Institutional frameworks for the study of mountain environments and development

During the two decades since the 1972 Stockholm Conference the concern for mountain environments coalesced under an institutional framework involving several organizations and many scholars and scientists. The evolution of the progress of these interested individuals, institutions, and their scholarly journal is outlined with benchmarks noted. An appraisal of the past two decades is given here in recognition of the UNCED-92 conference, the Earth Summit.     

National parks and nature reserves in mountain environments and development

Major mountain environments of the world are delineated and all their protected areas (MTNPA) are listed by IUCN categories. MTNPA are those places subjected to nature conservation such as national parks and nature reserves. A total of 442 IUCN Category I–IV areas with a minimal size of 10,000 ha and a minimal relief of 500 m are listed. These MTNPA constitute 42 percent of the world's area devoted to nature conservation. Summaries of the mountain protected areas in each biogeographical realm are given, sites of international importance are identified and observations are made on lacunae. The review concludes with six recommendations for more and better managed mountain parks and reserves.     

Urban tourism and small tourism enterprise development in Johannesburg: The case of township tourism

Urban tourism is a focus of vibrant research in developed countries. In this paper the focus is upon an element of urban tourism in a developing world city, viz., Johannesburg. Specific attention centers on an analysis of the role of small enterprise development in urban tourism. The major issues surrounding the development of small tourism businesses in two of Johannesburg's former black townships, namely Soweto and Alexandra, which are emerging as centers for so-termed ‘township tourism’ in South Africa, are investigated. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Geographic concepts and the development of tourism research in Canada

Tourism research in Canadian Geography departments goes back to the early 1950s with R.I. Wolfe's impact studies of vacation destinations in Ontario. Prior to that, most studies were of an in house type, conducted by government agencies and private corporations having a stake in tourism-Parks Canada, the Canadian Office of Tourism and the Canadian Pacific Corporation.The geographic approaches and concepts applied to the study field range from holistic-environmental studies originating from the Parks Canada mandate to analyses of tourist-related service industry operations. A number of major interest areas can be identified in the more conceptual geographic evolution: carrying capacity, land use differentiation, destination area impact, spatial linkage application to tourist area development, regional historical research to mention some. This paper provides an interpretation of how such concepts emerged on the scene of Canadian tourism research, by presenting them in an evolutionary-historical framework of analysis.     

Skills development in tourism: South Africa's tourism-led development strategy

Skills development for tourism has attracted only a limited scholarship in the developing world. In this paper the role of skills development in advancing South Africa's tourism-led development strategy is investigated. Skills development has a central role to play in ensuring the effective and sustainable transformation and development of the tourism industry in developing countries and, in the case of South Africa, in ensuring that poorer South Africans begin to benefit from this industry. It is argued that the current lack of an integrated and co-ordinated approach to tourism skills development seriously limits the potential of skills development to impact positively on tourism transformation and development in South Africa. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

我国农业生态旅游可持续发展探讨

从生态旅游的角度阐述了我国农业生态旅游发展状况和特征,综合分析了影响我国农业生态旅游可持续发展的一系列问题,并针对这些问题提出了发展农业生态旅游的建议和措施.     

Researching the South African tourism and development nexus

Under apartheid, tourism was essentially anti-developmental in focus and tourism research largely centred on the recreation of white South Africans. Since the 1994 democratic transition tourism has become recognised as an increasingly important sector for South Africa's economy and for achieving the government's goals for reconstruction and development. In this paper a review and critical analysis is presented of the changing directions and foci of tourism scholarship in South Africa. It is shown that South African scholars are beginning to respond to the challenges posed by tourism as a developmental focus. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Quartzite development in early Palaeozoic nearshore marine environments

Quartzites are especially characteristic of Proterozoic and Cambro‐Ordovician shallow marine strata, whereas equivalent age fluvial deposits are commonly arkosic. The absence of land vegetation in the pre‐Silurian influenced weathering processes and styles of fluvial deposition. It may also have had an impact on shallow marine sedimentation. Two field studies from the English Channel region are presented to investigate the processes leading to quartzite formation. On Alderney, nearshore marine and fluvial facies occur interbedded on a metre scale and are interpreted to represent deposition on the lower reaches of an alluvial plain, and in beach and upper shoreface environments. The marine and fluvial sandstones display marked differences in textural and mineralogical maturity, pointing to a process of sediment maturation by the destruction of feldspar and labile grains at the shoreline. At Erquy, fully mature, marine quartzites occur bounded above and below by alluvial deposits via sharp or erosional surfaces, and are interpreted to represent high energy, storm and tidally influenced lower shoreface and inner shelf deposits. A model for quartzite development is proposed where, under a cool climate, frequent storms in un‐vegetated, tectonically rejuvenated uplands provided an abundance of arkosic sand to fluvial basins and clastic shorelines. The model proposes that the marine basins were subject to high wave energies, frequent storm events and tidal currents. These were conditions conducive to transforming arkosic sand to quartz‐rich sand by the attrition of feldspar at the shoreline and in the shallow marine environment. On sediment burial, further feldspar destruction occurred during diagenesis. The proposed model highlights the potential for a step change in sediment maturity to occur at the shoreline in early Palaeozoic depositional systems tracts.     

Stages in the emergence of a participatory tourism development approach in the Developing World

This study has attempted to examine and explain the stages in the emergence of the participatory tourism development approach under prevailing socio-economic, cultural and political conditions in developing countries without ignoring rural, peripheral areas of the developed world. It identifies three stages. These are: (1) the emergence of the pressures from external and internal factors on the central government to accept, support and facilitate the implementation of a participatory development approach, (2) the emergence of political will at central level, and (3) enacting legal measurements, re-structuring administrative systems at operational level and the actual community consultation or participation process. These stages are explored and elaborated under the guidance of three propositions. It concludes that political will at central level, enacting relevant legal measurements, empowering local communities and cooperation of dominant elite groups are sine qua non for the emergence and operationalization of the participatory tourism development approach as a pro-active tourism development strategy in a given developing country.     

梭布垭奥陶纪地质公园旅游开发研究

以恩施州梭布垭地质公园为例,分析了地质公园旅游资源开发的特点和条件,在此基础上提出了相应旅游产品的开发。     

淮南舜耕山岩溶塌陷发育特征及形成机理研究

淮南市舜耕山地区位于华北板块南缘,岩溶地貌发育且岩溶塌陷地质灾害时有发生,给区内人民生命财产安全带来极大隐患。本文通过对区内碳酸盐岩裸露区和覆盖区岩溶野外地质勘查、岩溶塌陷特征统计、构造及水文地质条件分析,总结本区岩溶塌陷发育机理。结果表明:裸露型碳酸盐岩区岩溶塌陷发育主要受本区多期构造运动以及岩性组合的影响,岩溶塌陷发育构造形迹呈NW向居多,并多发育在可溶岩与非可溶岩界面处,以构造破坏-潜蚀为主;覆盖型碳酸盐岩区岩溶塌陷发育多为地面构筑物增加导致静荷载增加以及矿区强排水诱发的塌陷,以有效应力破坏-真空吸蚀为主。      

The role of tourism in rural development: Evidence from Iran

GeoJournal - Tourism can play an important role in diversifying the rural economy and its expanding in rural areas contributes to the sustainability of the population and the economy of these areas...     

九寨沟旅游地质资源特征及可持续发展

在15万生态地质调查的基础上,全面查清了九寨沟风景名胜区的旅游地质资源本底,极大地提高了景观的科技含量,并对旅游资源进行了系统的分类和分区,划分出6个基本类型27种及10个旅游小景区,新增5条生态旅游线,此外,还扼要叙述了九寨沟旅游地质资源的可持续发展对策.     

江西赣州石城国家地质公园丹霞地貌特征及旅游开发

摘要: 石城国家地质公园位于江西省赣州市,以丹霞地貌景观为主要旅游资源,以发育在红色砂岩中的龟裂地貌为特色。不同类型的龟裂地貌组合成为栩栩如生的象形景观,尤以龟寿石和仙人犁田最引人注目。通过野外地质调查,总结了园区丹霞地貌景观类型和特征,认为它们主要是晚白垩世陆相红层受到构造抬升、断裂切割、岩性组成、流水侵蚀及风化作用形成的,砂岩独特的龟裂地貌主要是风化作用的结果。近些年来,石城国家地质公园旅游发展虽然取得了明显进步,但主要还停留在观光旅游层面。在国家提倡科普教育、研学旅行的背景下,园区应与广东丹霞山、福建泰宁、江西龙虎山等世界地质公园开展交流与合作,借鉴成功经验; 增加科研投入,为提升景区研学质量提供基础研究资料。     

Patterns of seagrass community response to local shoreline development

Three quarters of the global human population will live in coastal areas in the coming decades and will continue to develop these areas as population density increases. Anthropogenic stressors from this coastal development may lead to fragmented habitats, altered food webs, changes in sediment characteristics, and loss of near-shore vegetated habitats. Seagrass systems are important vegetated estuarine habitats that are vulnerable to anthropogenic stressors, but provide valuable ecosystem functions. Key to maintaining these habitats that filter water, stabilize sediments, and provide refuge to juvenile animals is an understanding of the impacts of local coastal development. To assess development impacts in seagrass communities, we surveyed 20 seagrass beds in lower Chesapeake Bay, VA. We sampled primary producers, consumers, water quality, and sediment characteristics in seagrass beds, and characterized development along the adjacent shoreline using land cover data. Overall, we could not detect effects of local coastal development on these seagrass communities. Seagrass biomass varied only between sites, and was positively correlated with sediment organic matter. Epiphytic algal biomass and epibiont (epifauna and epiphyte) community composition varied between western and eastern regions of the bay. But, neither eelgrass (Zostera marina) leaf nitrogen (a proxy for integrated nitrogen loading), crustacean grazer biomass, epifaunal predator abundance, nor fish and crab abundance differed significantly among sites or regions. Overall, factors operating on different scales appear to drive primary producers, seagrass-associated faunal communities, and sediment properties in these important submerged vegetated habitats in lower Chesapeake Bay.     

山地冰川演化与冰湖发育相互作用机制北大核心CSCD

冰川-冰湖耦合过程是冰冻圈物质与能量循环的重要组成部分,系统刻画冰川演化与冰湖发育过程的相互作用机制,对于完善冰冻圈科学理论体系和认知冰川作用区变化规律、水循环模式和灾害效应具有重要意义。本文立足山地冰川演化和冰湖发育过程,系统归纳了冰川-冰湖相互作用研究进展,剖析了冰川作用与冰湖发育耦合机制及相关模型的应用,并对现有冰川演化与冰湖发育过程耦合机制研究存在的不足与挑战进行解析和总结。冰川-冰湖耦合过程的深入研究有助于提高数值模拟的可信度与精度,为评估冰川-冰湖耦合过程影响、建立灾害监测预警体系和采取适应性措施提供数据与理论基础。     

Problems associated with tourism development in Southern Africa: The case of Transfrontier Conservation Areas

Tourism in Southern Africa is synonymous with the wildlife safari. In the post-colonial era the establishment of so-called ‘peaceparks’ that straddle the borders of states has come to be seen as a key not only to increasing tourism in the Southern African region, but also to the modernizing of conservation policies and the development of rural economies. This paper focuses on the global and continental presence of transfrontier conservation areas, the link between conservation and tourism development, and the current factors that constrain and influence the realization of an ‘African Dream’ — ‘establishment of the greatest animal kingdom’. The unstable political situation in Zimbabwe and how this negatively affects wildlife conservation and tourism in the Gonarezhou part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, serves as a case study. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

四川省汶川地震极重灾区次生山地灾害分布规律与发育趋势

通过对汶川地震极重灾区次生山地灾害的实地考察、遥感调查和综合分析,阐述了次生山地灾害类型与特征,分析了次生山地灾害的时空分布规律,并结合灾害活动特性,探讨了次生山地灾害的发育趋势,提出了灾区防灾减灾和恢复重建的对策与建议。研究结果表明:(1)汶川地震在极重灾区诱发次生山地灾害逾万处,其分布具有点多面广、类型多样、成灾迅速、危害严重、监测预报困难等特点;(2)次生山地灾害的分布受地震烈度、地质构造、地形地貌、地层岩性的制约,并具有明显的滞后性和延续性;(3)利用GIS和遥感技术,能够快速有效地进行地震次生山地灾害的动态监测与灾情评估,从而为防灾减灾管理和灾后重建工作提供科学依据和借鉴参考。