Natural resources as national fantasies

The development of agriculture is recognised to be an essential preliminary and on-going element in the economic development strategies of most developing countries. The contribution of agricultural production to gross domestic product, food self-sufficiency and export income are amongst the major development goals exercising the governments of such countries. In addition, in many countries the agricultural sector is regarded as one with a potential for generating a surplus to sustain other economic activities and to have an important stabilising role in reducing the movement of population from rural areas. This article discusses renewable natural resources, soil and water, as the basis for agricultural development and especially of irrigated farming. A number of case studies will be referred to which illustrate the idea that many national governments attribute quite unreal qualities to soil and water resources. Once development schemes were launched appropriate rhetoric was mobilised to invest the reclamation of ‘virgin lands’ and ‘new lands’, with the character of ‘green revolutions’. These ventures have been sustained not because of their success but because the ‘fantasies’ have been circulated amongst ill-formed urban populations, remote from the arduous realities of land reclamation. Case studies in the Soviet Union and the Middle East are discussed.     

Analysis on exploitation status,potential and strategy of groundwater resources in the five countries of Central Asia

As an important part of water resources of the five countries of Central Asia, groundwater resources give critical supports to the regional economic development. Accompanied by rapid economic development, the demand of groundwater is increasing. As a result, the governments are paying more attention to groundwater resource development and utilization. However, there are noticeable issues and contradictions in water resource exploration in these countries. To be more specific, these countries lack the studies in development potential and conception planning, thus influencing the sustainable groundwater development. This paper mainly discusses groundwater development problems in the five countries of Central Asia, and briefly introduces volumes and distribution of transboundary groundwater. In addition, it analyzes the current exploitation status of groundwater and studies the potential in utilizing the resource. Most importantly, it proposes creative ways to address groundwater development issues: To make best of the resource, international cooperation is required.     

重庆三峡水库生态经济区农业生态环境问题与重建研究

农业生态环境是农业可持续发展的基础。重庆三峡水库生态经济区是重庆市确立的以生态建设为重点的经济区。鉴于该区农村面积广、农业人口多、贫困面大、农村移民任务重的基本情况，决定了农业及农村在社会经济可持续发展中的重要战略地位。深入分析了重庆三峡水库生态经济区农业生态环境存在的水土流失、水环境污染、土地污染、生物多样性破坏、自然灾害频繁等主要问题及其对农业生产的影响，从因地制宜合理利用农业资源、调整农业产业结构、优化农业空间布局，大力发展生态农业，控制并治理各种工业及生活污染、推行清洁生产，控制人口增长、实施生态移民、协调人地关系，加强生态环境法制化管理、依法保护农业生态环境等方面提出了保护及建设的对策。     

昭通市城市建设层适宜性综合研究及其未来发展方向的选择

昭通市未来城市建设层的适宜性和发展方向应该受自然环境、经济和社会因素 3个方面因素的控制 ,它们决定了城市建设层的功能的需求。通过影响昭通市建设层的自然环境状况、城市经济和社会发展现状和在建或将建的几个重大工程对城市建设发展的影响程度等几个方面 ,对昭通市城市建设层的适宜性进行了综合评价 ,划分了城市建设层的适宜区和功能区区划。文章认为 :(1)昭通市所处的地质、地理环境是相对脆弱的 ,资源开发和城市建设与地质、地理环境的优化已经具有很大的不协调性。 (2 )原来的昭通市城市发展规划中把未来城市发展定位为以褐煤资源开发为中心的发展模式存在很多弊端和经济风险。 (3)昭通市所处的社会经济发展现状表明本区经济结构正处于重大调整阶段。促使城市发展调整的动力 ,有经济发展的本身需求动力 ,也有外部机遇的刺激 (国家重大工程的实施 )。本区发展动力主要来源于后者。但是重大工程的实施 ,必将带来环境恶化等负面效应。文章综合研究认为 ,现阶段褐煤的大规模开发策略是不可取的 ,水利、交通等的发展才是首要选择。 (4 )昭通市将来的发展更可能是以高效农业为基础 ,利用其区域中心城市、物资集散地、交通枢纽的区位优势和廉价的劳动力 ,充分发展运输、资讯、商业、娱乐、休闲等服务     

Rural development: the Rehovot approach

After briefly discussing the problems involved in generating rural economic development in poor countries, the Rehovot Approach to rural planning and implementation is assessed. This approach, first developed in Israel, has subsequently been refined to apply to the myriad problems of rural areas in the diversity of countries that comprise the developing world. After discussing the basic rules in the development strategy, the need for simultaneous planning of multipurpose activities is stressed. Throughout, great emphasis is placed on integrated rural management strategies; ensuring that agricultural changes are paralleled by the development of secondary and tertiary sector activities and of appropriate social and administrative institutions. The role of ‘bottom-up’ planning systems is highlighted, as is the importance of creating organizations capable of plan implementation. This holistic approach to planning is illustrated by actual case examples.     

Division into economic districts,regional planning and urban planning,the Soviet case

Research of the interrelation between regional planning, division into economic districts and urban-planning, division into economic districts and urban planning is here emphasised. In the USSR development of a network of territorial economic complexes, economic districts including subregions of the II and III order, economic subregions and microdistricts is continuous. The outlook of regional planning is defined by the elaboration of its scientific theory including the geographical concept of regional planning. The use of geographical methods widens the scientific basis for the development of a systems approach and improves forecasting, the choice of aims and strategy of developing production, population distribution and the solution of ecological problems. The efficiency of regional planning depends not only on purely economic advantages, but on a more sensible use of nature. Regional planning is concerned with bio-economic systems, and must avoid conflict between the most important subsystems, natural and anthropogenic. Preservation of ecological balance has become the most important task of regional planning. When locating industrial enterprises in the process of regional planning, ecological factors are taken into account to an ever-increasing degree. The main tasks of regional planning concerning the distribution of agriculture stem from the aim of interrelated development of all elements of the agrarian and industrial complex. During the scientific and technical revolution the distribution of production orientates more and more and not towards individual towns but towards a system of populated areas. Systematic improvement of conurbations and their transformation into group systems of populated areas, regulated according to plan and having a broader economic and territorial base, are the most important task of regional planning and urban development.     

Sustainable development and the exploitation of mineral and energy resources: a review

Natural resources, e.g., metals, industrial minerals, water, and soil, are the essential basis for our economy and well-being. We have to know where these raw materials come from and how they are mined. Sustainable development requires the maintenance, rational use and enhancement of natural resources, as well as a balanced consideration of ecology, economy and social justice. Four general rules concerning the implementation of sustainable development for renewable and non-renewable resources are discussed. Examples of the consumption of selected materials from historical times to the present day are presented, as well as of regional distribution, usage (in contrast to consumption), lifetimes of resources, the supply-and-demand cycle, recycling and substitution in modern times. To fulfill the requirement of sustainable development, the efficiency with which resources are utilized has to be improved. The learning process, often driven by financial rewards, leads from one technology to a better one, thus increasing the efficiency of the use of a resource or commodity. Examples of learning curves are discussed. Industrial countries have to transfer their advanced technologies to developing countries in order to avoid undesirable development in the mining industry and use of natural resources in those regions. The use of the best available technology by the mining industry, taking into account economic considerations, and the necessity to establish environmental guidelines are essential if environmental impact of the production of non-renewable resources is to be minimized. Far more critical than the production of non-renewable resources under the aspect of sustainable development and the capacity of the pollutant sinks of the Earth is the element of natural attenuation with regard to the resources soil and water.     

Natural resource management for stable industrial development in Nigeria

This paper takes a critical look at Nigeria's natural resource development and its management. Natural resources are examined in terms of their mineral or vegetable origin and of their renewable and non-renewable nature. Their industrial character and quality for stable economic development are examined. It is found that in spite of laudable agricultural development policy statements for improving the level and distribution of income as well as for providing a stable industrial and food resource base for the country, official actions and defaults have caused widespread loss of interest in agriculture amidst the euphoria of an oil boom. This has weakened the agricultural sector and its potential for foreign exchange earning and for promoting local industrialization. The dangers of indiscreet exploitation of oil and natural gas - non-renewable assets - are also considered.     

Natural resource exploitation in Latin America espoiliation or tool for development?

The exploitation of natural resources in Latin American countries has become one of the most controversial issues of contemporary development. Three positions arise: 1) a position that opens the development of natural resources to foreign priorities and capitals; 2) a position that opposes any kind of development if it is not conducted by the state, even if the state lacks the financial resources to do so; and 3) a position that sees advantages in negotiating the development of resources with external partnership but reserves for the state the determination of priorities and the leading role in the exploitation. The third position assumes the existence of a responsible government commited to safeguarding national interests. Unfortunately, this last assumption is not very operative with Latin American governments which seldom have standing policies concerning natural resources, which leaves them open to assaults from private national and international interests.Contrary to opposite views, it has been demonstrated that the development of natural resources brings about stimulation of regional economies and relocation of populations toward resource frontiers. Opposing the development of such areas of resources is to negate the concept of progress and to deepen chronic poverty.     

战略性非金属矿产厘定、关键应用和供需形势研究

战略性矿产是国家资源宏观调控和的监督管理的重点对象, 加强战略性矿产研究、明确自身比较优势和薄弱环节。战略性非金属矿产是指对国家经济发展和国家安全至关重要的非金属矿产。建议将萤石、高纯石英、石墨、硼、金红石、硅藻土、叶蜡石、石榴子石、金刚石、泥炭、重晶石等11种非金属矿产为战略性非金属矿产, 对其重要性及用途、资源供需形势等进行研究, 为国家制定勘查投入规划及制定矿业发展政策提供参考。对于完善全国矿产资源规划中的战略性矿产资源目录、为国家相关产业政策制定提供借鉴参考具有重要意义。     

黑河流域乡镇初始水权分配研究——以甘州区为例

乡镇水权分配是乡镇水资源承载力研究的前提,是乡镇落实最严格的水资源管理和水权交易制度的基础,为新时期乡村振兴与美丽乡村建设提供物质保障。以最严格水资源管理制度确定的甘州区用水总量控制目标为可分配水权总量,在优先保障生活和生态基本用水基础上,选取2017年为规划水平年,采用人口、面积、产值单指标和混合分配模式,以及综合指标分配模式5种方法,开展了乡镇尺度水权分配对比研究。结果表明：领域专家对水权分配的公平性的重视程度略大于效率性,区域水资源的管理者更注重水权分配的公平性,而研究学者更倾向于效率性。5种模式对同一乡镇的水权分配结果范围较为均衡,但不同模式因侧重点各异对具体乡镇的分配比例存在差异。各乡镇不同模式下最大水权分配比例处于10%以上,而最小比例不超过0.3%。基于AHP的综合指标模式的分配结果更为合理,更贴合各乡镇水资源利用现状与经济社会未来发展潜力,其分配结果为各乡镇水资源承载力研究奠定了基础。     

为“天府之国”农业安全把好第一道关——成都经济区生态地球化学调查主要成果

四川自然环境优越,具有发展现代农业的自然资源、生态环境和劳动力优势。但区域性农业生产环境质量,尤其是土壤的质量与安全性状况不清,使全省现代农业发展缺乏科学支撑。成都经济区生态地球化学调查成果表明,生态地球化学调查可以快速、科学、经济、有效地查明区域农业生态环境质量,为四川规划发展现代农业、调整农业结构布局、提高农产品品质提供科学依据,为四川农业和食品安全把好农业生态环境质量关。     

Actors, options and the challenges of forest management in anglophone Cameroon

Natural resources, especially the forest provide a means of livelihood to rural communities in most developing countries. Unfortunately these resources are under the threat of disappearing because of high population growth rates and poverty that characterise these communities. Any attempt by development agencies at conserving these resources is tantamount to depriving these rural areas of their survival base. Yet due to its strategic socio-economic and cultural importance, the forest ecosystem needs to be sustained for future generations. This paper examines the various challenges faced by the State and other conservation agencies in natural resource management and the possible options which can be employed in an effort to ensure a sustainable exploitation of the forest in Anglophone Cameroon. It discusses the efforts of these actors, within the framework of the emerging concept of community forestry, local community strengthening and integrated rural development. While highlighting some of the achievements of international NGOs like Bird Life International and World Wide Fund for Nature in the region, the study concludes that the future of sustainable management of forest resources relies on a holistic poverty alleviation approach that takes into consideration the empowerment of these communities. This will ensure that they participate and benefit from the exploitation of the resources in the form of local development. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

岩溶丘陵区的生态农业模式、建设途径与效益分析——以广西恭城县为例

为在岩溶丘陵区推广成功的生态农业示范研究和实施成果,本文在实地考察和典型调查的基础上对恭城县的生态农业模式、建设途径及效益进行了综合分析。从自然环境和社会经济等综合条件看,与广西其它岩溶丘陵区类似,恭城县也是不沿边、不沿海、不沿铁路和公路国道的“四不沿”山区县,在1981年被列为广西49个“老、少、边、山、穷”县之一。但通过生态农业建设,该县目前已经摆脱了贫困状况,创出了“恭城模式” ,走上了可持续发展道路。其生态农业的建设充分发挥了自然和社会资源优势,并将发展农村经济与生态环境综合整治相结合,取得了显著的生态、经济和社会效益。      

美国坦帕湾地区供水策略介析

世界范围内的水资源和水环境问题越来越突出。首先系统介绍了美国弗罗里达州坦帕湾地区的水资源利用现状和供水管理策略,对该地区的地表水、地下水、海水淡化和废水利用的情况作了详细分析。该地区从以地下水为主的供水方式,改变为地表水、地下水、海水淡化各占1/3的供水方式的规划思想、经济分析以及管理措施具有积极的参考意义。针对我国的客观背景,进一步探讨了城市供水的挖潜途径,雨水直接回收和中水利用是城市节水的两个有效方式,沿海地区则应对海水淡化予以重视;对于广大的农村乡镇,雨水集水塘和小型平原水库则是提高农村供水条件和改善水环境的一种有效措施。     

Planning and the rural regions of Nigeria

Conclusion Urban and rural development arek inextricably related, that regional planning can play important roles as catalyst for agriculture and rural development; and that a system of growth centres and/or agropolitan policy which can be important in achieving economic growth with social equity, will be far more influential. Again if the National Planning Authority, Regional Planning Agency and the policy of growth centre in the rural areas of the recommended regions is pursued, it will not only increase agricultural productivity or a path to agricultural transformation for deleterious effects of migration to corporate farming but also could, over time help to reduce the pressure on the urban areas by providing counter-magnets to migration and we envisage, will bring about a national regional planning budget which should be operated on yearly basis.     

Regionalism as resistance: Governance and identity in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt

Extensive rural regions are facing major socio-economic, political and environmental change from the dual effects of agricultural restructuring and environmental degradation. While central governments often rely on regional level policy responses, local actors, such as rural local governments may resist these ‘top-down’ initiatives. This paper examines the oppositional response of 34 rural local governments to state-led regionalisation for economic development and natural resource management in the extensive and sparely populated Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The analysis explores how state threats of amalgamation; shifting national policy empathies in rural development; and, local preferences for horizontal rather than vertical forms of cooperation are influential in catalysing a brand of defensive regionalism amongst local government actors. Adopting this defensive posture allowed local actors to both buffer state intervention and improve the effectiveness of their own cooperative planning and management activities for sustainable development. These observations are interpreted through concepts of collective identity formation, providing an analytical perspective that is sensitive to the inter-scalar politics in rural governance.     

The importance of water in the ecosystem and marine crisis in the gulf region

Conclusions As developing countries expand both agricultural and industrial activities over the coming decade, sensitive management of the limited available freshwater resources will become increasingly important. If their supplies consist solely of ground water, then some water deficit countries could end up by mining a non-renewable resource as it takes many thousands of years to replenish deep fossil groundwater stocks. Conservation and careful husbandry of existing stocks must therefore be carried out if the growing human populations of arid lands are to be protected from famine and poverty.The arid zones may provide more than sufficient food in a sustainable system despite the harsh natural conditions. In arid areas rainfall is low, biological cycling is limited by low soil moisture and evapotranspiration is high. The absence of leaching by infiltration results in a large active pool of nutrients and the addition of water by irrigation allows this potential fertility to be realised. Given the high insolation of desert lands and a man-made continuous water supply it is possible to obtain 2–4 crop harvest a year. However, the success of any future development is ultimately in the hands of the governments who control the management of water resources.Until recently pollution of the sea was relatively localised. It has now become a problem globally around coasts and even affects the open ocean. Enclosed and semi-enclosed seas are most vulnerable to degradation of their ecosystems and the Golf region has proved to be no exception to this, sensitivity exacerbated by weak currents and political instability leading to increasing oil pollution.The pollution in the Gulf is at its most harmful in the biologically diverse and productive areas around coastlines where pollution tends to concentrate and where human welfare is also most at risk. The outbreak of cholera and other waterborne disease in Iraq immediately following the Gulf war highlights the exceptional reliance people throughout the Gulf States must place of fresh water supplies. Continuing political instability in the region and its associated environmental damage will not, therefore, only threaten wildlife or fisheries but may threaten human welfare as water supplies are limited or decline in quality and industry, agriculture and health all suffer the consequences.     

Regional development and regional planning in the countries of the Third World

Acceleration of socio-economic progress and the achievement of self-reliant economy by the developing countries are closely linked with transformation of sectoral and spatial structure of colonial type economy, which is characterized by nonintegration, extreme inequalities in resources and land utilization, and regional disparities in the levels of socio-economic development. The State plays the leading role in this process through elaboration and realization of long-term regional policy and regional planning, the necessity of which is admitted in the majority of the developing countries. Their scientific substantiation is connected with investigation of objective process of formation of the spatial structure of the new type economy. The latter is formed in the process of interaction of the major regionalization systems: natural-resources, demography-ethnic, socio-economic (systems of special sector-wise and integral-complex regions are embedded in these systems). The systems of socio-economic regionalization are the most dynamic and manageable. But the modern stage of the development of the Third World countries is characterized by the essential changes of other regionalization systems as well. Evaluation of disproportional correlations in their interaction and elaboration of measures to reduce them constistute one of the most important objects of modern geography. Specialization of economic regions in the productions, which have favourable regional combinations of resources results in acceleration of economic growth because of the benefits of spatial division of labour. At the same time regional specialization and increase of inter-regional linkages strengthens the integration on all-national scale, which is of vital importance for the developing countries. The acute, not only economic but also socio-political problem of rapid backward areas advancement can and must be solved not separately (although such attempts have been undertaken often enough) but as a part of the general strategy of regional development. Scientific substantiation of the effective regional planning in the developing countries is an object of interdisciplinary research, where geographers are called to play the leading role.     

Agriculture,sustainability and the imperatives of policy reform

Agriculture stands alone among resource sectors in Western industrialized countries as having the fastest growth in production/productivity during post-war years. Yet that growth in productivity and accompanying high levels of sufficiency has been at the expense of such goals as adequate income, community stability and resource/environmental conservation. In the process, agriculture has mimicked trends in the economy as a whole through increased segmentation and differentiation, throughput of non-renewable resources and divergence of natural and economic processes. Within the context of prevailing policies and market forces in OECD countries in general and Canada in particular, this paper evaluates the problems facing the sector and the nature of the trade-offs being made in the pursuit of high-input agriculture. It is argued that, while agri-business and market forces are generally responsible for a weakening of the links between environment and economy, numerous market distortions, precipitated by agricultural policy, do much the same. To achieve a better balance among the production and consumption functions of the land and to achieve an approach to future agricultural production which is sustainable will require changes in many of the rules, standards and conventions influencing the growth of food and fibre. From a policy perspective, the main task ahead is to redesign and implement programs which will encourage new ‘opportunity sets’ for the economic and competitive viability of the farmer and agricultural system, while at the same time meeting the nutritional needs of society and ensuring the protection of important environmental services and amenity values.