A global review of the impact of forest property rights interventions on poverty

Secure property rights are widely understood as critical for socio-economic development and sustainable land management in forested areas. Policies and programs, ranging from devolution of specific resource rights to formal land titling, have therefore been implemented to strengthen forest tenure and property rights in countries around the world. Despite the prevalence and importance of these efforts, however, systematic understanding of their effects on poverty remains lacking. We address this gap by systematically reviewing evidence on the impact of forest property rights interventions on poverty worldwide. We drew from a systematic map of evidence on forest-poverty links (Cheng et al., 2019) and used a population-intervention-comparator-outcome (PICO) framework to identify relevant studies. Our final dataset included 61 articles published from 2002 to 2016 comprising 91 case studies across 24 countries. Of these, only 11 articles (22 cases) used quasi-experimental methods to control for confounders. We find that almost all studied interventions (n = 88; 97%) focused on rights to access a forest area or withdraw resources from it. Relatively few studied interventions supported the more extensive property rights of exclusion (32%) and alienation (10%). Overall, reported impacts on both income/consumption and capital/assets dimensions of poverty were generally positive or mixed. Results from more robust quasi-experimental assessments showed greater variation, with case studies as likely to report negative as positive impacts on both poverty dimensions. We find tentative support for the economic theory that more secure property rights yield positive welfare effects. However, the paucity of evidence from more robust impact assessments constrains our ability to draw generalizable conclusions about the poverty impacts of different kinds of forest property rights interventions.     

The impact of biofuel-induced food-price inflation on dietary energy demand and dietary greenhouse gas emissions

Dramatic increases in liquid biofuel production have led to concerns about associated impacts on food prices, with many modeling studies showing significant biofuel-related price inflation. In turn, by changing patterns of food demand, biofuel production may indirectly influence greenhouse gas emissions. We estimated changes to dietary energy (calorie) demand and greenhouse gas emissions embodied in average diets under different biofuel-related food-price scenarios for Brazil, China and the United States, using food-price projections and food-price elasticities. Average energy demand decreased in all countries, from about 40 kcal per person per day in Brazil under a moderate price inflation scenario – a reduction of 1% relative to the (2009) reference scenario – to nearly 300 per day in the United States with high price inflation – almost 8% of reference levels. However, emissions per calorie increased slightly in all three countries. In terms of total greenhouse gas emissions, the results are suggestive of overall reductions only in the United States, where average reductions ranged from about 40 to 110 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per person per year. In China, the direction of impact is unclear, but the net change is likely to be small. Brazilian results were sensitive to parameter values and the direction and magnitude of impact is therefore uncertain. Despite the uncertainty, even small changes (positive or negative) in individual dietary emissions can produce large changes at the population level, arguing for the inclusion of the dietary pathway in greenhouse gas accounting of liquid biofuels.     

雅安芦山4.20震后县级单元生态系统风险评价

区域生态风险评价是对各种生态风险及环境问题进行评价和管理的重要手段。针对雅安地震灾区特殊的自然地理及生态环境特征,选取芦山县为研究对象,采用遥感、GIS及SPSS统计分析的方法,通过风险源、风险受体、暴露和易损性分析,建立生态风险综合评价模型,划分生态风险区类型,进而提出生态风险管理对策。结果表明:1)微度和低度生态风险区集中分布在高海拔的森林及草地生态系统,该区生物多样性丰富,抗干扰能力较强,地质灾害及人类活动影响较小;2)中度和高度生态风险区具有沿农田及建设用地生态系统集聚分布的特征,该区地质灾害频繁,地壳活动性较强,生态系统抵抗灾害的能力较差。研究结果可为地震灾区防御、规避风险及安全选址提供科学依据。     

Nonhumans in the practice of development: Material agency and friction in a small-scale energy program in Indonesia

We develop the outlines of a new approach to study the role of nonhumans in constituting ‘implementation’ and calculative–discursive practices in development projects and programs. Developing a framework around the concept of friction (material resistance or recalcitrance encountered in processes of transformation), we analyze an Energy Self-sufficient Village program in Indonesia. Focusing on specific projects and episodes within this program, we identify multiple distinctive instances of friction. These were driven by nonhumans’ (and humans’) resistance, as remolding of development beneficiaries’ practices was attempted by project administrators, government officials, entrepreneurs and by the (scientific) calculations embedded in their policies, strategies and models. In concluding, we distill four ways in which nonhumans relationally shape development practices: (a) by resisting representations and calculations produced by human actors, (b) by re-directing planned/expected courses of action, (c) through biophysical change to their weight or textures as they move in space and time, and (d) by mediating competition for resources. Overall, nonhumans play a central role in making and unmaking asymmetric relations of power in practice and by constituting practices that diverge from prior expectations, problematize linear understandings of ‘policy implementation’. Their material and discursive agency is multiple, manifesting differently in different relational settings, which highlights the importance of broadening the range of spokespersons who speak on behalf of nonhumans and whose voices can be considered reliable and true. Our study thus provides support to calls for pluralizing and democratizing development ‘expertise’ beyond the usual suspects in science, government and civil society.     

Knowing wildfire risk: Scientific interactions with risk mitigation policy and practice in Victoria,Australia

Over the past decade, major landscape wildfires (or ‘bushfires’ in Australia) in fire-prone countries have illustrated the seriousness of this global environmental problem. This natural hazard presents a complex mesh of dynamic factors for those seeking to reduce or manage its costs, as ignitions, hazard behaviour, and the reactions of different human and ecological communities during and after hazard events are all extremely uncertain. But while those at risk of wildfire have been subject to significant research, the social dimensions of its management, including the role of science, have received little attention. This paper reports on a case study of the Barwon-Otway area of Victoria in Australia, a high wildfire risk area that has recently been a pilot site for a new risk mitigation strategy utilising the wildfire simulation model PHOENIX RapidFire. Against simple equations between ‘more science’ and ‘less uncertainty,’ this paper presents results from interviews and a workshop with practitioners to investigate how scientific research interacts with and informs both wildfire policy and practice. We suggest that attending to cultural and social specificities of the application of any technical innovation—such as next generation modelling—raises questions for future research about the roles of narrative, performance, and other knowledges in the sedimentation of science.     

山东半岛典型海岸带多环芳烃分布特征、来源解析及风险评价

山东半岛海岸带面临着各类复杂的环境问题,尤其是受到了多环芳烃(PAHs)等持久性有机物的污染,本文研究了整个山东半岛典型海岸带62个站点表层沉积物中PAHs的含量及其分布特征,并对其来源和潜在风险进行解析与评价。研究表明,该地区表层沉积物中16种PAHs总含量为0.06~3191.40 ng/g(平均值262.08 ng/g),与国内外海岸带相比,山东半岛海岸带表层沉积物中PAHs整体污染状况处于较低水平,但个别站点的PAHs含量偏高。运用特征比值法、相关性分析及主成分分析法解析研究区PAHs主要来源为木柴、煤炭、油类的燃烧以及油类泄露的联合作用。采用效应区间低值法(ERL)和中值法(ERM)对PAHs进行生态风险评价,结果表明莱州湾周边所有站点及威海、青岛周边个别站点苊、芴浓度位于ERL值与ERM值之间,但多数站点对生态环境潜在负面效应很小。山东半岛典型海岸带中PAHs对生物的毒副作用尚在安全可控范围内,极少对生态环境产生负面效应。     

地史上巨量蒸发岩省的成因及其地质意义

全球蒸发岩从震旦纪到新近纪均有发育, 其最发育时期为震旦纪-寒武纪、二叠纪-三叠纪以及侏罗纪-白垩纪, 且具有幕式分布特点.它们在一定区域(低纬区)常大规模集中发育, 跨越不同的沉积盆地类型, 面积和厚度巨大, 时代跨度较短且连续, 笔者称之为巨量蒸发岩省.本文基于全球蒸发岩层系古板块再造、沉积岩相恢复、地层柱状对比、盆地构造分析等方法, 对巨量蒸发岩省的发育、分布、成因及其地质意义进行了探讨.巨量蒸发岩省形成、分布与地史中的造山带演化、超大陆的聚合与裂解、干旱气候带(南北纬30°之间)、海平面变化等因素有着密切联系; 其主要形成于干旱环境下相对封闭、靠海水潜流补给的台地和盆地中; 所处的构造单元主要为泛大陆板块内部狭长的裂谷带、特提斯造山带的残余洋盆、海-陆过渡带、陆表海或孤立板块的台地中心.     

气候模式中云的垂直重叠及其辐射传输问题研究进展

概述了全球气候模式中云的垂直重叠的处理方法及其辐射物理过程的最新研究进展。从云垂直重叠模型的构造、模型在气候模式中的实现方式,得到与观测一致的云重叠结构所采用的数据和方法、重叠云的辐射传输等方面,给出了针对这一国际研究难点问题的最新研究进展。关于气候模式中云的垂直重叠问题的研究至今已取得了许多成果,表现在:重叠模型上有了更为科学的描述形式(如指数衰减重叠);重叠云的辐射传输也有了更快速的处理方法(如蒙特卡洛独立柱近似)并被广泛应用;连续的三维云遥感观测(如CloudSat/CALIPSO)和云分辨尺度的三维云模式的发展为在气候模式中精确描述云的垂直结构提供了丰富的观测资料和模式数据。但是,气候模式中现有的云重叠结构处理及其辐射传输方法还远不够完善,仍然存在很多没有解决的问题需要在未来进行探索。     

卫星臭氧资料的发展与应用

随着卫星探测技术的进步、天气学和气候学理论的不断完善,以及高性能计算机广泛应用,卫星臭氧资料的种类得到极大丰富并被应用到多个研究领域中,取得了一系列重要成果。文中介绍了主要星载臭氧探测仪的发展概况,回顾了卫星臭氧资料在气象领域的应用研究成果,主要包括卫星臭氧资料在气旋或低压过程中、全球或区域臭氧的气候分布及变化特征、高原臭氧分布及变化特点、数值应用等方面的应用研究,并展望了卫星臭氧资料研究的未来发展趋势。      

Public views on economic growth,the environment and prosperity: Results of a questionnaire survey

The long-standing academic and public debate on economic growth, prosperity and environmental sustainability has recently gained new momentum. It lacks, however, a broad perspective on public opinion. Prior opinion surveys typically offered a simple dichotomous choice between growth and environmental protection. This study examines public beliefs and attitudes about a wider range of aspects of the growth debate. To this end, we conducted an online questionnaire survey including a country-wide, representative sample of 1008 Spanish citizens. Using factor analysis, we identify six distinct dimensions of public attitudes, referred to as: prosperity with growth; environmental limits to growth; general optimism; wrong priority; overrated GDP; and governmental control. We further analyze several specific questions associated with the growth debate, such as those concerning the desired GDP growth rate, the preferred growth-environment position, and beliefs about, as well as reasons for, a possible end or continuation of growth. We find that most respondents favor GDP growth rates of more than 3%. A majority views growth and environmental sustainability as compatible (green growth), while about one-third prefers either ignoring growth as a policy aim (agrowth), or stopping it altogether (degrowth). Only very few people want growth unconditionally (growth-at-all-costs). About one-third of the respondents believe that growth may be never-ending. We examine how support for or disagreement with different statements on growth are related to each other, as well as how they are influenced by socio-demographic, knowledge and ideology/values variables. Overall, our findings can inform public debates about the growth paradigm and its potential alternatives by providing a more nuanced understanding of public opinion. We make suggestions for future research, including modifying poll questions on growth and environment through offering a more diverse set of response options.