Community action for environmental restoration: a case study on collective social capital in India

In southern India, tens of thousands of village-level irrigation systems (‘tanks’ and feeder channels) are in disrepair. This paper analyses the results of a local NGO effort that focused on awareness-raising and advice to bring about self-sustained community action for irrigation system restoration. After designing a model structure that contains both motivational and capacity (social capital) factors, it is found that (pre-existing) collective social capital, as measured through five simple indicators, strongly correlates with success of the NGO strategy. The intensity of the NGO’s effort shows a negative correlation with success, however. The discussion focuses on issues of social capital definition and measurement and the practical implications of the concept for environmental action, especially the difference between using existing social capital for environmental management versus the construction of social capital as a basis for later self-sustained environmental work. Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

城市消费结构变动的环境效应及作用机理探析

城市生态经济系统是一个由“环境-资源-生产-消费-环境”组成的物质循环系统．在这一物质循环系统中消费通过前后相关联，从生产到资源利用和直接向环境排放废弃物两个方向影响着城市环境。据此．以河谷型大城市兰州市为例．以能源、交通、水资源和家庭消费等四项指标代表消费结构构成．利用灰色关联度模型等计量模型来定量研究1990-2002年13年尺度下消费构成变动对环境的影响．探讨城市消费结构变动的环境效应及其作用机理。     

国外私人水坝安全管理政策及其对我国的启示

小型水坝数目多 ,分布广 ,安全管理困难。笔者研究了西方发达国家的私人水坝管理政策的基本准则、主要内容、管理方案的选取等问题 ,并针对我国处于产权市场化改革的水利工程的安全管理问题提出了几点具体建议     

Implementation of the EU environmental noise directive: Lessons from the first phase of strategic noise mapping and action planning in Ireland

The first phase of noise mapping and action planning in Ireland, in accordance with EU Directive 2002/49/EC, is now complete. In total this included one agglomeration, one airport and approximately 600 km of major roads outside the agglomeration. These noise maps describe the level of noise exposure of approximately 1.25 million people. The first phase of noise mapping was dealt with by five noise mapping bodies while 26 action planning authorities were involved in the development of the associated action plans. The second phase of noise mapping, due to be completed in 2012, sees a reduction in the defined thresholds describing the required agglomerations, roads and railways that have to be mapped. This will have a significant impact on the extent of mapping required. In Ireland this will result in an increased number of local authorities being required to develop strategic noise maps for their area along with the further development of associated action plans. It is appropriate at this point to review the work process and results from the first phase of noise mapping in Ireland in order to establish areas that could be improved, throughout the noise mapping project. In this paper a review of the implementation procedures focussing on (dominant) road traffic noise is presented. It is identified that more standardisation is needed and this could be achieved by the establishment of a national expert steering group.     

Incorporating effectiveness of community-based management in a national marine gap analysis for Fiji

Every action in a conservation plan has a different level of effect and consequently contributes differentially to conservation. We examined how several community-based, marine, management actions differed in their contribution to national-level conservation goals in Fiji. We held a workshop with experts on local fauna and flora and local marine management actions to translate conservation goals developed by the national government into ecosystem-specific quantitative objectives and to estimate the relative effectiveness of Fiji's community-based management actions in achieving these objectives. The national conservation objectives were to effectively manage 30% of the nation's fringing reefs, nonfringing reefs, mangroves, and intertidal ecosystems (30% objective) and 10% of other benthic ecosystems (10% objective). The experts evaluated the contribution of the various management actions toward national objectives. Scores ranged from 0 (ineffective) to 1 (maximum effectiveness) and included the following management actions: permanent closures (i.e., all extractive use of resources prohibited indefinitely) (score of 1); conditional closures harvested once per year or less as dictated by a management plan (0.50-0.95); conditional closures harvested without predetermined frequency or duration (0.10-0.85); other management actions, such as regulations on gear and species harvested (0.15-0.50). Through 3 gap analyses, we assessed whether the conservation objectives in Fiji had been achieved. Each analysis was based on a different assumption: (1) all parts of locally managed marine areas (including closures and other management) conserve species and ecosystems effectively; (2) closures conserve species and ecosystems, whereas areas outside closures, open to varying levels of resource extraction, do not; and (3) actions that allow different levels of resource extraction vary in their ability to conserve species and ecosystems. Under assumption 1, Fiji's national conservation objectives were exceeded in all marine ecosystems; under assumption 2, none of Fiji's conservation objectives were met; and under assumption 3, on the basis of the scores assigned by experts, Fiji achieved the 10% but not the 30% objectives for ecosystems. Understanding the relative contribution of management actions to achieving conservation objectives is critical in the assessment of conservation achievements at the national level, where multiple management actions will be needed to achieve national conservation objectives.     

对“限期治理”的法律探讨

论证限期治理是可诉的具体行政行为，探讨限期治理及其行政处罚的主体适格问题，通过对相关法律规范的剖析和质疑，澄清多种模糊认识，并提出一些建设性意见。     

“有感领导”在石化企业安全管理中的应用

基于"有感领导"的内涵,从"听到、看到、感受到"3个层次提出践行"有感领导"的实施要求,在分析"有感领导"实施内容的基础上,结合"领导干部个人安全行动计划",介绍了"有感领导"在某石化企业的实践应用。     

长三角一体化高质量发展：内涵、现状及对策

推动长三角一体化发展是着眼于实现“两个一百年”奋斗目标谋划部署的重大国家战略。本文首先解析了长三角一体化发展的新态势,提出了长三角一体化高质量发展的“四更”内涵,即更高战略定位的一体化、更高效率和水平的一体化、更加协调的一体化与更优空间形态的一体化。重点回顾总结了长三角一体化发展上升为国家战略三年多以来开展的主要行动和工作成效,按照高质量发展就是贯彻新发展理念的基本逻辑,构建了体现创新、协调、绿色、开放和共享五大理念的长三角一体化高质量发展评价指标体系,评估了2018—2020年长三角一体化高质量发展状态。对照一体化高质量发展新要求,针对目前存在问题,从空间部署和重点领域等方面提出相关路径建议,以期为推动长三角一体化更高质量发展提供决策参考。     

流作用下泥沙悬浮释放污染物的数值分析

基于一维垂向模型(1DV模型),建立了波流共同作用下泥沙悬浮释放污染物的数学模型,模型通过验证可较好的描述床面附近紊动特性、水流结构、泥沙垂向分布及污染物解吸释放规律. 利用数学模型,通过设置不同的模拟情景,分析计算了波流共同作用下泥沙悬浮特征、污染物释放动态过程及时空分布特征. 研究表明: 波流共同作用下,吸附态污染物及总污染物垂向分布与悬浮泥沙分布一致,波浪底部边界层的周期性振荡限制了从底部悬扬的泥沙向上部水体的扩散,在近床面存在梯度较大的高浓度层,在悬浮释放的初期,溶解态污染物的垂向分布规律与吸附态污染物一致,达到平衡后,沿垂向均匀分布.水流流速和波浪强度对泥沙悬浮释放污染物有着不同程度的影响,水流对泥沙及污染物的垂向分布影响明显,波浪的影响主要体现在床面附近形成高浓度含沙层和污染物层.     

Improving collaboration in the implementation of global biodiversity conventions

Eight conventions make up the biodiversity cluster of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) that provide the critical international legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of nature. However, concerns about the rate of implementation of the conventions at the national level have triggered discussions about the effectiveness of these MEAs in halting the loss of biodiversity. Two main concerns have emerged: lack of capacity and resources and lack of coherence in implementing multiple conventions. We focused on the latter and considered the mechanisms by which international conventions are translated into national policy. Specifically, we examined how the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and the associated Aichi Biodiversity Targets have functioned as a unifying grand plan for biodiversity conservation. This strategic plan has been used to coordinate and align targets to promote and enable more effective implementation across all biodiversity-related conventions. Results of a survey of 139 key stakeholders from 88 countries suggests streamlining across ministries and agencies, improved coordination mechanisms with all relevant stakeholders, and better knowledge sharing between conventions could improve cooperation among biodiversity-related conventions. The roadmap for improving synergies among conventions agreed to at the 13th Convention on Biological Diversity's Conference of Parties in 2016 includes actions such as mechanisms to avoid duplication in national reporting and monitoring on conventions and capacity building related to information and knowledge sharing. We suggest the scientific community can actively engage and contribute to the policy process by establishing a science-policy platform to address knowledge gaps; improving data gathering, reporting, and monitoring; developing indicators that adequately support implementation of national plans and strategies; and providing evidence-based recommendations to policy makers. The latter will be particularly important as 2020 approaches and work to develop a new biodiversity agenda for the next decade is beginning.