Using Local Knowledge as a Research Tool in the Study of River Fish Biology: Experiences from the Mekong

River fisheries are extremely important for food-security among the rural poor in many tropical countries. The growing populations and rapid industrialisation of these countries require that appropriate action should be taken to sustain the resources for future generations. However, an incomplete understanding of river fisheries biology, at the managerial level, often hampers proper planning and management. This is partly due to the difficult access to large parts of such river basins, the complex nature of the fisheries, and in many cases a severe lack of research funds. In contrast, the thousands, or often millions of people who live along the shores of the rivers and rely on the fishery for their daily survival, have a very intimate knowledge of the behaviour and biology of the fish. In this situation, gathering the knowledge of the fishers may provide politicians or planners with baseline knowledge in a relatively quick and cheap way.This paper discusses two years of research using local knowledge in the study of fish migration and spawning in the Lower Mekong Basin. The study involves semi-structured interviews with 355 expert fishermen in four countries along 2,400 km of the Mekong mainstream. By piecing together information from fishermen in different areas, we were able to construct migration maps, and provide rough estimates of the spawning period for 50 fish species. We conclude that river fisheries research can benefit significantly from local knowledge as the basis for future research.     

工程项目安全预警与应急控制隐性知识集成与共享研究

针对一些企业在安全预警、风险控制等方面的隐性知识难以集成、个体知识难以转换为组织知识、内部员工难以共享、行业组织之间难以交流等一系列问题,笔者从知识管理观念、隐性知识集成与共享激励制度、知识共享文化、知识管理组织系统、知识共享和知识交易平台等方面入手,构建了适应于工程项目安全预警与应急控制的隐性知识集成与共享系统。该研究成果为工程师们缩短在紧急状态下的应急补救决策时间,提升其对质量安全事故控制能力,提供了切实可行的实践思路。     

‘Eco-city’ to ‘disaster-resilient eco-community’: a concerted approach in the coastal city of Puri, India

The need for environmental and urban planning reached a critical point in the year 2007, when one-half of the world's population could be defined as living in cities. Urbanisation in India is also increasing at a fast rate. Urban chaos in India, emanating from the continuous ignorance of fragile ecosystems, calls for the reshaping of existing cities as ‘eco-cities’. The ‘eco-city’—a well-known concept in the western world—is new to the Indian context. While western connotations of eco-cities should not be discarded outright in the context of India, core concerns vary significantly for obvious reasons. Recognising two facts—firstly, eco-city development is altogether a fresh approach to human settlement development in India, and, secondly, the manifold increase in the vulnerability of cities—this paper discusses documented good practice, reinforcing evolution towards the eco-city vision. Lessons drawn from the examples cited are further deconstructed in the light of their contribution to urban risk reduction, which provides direction to appreciating the ‘disaster-resilient eco-community’ concept in Puri, a coastal city in India. Further, this paper attempts to unravel existing community-based practices in Puri, which are boon to the local environment and invariably reduce disaster risk. These seemingly modest neighbourhood initiatives symbolise immense societal wealth, which can be calibrated appropriately for reducing urban environmental risk as well. This paper also illustrates how a ‘disaster resilient eco-community’ approach is inevitable in the present and future contexts not only to preserve sustainable development gains but also to secure human well-being.     

Traditional Ecological Knowledge Trends in the Transition to a Market Economy: Empirical Study in the Doñana Natural Areas

Abstract: Researchers and conservation managers largely agree on the relevance of traditional ecological knowledge for natural resource management in indigenous communities, but its prevalence and role as societies modernize are contested. We analyzed the transmission of traditional knowledge among rural local people in communities linked to protected areas in Doñana, southwestern Spain. We studied changes in knowledge related to local practices in agriculture and livestock farming among 198 informants from three generations that cover the period in which the area transited from an economy strongly dependent on local ecosystem services to a market economy with intensified production systems. Our results suggest an abrupt loss of traditional agricultural knowledge related to rapid transformations and intensification of agricultural systems, but maintenance of knowledge of traditional livestock farming, an activity allowed in the protected areas that maintains strong links with local cultural identity. Our results demonstrate the potential of protected areas in protecting remaining bodies of traditional ecological knowledge in developed country settings. Nevertheless, we note that strict protection in cultural‐landscape‐dominated areas can disrupt transmission of traditional knowledge if local resource users and related practices are excluded from ecosystem management.     

Devolving power from the state: local initiatives for nature protection and recreation in Sweden

ABSTRACT

Quests for devolving more power to local actors for nature protection stem from both international and national policies. Also, there is a growing recognition of the need for local governments to promote green infrastructure for citizens to recreate and learn about their environment. Starting in 2004, the Swedish government has allocated special funding towards these goals through the Local Nature Conservation Programme (LONA). Virtually all Swedish municipalities have received such funding in pursuit of facilitating wide access to nature and promoting recreational activities, including the protection of nature areas, creating pathways, information devices, and promoting these areas among new societal groups to enjoy. This study presents the results of ten years of experience with LONA. A survey with respondents from 191 municipalities and 20 county administrations, together with 20 key informant interviews, show that the programme has been a success in several respects. Not only have most municipalities created a wealth of new ways to engage local organisations and citizens in nature conservation and recreation, but they have also broadened the ways they think about how nature is important to their constituencies. Due to innovative ways to count voluntary work as local matching of funding, smaller and less resourceful municipalities have also become engaged. Still, the local needs for further initiatives are deemed considerable. State support coupled with knowledge sharing is important to show policy priority to such bottom-up initiatives.     

灾害地貌专家系统试验研究

介绍了灾害地貌专家的建造原理与方法,阐述了灾害地貌专家知识的分类分级方法,讨论了灾害地貌专家系统中知识表示的基本原则和知识库中专家知识的组织方式,以及推理机的设计和推理规则的构造原理与方法。系统采用压缩编码方式存储各种地学专题图形和遥感图像数据,具有与图像的存储更新,查询检索、分析处理、图像显少自动制图功能。该系统可以对灾害地貌过程进行专家级的预测和评价,并对灾害地貌的综合治理与区域规划提出几种可     

基于CiteSpace中国生态补偿研究的知识图谱分析

生态补偿已成为生态环境管理领域的热点问题。本文基于CiteSpace可视化文献分析工具,以CSSCI数据库中1998—2018年的期刊论文作为数据源,以"生态补偿"为关键词进行文献检索,通过共被引、关键词共现分析以及聚类分析等,探讨生态补偿研究领域的知识基础以及研究热点与前沿。结果表明:①生态补偿研究的发文数量经历了缓慢上升、快速增长、平稳增加三个阶段;②生态补偿研究作者集中度较高,发行期刊涵盖经济学、地理学、生态学、制度经济学等多个学科,反映出生态补偿是一个多学科交叉的研究主题,生态补偿研究的综合性不断增强;③依据关键词知识图谱,"国家重点生态功能区""生态环境""可持续发展"等成为最新研究热点;④新时期生态文明建设下,"草原生态补偿""支付意愿""转移支付""退耕还林"等成为生态补偿研究的最新前沿话题。     

多源土地利用地学知识的获取与应用

土地利用地学知识可应用于LIS智能化分析及辅助遥感影像解译,是国土信息化工程建设中值得深入研究的重要技术环节之一.明确了土地利用地学知识概念,构建了多数据源的土地利用地学知识体系,针对不同数据源分析了土地利用地学知识的获取及表达,并着重对土地利用地学知识辅助遥感影像解译进行了阐述,指出采用知识辅助高分辨率遥感影像解译是亟待深入开展研究的课题.     

Community Exchange and Training in the Suid Bokkeveld: A UNCCD Pilot Project to Enhance Livelihoods and Natural Resource Management

Community knowledge exchanges have played a key role in developmental processes in the Suid Bokkeveld community of South Africa. Two exchange visits were undertaken with the support of the Department of Agriculture and an NGO, the Environmental Monitoring Group, which have led to local economic development and enhanced capacity to manage natural resources in a sustainable manner. These pilot projects were undertaken within the framework of the Community Exchange and Training Programme of the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The methodology applied included facilitation to develop a community-based vision for development, in terms of which the community exchange process was designed. A Facilitation Team of service providers conducted preparatory workshops, and identified potential partner communities. Two exchange visits were carried out, one focused on Rooibos production and marketing, and the other on community-based eco-tourism. Following report-back and planning workshops, emerging community-driven initiatives were supported through their formative stages. The initiatives have not only resulted in enhanced livelihoods, but the methodology has also been applied widely in a number of different contexts.     

Connecting Community Action and Science to Combat Desertification: Evaluation of a Process

Combating desertification requires the involvement of many people ranging from communities who experience the effects on a daily basis and scientists attempting to understand the biophysical and socio-economic causes and consequences of desertification, to developers and policy makers on all levels. In many instances, however, the understanding, approaches and actions of these different groups contradict rather than support one another. Over the period 2000 to 2002, a conference process undertaken in southern Africa brought together communities, scientists, and development workers to test the concept that they could connect and work together to combat desertification, given an appropriate framework. The conference was a success, and communities, scientists and developers did exchange experience, knowledge and information. Many lessons were learned, although some pitfalls were experienced. Time, funding, enhanced communication, and good will are the primary ingredients for ensuring that different sectors complement one another in their efforts to combat desertification.