National parks and protected areas,national conservation strategies and sustainable development

The role of national parks and protected areas in National Conservation Strategies (NCS), a key element in the 1980 World Conservation Strategy, is analyzed for the nine countries of Australia, Belize, Canada, Czechoslovakia, India, Senegal, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and Zambia. These NCS responses are described, evaluated and synthesized primarily for 12 national park and protected area functions identified through a review of the recent literature. National parks and protected areas are found to be involved in the nine NCS in uneven and less than optimal ways. Furthermore, little relationship can be found among the various proposed roles of national parks and protected areas and the socio-economic and other characteristics of the nine countries under study. As a basis for improving both NCS and the role of national parks and protected areas, a better NCS information system is recommended for the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) headquarters, Gland, Switzerland. IUCN Commissions also are urged to be more active in NCS work. More research also is recommended especially on the role of national parks and protected areas in regard to regional planning and development, indigenous and local people, and comprehensive land use management. Finally, special efforts should be made by IUCN, and other related international, national, provincial and regional agencies, to ensure their personnel are knowledgeable about NCS and the range of functions that national parks and protected areas can contribute to them, and so to sustainable development globally.     

Rice research for food security and sustainable agricultural development in Asia: Achievements and future challenges

Rice is the major staple food of Asia, and an important source of employment and income in rural areas, particularly in low-income countries. Research has contributed significantly in achieving food security by increasing the yield potential of rice in irrigated systems, reducing the crop maturity period and achieving yield stability by developing resistance against major insects and diseases in the modern high-yielding varieties. Poverty is, however, still extensive in fragile rainfed rice ecosystems where rice yield has remained low, as scientists have yet to develop high-yielding varieties resistant to abiotic stresses and problem soils. Rice production needs to be increased by another 70% over the next 30 years to meet growing food needs. This has to be achieved with less land, less water, and less labor to accommodate the demand for these inputs from the expanding nonagricultural sectors. The challenge to the rice research community is to make further shifts in yield potential of rice for the irrigated systems, to close the yield gaps in the rainfed systems through developing resistance of high yielding varieties to abiotic stresses, and greater understanding of the interactions between genotypes and environment, developing durable resistance against pests and diseases to reduce farmers' dependence on harmful agrochemicals, and to increase efficiency in the use of water, labor and fertilizers. As further intensification of rice cultivation is inevitable, scientists must understand the negative environmental side-effects of increasing rice productivity, to develop appropriate mitigation options.     

Evaluation of oasis land use security and sustainable utilization strategies in a typical watershed in the arid regions of China

Land supports the survival and development of humans. To safeguard the land use security of continental river watersheds in arid regions, the oasis of the Manas River Watershed was investigated using 15 evaluation indexes from three subsystems, including land use suitability, land use vulnerability and water security to provide a comprehensive evaluation based on the methods of analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy synthetic evaluation model, social economy and land use/cover data from remote sensing images for 1976, 1987, 1998 and 2010. The above-mentioned indexes were classified into four levels, which were regarded as security (v ₁), relative security (v ₂), security threshold (v ₃) and insecurity (v ₄). The results showed that land use securities of oasis in the Manas River Watershed were at the insecure level of v ₄, and that the synthetic graded values were 0.6150, 0.5772, 0.5617 and 0.5640, respectively. For the three subsystems, indexes of land use suitability were all at the security level of v ₁, and the indexes of land use vulnerability were at the levels of v ₁, v ₂, v ₄ and v ₄ in the 4 years investigated, respectively. Furthermore, indexes of water security in the 4 years were all classified as insecure levels. Ultimately, it is important to determine the leading factors that restrict land use security and then put forward corresponding solutions. The objects of this study were to achieve sustainable land use in the Manas River Watershed, as well as provide scientific references for evaluation of land use security in the continental river watershed of arid regions.     

合理开发利用矿产资源促进矿业经济可持续发展

矿产资源是人类社会赖以生存和发展的物质基础。矿业是国民经济不可缺少的基础产业之一,也是地域经济发展的重要支柱。因此,矿业经济持续发展是经济社会长远发展的客观要求。“我国是人口众多,资源相对不足的国家,在现代化建设中,必须实施可持续发展战略”。因此,我们矿政管理工作的方向、目标和政策就是：“我们对国土资源的保护和管理必须严而又严,总的原则是在保护中开发,在开发中保护,资源开发和节约并举。     

Towards developing a geoscientific approach to sustainable agricultural and rural development

 Conventional practices employed to achieve sustainable agricultural and rural development (SARD) tend to be subjective, focus on effects rather than causes, and have little diagnostic or predictive value. Consequently, many of the management options and solutions adopted to restore degraded natural resources are, often, economically unviable and environmentally unsustainable. These shortcomings are believed to be caused, partly, by overlooking or insufficiently recognizing the role and importance of geology to SARD. This paper demonstrates that geology is the most critical factor in the genesis of biophysical resources and in determining sustainability of agricultural and rural development. A case study from Australia shows how geological principles can be employed to obtain goals of ecological sustainability. A geologically-based model for cold temperate regions is provided to assist resource users and managers in understanding and predicting the genetic influence of geology on the inherent potential, constraint and resilience of the biophysical resources. Received: 7 January 2000 · Accepted: 23 May 2000     

From food security to food insecurity: The case of Iraq, 1990–91

The article explains Iraq's precipitous decline into food insecurity following its military invasion of Kuwait. Food security and insecurity are defined and then examined in the Iraqi context. Five vulnerabilities are identified that were activated by international retaliation against Iraq, including the UN Security Council's embargo on trade between Iraq and the rest of the world and the Gulf War itself. The emergence and intensification of food insecurity are analyzed step by step, followed by consideration of how food security might be restored in Iraq. An Appendix assesses whether Iraq experienced famine in 1991.     

Changes of rural to urban areas in hydrograph characteristics on watershed divisions

This study examined changes in hydrograph characteristics of rural statuses to urban statuses on watershed divisions in Taiwan. The main approach was to relate applicable model parameters with the corresponding imperviousness based on calibration and verification using a semidistributed model and 102 events. The model structure is conceptual linear reservoirs with parallel-type cascaded storages which is represented by overland and channel coefficients. The hourly mean rainfall of the watershed and its divisions were calculated using the Kriging method. The time-variant rainfall losses were calculated using the constant percentage method. The spatial and temporal model inputs, division effective rainfall, were obtained by subtracting mean rainfall of divisions from the rainfall losses. In calibration, the storage values of 50 events derived using appropriate parameter bounds were more reasonable than those using inappropriate bounds. Based on the optimal interval method, the overland storages displayed more marked change than did channel storage in response to imperviousness changes. By contrast, the channel storages were unaffected by the changes in urbanization. The overland storages were related with the imperviousness by using the regression equations for determining their relationships in continuous changes of urbanized divisions. The verification of the regression relationships was based on 52 events. The results indicated that power linkage was an available selection for linking division parameters with the corresponding imperviousness. Finally, the study concludes (1) appropriate bounds in parameter calibration are useful for obtaining significant storage values and (2) the study results using these suitable storages indicated large changes in imperviousness on the downstream divisions, marked urbanization resulted in reduced the time to peak at least 10 %, the peak discharge exceeded an increment of 20–30 %.     

Impact assessment due to rural electrification in hill tract of Bangladesh for sustainable development

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) of any project is essential for understanding the sustainability of the project. For sustainable development of hill tracts, electricity is inseparable. Like other parts of Bangladesh hill tracts districts felt increasing demand of electricity. In this paper an attempt has been taken to present the existing environmental condition and analysis the future environmental condition after implementation of project. Electrification will extend the length of the active day. Electrification will improve security (people’s perception of safety and security) at the region. The elements of the project identified as components for analysis are chosen based on DOE’s guideline. The study showed that 87% people say that they feel safer at night since being electrified. Impacts are classified on the basis of EPA’s scaling and DOE, university’s teachers, NGOs expert’s opinions. Value more than 10 is classified significantly affected element of the project. In this paper advantages and disadvantages of the Electrification Project has been presented.     

Development of flood mitigation strategies toward sustainable development

Natural Hazards - Decreasing flood damages in a basin and achieving sustainable development reveal the necessity of integrated management of flood. Integrated flood management requires the...     

Review of arsenic contamination,exposure through water and food and low cost mitigation options for rural areas

Arsenic (As) is a toxic metalloid found to be an important groundwater contaminant of mainly natural geogenic origin worldwide particularly in large deltas and along major rivers in poor regions of South- and East-Asia. Excessive and long-term human intake of toxic inorganic As with food and water is causing arsenicosis, which is disfiguring, disabling, and leading to potentially fatal diseases like skin- and internal cancers. It is estimated that more than 100 million people mainly in developing countries are at risk. The arsenicosis situation in affected countries has been named the largest chemical threat to public health ever experienced and arsenicosis is spreading to regions where near-sterile well water loaded with As has replaced microbial suspect surface water containing lower As concentrations. This review provides an overview of the state of the art knowledge on the water and food As intake and exposure, and how the As chemistry in water and food may influence chosen mitigation strategies. Although reports on severe health effects from exposure to As in water are abundant there are several weak points in our knowledge on causes and prevalence of arsenicosis in order to devise effective mitigation. The main mitigation strategies focus on drinking water based on exploration of As-free water and As removal from extracted water, whereas mitigation strategies on cooking water and reducing exposure through food are quite often overlooked. The experiences of adopted low cost methods for lowering the human intake of As in rural areas are critically evaluated in terms of public acceptance, sustainability and impact on arsenicosis.     

Assessment of food security situation of the rural households: the case of Boricha Woreda of Sidama Zone,Ethiopia

GeoJournal - Identifying food security situation of a population or its subgroup that pursue its livelihoods under ongoing climatic change is of paramount policy importance. Since recent past,...     

农村宅基地流转问题的剖析与破解

探讨农村宅基地现行入市流转的相关情况。城市化进程中土地利用效率低下,农村宅基地流转存在模式选择、制度设计与创新、风险规避、退出机制、户籍制度等问题。要使农村宅基地流转产生最大经济效益,建立城乡统一的建设用地市场,必须摒弃原有的、不必要的限制,采用先试点、后推广的方法,积极稳妥地推进农村宅基地流转的制度建设,并处理好现实、政策与法律之间的衔接问题,兼顾各方利益。     

中国水安全系统模拟及对策比较研究

运用系统分析的理论与方法,分析了中国水生态系统的特征及各组分间的相互作用,建立了中国水安全动态模型.模型从生命安全、经济安全、粮食安全、生态系统安全、环境安全和社会安全等六个子安全出发,在按常规发展的模拟,技术革新模拟,体制改革和引为诱导模拟以及水资源可持续利用模拟四种不同情景下进行系统模拟.结果表明:只有加速技术创新,增强水生态和节水意识,加强水管理,中国水安全才能得以保证.     

应用精细油藏描述技术实现S3区可持续发展

对S3区开展的精细油藏描述,发现由于储层胶结性差、埋深浅、笼统注采以及防砂措施不配套等因素影响,整个区块出现储量动用不均衡,原开发方式已经不适应油藏的开发形式的需要。在油藏开发调整中,进行平面开发区域的合理划分与重组。针对不同区域储层特征、沉积特点、水驱开发特征、现有井网完整程度和剩余油分布状况,对不同区域采用适合的开发方式,实现在同一区块采用多元的开发方式进行整体二次开发,使该区块生产能力得到改善。     

Socio-geographical transition in the rural areas of the Carpathian Euroregion

Cross-border cooperation is starting to overcome the isolation of frontier regions where interaction under the socialist system was minimal. Change has been particularly apparent in areas where trans-frontier organisations on the ‘Euroregion’ model have emerged. The Carpathian Euroregion is the first exclusively East European example of this approach and it has already made a positive impact in overcoming backwardness in an area where four East European countries were in contact with the Former Soviet Union. The paper outlines the challenge facing the Euroregion – and the national and local governments in the five countries concerned – in providing non-agricultural employment for a large rural population augmented by return-migration from the towns since 1989. Many small farming businesses have been started as a survival strategy but they cannot be economically viable in a market situation. Although most people are satisified with their rural lifestyle, the inevitability of radical consolidation in a future EU context could be politically destabilising if more jobs are not generated in manufacturing and in an expanding tertiary sector. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Agriculture versus tourism in rural areas of the Polish Carpathians

The Polish Carpathians is one of the regions with the best rural demographic and economic situation in Poland, as indicated by the growth of population, the very advantageous sex and age structure, the low unemployment rate and good housing standards. However, the situation in agriculture is complicated due to the unfavourable natural conditions of the mountainous terrain, the fragmentation of holdings and the low level of efficiency. On the other hand, tourism is a positive factor in the socio-economic transformation of the Carpathian countryside. Tourism was a significant activity even before the Second World War when lodgings were sought in private houses in many villages of the Sub-Tatra, Podhale Basin and the Silesian and Sacz Beskides. The villages currently active as tourist centres show the most dynamic development and the highest level of the socio-economic infrastructure.     

Evaluation of groundwater quality in coastal areas: implications for sustainable agriculture

Seawater intrusion is a problem in the coastal areas of Korea. Most productive agricultural fields are in the western and southern coastal areas of the country where irrigation predominantly relies on groundwater. Seawater intrusion has affected agricultural productivity. To evaluate progressive encroachment of saline water, the Korean government established a seawater intrusion monitoring well network, especially in the western and southern part of the peninsula. Automatic water levels and EC monitoring and periodic chemical analysis of groundwater help track salinization. Salinization of fresh groundwater is highly associated with groundwater withdrawal. A large proportion of the groundwaters are classified as Na–Cl and Ca–Cl types. The Na–Cl types represent effects of seawater intrusion. The highest EC level was over 1.6 km inland and high Cl values were observed up to 1.2 km inland. Lower ratios of Na/Cl and SO₄/Cl than seawater values indicate the seawater encroachment. A linear relation between Na and Cl represents simple mixing of the fresh groundwater with the seawater. The saline Na–Cl typed groundwaters showed Br/Cl ratios similar to or less than seawater values. The Ca–HCO₃ type groundwaters had the highest Br/Cl ratios. Substantial proportions of the groundwaters showed potential for salinity and should be better managed for sustainable agriculture.     

An approach to sustainable rural water supply in semi-arid Africa with a case study from Namibia

Sustainable-yield estimation in semi-arid conditions is always challenging, especially for fractured rock aquifers. An approach to assess sustainability is discussed using a case study from rural semi-arid Namibia. The fractured-rock aquifers in the study area have complex configuration. Geology maps, hydrocensus data, geophysical surveys, and drilling and hydraulic testing data were used to produce a conceptual model. Aquifer parameters were estimated based on the hydraulic test data and numerical modelling. Due to lack of data, as is often the case in rural Namibia, the simulation results had to be verified against geological and hydrogeological constraints. It is concluded that the aquifer system is sustained by episodic recharge and the long-term gain in storage (about 3,285 m³/a) represents the maximum extractable volume. It is recommended that the continuous monitoring system for groundwater level, river flow and rainfall should be part of a long-term scheme. The magnitude and frequency of the recharge events and extraction should be monitored in order to sustainably manage the resource. Although the illustrated approach is based on limited data, it provides a basis for management of individual groundwater schemes in semi-arid conditions in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Retailing in rural areas: A case study in Norfolk

In Britain the decline of facilities in rural settlements in the face of increasing urban dependence is becoming a major policy issue; despite high mobility, many people still lack access to essential facilities. This paper is based on fieldwork carried out mostly during 1976 in two rural areas of Norfolk, as part of a Government-sponsored study of rural transport and accessibility. It looks first at the pattern of shops and their location related to parish size, and then discusses levels of use in comparison with urban facilities, drawing on household activity surveys. The paper then analyses in depth the ownership and operation of village shops, using the results of a survey carried out among the proprietors of the shops in the two study areas, and also considers the issues that concern shopkeepers and villagers. Finally it notes changes over the past two years in the pattern of facilities and discusses the case of two villages. The implications for rural planning are examined, and the author concludes that development of rural settlements must be based on sensitive and local understanding, rather than directive blanket policies, if reasonable access to shops and similar facilities is to be retained.