Sustainable environmental resource utilisation: a case study of farmers’ ethnobotanical knowledge and rural change in Bungoma district, Kenya

This paper examines farmers’ ethnobotanical knowledge, innovation and rural change, and indicates one way in which indigenous technical knowledge complementing scientific knowledge may be documented for use by development planners and agencies. This paper firstly identifies plant species recognised as resources by farmers, and considers the value of these resources. Secondly, the paper documents and assesses the ethnobotanical knowledge associated with the utilisation of plant species, before turning to examine how plant resources are defined by use and culture. It also demonstrates that some components of ethnobotanical knowledge have potential for the sustainable development of plant species. The study shows that farmers have started to domesticate some of the ‘traditional’ plants, and new crops have been introduced associated with corresponding innovations in local agricultural systems. Since the farmers have a relatively strong tradition in natural resources conservation, this study suggests that it will be possible to introduce community-based gene banks linked to formal or government facilities. The paper demonstrates that it is important to combine and interweave ‘modern’ and indigenous knowledges to produce a more realistic and sensitive understanding and management of natural environmental resources for sustainable development.     

Farmers&rsquo|vulnerability to flood risk: A case study in the Poyang Lake Region

This paper quantitatively explores farmers’ vulnerability to flood in the Poyang Lake Region (PLR) with the supports of GIS spatial functions. The analysis consists of three major steps, which is based on the spatial unit of township. Firstly, the spatial extent and charac-teristics of flood risk areas were determined using a digital elevation model (DEM) derived from the 1:50,000 topographic map. Secondly, for each of the township, six indices indicating the economic activities of local farmers were calculated. These indices are: rural population proportion, cultivated land proportion, GDP per unit area, employment proportion of primary industry, net rural income per capita and agricultural income proportion. These six indices were then normalized and used for later vulnerability assessment. Thirdly, the normalized indices (as GIS data layers) were overlaid with the flood risk areas to produce the risk coeffi-cient for each township and to calculate the overall vulnerability for each township. The analysis results show that in the PLR there are high flood risk areas where the farmers’ livings are seriously influenced or threatened. About 55.56% of the total 180 townships in the flood risk areas have a high degree of flood vulnerability. The townships under flood risk are mainly distributed in the areas around the Poyang Lake and the areas along the “five rivers”.     

Changing Rural Spaces: Deregulation and the decline of tobacco farming in the Mareeba-Dimbulah Irrigation Area,Far North Queensland

The growing of tobacco was one of the most tightly regulated industries in Australia, until deregulation in 1995. Commonwealth regulations controlled the area cultivated with tobacco, the number of growers (i.e. quota holders) and marketing arrangements for tobacco leaf. This paper begins by outlining the nature and historical development of controls in the tobacco-growing industry, and discusses how the Commonwealth government removed the industry's regulatory and protective framework in 1995. The third part of the paper examines how deregulation has impacted upon the Mareeba-Dimbulah Irrigation Area, Far North Queensland, where small farmers produced 60 per cent of Australia's tobacco in 1995. The discussion will show that the agricultural landscape once dominated by tobacco has been transformed, as local farmers abandoned growing tobacco in favour of sugar cane, avocadoes, mangoes, macadamia nuts and other small vegetable crops (e.g. navy beans, pumpkins). Tobacco, once promoted by the Queensland government as a crop to facilitate closer settlement in the Mareeba-Dimbulah Irrigation Area, will have almost vanished from the landscape by 2002.     

Patterns of development in tourist accommodation enterprises on farms in England and Wales

The spatial distribution of UK farm-based tourist accommodation is not known in detail, although this type of facility has been an important element in the growth of rural tourism and the most common option for farm diversification. A database of farms in England and Wales offering tourist accommodation has been prepared and the individual entries georeferenced to enable their locations to be determined with respect to selected Scenic Areas (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Heritage Coasts and National Parks). Exploratory analysis of this database indicates a possible ‘neighbourhood effect’ in which the provision of farm-based accommodation within buffer zones immediately surrounding these designated areas has a higher level of penetration in the farming community than in more distant areas. Further research is outlined to examine the interaction between actors in farming and planning communities using the geographical framework presented here.     

Taking Stock: Farmers' reflections on the deregulation of Australian dairying

On 1 July 2000 significant changes to the regulation of Australian dairying came into effect. These changes eliminated subsidies to milk producers and removed barriers to the inter-State trade of dairy products. Victoria's dairy industry group was a powerful proponent of deregulation, because of the comparative advantage that the State's farmers have in production relative to Australia's other milk producers. However, the deregulation of the dairy industry was contested stridently by many stakeholders, particularly farmers and their representative groups in States other than Victoria. Even within Victoria some farmers were equivocal and some were opposed to the regulatory changes. This paper draws on interviews with informants in the Victorian dairy sector to reveal responses to the regulatory changes. The interviews indicate that opinion was divided before deregulation and remains so. The debate was largely between those who saw the regulatory changes as 'inevitable', some of whom thought it would be a 'good thing' and others who accepted, grudgingly, that it was simply going to happen, and those who thought there had to be alternatives that would avoid the expected adverse consequences.     

Land use optimization at small watershed scale on the Loess Plateau

At present, land use optimization at small watershed scale is the key measure to control soil erosion, restore the eco-environment and improve the farmers’ living standard on the Loess Plateau, China. Based on the land use survey maps of 1966, 1988, 1997, 2003 and the digital topographic map of 1984 in Yangou watershed, and assisted by spatial techniques of GIS, the basic characteristics and driving forces of land use change in Yangou watershed are analyzed. According to the summarization of land-use optimization characteristics since 1997, and with the help of continuous monitoring data for years and farmer investigation data, this paper appraises eco-environmental benefits, economic benefits and sustainability of Yangou watershed. We have used sediment reduction benefits, coverage ratio of permanent vegetation, per capita food production and per capita income of farmers as indices. The results show that Yangou watershed project has successfully controlled the soil and water loss and the farmers’ living standard has been improved markedly by reasonable adjustment to land use structure. The benefit of sediment reduction is higher than 80% and the coverage ratio of permanent vegetation reaches 61.03%. In 2006, the per capita income increased by 1493 yuan compared with the year 1998.The successful measures and experiences of Yangou watershed are worth promoting on the Loess Plateau.     

Eco-compensation effects of the wetland recovery in Dongting Lake area

Eco-compensation is an environmental economic instrument for internalization of external cost. Returning farmland to lake is one of the important parts of restoring wetland ecosystem function in the Yangtze River Valley of China. Whether the project of lake recovery can be successful depends on the compensation to the farmers who have lost their original benefits and contributed to the wetland ecosystem recovery by returning farmland to lake. Aiming at the wetland recovery of the Dongting Lake, the practical implementation of programs of the lake recovery and flood control in this area has been challenged by the heavy task of population resettlement, so it is an ideal area for case studies to reach the academic objectives proposed as the above. Based on field survey and experimentation, this research evaluated the benefit losses of the resettled farmers and the increased values of ecosystem service functions caused by wetland recovery, and furthermore, the value of eco-compensation for relocated farmers was calculated by considering the combination of the farmers’ compensation appeal. The value of eco-compensation for relocated farmers in the Dongting Lake area was 6084.5 yuan per household by synthetic analysis of the effects on wetland ecosystem restoration. Moreover, this article took Dongting Lake area as a case to study and explore the basic issues of the eco-compensation by returning farmland to lake, that was who should pay, who should be paid, how much the payment was and what the payment means was, which sought the mechanisms of wetland restoration eco-compensation and prompted the people’s enthusiasms for ecological restoration.     

Farmers＇ vulnerability to flood risk： A case study in the Poyang Lake Region

This paper quantitatively explores farmers＇ vulnerability to flood in the Poyang Lake Region （PLR） with the supports of GIS spatial functions. The analysis consists of three major steps, which is based on the spatial unit of township. Firstly, the spatial extent and characteristics of flood risk areas were determined using a digital elevation model （DEM） derived from the 1：50,000 topographic map. Secondly, for each of the township, six indices indicating the economic activities of local farmers were calculated. These indices are： rural population proportion, cultivated land proportion, GDP per unit area, employment proportion of primary industry, net rural income per capita and agricultural income proportion. These six indices were then normalized and used for later vulnerability assessment. Thirdly, the normalized indices （as GIS data layers） were overlaid with the flood risk areas to produce the risk coefficient for each township and to calculate the overall vulnerability for each township. The analysis results show that in the PLR there are high flood risk areas where the farmers＇ livings are seriously influenced or threatened. About 55.56% of the total 180 townships in the flood risk areas have a high degree of flood vulnerability. The townships under flood risk are mainly distributed in the areas around the Poyang Lake and the areas along the ＂five rivers＂.     

Quality issues in harvested rainwater in arid and semi-arid Loess Plateau of northern China

Loess soils cover vast areas in the arid and semi-arid regions of northern China. Due to the lack of reliable surface water and ground-water, rainwater harvesting has played a prominent role in farmers’ domestic usage and agricultural irrigation. An economical and valid type of water storage cistern with optimum design of components has been introduced to rural areas in the Loess Plateau. Different collection alternatives showed apparent variations in rainwater quality. By using different catchments, such as mortar roofs and cement-paved courtyards, compacted land or road surfaces, rainwater can be effectively collected for storage in cisterns. This study focused mainly on the quality of rainwater harvested from the different catchment systems and stored for different periods of time. By analysis of the water samples stored in these cisterns, it was evident that rainwater quality could be improved significantly by self-purification during the storage. With emphasis on rainwater quality affected by the different catchment systems, it was found that the measured inorganic compounds in the rainwater harvested from roof-yard catchment systems generally matched the WHO standards for drinking water, while the concentrations of some inorganic compounds in the rainwater collected from land and road surfaces appeared to be higher than the guideline values for drinking water, but generally not beyond the maximum permissible concentrations. However, Fecal Coliform, which is an important bacteriological parameter for the three catchment systems, exceeded the limits of drinking water to a greater extend. Trace amounts of 55 organic pollutants were identified, including aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic compounds and phthalate esters, etc. The analytical results indicated that roof-yard catchments that included the “first flush” usually provided safe drinking water with low organic contents, even for rainwater collected immediately after rainfall. In contrast, rainwater harvested from road surfaces had poor quality with respect to the organic constituents, regardless of stored time.     

Watching the East: Constructions of ‘otherness’ in TV representations of East Germany

Coming from a socio-cultural geography perspective this paper sets out to question the ‘essentiality’ of East/West German differences, often said to persist in Germany despite (re)unification, by analysing the way in which they are socially constructed in German television reports and films today. Particular emphasis is placed upon the social and spatial positioning of the TV producers, of those represented, and of the audience. It is suggested that television representations such as those analysed in the paper effect a marginalization of East Germans and East Germany that can be partially resisted on the basis of contradictions ‘within’ and ‘outside’ filmic texts.     

泾河流域生态系统服务消耗及变化认知分析：基于农户问卷调查和参与式社区评估

本文以黄土高原泾河流域上游固原市为例,采用农户问卷调查和参与式社区评估方法,研究农户对生态系统服务认知及消费,并对两种方法认知结果进行比较分析。研究发现,农户问卷调查方法农户认知到食物供给、净化空气、净化环境、水土保持、供给洁净水、减少自然灾害、提高收入、薪柴供给、景观愉悦、牧草供给和防风固沙11项生态系统服务,农户日常对生态系统服务的占有和消耗及生态系统服务对农户的重要性程度影响农户对生态系统服务的认知;参与式社区评估（PRA）方法农户可以充分进行信息交流与讨论,与农户问卷调查法相比对生物多样性服务有了认知。研究区生态系统服务发生很大变化,食物供给和薪柴供给服务明显减弱,收入增加;受生态系统服务变化及收入水平的影响,农户食物和能源消费存在明显时空差异,总体而言,农户食物消费总量下降,大部分农户薪柴消费数量减少,农户对蔬菜、肉类、煤炭、天然气等的消费量增加。     

呼和浩特市居住用地地价分布的时空特征

分析城市内部基准地价的时空格局,有助于土地市场的宏观调控和土地资源的优化配置。本文以呼和浩特 市区为研究区,在城市居住用地土地价格调查和动态监测的基础上,对2001~2007 年居住用地分布的时空特征进 行分析。主要结论如下：城市主城区居住用地的级别和基准地价由内向外顺次降低,但级别边界受到城市道路的直 接影响;基准地价与级别之间存在着显著的负相关关系,随着城市的发展,高低级别间基准地价的差距进一步扩 大;研究期内,基准地价变化在时间上呈现出阶段性特征,在空间上城市中心区和城乡结合部基准地价增幅最快, 城市腹地稍慢,近郊区最慢。     

Pastoralists’ perceptions and realities of vegetation change and browse consumption in the northern Kalahari, Namibia

Pastoral production around artificial watering points in semi-arid environments affects the density and composition of plant communities. In the Kalahari desert of southwestern Africa, bush encroachment is often regarded as the major form of land degradation resulting from pastoral production around watering points. We investigated the OvaHerero pastoralists’ perceptions of the extent of vegetation change since the establishment of artificial watering points in the northern Kalahari desert of Namibia, and related this to ecological data on vegetation change. We determined the utility of woody vegetation to pastoralists’ livelihoods in terms of provision of construction material, fuel wood and browse. We quantified local knowledge of cattle browse consumption and correlated this with field data. We also assessed the purposes for which major livestock types were used. Our results showed that: (1) pastoral knowledge of bush encroachment and browse consumption was consistent with concurrently collected field data, (2) the current level of bush encroachment was perceived to be beneficial for pastoral production, and (3) cattle played an important role in the production of milk and milk by-products for domestic use, and served as a source of cash income, while sheep and goats were primarily kept for meat consumption. This result contrasts with historical studies that mainly portray cattle as a symbol of social status among OvaHerero pastoralists.     

Tourism and sustainable water supply in Mallorca: a geographical analysis

Problems of sustainability of water supply in tourist resorts are becoming an increasingly common and important issue in applied geography and environmental management. This paper examines the relationships between tourism and water supply on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, discussing both the scale of the problem and recent measures to find a solution, particularly the proposed Hydrological Plan for the Balearic Islands (published in 1998/9). Since Mallorca lies in an area likely to be seriously affected by future climate change, its potential effects are discussed and evaluated. One of the most critical problems relates to the coarse spatial resolution of general circulation models for predicting precipitation in an area where precipitation regimes grade steeply from semi-arid to humid temperate. However, it is likely that a continuation of the marked inter-annual and decadal-scale variability in precipitation seen during the recent past probably poses a greater threat to Mallorca’s water supply than the more gradual, progressive change typically predicted to accompany future global warming. Similarly, continued over-exploitation of coastal aquifers will be more critical to water quality issues than the direct impacts of any future sea level rise, although the latter would undoubtedly exacerbate these effects. The conclusion discusses the controversial new ecotasa (‘ecotax’), due to be imposed on Mallorca’s tourist industry in 2002, which is likely to represent only a partial solution to the long-term water supply problem. As the physical, cultural and economic environments of Mallorca are typical of much of the Mediterranean region, the implications of this issue extend well beyond the island’s shores.     

In-channel geomorphic complexity: The key to the dynamics of organic matter in large dryland rivers?

Large rivers are often considered to retain less organic material than smaller streams primarily because of a decrease in retentive structures. From our observations on the Barwon–Darling River, a semi-arid river in southeastern Australia, we suggest that geomorphic complexity plays a fundamental role in the retention of organic matter. The Barwon–Darling River has a ‘complex’ river channel cross-section with large inset benches being a prominent morphological feature within the channel. The importance of geomorphic complexity for retaining organic material is likely to be significant in dryland rivers. These rivers spend extended periods at low flow with infrequent large floods that inundate the floodplain. They do, however, experience more frequent within channel floods that inundate in-channel ‘bench’ features. In-channel geomorphic complexity and its ability to retain organic material, therefore, means that although the dominant lateral movements of organic material will still occur during large overbank flows, smaller ‘pulse’ inputs will occur with each in-channel rise and fall in water level. In dryland rivers, where large overbank flows may only occur every seven or more years, these small ‘pulse’ inputs of organic material may well be vital for the integrity of the system.This paper describes the contemporary complexity of a channel in a regulated and an unregulated reach of the Barwon–Darling and compares this with cross-sections surveyed in 1886. We show that flow regulation has greatly reduced channel complexity. We estimate the potential organic matter input to each bench level within the channel (using data collected under near natural riparian conditions) and measure the contemporary organic loads within the channel of the regulated and unregulated reach. This modelling suggests that the development of water resources has reduced the complexity of the channel in the regulated reach, resulting in a potential decrease in the retention of organic matter in this region of the river. The importance of this organic matter to the aquatic food web of the Barwon–Darling River is also demonstrated.     

Pastoral mobility, sedentarization and accessibility of health services in the northeast Badia of Jordan

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has attempted to achieve ‘Health for All by the Year 2000’. However, this aim has been limited in its success and significant levels of poor health remain. The WHO concede this and have revised their slogan: ‘Health for All in the Twenty-First Century’. One of the central problems has been social and geographical inequity of development and, importantly, that health services are inaccessible to large segments of the population in many developing countries. To this end, the Jordanian government has attempted to improve accessibility in rural communities by providing an extensive network of basic rural health clinics. However, a significant factor impeding this goal has been that much of the population is dispersed and that many practise pastoral nomadism. This paper reviews the extent to which rural clinical services have been made accessible to the nomadic and sedentarizing population of the northeast Jordan Badia.     

From Pillar to Post? In search of the post-productivist countryside in Australia

According to a growing number of commentators, the agricultural sectors and rural areas of advanced Western nations are experiencing a transition from productivism to post-productivism. In Britain and Western Europe, where this putative transition is most evident, the salient features of the shift include: the gradual removal of farm-level subsidies and related stimulatory policies; the introduction of a range of agri-environmental programs aimed at reducing agricultural commodity surpluses and halting farm-related environmental degradation; and the development of a more socially and culturally heterogeneous rural population as counter-urbanisation has brought a new stratum of residents into rural areas. This paper explores this notion in the Australian context. In analysing a wide range of data and policy documents, the paper argues that while there is some evidence of a productivist regime operating in Australia from 1945 to the early 1980s, and some more recent incipient trends consistent with a transition to a post-productivist countryside, there is much stronger evidence that the Australian farm sector and rural landscapes are being shaped by the complex interactions between the 'productivist' ideals held by farmers and key policy makers alike, and the growing environmental regulation of farming. It is concluded that while the concept of 'post-productivism' is superficially appealing, it has little practical or conceptual application to Australian conditions. Indeed, the paper argues that 'post-productivism' is fundamentally misconceived, largely owing to its inherent binary narrative form and logic.     

An approach for quantifying geomorphological impacts for EIA of transportation infrastructures: a case study in northern Spain

A methodological proposal for the assessment of impacts due to linear infrastructures such as motorways, railways, etc. is presented. The approach proposed includes a series of specific issues to be addressed for each geomorphological feature analysed—both ‘static’ and ‘dynamic’—as well as a series of steps to be followed in the process.Geomorphic characteristics potentially affected were initially identified on the basis of a conceptual activities/impacts model that helps to single out geomorphic impacts related to environmental concerns for the area. The following issues were addressed for each individual impact: nature of potential effects; indicators that can be used to measure impacts; criteria of ‘geomorphologic performance’; procedure for measurement/prediction of changes; translation of geomorphologic impacts into significant terms from the viewpoint of human concerns; possible mitigation and/or compensation measures.The procedure has been applied to a case study corresponding to a new motorway in the Basque Country, northern Spain. Geomorphological impacts considered in this analysis included: (1) consumable resources; (2) sites of geomorphological interest; (3) land units with high potential for use, high productivity or value for conservation; (4) visual landscape; (5) slope instability processes. The procedure has been designed for implementation in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. Details are given on the application of the method to each individual impact analysed and results are presented in both numerical and map form.Impacts assessed were initially expressed by means of heterogeneous magnitudes, depending on the geomorphological feature considered. Those geomorphological impacts were then translated into significant terms and homogeneous magnitudes. Integration was carried out on the basis of impact values thus obtained. Final integrated results were also expressed in numerical and map form.The method proposed enables comparison of alternatives as well as ‘prediction’ and assessment of impacts in terms directly related to geomorphic characteristics. It also facilitates the expression of those impacts in terms that allow integration with other types of environmental impacts.     

20世纪90年代以来非洲城市化的特点和动因

一般来说,持续的经济发展和城市化是相伴发生的,但是在非洲,城市化进程并没有带来相应的经济发展,非洲的快速城市化主要是由大量农村人口向城市的盲目流动导致的。文中主要针对非洲快速城市化和经济发展不同步的独特现象,具体分析了导致农村人口向城市迁移的主要原因,并总结出其对中国城市化进程的启示。     

张家界农户乡村旅游脆弱性评价与影响因素

以张家界7个村庄334户农户为研究对象,运用参与式农村评估法（PRA）、主成分分析法、聚类分析法和多元线性回归等方法,分析不同类型农户脆弱性指数以及脆弱性影响因素。研究结果表明：① 农户乡村旅游脆弱性类型可分为意识脆弱型、社交脆弱型、人力脆弱型、发展均衡型和全面脆弱型5种类型;② 总体脆弱性方面,不同类型农户的总体脆弱程度均为脆弱,各自脆弱性指数不一,且非旅游农户高于旅游农户;③ 因子脆弱性中除社交脆弱型农户的民俗文化因子脆弱性指数高于农户认知因子脆弱性外,其他类型农户的人力素质、社会网络、生计资本和农户认知等4个因子脆弱性指数均高于政策制度、生态环境和民俗文化等3个因子脆弱性指数;④ 人力、文化和生态等方面的因子是影响农户乡村旅游脆弱性的主要因素。最后,从提升生计资本、传承民俗文化和保护生态环境等方面提出降低农户乡村旅游脆弱性的几点建议。