Saving and conserving the caves: reflections on 37 years of listings,disputes, submissions and court cases

In order of impact, the main anthropogenic threats to caves in eastern Australia are and have been for the European history of Australia: mining, inundation, vandalism, wear and tear, lampenflora, lint and dust, scientists and poorly informed decisions. Destruction of caves by natural processes is not a focus of this paper as it occurs over a geological time scale and there are few historical accounts of natural catastrophic cave failure. Saving and protecting caves are difficult due to the reliance and insistence on conservation by secrecy used by cavers and the organisations that represent them. Other issues that inhibit cave conservation are: limited public exposure, perceptions of land managers and farmers about caves, a shortage of research-based information on caves and difficulties with establishing the significance of a cave. Cave monitoring and the education of managers and cave guides are known to enhance the conservation of show caves. Actions that would help to save and conserve caves throughout Australia include: changes to planning legislation, establishment of a cave conservation organisation, introduction of specific cave protection legislation and the establishment of a Research Centre for Caves, Karst and Geoheritage.     

Environmental Issues Pertaining to the Kwale Mineral Sands Project,Kenya's South Coast—Reply

Tiomin Resources Inc. (“Tiomin”), the proponent of the Kwale Mineral Sands Project in Kenya, presents a response to the article authored by J. O. Z. Abuodha and P. O. Hayombe, entitled “Protracted Environmental Issues on a Proposed Titanium Minerals Development in Kenya's South Coast”, published in Volume 24, Number 2, April–June 2006. This article contains a series of inaccuracies, some grossly misleading and many statements relate to outdated information. Tiomin is greatly concerned at the publication of such a misleading report and is obliged to state the facts correctly. This response seeks to identify the misrepresentation of statements and/or facts in the article and present a correct and accurate perspective on the environmental issues of the project.     

Politicians and geomorphological blunders. Some examples relating to rivers and coasts from Queensland,Australia

Editors' Note: The following is the eighth in the Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography Lecture Series. It is based on the plenary presentation of 10 July at the 7th International Conference on Geomorphology held in Melbourne in 2009. Geomorphologists have an important role to not just understand and interpret the nature of processes operating within the physical landscape, but also to communicate this information to those who can use it to benefit society. Policy makers and legislators often develop documents relating to the management and use of landforms and landscapes that contain little or no input from geomorphologists, which can and do have undesirable consequences for governments, communities and the natural environment. Examples relating to rivers and coasts from Queensland, Australia highlight inadequacies in policies and legislation because of a lack of input from geomorphologists. In one instance the definition of a stream channel has been reinterpreted by the legal system because of a poorly developed definition within the legislation. The outcome is a legal definition of a stream channel based on the Q3 month flow (3‐month average recurrence interval discharge or flow). In another instance, people and property are being placed at risk from coastal erosion and impact from tropical cyclone generated marine inundations (waves and surge) because a lack of understanding of geomorphic processes operating along the coast has been inscribed into policies and legislation. These are examples from one region but similar situations will exist elsewhere globally. Both politicians and geomorphologists have a role to communicate better with each other about these matters. Geomorphologists in particular need to be more proactive in advising politicians on issues in which they have expertise.     

New developments in water efficiency

1Water LossInitiativesUnaccounted-for water(or unbilled water)has beenreceiving newscrutiny at both the state and nationallevels.For years,water conservationeffortsin Europehave emphasized reduction in water loss to a muchgreater extent thaninthe United S…     

Federal Legislation for Disaster Mitigation: A Comparative Assessment Between Canada and the United States

Natural Hazards - Exposure to natural hazards tends to be poorly understood and yet implicitly accepted by a large proportion of populations at risk. Some people through years of experience and...     

湿地保护调查与立法思考

湿地保护调查是湿地立法的基础,湿地保护调查的结果是湿地立法的重要依据。以龙海市湿地调查为例,对福建省湿地的作用、面临的主要问题、现有的保护体系、现有法律法规在湿地管理过程中存在的一些问题进行了介绍,并以此为基础对福建省湿地立法相关的几个问题进行了讨论。     

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     

地方环境立法与可持续发展

地方环境立法指省级和省级政府所在地的市以及经国务院批准的较大的市的人民代表大会及其常务委员会制定地方性法规并分别依照法定权限和程序制定、修改或废止在本行政区域内具有普遍效力的各种地方性环境法规、地方性环境规章的活动.地方环境立法在中国的环境立法体系当中占有重要地位,对于中国的环境保护工作具有重大意义.可持续发展是联合国环境与发展大会确立的未来共同发展战略,中国地方环境立法应当将可持续发展作为指导思想,并因地制宜,具有可操作性、科学技术性、规范性和有效性.     

我国海洋生物资源养护的立法责任构建

鉴于世界诸多海洋大国日益完善海洋生物资源养护法之形势,加之该法律自身的实际应用价值,我国构建海洋生物资源养护立法责任意义重大。我国应明确立法责任的结构要素,拓宽立法责任的构建思路,从而加快推动该项法律的立法进程,促进我国海洋法律体系的完善。