, yet their eggs continue to be an important subsistence resource for impoverished coastal residents in El Salvador. In this study, we use naturalistic inquiry to explain the realities experienced by coastal residents who share habitat with hawksbills in El Salvador, and then suggest implications of the disparities between these realities and international priorities for hawksbill conservation and community development in El Salvador and other low-income regions. To provide a context for understanding hawksbill conservation and its implications for similar challenges related to conservation and wellbeing, we first summarise the conservation context, including the emergence of sea turtle conservation in El Salvador. We then describe our naturalistic approach, including the ethnographic methodology for this study. Finally, we detail the analysis of interviews conducted with tortugueros (i.e. local sea turtle egg collectors), to help explain how hawksbills fit into local realities. Our results demonstrate that, from the perspective of tortugueros, (1) the primary importance of hawksbills is the economic value attached to egg sales, but there exists a deeper connection to local culture; (2) egg purchase by hatcheries is a socially just conservation strategy that benefits both hawksbill and human wellbeing; and (3) opportunities for local residents to participate in decision-making regarding sea turtle conservation are limited, and should be increased. We argue that harmonising international conservation priorities with local community development realities is one path towards simultaneously contributing to long-term sea turtle recovery and human wellbeing in low-income regions.     

A green garden on red clay: creating a new urban common as a form of political gardening in Cologne,Germany

In March 2012, a brownfield site in Cologne was transformed into “a green garden on red clay”, when a community garden called NeuLand (new land) was created. This paper investigates in how far NeuLand is typical for a new form of political engagement 2.0, focused on local problems at people's doorstep rather than global critiques of political systems, which finds its expression in direct actions typical for the networked society, e.g. “green flash mobs.” Its potential to provide a blueprint for imagining and enacting alternative futures and new ways for citizens to claim their “right to the city” is being assessed. NeuLand provides an experiment with new forms of (urban) commons and possibly a (re)turn to the “liveable city” to replace the current neoliberal ideal of the “entrepreneurial city” [Harvey, D., 1989. From manageralism to entrepreneuralism: the transformation of urban governance in late capitalism. Geografiska Annaler, Series B, Human Geography, 71 (1), 3–17], developing new solutions to problems of urban management and city development that extend beyond the voluntary engagement of citizens within the logic of the neoliberal “big society.” Extending the scope beyond the analysis of urban gardening projects as examples of sustainable food production, or as vehicles for fostering community cohesion, integration or social capital, the NeuLand experiment is linked to wider debates of alternative and more sustainable socio-ecological futures than those currently practised in the newly “neoliberalizing cities” of Germany.     

Integrated Freshwater Solutions — A New Zealand Application of Mediated Modeling

Mediated Modeling (MM) refers to “model building with stakeholders,” enabling collaborative learning and decision support. This article presents results from the Integrated Freshwater Solutions (IFS — www.ifs.org.nz ) action research project in the Manawatū River watershed, New Zealand. Water quality in the watershed often rates poorly, with the key issues being sedimentation, eutrophication, and habitat destruction. IFS is to develop and test MM to support collaborative and adaptive freshwater management. The project team was presented with the opportunity to collaborate with the Manawatū River Leaders' Forum (MRLF), an initiative driven by the Regional Council to improve water quality. This article describes the process of MM and how it was adapted to meet the needs of MRLF stakeholders. This highlights some important conditions for collaborative and adaptive capacity building. The MM/MRLF stakeholders, represented: industry, farming, local and regional authorities, environmental groups, and indigenous Māori iwi/hapū (tribe/sub‐tribe). This article describes how MM assisted early in the collaborative process to develop the following: (1) a shared and more integrated understanding of causes and effects and (2) a sense of the order of magnitude of the problems and the impact proposed solutions might have. It also describes how the context of politics, time, and resource constraints played an important role reverting to a more traditional planning approach part way through the process.     

The role of spatial scale in sustainable development

The role of spatial scale in sustainable development is assessed by dividing the world into multiple spatial units at different levels on a socio-political spatial scale. The basic patterns of sustainable development do not appear to be evident at all spatial levels, owing to the absence of some capital stocks and the conversion processes linking them, but environmental economics theory can be generalized to explain phenomena at various levels. Capital conversion processes influencing the sustainability of development of spatial units are constrained by processes at different levels, e.g. those imposing environmental conditions on development or affecting availability of investment capital. The autonomy of individual spatial units is also compromised by capital transfers to and from other units at the same level, so it is proposed that the sustainability of development of a particular unit should be estimated using net, rather than gross capital trends. Because of uneven development the same degree of sustainability should not be expected at the same time for all spatial units at the same spatial level.     

中国城市化与生态环境耦合度分析

在阐述城市化与生态环境耦合涵义的基础上,利用协同学思想构建二者之间的耦合度模型,并对1985年以来的中国城市化与生态环境耦合度的时空分布进行了分析。研究结果显示:①从时间上看,中国城市化与生态环境交互耦合的时序基本处于颉颃阶段,且二者的耦合协调度较低;②从空间上看,中国省区城市化与生态环境的耦合度和耦合协调度都明显存在着地域性差异,且耦合协调度表现出东部省区普遍高于中西部省区的规律,同时它还和区域经济发展水平存在很大的空间对应关系;③由于经济发展、历史基础、自然条件和政策影响的差异作用,中国省区城市化与生态环境的耦合强度与耦合协调程度在空间分布上不具有对应性。     

生态补偿理论研究进展

生态补偿是生态经济学领域的一个研究热点,研究者、决策者和实践者都将生态补偿视为应对生态系统退化的有效政策工具。围绕生态补偿的定义、补偿客体、生态补偿主体、补偿标准和方式,学术界进行了大量研究,形成了市场交易、生态经济、税收补贴和社会制度等多种生态补偿理论框架。但是,由于这些理论存在不同程度的缺陷,在实践中难以避免挤出效应、外溢效应、交易费用高等问题,也不利于协调效率、效益和公平之间的关系。构建具有普遍适用性和可操作性的生态补偿理论框架,需要研究如何将生态服务纳入经济学的总供给和总需求分析模型,提出简便易行的生态服务价值综合评估方法,统一生态服务价值与经济领域价值计量的基础,从生态、经济和社会的综合维度研究针对不同生态服务补偿机制的有效尺度。     

资源环境领域脱钩分析研究进展

为掌握资源环境领域脱钩分析的研究进展,论文采用概括和比较分析的手段,从脱钩概念界定、脱钩分析的主要关注领域、脱钩分析的测度方法以及脱钩指标4个方面对资源环境领域的脱钩分析进行了梳理和概括。归纳出已有研究的几个特点:①不同研究对于脱钩的定义和类型划分不同,就脱钩而言,主要区别在于所包含绝对脱钩、相对脱钩和衰退性脱钩中的类型不同;②目前脱钩分析的研究领域主要集中在宏观层面以及部分行业(产业)层面的环境(资源)压力与其驱动因素之间的脱钩分析;③不同研究所采用的脱钩测度方法有很大差别,目前大致有8类不同的脱钩测度方法;④脱钩指标也是脱钩分析中的一项重要研究内容,目前还没有一个统一的指标体系,越来越多的研究将各类有关环境压力和资源消耗的指标应用到脱钩分析作为脱钩指标。最后探讨了还需要进一步深入研究的内容。     

论资源经济学的研究对象

资源经济学至今没能成为一门成熟学科的首要原因在于学者们对其研究对象没有形成统一的认识,并主要存在两方面的问题:其一,在研究对象的外延和内涵上,没有划清资源经济学、环境经济学和生态经济学之间的界限;其二,把资源经济学变成自然资源有效配置或利用经济学。作者根据人口、自然资源、自然环境、自然灾害和生态系统之间的关系,以及它们分别与经济系统形成的7个交叉系统,把资源经济学与6种相关经济学的研究领域对象区分开来。进而根据科学研究对象所具有的特殊矛盾性,把资源经济学、环境经济学和生态经济学的研究内容划分开来。还根据经济学的研究对象是经济活动的概要界定,从总体上分别概要地界定了三种经济学的研究对象,并认为资源经济活动是资源经济本质、资源经济运行和资源经济发展的统一。     

Freebies,freedom and fundamental change: resistance to neoliberal environmentalism in large “green” corporations

Despite the professed concern of many governments, businesses and individuals – and the recent publication of another alarming report from the IPCC – inaction on climate change remains a significant concern. For many, the problem is rooted in a neoliberal account of social change. Neoliberal environmentalism is the dominant approach to environmental issues but it is often blamed for the continuing failure of climate change policy in general and behaviour change initiatives in particular. This paper explores the dynamics of this dominant discourse through an examination of environmentalism in the large “green” corporation. Specifically, it uses discourse analysis to investigate so-called “climate champion” schemes and considers examples of resistance to the dominant neoliberal discourse. The paper finds that many of the champions did resist the basic components of neoliberal environmentalism. They challenged the principles of self-interest, self-rule and incremental change, and they talked about the possibility of enforced action. However, this resistance was limited in a number of different ways. The paper suggests that the workplace does play a role in restricting resistance but that there are more fundamental issues that need to be addressed if we hope to pursue an alternative approach to environmental problems such as climate change.