A Janus-faced biodiversity change and the partiality of ecological knowledge in a world biodiversity hotspot in Ghana: Implications for biodiversity rehabilitation

The Gyamfiase-Adenya-Obom cluster of villages in the forest-savanna region of Ghana is located within one of Conservation International’s 34 “World Biodiversity Hotspots” of the most biodiversity-threatened regions of the world. In collaboration with local farmers in this area since 1993, the People, Land Management and Ecological Change Project in Ghana (PLEC-Ghana) has been working on promoting biodiversity rehabilitation to address problems of biodiversity change. This goal is expected to be achieved through agrobiodiversity or biodiversity-friendly agricultural practices. However, farmers’ employment of these practices has been lackluster, even while they acknowledge biodiversity changes, dominated by Chromolaena odorata and other herbaceous species, that are driving the decline in forests and their biodiversity. In interpreting the difficulties of biodiversity rehabilitation in Gyamfiase-Adenya-Obom, this study outlines the diverging ecological knowledge of non-residents/outsiders and local farmers about biodiversity change, which it describes as Janus-like with two diverging faces. One face of biodiversity change shows the detrimental impacts on biodiversity and its observers—non-residents/outsiders—insist on biodiversity rehabilitation that nurtures forests, and the growth and domination of tree species. The other face of biodiversity change shows its agronomic advantages and its observers—the local farmers—are skeptical of current biodiversity rehabilitation practices. Farmers see agronomic benefits in biodiversity change, in particular the benefit of faster soil regeneration within the predominant bush fallow system of farming. And as a result of this observation, farmers continue with practices that sustain a decline in forests and biodiversity. Based on social and ecological research that explores three biodiversity-friendly practices promoted by PLEC-Ghana (fallow management, mulching, and intensive weeding to protect tree seedlings), this article discusses the partiality of ecological perspectives that emphasize either face of biodiversity change but not both, and the implications for biodiversity rehabilitation.     

深海化能合成生态系统研究进展

深海化能合成生态系统(ChEss)是当前最大的国际海洋生物多样性研究计划--国际海洋生物普查计划的现场研究项目之一.深海化能合成生态系统主要包括热液、冷泉、鲸骨生态系统以及由其他高度还原型生境形成的生态系统.确定上述系统动物区系间的进化和生态学关系,对于了解全球尺度上化能合成生态系统物种分布的形成过程至关重要.重点介绍深海化能合成生态系统科学计划发起的背景、研究内容和目标、研究区域、研究技术与方法以及当前在该领域的研究进展和展望,综合国际上在深海化能合成生态系统生物地理学和生物多样性方面的最新进展,了解其中的驱动过程,以期为我国在深海化能合成生态系统、极端环境下的生物多样性和生物地理学研究提供参考.     

South Australian farmers’ markets: tools for enhancing the multifunctionality of Australian agriculture

This paper critically examines the role of farmers’ markets in Australian agriculture. A case study is undertaken in South Australia, where all stallholders at three farmers’ markets situated in Adelaide, Willunga and Berri were surveyed regarding their production and marketing techniques. Overall responses supported literature highlighting the importance of farmers’ markets to the producers who chose to exploit this marketing niche. A strong co-reliance on ‘wholesale sales’ was also recognised, suggesting an important integration of productivist and post-productivist approaches to agricultural development. Of most promise for long-term agricultural sustainability was evidence that certain groups of farmers were found to be realising the potential of these and other alternative markets, in terms of their risk reducing capacity, and diversifying to include various conservation values into their agricultural enterprises. These groups were less concerned about market fluctuations and more concerned with issues of social equity, environmental health and having fun, which meant they unwittingly epitomised the goals of political ecology, by challenging the dominant agricultural methods of production and marketing. It seems these groups also recognised that the direct nature of their transactions would sow beneficial social, environmental and economic ‘seeds’ for change. Finally, it is argued that policies to improve access to farmers’ markets and reduce the cost of participation would assist small scale Australian agricultural producers to evolve smoothly into a multifunctional era.     

Impact assessment of the "Grain for Green Project" and discussion on the development models in the mountain-gorge regions

To restore China’s degraded ecological environment, the government has launched an environmental restoration project named the “Grain for Green Project” (GGP) in 1999. From 1999 to 2010, the government will spend 40 billion dollars to convert 147 million ha of croplands and 173 million ha of wastelands into forestlands and grasslands in 25 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. A primary goal is to replace cropping and livestock grazing in fragile areas with trees and grass. Given the tremendous scale and great number of participants in the project, the attitudes of the affected farmers and the future development in the area where GGP is implemented have a direct influence on the success of the project. To gain a clear idea about the farmers’ attitudes towards the project and put forward the development models for the forestlands converted from croplands, two case sites in the mountain-gorge region in Nujiang River are selected as the study areas, and the methods of field survey and semi-structured interview are adopted to make interviews with more than 100 households in 2002 and 2003 in order to quantify the farmers’ opinions about the GGP and how it has affected their livelihood, socio-cultural and industrial structures, etc. The results are as follows: 1) the project has a certain influence on the farmers with better economic basis and exerts greater influence on the farmers living in the low-elevation regions than on those living in the regions with middle-high elevation; 2) the production models of the local farmers has changed from cultivation and animal husbandry to forestry and sidelines due to the project and the income structure has changed from animal husbandry as main income source to state subsidy and sideline as main income sources; 3) the reduction in the grain income and decrease in the quantity of livestock because of the project have led to the diminution in the total income of the farmers; 4) the project has resulted in changes in the lifestyles and architecture styles of the local farmers, and the traditional “huotang” culture has gone away after the implementation of the project; 5) energy utilization has changed from firewood to methane and electricity in the wake of the implementation of the project. The above-mentioned study results have indicated that the GGP has truly exerted influence on the livelihood and production of the local farmers. Therefore, it is very necessary to make a research into the development models in the forestlands converted from croplands to resolve the problems of the farmers’ livelihood and production. The study results will provide some references for the sustainable development of the mountain-gorge regions.     

可持续生计的研究现状及未来重点趋向

Under the background of fast urbanization and urban-rural dual structure in China, the research about sustainable livelihoods has important theoretical and practical meaning for solving the problem of poverty in rural areas and promoting the transformation of semi-urbanized farmers who live in city to urban residents. First, this paper reviewed the emergence and development history of sustainable livelihoods, and introduced current frameworks of sustainable livelihoods analysis. Second, this paper summarized the international research status quo from the aspects of both theory and practice, concluded the domestic research progress from four aspects including vulnerability context, livelihoods assets, policy and institution influencing process, livelihoods strategy and outcome. This study believed that the problems of current sustainable livelihoods research included: The theoretical system is incomplete and needs to be improved; research methods and technological means are not complete, which could obstruct research results; most researches focus on rather static assessment than dynamic forecast; researchers focus mainly on case study in rural areas, lacking in the semi-urbanized farmers in the urbanization process and macro level study. Finally, this paper suggested five key issues of future sustainable livelihoods research including the sustainable livelihoods research of a large number of semi-urbanized farmers in the urbanization process, sustainable livelihoods research at macro level, integrated study of both humanities and natural sciences, dynamic study based on new technological means, and sustainable livelihoods research in typical case areas.     

Participation dynamics and institutional change in the Scolel Té carbon forestry project,Chiapas, Mexico

Carbon forestry has become a cornerstone of attempted climate change mitigation in developing countries. As such, dozens of projects have been developed to supply carbon offsets to both voluntary and regulated carbon markets. In this paper we shed further light on the effects of such projects on communities and households by studying the implementation of a carbon forestry project in four communities in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. The project pays farmers to carry out a number of tree-planting activities depending on the local agro-ecological systems. We investigate how such activities have been promoted in and adopted by communities and we identify a series of community-based, institutional, resource management and asset-related factors that explain farmers’ willingness to participate in the projects. Our analysis highlights a number of shared motivations for joining the project but varied levels of understanding about the project rationale. We also show how community norms, access to land tenure, financial and physical assets differ among participants and non-participants which translates in increasing inequalities in access to income and to other development projects. However, we also demonstrate that project activities, as currently designed, motivate some farmers to participate because of the potential of the project to act as a mechanism to bridge existing social divides through cooperation in the project and therefore financially and politically benefit from participation. Overall, the paper demonstrates that the project contributes to transforming local livelihoods and institutions, unfortunately not always as originally designed.     

莱芜市被征地农民基本养老保险问题初探

莱芜市本着即征即保和被征地后人均农用地不足0.3亩整体参保的原则,将全市所有被征地农民全部纳入基本养老保险范围,全面实施了被征地农民基本养老保险制度。但具体实施过程中仍然遇到一些困难和问题。对莱芜市被征地农民基本养老保险现行政策及实施过程中遇到的困难和存在问题进行了分析,并提出了合理化建议。     

基于IUCN《矿山生物多样性管理系列指南》的大宝山矿生态修复实践研究

为研究矿山开采及修复过程中如何开展生物多样性管理,本文借鉴IUCN(世界自然保护联盟)发布的《矿山生物多样性管理系列指南》成果,将相关理论和方法应用到广东大宝山矿生态修复实践中.文章在介绍IUCN的"综合生物多样性管理体系"方法主要内容的基础上,将其作为大宝山矿实施生态修复依据,阐述了该管理体系在矿山生态修复工程中的应...     

生态补偿方式对农户生计资本的影响分析

随着生态补偿研究的不断深入与生态补偿工程的广泛实施, 提高了人们对于环境问题的认识, 遏制了生态脆弱地区环境的进一步退化.实施生态补偿的环境保护作用显而易见, 不乏论述, 但对于改善农户生计水平, 提高生计资本的效用却鲜有论及.从农户生计入手, 评估农户的生计资本, 量化实施生态补偿对农户生计资本的影响, 分析生态补偿方式对农户生计资本的影响作用, 有利于揭示与评估生态补偿实施的有效性.对于地处黑河流域中游地区的张掖市来讲, 可以通过提高人力资本、 物质资本和金融资本的水平, 从而整体上提高农户的生计资本水平. 政策支持和资金支持两种补偿方式被多数农户作为首先的补偿方式, 而将物质支持作为首先的补偿方式人数较少; 技术补偿和物质补偿对物质资本、 物质补偿和政策补偿对社会资本显著, 且对于各生计资本的组份有正向拉动作用. 此外, 尝试分析了对各种补偿方式对生计资本拉动作用原因的推断.     

Traditional prediction of drought under weather and climate uncertainty: analyzing the challenges and opportunities for small-scale farmers in Gaza province,southern region of Mozambique

This paper explores the traditional indicators that small-scale farmers in Gaza province in southern Mozambique use to predict drought events on their rain-fed farms. It analyzes the contextual situation regarding the accuracy and reliability of the traditional prediction methods under the current weather and conditions of climate uncertainty and variability, and the opportunities that their prediction methods can bring to reduce their current and future exposure and vulnerabilities to drought. Farmers use a total of 11 traditional environmental indicators to predict drought, either individually or combined, as required to increase their prediction certainty. However, the farmers perceive that current unpredictability, variability, and changes in weather and climate have negatively affected the interpretation, accuracy, and reliability of most of their prediction indicators, and thus their farming activities and their ability to predict and respond to drought. This, associated with the reduced number of elders in the community, is causing a decline in the diversity, and complexity of interpretation of indicators. Nonetheless, these difficulties have not impeded farmers from continuing to use their preferred prediction methods, as on some occasions they continue to be useful for their farming-related decisions and are also the main, or sometimes only, source of forecast. Considering the role these methods play in farmers’ activities, and the limited access to meteorological forecasts in most rural areas of Mozambique, and the fact that the weather and climate is expected to continually change, this paper concludes that it is important to enhance the use of traditional prediction methods. However, the increase of the accuracy and reliability, and continued existence of the methods depends on the farmers’ own abilities to enhance, preserve, and validate them by tailoring the traditional methods used to work with the new environmental, weather, and climatic conditions, or through the development of new methods.

     

土地整治中农民集中居住问题探讨

推进农村土地整治并做好农民安置新居建设,有利于土地集约节约利用,并有助于切实改善农民生活环境。以江南圩区为例,分析了土地整治过程中引导农民集中居住的现实问题,对可选择的路径进行了探讨。     

The multifunctionality of heritage food: The example of pinole,a Mexican sweet

Pinole is a heritage foodstuff whose analysis provides the lens to understand the plight of Mexican farmers and the role translocal actors play in the articulation of global food heritage. To preserve and sell pinole, the pinole project was created from two groups of Mexicans born in Ozolco - a small rural village - and who now reside on either side of the Mexican and US border. By analysing members’ discourses, this article demonstrates how pinole is essentialised or commodified, and how it provides the platform for actors to formulate a variety of identities according to their socio-economic and geographical contexts. Bridging the literatures on food-studies and place-making, the multifunctionality of pinole transpires as inherently linked to the emergence of differing notions of place embedded in Ozolco. Exploring members’ varying priorities, from perpetuating rural lifestyles to preserving their hometown and its native blue corn, the project epitomises the struggle of farmers with Mexico’s migration drain and their efforts to economically engage with global markets of corn by circulating an added-value corn product within translocal networks as well as re-appropriate corn’s socio-cultural meaning.     

油气勘探开发项目投资决策路径的设计

研究油气勘探开发项目投资决策路径的根本目的在于规避风险,以利润极大化为原则,兼顾社会目标,正确选择投资方向,合理安排投资规模,保证石油化工企业油气资源的持续安全供应和可持续发展,提高集团的竞争力。油气勘探开发项目具有明显的实物期权特性,传统的NPV方法已经不适应此类项目的评价与决策,本文结合中石化的实际,从企业目标和社会目标2个方面着手,提出了基于实物期权的油气勘探开发项目投资决策路径,从而丰富了项目投资决策的思路和方法。     

Re-mining the collections: From bioprospecting to biodiversity offsetting in Madagascar

Madagascar has always held a special place on the bioprospecting map. Designated as one of the world’s “hottest” biodiversity hotspots, scientists believe the extremely high flora and faunal endemism contain unique potential for the commercialisation of natural products. Years of collections by bioprospectors in Madagascar are beginning to pay off, not necessarily from drug discovery, but through the biodata from their botanical collections. In the paper, we highlight the links between labour and value over time to illustrate the historical process of collecting inventories of biodata and calculating biodiversity metrics. As we demonstrate, biodata originally used for the purposes of drug discovery and scientific exploration are now being repurposed in biodiversity offsetting programs for multinational mining operations in Madagascar. This project of “re-mining” biodata has reinforced the power of select research institutions which now service their expertise for biodiversity offsetting initiatives. In sum, botanical agencies are far from apolitical actors in these new iterations of market-conservation but active participants in a new age of green grabbing.     

工程勘察设计企业项目管理研究

项目管理是国际上通行的科学的管理模式之一。但由于各种原因,项目管理并没有被我国勘察设计行业的多数企业采用。作者从分析我国工程勘察设计企业项目管理的现状入手,重点分析了项目管理的基本内涵,并结合项目管理的内涵和勘察设计企业的特点,指出项目管理必然成为科技型企业以及勘察设计企业管理的主导模式。还就项目管理与企业组织结构的选择以及勘察设计企业如何开展项目管理进行了具体分析和研究,提出了具有实际可操作性的对策建议。     

油气勘探开发项目投资决策路径的设计

研究油气勘探开发项目投资决策路径的根本目的在于规避风险,以利润极大化为原则,兼顾社会目标,正确选择投资方向,合理安排投资规模,保证石油化工企业油气资源的持续安全供应和可持续发展,提高集团的竞争力.油气勘探开发项目具有明显的实物期权特性,传统的NPV方法已经不适应此类项目的评价与决策,本文结合中石化的实际,从企业目标和社会目标2个方面着手,提出了基于实物期权的油气勘探开发项目投资决策路径,从而丰富了项目投资决策的思路和方法.     

Regional integration or disintegration? Recent road improvements in Petén, Guatemala: A review of preliminary economic, agricultural, and environmental impacts

Many studies have examined the impacts of new roads in tropical forest frontiers. In general, these have led to substantial deforestation because they provide access to peasant farmers in need of land for food production and income generation. But few studies have investigated the impacts of improvements made to existing roads in frontier regions, and more specifically, their effects on the rural economy, land use, and land cover. This paper discusses the results of a 2001 study of these impacts, following the recent paving of the main road between Petén, a lowland frontier region in northern Guatemala, and the more densely populated highland regions of the country. This improvement, completed in late 1999, has yielded a major reduction in travel time between Flores, Petén and Guatemala City, the capital, from 12 to 14 h, or more, previously, to 7-8 h currently. The effects of this substantial change were examined through interviews and discussions with farmers, market vendors, and representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations in the region, and through analyzing the limited available data on imports to Petén from other parts of the country. The results indicate that to date, the farmers in the study area have not altered their land use patterns because the prices they receive from intermediaries have not changed, and no market for new crops has emerged. However, more agricultural products raised in other regions of Guatemala are now being sold in Petén. Therefore, producers in Petén seemingly face greater competition from those elsewhere in the country. This trend has important implications regarding the impacts of regional integration, and for the difficult challenge of improving agricultural and environmental conditions in Petén.     

Globally engaged farmers as transnational actors: Navigating the landscape of agri-food globalization

Farmers are not commonly included in studies of transnational actors, but with the globalization of agricultural markets, and the neoliberal reform of national agricultural sectors, an increasing number of family farm-entrepreneurs have become engaged in transnational activities. Drawing on interviews with ‘globally-engaged’ farmers in Australia – a country in which expansion into transnational activities has been encouraged by the radical deregulation of domestic markets – this paper explores the transnational mobilities of farmers who have sought to capitalize on the advantages of globalization by directly trading with international partners, establishing international business contacts, and learning international best practice in farm efficiency and environmental performance. In particular, the paper examines the varying spatialities and forms of mobility executed by farmers and observes how different patterns of mobility are executed in response to the particular exigencies of their respective industries as well as the ongoing imperatives of maintaining a farm business. By analyzing the farmers’ own narratives of these different spatialities, the paper develops a more critical and reflexive perspective on globalization and its impact on rural producers, with travel becoming both an opportunity to be enjoyed and a compulsion to be endured by those forced to operate in a climate where state-based support structures are absent.     

The political ecology of biodiversity conservation on the Malagasy Highlands

During the past two decades biodiversity conservation has become the major focus of international interventions by donor organizations and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) working in Madagascar. Despite these efforts, biodiversity losses continue unabated and the conservation activities undertaken to date appear ineffective. This paper summarizes the findings of a research study conducted on the central highlands of Madagascar that sought to examine possible reasons for the continued erosion of biodiversity in the country. A political ecology research framework is used to identify different social actor groups vying for access to natural resources and the extent to which their actions influence biodiversity on the island. The application of this framework reveals three major findings: (1) the existence of tensions between groups of social actors vying for access to and use of natural resources; (2) the characteristics and role of power differs greatly by actor group and it is the maldistribution of power, and its manifestations of use, that have detrimental effects on regional biodiversity; and (3) there are numerous aspects of the `conventional wisdom' that have permeated the thinking of staff from extralocal actor groups (especially NGOs, donors, and government agencies) and are largely false. Such `wisdom,' perpetrated by discourse and media, lacks understanding of local livelihood patters and local needs. However, endowed with political power and financial influence, this wisdom dominates local knowledge and ultimately leads to the conception and realization of conservation projects that fail to achieve their stated objectives. The behaviors of all of the actors in this situation perpetuate the status quo, including current patterns of biodiversity elimination.     

Part-time farming in Canada: Issues and non-issues

Part-time farming has always existed in Canada. Since 1941, about one-third of census-farm operators have reported some off-farm work. The structure of participation in off-farm work by type of farm remained relatively stable in the 1961 to 1976 period suggesting a stable relationship between the production of certain food commodities and off-farm work by farmers.Off-farm work can be considered to be one of the productive enterprises to which an operator may allocate his human and non-human capital endowment. There is no (economic) theoretical basis for policies to discriminate against part-time farmers — part-time farming is consistent with efficient food production.Off-farm work is one way to improve the welfare of farmers and rural communities. Off-farm work appears to aid the entry of many but not a majority of recent entrants to the status of full-time farming. Not many full-time farmers appear to use off-farm work as a mechanism to leave agriculture. Public policies should directly pursue their objectives of efficient food production, fair farmer incomes etc. regardless of whether the farmer is full-time or part-time.