加拿大资源环境宏观管理经验的启示与若干建议

加拿大在资源环境宏观管理的经验和成就是多方面的 ,最重要的是政府支持 ,坚持实施可持续发展战略 ,要求各部门围绕这个中心制订相关的支持和激励政策 ,推动清洁生产的实施。作者在借鉴加拿大经验基础上 ,对我国的资源环境管理提出若干建议。     

Resources and international climate change policy gridlock

Few other policy zones are as complex as the issue of climate change. If the more pessimistic projections of climate change doom are correct, then the failure to address the issue is likely to be catastrophic and irreversible. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted the potential extinction of many species and that the existence of small-island and other vulnerable countries will be threatened if business-as-usual greenhouse gas emissions continue. Climate change is a transboundary problem and requires unprecedented levels of cooperation between states and serious and sustained responses from major emitters. However, the growing demand and consumption of natural resources for continued energy security and cornucopian economic growth have undermined the outcomes of international climate change negotiations. It is argued here that there is a strong connection between the major emitters’ positions at United Nations’ climate talks, their possessions, dependence and consumption of natural resources, and the continued undermining of international climate change policy for unsustainable growth. This paper assesses the resource politics of the US, China, India, Canada, Russia, and Saudi Arabia and their positions at climate talks to show the link between lack of climate change policy progress and the positions of these main players.     

CLIMATE CHANGE AND NATURAL HAZARDS IN NORTHERN CANADA: INTEGRATING INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES WITH GOVERNMENT POLICY

A study of the relationship between natural hazards and climate change in the international context provides the background for a discussion of the expected changes. In the context of this global discussion, this paper reviews the current perspectives of those natural hazards that are likely to be influenced by climate change, using northern Canada as a regional case study. The northern implications of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are examined, including the status of climate change action by the northern territorial governments, the evolving role of indigenous people, and the responsibility for climate change impacts. The difficulties surrounding natural hazards research in remote locations, and the approaches of indigenous people to natural hazards are then presented. The paper concludes with a suggested policy approach for climate change and natural hazards in northern Canada, underscoring the need for more comprehensive adaptive strategies to complement the current tendency to focus on the mitigation of greenhouse gases produced in this region.     

加拿大最佳管理措施流域评价项目评述

可持续农业的目的是在保持良好环境质量的同时获得较高的农业生产率。最佳管理措施(BMPs)在世界范围内已得到广泛应用,以减少农业污染物对水环境的影响。自2004年以来,加拿大农业部实施了最佳管理措施流域评价(WEBs)项目,在全国各地选择了有代表性的9个小流域,对BMPs的环境和经济效益进行评价。笔者对过去几年来WEBs项目的进展、研究方法及主要成果进行简要的回顾,并对在中国开展类似项目的必要性和启示进行了探讨。     

THE INFLUENCE OF DRAW-DOWN ON RECREATION ON THE TRENT CANAL RESERVOIR-LAKES1

ABSTRACT: Water-based outdoor recreation constitutes an important benefit in many multiple-use projects. One problem frequently encountered, however, is the fluctuation of the water-level in a reservoir, especially if draw-downs occur during the summer recreation season. The Trent Canal in Ontario, Canada, forms a unique recreation waterway of some 240 miles of canal and navigable lakes and rivers. For the control of the water in the canal, the Canadian Federal government manages 44 reservoir-lakes as water-storage sites to augment the flows in the canal. While most disputes in water allocation for recreation generally involve recreation uses versus other, non-recreation uses, in the case of the Trent Canal and its reservoir-lakes the dispute in water allocation exists between two competing recreation-uses: for recreation boating on the Canal and its waterway, and for recreation use of the reservoir-lakes. Each use has its own duty-of-water in terms of requirements, or water conditions, for its optimum use. On the reservoir-lakes, by far the largest recreation user-group, is made up of the owners of private shoreline summer cottages (cabins). Draw-downs on the reservoir-lakes, in some cases as much as 13 feet, hence constitute a negative externality imposed by the canal, especially since water-level lowering takes place continuously throughout the summer. In-depth interviews conducted with over 100 cottage-owners indicate four main conclusions. First, the previous user assumptions of the extent of the negative effect of water-level fluctuation on recreation had been exaggerated. Only in extreme draw-downs during infrequent dry years would draw-down constitute a serious imposition. Second, water-level fluctuation does constitute a form of inconvenience to the private riparian recreation property owners, but it does not generally reduce the quantity of recreation use of the reservoir-lakes. Third, there is evidence that reservoir-lake users have learned to adapt successfully to water-level draw-downs. Fourth, the shoreline physiography of the location of a riparian owner strongly influences the way in which draw-down affects attitudes and opinions. The complex jurisdictional split of the land and water resources of the region points to the need to establish a Trent Canal Authority, to oversee the proper use and development of the canal, its waterway, and the reservoir-lakes.     

Plant Phenology in Western Canada: Trends and Links to the View From Space

One feature of climate change is the trends to earlier spring onset in many north temperate areas of the world. The timing of spring flowering and leafing of perennial plants is largely controlled by temperature accumulation; both temperature and phenological records illustrate changes in recent decades. Phenology studies date back over a century, with extensive databases existing for western Canada. Earlier spring flowering has been noted for many woody plants, with larger trends seen for species that develop at spring's start. Implications for ecosystems of trends to earlier spring arrival include changes in plant species composition, changes in timing and distribution of pests and disease, and potentially disrupted ecological interactions. While Alberta has extensive phenology databases (for species, years, and geographic coverage) for recent decades, these data cannot provide continuous ground coverage. There is great potential for phenological data to provide ground validation for satellite imagery interpretation, especially as new remote sensors are becoming available. Phenological networks are experiencing a resurgence of interest in Canada (www.plantwatch.ca) and globally, and linking these ground-based observations with the view from space will greatly enhance our capacity to track the biotic response to climate changes.     

加拿大推动可持续发展战略的策略及实践

文章介绍了加拿大的简况,讨论了加拿大可持续发展的历程以及促使各政府部门将可持续发展战略落实到工作中的环境审计制度。探讨了加拿大可持续发展战略实施方面的部分经验,如向国会提交年度环境与可持续发展审计报告、工业可持续发展战略的制定及加拿大-中国的可持续发展合作等。     

Bottom up and top down: analysis of participatory processes for sustainability indicator identification as a pathway to community empowerment and sustainable environmental management

The modern environmental management literature stresses the need for community involvement to identify indicators to monitor progress towards sustainable development and environmental management goals. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of participatory processes on sustainability indicator identification and environmental management in three disparate case studies. The first is a process of developing partnerships between First Nations communities, environmental groups, and forestry companies to resolve conflicts over forest management in Western Canada. The second describes a situation in Botswana where local pastoral communities worked with development researchers to reduce desertification. The third case study details an on-going government led process of developing sustainability indicators in Guernsey, UK, that was designed to monitor the environmental, social, and economic impacts of changes in the economy. The comparative assessment between case studies allows us to draw three primary conclusions. (1) The identification and collection of sustainability indicators not only provide valuable databases for making management decisions, but the process of engaging people to select indicators also provides an opportunity for community empowerment that conventional development approaches have failed to provide. (2) Multi-stakeholder processes must formally feed into decision-making forums or they risk being viewed as irrelevant by policy-makers and stakeholders. (3) Since ecological boundaries rarely meet up with political jurisdictions, it is necessary to be flexible when choosing the scale at which monitoring and decision-making occurs. This requires an awareness of major environmental pathways that run through landscapes to understand how seemingly remote areas may be connected in ways that are not immediately apparent.     

Ammonia emissions from livestock industries in Canada: Feasibility of abatement strategies

An updated national ammonia (NH₃) emissions inventory was employed to study the relationship between NH₃ emissions and livestock industries in Canada. Emissions from animal agriculture accounted for 322 kilotonnes (kt) or 64% of Canadian NH₃ emissions in 2002. Cattle and swine accounted for the bulk of livestock emissions. The provinces of Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan accounted for 28.1%, 22.0%, 18.7%, and 13.1% of total livestock emissions, respectively. Emissions from Ontario and Quebec were attributed to the intensive production of dairy, hogs and poultry. Dairy cattle emissions per hectolitre of milk were higher in Ontario and Québec than in other provinces, while swine emissions per livestock unit were higher than either beef or dairy cattle. A review of the abatement literature indicated diet manipulation to improve N efficiency and land spreading methods are very effective techniques to lower NH₃ emissions. Future research is required to evaluate the feasibility of biofilters and feces/urine separation methods.     

Managing Ontario's urban landscape

In Canada, increasing costs of maintenance, a shifting perception of what makes a city beautiful, a recognition of the needs and the importance of urban wildlife, and changing recreational demands are all contributing to a pressure for change in current practice. This study examines the extent to which the ecological approach has influenced the design and management of urban green space in Canada, focusing on the city of Toronto and its surrounding region as an example.