Hegemony and resistance: Disturbing patterns and hopeful signs in the impact of neoliberal policies on small-scale fisheries around the world

This paper reviews the major themes and contributions of this Special Issue in light of a broader social science literature on how to conceptualize small-scale fisheries, the role of the state in facilitating or limiting neoliberalism, and the failure of neoliberal policies to improve conservation. It concludes with a look at ways in which neoliberalism is being undermined by emerging alternatives.     

From microscope to management: The critical value of plankton taxonomy to marine policy and biodiversity conservation

Taxonomic information provides a crucial understanding of the most basic component of biodiversity – which organisms are present in a region or ecosystem. Taxonomy, however, is a discipline in decline, at times perceived as ‘obsolete’ due to technical advances in science, and with fewer trained taxonomists and analysts emerging each year to replace the previous generation as it retires. Simultaneously, increasing focus is turned towards sustainable management of the marine environment using an ecosystem approach, and towards conserving biodiversity, key species, and habitats. Sensitive indicators derived from taxonomic data are instrumental to the successful delivery of these efforts. At the base of the marine food web and closely linked to their immediate environment, plankton are increasingly needed as indicators to support marine policy, inform conservation efforts for higher trophic organisms, and protect human health. Detailed taxonomic data, containing information on the presence/absence and abundance of individual plankton species, are required to underpin the development of sensitive species- and community-level indicators which are necessary to understand subtle changes in marine ecosystems and inform management and conservation efforts. Here the critical importance of plankton taxonomic data is illustrated, and therefore plankton taxonomic expertise, in informing marine policy and conservation and outline challenges, and potential solutions, facing this discipline.     

Erosion of trust in government consultation will impede the creation of environmental policy

Conflicts over resource are becoming increasingly frequent as human development accelerates and resource limitations become evident. The impact of these conflicts is felt disproportionately by Indigenous Peoples, who despite international recognition that they must be consulted over resource extraction, have not been adequately included in policy development. As creation of effective environmental policy relies on meaningful consultation of all stakeholders, there is now a global outcry surrounding this eroded process. In British Columbia, Canada, a lack of meaningful government consultation has resulted in the approval of large-scale developments (the Site C Hydroelectric Dam and the Pacific Northwest Liquefied Natural Gas terminal) that are directly opposed by multiple stakeholders (First Nations, the academic community, conservation organizations, and other concerned citizens). A key component of the consultation process, trust, is explored here. Specifically, how poor government consultation erodes stakeholder trust in the consultation process. This trust is essential if holistic environmental policy, policy that protects both the environment and the economy, is to be created.     

中国铝土矿可供性分析

在市场经济条件下中国铝土矿的储量与产量可供性受价格波动影响明显。本文基于DCF财务现金流折现估值模型,编制2016—2020年中国铝土矿储量、产量与价格关系图,可直观地看到在不同市场价格、不同内部收益率时,2016—2020年中国铝土矿储量和产量供应能力,从而为我国编制铝土矿资源规划。通过分析可以看出:虽然眼下矿业形势低迷,但未来五年中国铝土矿仍然储量充沛、供应旺盛。已查明保有资源在2016年最大可供储量为31.82亿吨,最大可供产量为6 400万吨,到2020年最大可供储量为28.78亿吨,最大可供产量为7 300万吨。当务之急是合理布局并缩减过剩产能,促使铝土矿资源的开发利用健康可持续。     

规划设计成果在线三维展示方法探讨

测绘地理信息成果的共享服务和社会化消费是当前行业发展的主流趋势,但受限于相关保密政策,精度较高的地理信息成果当前仅能在政府相关部门内部使用,企业需求与数据供给之间矛盾突出。本文从资源整合入手,提出了线下高精度数据和在线低精度数据结合应用新模式,为规划设计成果的量化分析、三维可视化、在线展示和公众参与提供了一种技术解决思路,可有效提升地理信息成果的利用效率和服务能力。     

How soil conservation affects the catchment sediment budget – a comprehensive study in the north Ethiopian highlands

An overall approach to assess the effectiveness of soil conservation measures at catchment scale is the comparison of sediment budgets before and after implementation of a catchment management programme. In the May Zeg‐zeg catchment (187 ha) in Tigray, north Ethiopia, integrated catchment management has been implemented since 2004: stone bunds were built in the whole catchment, vegetation was allowed to re‐grow on steep slopes and other marginal land, stubble grazing abandoned, and check dams built in gullies. Land use and management were mapped and analysed for 2000 and 2006, whereby particular attention was given to the quantification of changes in soil loss due to the abandonment of stubble grazing. Sediment yield was also measured at the catchment's outlet. A combination of decreased soil loss (from 14·3 t ha^–1 y^–1 in 2000 to 9·0 t ha^–1 y^–1 in 2006) and increased sediment deposition (from 5·8 to 7·1 t ha^–1 y^–1) has led to strongly decreased sediment yield (from 8·5 to 1·9 t ha^–1 y^–1) and sediment delivery ratio (from 0·6 to 0·21). This diachronic comparison of sediment budgets revealed that integrated catchment management is most effective and efficient and is the advisable and desirable way to combat land degradation in Tigray and other tropical mountains. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What's on top for geography teachers? National Certificate of Educational Achievement and the prioritization of professional development

Geography teachers' work is influenced by multiple education policy initiatives. Professional development opportunities emerge to support these policy changes and associated compliance issues. This paper reports the results of a survey in which geography teachers self‐reported their knowledge and prioritized professional development needs. The data indicate that some compliance issues associated with assessment policy reform have largely been resolved, while more substantive assessment and course design issues continue to be prioritized for professional development. However, professional development that continues to focus on assessment reform may marginalize geography teachers' engagement with concurrent curriculum and pedagogical policy initiatives.     

Drivers of afforestation in Northern Vietnam: Assessing local variations using geographically weighted regression

This article identifies drivers of forest transition in a province of Northern Vietnam between 1993 and 2000 by applying geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis to remotely sensed and statistical data. The regression model highlighted the spatial variation of the relationship between the percentage of land afforested and its proximate causes. Factors identified as having a major impact on afforestation are: the presence or proximity of a wood-processing industry, the distance to highways, and land allocation to households. Whereas the two former variables are in most areas of the province positively correlated with afforestation, an unexpected negative correlation was observed for the latter. The analysis of these results, supported by an in-depth knowledge of the area and of the political context, leads to the conclusion that, during the time period considered, afforestation was largely driven by state organisations on protected state-owned land, and forestry was not a significant component of household economic activities.     

Policy narratives, landholder engagement, and oil palm expansion on the Malaysian and Indonesian frontiers

Over recent decades a structural transformation has affected agriculture in the frontier areas of Malaysian Borneo and Outer Island Indonesia with the rapid conversion of agricultural lands, fallows, and formerly forested areas into oil palm. These frontiers have similar positions in the international political economy of oil palm and have complementary resource endowments. In both cases, state planners face the common challenges of finding a disciplined labour force, delivering land for estate development, maintaining local legitimacy, and dealing with local contestation. Yet there are significant differences in systems of governance and policy frameworks regarding land, shifting capacity of state actors to facilitate the transformation of these agrarian frontiers, and changing degrees of local, national and international contestation. Considering the generic and the specific elements at play in each case, this paper argues that analogous policy narratives have shaped the ways in which landholders have been engaged in the process of oil palm expansion in Malaysia and Indonesia. In both cases, with the shift from state-led to neoliberal governance approaches to agricultural development, the 'frontier' has been created and transformed through policy narratives that facilitate the conversion of whole landscapes into oil palm. This has been achieved by obscuring indigenous forms of agriculture and land tenure, while creating reserves of available 'state' or 'idle' customary land, and counterpoising smallholder 'marginality' and 'backwardness' to the modernity of contemporary estate agriculture.     

The high wire act: a comparison of British transatlantic foreign policies in the Second World War and the war in Iraq, 2001–2003

Drawing upon ideas from critical geopolitics, this paper compares the role that the British government plays within the contemporary transatlantic alliance with that played by Churchill's government during the Second World War. It argues that the Blair government's approach to foreign policy has parallels with Churchill's – that it should act as a bridge between the US and European governments. From this basis the paper reflects upon geopolitical change since 1945, re-evaluating the reasons for foreign policy failures during the Iraq War. Belying the assumption that these were caused by Blair's failures at diplomacy, it argues that failure was the result of an outdated geopolitical strategy.