A decision support system for assessing and managing environment risk cross borders

Risk assessment and management, are increasingly established as key procedures in dealing with the range of environmental issues at different scales and of different nature. Although at the EU and international policy level requirements for the use of risk assessment and management are being established through emerging policy and legislation, this demand has not been followed with common guidance on how to do so. This has proven to hinder the effective adoption of such processes, and posed a barrier more so in its implementation for large transboundary issues. In this paper is presented a Decision Support System (DSS) designed to provide a common framework and procedure for environmental risk assessment and management. The DSS is web-based and was developed to enable the formalized and more systematic utilization of risk assessment and management procedures in environmental decision making processes, in particular for users such as public authority officials charged with the responsibility of implementing risk management legal and policy obligations, yet which have limited know how in the field of risk. The DSS presented herein enables environmental administrators and decision makers to undertake generic risk assessment and management identifying areas where detailed risk assessment is required, proposing as well as appropriate risk management options. The web DSS was developed and piloted as part of the STRiM project funded by the European Union. Herein are shown results from the web application which has been trailed successfully in four pilot trials addressing risks of forest damage from storms, water pollution from olive mill waste discharges, wetland loss from water abstraction, and damage from flooding.     

Towards management of coastal erosion problems and human structure impacts using GIS tools: case study in Ragusa Province, Southern Sicily, Italy

A geomorphologic approach, combined with GIS spatial analysis, was used to investigate a 90-km long coastal sector in Southern Sicily, Italy, affected by important erosive processes. Applied methodology allowed the creation of a database involving a range of coastal characteristics thereby providing helpful information on coastal processes and general sediment circulation patterns. Coastal erosion, mainly linked to the construction of ports and harbours, has been locally mitigated by the construction of solid structures which themselves generate significant environmental stress in downdrift areas. In recent times, several nourishment projects have been planned to solve existing erosive problems, yet there is still a lack of a general erosion management plan based on the installation of port and harbour by-passing systems and including the phasing out of current beach cleaning and port maintenance procedures that produce a great quantity of sediments.     

Coastal zone management programme in Kerala,India

The physiographic setting of Kerala State, India, is unique. A narrow strip of the state contains a chain of lagoons and estuaries with a very high population density. The strip is subjected to severe coastal erosion during the monsoon season. A number of other problems are also associated with the coastal zone of Kerala, such as irregular dredging of black sands from the beaches, coastal flooding, hazards due to developmental activities, etc. A Coastal Zone Management Programme was developed and administered by the Centre for Earth Science Studies, Trivandrum, to provide efficient coastal management and solve some of these problems. Various programmes included under the Coastal Zone Management are the following: (1) Sedimentological, bathymetric, and geochemical studies of lagoons and estuaries; (2) monitoring of planimetric changes of beaches by profiling beaches during different seasons all along the coast; (3) studies of the nature, distribution, and provenance of black sand deposits from beaches; (4) studies of the peculiar occurrence of patchy, calm, turbid areas of water in the offshore containing high suspended sediment concentrate known as mud banks; (5) wave studies involving continuous monitoring of wave data all along the coast in order to understand wave climate and erosion; (6) sediment movement studies using fluorescent tracer to aid in the development of ports and harbors; (7) studies on various aspects of offshore. The outlines of the various programmes discussed in this article will help other states and countries to develop a coastal zone management programme according to the needs of the state or country and the nature of the problem occurring in the coastal zone.     

The role of science in federal policy development on a regional to global scale: Personal commentary

Nutrient enrichment of coastal waters is an example of the large-scale, highly complex environmental challenges facing decision makers today. Conventional monitoring networks and advanced observational capabilities permit the detection of changes in the environment at continental to global scales (e.g., hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico, aerosol plumes stretching across the ocean, global atmospheric enrichment of carbon dioxide). Much more knowledge is needed, however, to fully understand the societal consequences of environmental change and of actions taken to address them. This paper discusses the emerging role of assessment in developing effective U.S. policy responses to large-scale, complex environmental change while improving the scientific understanding of the problem. In the cases of global climate change and coastal hypoxia, the U.S. Congress passed legislation authorizing assessments recognizing that decision making must proceed in the face of scientific uncertainty. Evaluating the state of knowledge is usually the first step in an assessment in order to provide a picture of what is known and where there are knowledge gaps. Assessments should also provide the policy maker with an idea of the level of uncertainty, how long it may take to reduce the uncertainty, what information is most critical to resolve, and the consequences and benefits of the various management options. In this paper I draw upon several examples from national assessments, including those of climate change impacts on the U.S. and relationships between Mississippi River water and Gulf of Mexico water quality, to illustrate the strengths and difficulties of using science and assessment to inform the policy process.     

Some consequences and impacts of port development — the Hong Kong case)

Over the past century, Hong Kong port has experienced a fascinating development process as it has become one of the world's number one container ports. This paper explores some of the major external impacts and consequences of Hong Kong's past and current port development experience, with particular reference to environmental planning and control. After a brief introduction to Hong Kong's port, the paper focuses on the planning and management lessons related to the port's development. The paper then concludes with its impact on and reference for mainland China's port and port-city development.     

Croatia — a coastal and maritime country

Croatia, through its geographic position, is a Mediterranean/Adriatic and Central European/Danube state. As an Adriatic coastal state, it has a long maritime tradition, which is apparent in its well-developed shipping (2.4 million GT), the high-quality ship-building industry (among the top six in the world) and through its numerous sea ports, of which many were established in ancient times. The leading national port is Rijeka, which is at the same time an important transit port for Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.The exceptionally indented Croatian Adriatic coast with its attractive archipelagos and favorable climatic and oceanographic conditions in the coastal sea offers very advantageous conditions for comprehensive tourist utilization. This is particularly true of nautical tourism, which is complimented by a larger number of constructed and well-equipped yachting ports/marinas on the coast and islands.     

Landscape planning and management strategies for the Zir Valley,near Ankara,Turkey

This paper proposes a landscape planning and management method for river basins within the context of the European Landscape Convention (ELC) and European Water Framework Directive (WFD). This method has been applied to the Zir Valley in Ankara, Turkey. Landscape planning is identified by the ELC (European Treaty Series No. 176, 2000) as an important, forward-looking action to enhance, restore or create landscapes. The ELC also states that landscape management should promote sustainable development to ensure the non-degradation of landscapes and to help harmonize inevitable changes. The WFD (Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, 2000) is a set of guidelines for managing large bodies of water. Its principle directive is to identify water bodies and the adjacent land areas that influence, and are influenced by, those water bodies. These are called River Basin Districts, and act as essential physiographic landscape units. While several regulations related to environmental planning, and used on a national as well as European basis, tend to utilize the same tools in practice, there are dissimilarities in how they are specifically applied and little effort is being made to promote a cooperative approach. In this paper, a National Approach for River Basin Management is proposed. This approach, which includes a landscape planning and management method based on landscape form and function, was developed to address the common purposes of the ELC and WFD.     

环境变化对长江三角洲地区“北方海上丝绸之路”始发港变迁的影响*

“北方海上丝绸之路”作为中国古代与东亚各国进行贸易往来的重要海上通道,促进了宋元时期海上丝绸之路的大发展并成就了明朝大航海的辉煌,研究其始发港的变迁与原因对“海上丝绸之路研究体系”的完善和“21世纪海上丝绸之路”的建设具有重要意义,但目前鲜有研究。基于古代典籍、地方志和历史地图的记载,结合前人对历史时期中国环境变化的认识,对隋唐至明清时期长江三角洲地区“北方海上丝绸之路”主要始发港的变迁与原因进行研究。结果表明: (1)隋唐—明清时期中国长江三角洲地区先后兴起了3个“北方海上丝绸之路”主要始发港,扬州港盛于隋唐,上海港盛于唐宋,明州港(今宁波港)盛于宋元; (2)气候变冷引起的北方少数民族南犯,中原地区经济和政治中心南迁,北方海上丝绸之路的始发港由登州(今蓬莱)迁到了长江三角洲地区; (3)随泥沙堆积,雁形式沙洲发育,河口分汊东伸南移,长江河口海岸由喇叭形的河口湾演化为三角洲,这是引起始发港由扬州港向东迁往上海港、乃至明州港的根本原因; (4)长江河口沙洲的发育,引起了长江扬州港段和上海港段水系的变化,使得2个港作为始发港时,港口的具体位置不断地随河势变化而调整; (5)对外贸易政策的变化亦对始发港的兴衰与变迁起到一定的促进或阻碍作用。     

环境变化对长江三角洲地区“北方海上丝绸之路”始发港变迁的影响*

“北方海上丝绸之路”作为中国古代与东亚各国进行贸易往来的重要海上通道,促进了宋元时期海上丝绸之路的大发展并成就了明朝大航海的辉煌,研究其始发港的变迁与原因对“海上丝绸之路研究体系”的完善和“21世纪海上丝绸之路”的建设具有重要意义,但目前鲜有研究。基于古代典籍、地方志和历史地图的记载,结合前人对历史时期中国环境变化的认识,对隋唐至明清时期长江三角洲地区“北方海上丝绸之路”主要始发港的变迁与原因进行研究。结果表明: (1)隋唐—明清时期中国长江三角洲地区先后兴起了3个“北方海上丝绸之路”主要始发港,扬州港盛于隋唐,上海港盛于唐宋,明州港(今宁波港)盛于宋元; (2)气候变冷引起的北方少数民族南犯,中原地区经济和政治中心南迁,北方海上丝绸之路的始发港由登州(今蓬莱)迁到了长江三角洲地区; (3)随泥沙堆积,雁形式沙洲发育,河口分汊东伸南移,长江河口海岸由喇叭形的河口湾演化为三角洲,这是引起始发港由扬州港向东迁往上海港、乃至明州港的根本原因; (4)长江河口沙洲的发育,引起了长江扬州港段和上海港段水系的变化,使得2个港作为始发港时,港口的具体位置不断地随河势变化而调整; (5)对外贸易政策的变化亦对始发港的兴衰与变迁起到一定的促进或阻碍作用。     

The city and its port—an economic appraisal

Following a brief examination of the role of ports as foci for industrial and urban development, this paper discusses four major changes—the scale of international trade, structural changes in port activities, port industrialization, and traffic origin and destination—which are acting to alter the relationship between ports and their urban areas. Attention is then focused on the redevelopment of docklands and the need to inform public and political opinion of the importance of port activities to the development of local, regional and national economies. The use of economic impact studies to highlight the multiplier effects of port activities is discussed.     

A tale of Asia’s world ports: The spatial evolution in global hub port cities

Globalization and transport revolutions, logistics integration, and the consequent expansion of port area and hinterland in the maritime industry have redefined the functional role of ports in supply chains and have generated a new pattern of freight distribution. This phenomenon again requires a new approach towards port development and related urban planning. Such changes have inevitably influenced the spatial structure of hub port cities. As existing models on spatial and functional evolution of ports and cities are mainly derived from European and American cases, this paper attempts to introduce evidence from an Asian perspective, focusing on the particular case of global hub port cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore.     

Synthesis in Estuarine and Coastal Ecological Research: What Is It,Why Is It Important,and How Do We Teach It?

During the last two decades, there has been growing interest in the integration of existing ideas and data to produce new synthetic models and hypotheses leading to discovery and advancement in estuarine and coastal science. This essay offers an integrated definition of what is meant by synthesis research and discusses its importance for exploiting the rapid expansion of information availability and for addressing increasingly complex environmental problems. Approaches and methods that have been used in published synthetic coastal research are explored and a list of essential steps is developed to provide a foundation for conducting synthetic research. Five categories of methods used widely in coastal synthesis studies are identified: (1) comparative cross-system analysis, (2) analysis of time series data, (3) balance of cross-boundary fluxes, (4) system-specific simulation modeling, and (5) general systems simulation modeling. In addition, diverse examples are used to illustrate how these methods have been applied in previous studies. We discuss the urgent need for developing curricula for classroom and experiential teaching of synthesis in coastal science to undergraduate and graduate students, and we consider the societal importance of synthetic research to support coastal resource management and policy development. Finally, we briefly discuss the crucial challenges for future growth and development of synthetic approaches to estuarine and coastal research.     

The Invasive Species Challenge in Estuarine and Coastal Environments: Marrying Management and Science

Despite the widely acknowledged threat posed by invasive species in coastal estuaries, there are substantial gaps at the intersection of science and policy that are impeding invasive species management. In the face of pressing management needs in coastal and estuarine environments, we advocate that introduced species should receive the kind of management effort dedicated, for example, to reducing pollution. We support our argument with some examples of economic costs of estuarine and coastal introduced species and a summary of recent evidence for the ecological costs. We highlight some of the issues that either thwart or facilitate the successful marriage between science and management of introduced species, including the regulatory framework for management. We use the available information on coastal eradication programs, including case histories of the programs for Caulerpa taxifolia and Spartina alterniflora (and hybrids) in the western USA, to indicate the feasibility of managing introduced species and to help point out how management and science can improve the outcome. We close with a research agenda that focuses primarily on science that will really assist with invasive species management and reflects our own experience and the opinions of managers directly involved with this issue.     

Situated justice in environmental decision-making: Lessons from river management in Southeastern Australia

The practical application of environmental justice in natural resource management depends upon moving beyond generic principles to situated understanding. This understanding in turn requires knowledge of both historical and geographical contexts, including how decision-making frameworks develop and the nature of the biophysical environment itself. This paper examines these requirements based on case material from the Hunter Valley, New South Wales. In the Hunter Valley, the colonial history of river management was one of the creation, and subsequent inclusion and exclusion, of particular ‘stakes’ from the decision-making process, resulting in a narrowly defined ‘community of justice’ that became institutionalised at the catchment scale. However, even within this restricted community, distributive injustices occurred due to a failure of policy to engage with environmental variability at both spatial and temporal scales. This combination of procedural injustice and environmental variability also resulted in ecological injustice - that is a disconnected or even antagonistic human-nature relationship that restricted the opportunity to redress the severe degradation of riverine ecosystems that had occurred since European settlement. In the light of these examples, broader challenges in the application of environmental justice to river management are explored in terms of ecological complexity and contested perceptions of environmental health. Based on this material, a historically and geographically situated, ecologically informed vision of environmental justice is proposed as an essential part of sustainable river management.     

The role of the Spanish Committee of the International Association of Hydrogeologists in the management and protection of Spain's groundwater resources

 Spain is a relatively large European country (ca. 500,000 km²) with extensive semiarid areas in which there exists a large number of good aquifers. In some areas, these aquifers are intensively developed and are the most important sources of fresh water. Nevertheless, groundwater development and protection has rarely been duly considered by the Spanish Water Administration, despite the pressure to remedy this situation by various groups of experts, some of them members of the Water Administration. The Spanish Committee of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) has been very active during the last decade in promoting activities to spread groundwater science, technology, and management in Spain and outside, mostly in Latin America, and in trying to orient water policy toward issues of groundwater. These activities include mainly the organization of technical and scientific meetings on current topics such as groundwater in the new Water Act, overexploitation, groundwater in water-resources planning, groundwater pollution, natural-recharge estimation and others. The impact of these activities on the recent water policy of Spain seems significant, and the experience gained may be applicable to other countries. Received, February 1997 · Revised, July 1997 · Accepted, July 1997     

Challenges and strategies for better use of scientific information in the management of coastal estuaries

Numerous studies have concluded that better use of scientific information could improve the quality of coastal and estuarine environmental management. Approaches for effecting such a change include ecosystem-based, integrated, and adaptive management, but such basic re-orientation of estuarine and coastal management has proved difficult to achieve. Even environmental indicators, seemingly straightforward ways of injecting scientific information into decision making, have achieved broad on-the-ground use in relatively few instances—principally the largest estuary management programs. A conceptual framework useful for examining environmental management systems affecting the five PNCERS (Pacific Northwest coastal Ecosystems Regional Study) estuaries conceives of environmental managers, researchers, and interested and affected parties in the public as interacting through the multi-layered institutional arrangements that currently promote the utilization, management, or protection of coastal and estuarine resources. Considerable variation exists in the approach and effectiveness of the region's environmental management organizations. Interaction between science and management in the region appears to be limited to an extent by high transaction costs; a cultural divide between environmental scientists and environmental managers is perceived by members of both groups who work with the PNCERS estuaries as inhibiting communications between them. Mechanisms that both groups identify as useful for improving the flow of information between science and management are little used, perhaps as a result. The two groups have very different patterns of information dissemination and acquisition, and though both chose agency archives and databases as their top methods for disseminating information, neither group relies much on these vehicles for information they seek. Both residents' and practitioners' perceptions of threats to the PNCERS estuaries show patterns of estuary-to-estuary variation. One theme that emerges is that problems associated with poor land management in adjacent uplands are common to most of these estuaries, potentially providing a sense of commonality through which a more regional approach to estuary management could emerge. A common set of estuarine environmental indicators implemented for all estuaries could help instigate such a regional approach, but resource constraints, especially at the local level, will have to be overcome for that to occur. There is currently substantial lack of common vision among coastal practitioners as to the purpose and desirability of indicators, and relatively little experience or knowledge of their use, particularly at the local level. Use of estuarine science in the management of these estuaries appears to be greatest during periods in which the largest programmatic shifts in environmental management approaches occur, an observation consistent with other studies that have concluded that the use of environmental science in environmental management tends to be episodic.     

Sustainable mineral resources management: from regional mineral resources exploration to spatial contamination risk assessment of mining

Wide-spread environmental contamination associated with historic mining in Europe has triggered social responses to improve related environmental legislation, the environmental assessment and management methods for the mining industry. Mining has some unique features such as natural background contamination associated with mineral deposits, industrial activities and contamination in the three-dimensional subsurface space, problem of long-term remediation after mine closure, problem of secondary contaminated areas around mine sites, land use conflicts and abandoned mines. These problems require special tools to address the complexity of the environmental problems of mining-related contamination. The objective of this paper is to show how regional mineral resources mapping has developed into the spatial contamination risk assessment of mining and how geological knowledge can be transferred to environmental assessment of mines. The paper provides a state-of-the-art review of the spatial mine inventory, hazard, impact and risk assessment and ranking methods developed by national and international efforts in Europe. It is concluded that geological knowledge on mineral resources exploration is essential and should be used for the environmental contamination assessment of mines. Also, sufficient methodological experience, knowledge and documented results are available, but harmonisation of these methods is still required for the efficient spatial environmental assessment of mine contamination.     

Agricultural multifunctionality, environmental sustainability and the WTO: Resistance or accommodation to the neoliberal project for agriculture?

The liberalisation of agricultural markets is one of the most contested issues in international politics. Debates surrounding it counter-pose the moral imperative to dismantle protectionist agricultural subsidies in order to combat rural poverty in the South with fears for the livelihoods of marginal farmers and the environmental integrity of the countryside in the developed North. A largely European concern with defending the ‘multifunctionality’ of agriculture is dismissed by critics as a protectionist excuse for continued farm support. In this paper we seek to assess how far support for multifunctionality can be construed as a form of resistance to the neoliberal project for agriculture. The paper begins with an analysis of the European negotiating stance in the Doha round and the subsequent evolution of debates surrounding multifunctionality in an international setting. Having identified the European Union as one of the key sites of articulation concerning the implications of trade liberalisation for a multifunctional agriculture, the paper goes on to argue that multifunctionality within the framework of European rural policy emerges as a much more elusive and susceptible concept, informed by radically different interpretations of the vulnerability of family farmers to greater market exposure and the extent to which agricultural restructuring should be regarded as an issue of wider public concern. This maps onto a technically complex debate about how best to procure environmental public goods in a period of rapid agricultural change. The paper concludes that with these differences still very much in play, questions concerning the compatibility of multifunctionality with market liberalisation remain deeply unresolved at an important moment in the internationalisation of rural policy governance.     

Proposal for selection of control,preventive and rehabilitation measures based on degradation land level and geoindicators in the fortaleza metropolitan region,State of Ceará, Brazil

Preventive, controlling, rehabilitative and corrective measures to improve the environmental quality of the hydrographic basins of the Fortaleza metropolitan region in the state of Ceará (Brazil) are presented based on geological and geotechnical data, land degradation rates and sources, and other geoindicators. The region is affected by coastal and stream erosion, gravitational mass movement, dunes, silting, and water pollution, sanitary landfills in inappropriate sites, decommissioned and abandoned aggregate mining, and swamp areas. Geoindicators were used to classify each of the 12 hydrographic basins as possessing low (4), intermediate (3), or high (5) degradation levels. A group of 59 environmental management measures related to ecological, bioengineering, mechanical, policy and administrative, agricultural and clean-up methods was selected. From this general group a set of 31 measures was chosen considering goals, efficacy for specific environmental problems, suitability for large or small areas, behavior under different annual climatic conditions, environmental problems of the region, geological and geotechnical limitations and degradation level of the basins. A set of the more suitable geoindicators was selected for monitoring efficiency of the measures for each basin.     

The politics of barstool biology: Environmental knowledge and power in greater Northern Yellowstone

Critical researchers of underdevelopment have established a well-known record celebrating the environmental knowledges of subsistence communities in contested wildlife conservation zones. Similar battles are being fought over science, uncertainty, and wild animals in the American west, however, with far less attention to local epistemologies. Often dismissed as “barstool biology”, the ecological knowledges of local hunters in the Northern Yellowstone ecosystem are rooted in environmental experience and situated politics. How does local hunter knowledge diverge or converge with that of state officials, environmentalists, ranchers, and other constituencies, and to what effect on wildlife management policy? This paper seeks to answer that question, reviewing recent research amongst local resource users, managers, and activists in Montana. By rendering empirical the question of local knowledge around America’s oldest national park, rather than trying to “read it off” political affiliation, education, or livelihood, a clearer picture of power, knowledge, and conservation emerges. The results suggest that emerging management policies have developed from the discursive alliance of landowners, outfitters, and environmentalists, shifting priorities towards enclosure and exclusion in wildlife at the expense of other silent constituencies.