Public participation in monitoring programmes as a tool for lakeshore monitoring: the example of Lake Pyhäjärvi, Karelia, Eastern Finland

Lake Pyhäjärvi, on the border between Finland and Russia in Karelia, is a very valuable clear-water lake of the Lobelia type. It belongs to the European Union's Natura 2000 programme in Finland, and has been included in regional and national monitoring programmes since the 1960s. The main monitoring station is situated near the outlet of the lake. Deterioration of its water quality was suspected already in the 1980s because of decreasing Secchi depths (transparency) and increasing chlorophyll a.The occurrence of algal blooms on the lakeshores is monitored weekly during each summer at one site on Lake Pyhäjärvi (site 1). This is a part of nationwide intensive algae monitoring programme organised by the environmental authorities together with voluntary observers at some 270 lake sites in Finland since 1998. Since 1997, Secchi depth observations have been carried out by volunteers biweekly or monthly at 17 sites on the lake. In the vicinity of one of these transparency observation sites (station 100), intensive monitoring of algae has been carried out. At this lakeshore monitoring site 69 algal observations were made, ten of which recorded algal blooms during the study period 1998–2002. The observed algal blooms were caused by algae of the Anabaena species, mainly by Anabaena lemmermannii. At Lake Pyhäjärvi the number of algal bloom observations received from the public have decreased from the 1990s to the 2000s. The range of Secchi disc transparency was 5.0–8.4 m with a mean value of 6.2 m at station 100 and 4.3–7.7 m (mean 6.1 m) at the main monitoring station 2 during the open water periods in 1998–2002. During this study period, the maximum values at site 100 seem to have increased slightly, which might indicate some improvement in the water quality due to decreased point source loading.We conclude that the intensive algal monitoring results of 5 years at the lakeshore site and the transparency results — both compiled by trained volunteers — reflect an improvement in the state of Lake Pyhäjärvi in Karelia. This conclusion is in accordance with the long-term water quality and short-core studies of sedimentary diatoms in Lake Pyhäjärvi. We suggest that the intensive algal observations and transparency measurements are both suitable methods for the monitoring of lakeshores and lakes, and that both are suitable for voluntary monitoring. We found public participation a good tool for monitoring lakes and lakeshores.     

Including animal to plant protein shifts in climate change mitigation policy: a proposed three-step strategy

Strong and rapid greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, far beyond those currently committed to, are required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. This allows no sector to maintain business as usual practices, while application of the precautionary principle requires avoiding a reliance on negative emission technologies. Animal to plant-sourced protein shifts offer substantial potential for GHG emission reductions. Unabated, the livestock sector could take between 37% and 49% of the GHG budget allowable under the 2°C and 1.5°C targets, respectively, by 2030. Inaction in the livestock sector would require substantial GHG reductions, far beyond what are planned or realistic, from other sectors. This outlook article outlines why animal to plant-sourced protein shifts should be taken up by the Conference of the Parties (COP), and how they could feature as part of countries’ mitigation commitments under their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to be adopted from 2020 onwards. The proposed framework includes an acknowledgment of ‘peak livestock’, followed by targets for large and rapid reductions in livestock numbers based on a combined ‘worst first’ and ‘best available food’ approach. Adequate support, including climate finance, is needed to facilitate countries in implementing animal to plant-sourced protein shifts.

Key policy insights

• Given the livestock sector’s significant contribution to global GHG emissions and methane dominance, animal to plant protein shifts make a necessary contribution to meeting the Paris temperature goals and reducing warming in the short term, while providing a suite of co-benefits.

• Without action, the livestock sector could take between 37% and 49% of the GHG budget allowable under the 2°C and 1.5°C targets, respectively, by 2030.

• Failure to implement animal to plant protein shifts increases the risk of exceeding temperate goals; requires additional GHG reductions from other sectors; and increases reliance on negative emissions technologies.

• COP 24 is an opportunity to bring animal to plant protein shifts to the climate mitigation table.

• Revised NDCs from 2020 should include animal to plant protein shifts, starting with a declaration of ‘peak livestock’, followed by a ‘worst first’ replacement approach, guided by ‘best available food’.

     

中国海洋志愿观测船现运行状态及发展

志愿船观测是中国必须履行的国际义务。目前,中国海洋志愿观测船只呈逐年减少趋势,从过去的百余艘船只降至三、四十艘,并且从观测能力上也存在较多问题,比如观测手段比较落后、观测要素单一、观测资料缺乏。从根本上讲,志愿船运行机制缺乏有效的制度化保障,因此难以形成业务化能力,并且不能有效的履行国际义务。本文将对志愿船现运行状态及发展进行论述。     

Introducing a transferable fishing day management regime for Pacific Island countries

On 1 December 2007, eight ‘Small Island Developing States’ in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean implemented a management regime restricting the total number of days fished by tuna purse seine vessels within their waters, commonly referred to as the Vessel Day Scheme (VDS). The VDS is seen as one component of management arrangements to reduce fishing mortality on bigeye and yellowfin tuna, constrain fishing effort, and increase the rate of return from access fees by Distant Water Fishing Nations.     

空间正义视角下乡村权的概念框架与比较研究

“乡村权”概念是近年空间正义研究在乡村地域进行理论延伸与实践检验的新领域,其通过揭示以土地为空间媒介的乡村权利剥夺现象,批判性分析乡村空间资源分配和空间生产过程中出现的非正义问题。延续激进地理学视角,文章聚焦“乡村土地”与“村民身份”两大问题,基于突尼斯、印度、黎巴嫩等南方国家,以及英国、法国、意大利等北方国家的案例,揭示村民在生产、生活及意识层面所处的非正义境况（即“被迫非农化”）,并探寻村民为寻求空间正义所采取的个人或集体抗争方式（即“自发再农化”）。通过案例比较发现：1）南方国家与北方国家的乡村案例表现出的被迫非农化现象具有共性,其本质都是资本剥削导致的乡村土地和村民身份被剥夺;2）南方和北方国家的自发再农化手段存在差异,南方国家的村民主要采取法律途径或极端方式,北方国家则依托自上而下的国家政策保障与自下而上的地方能力建设。进而,归纳出乡村权三大内涵,即“占有权（拥有农地并进行农业生产）”“定居权（以村民的生活方式生活在乡村）”“参与权（自主决定是否非农化）”。最后,建议在中国乡村振兴中,通过科学知识共享、社区学习与合作等方式提升村民自身能力,实现村民在乡村空间占有、定居、参与的...     

First international payment for marine ecosystem services: The case of the Banc d’Arguin National Park,Mauritania

This article investigates whether the European Union-Mauritania fisheries agreement, which allocates part of the Europe's financial contribution to the conservation of marine ecosystems located within the Banc d’Arguin National Park, can be regarded as a payment for ecosystem service. A framework for qualification as such payment scheme was established based on an extensive literature review. The criteria identified for the qualification as a payment to ecosystem service pertain to: (1) the definition of the ecosystem service(s) involved; (2) the mechanism involved by the payment; and (3) the nature of the transaction. Interviews with local beneficiaries and subsequent data analysis led to the conclusion that this mechanism could be regarded as a payment to ecosystem service and so, through the European Union-Mauritania Fisheries agreement, the European Union were investing to protect local fish resources that could be exploited by its fishing fleet. This agreement, involving the first International Payment to Ecosystem Service of this kind, marks an important step towards better consideration of marine conservation in international public policy and foreign fishing policy in particular. However, this payment is small when compared to revenues generated through the exploitation of developing countries’ fishing grounds by fishing countries. Nevertheless it opens the door for more detailed applications of payment to ecosystem service schemes to other ecosystems contexts, and can provide a useful alternative source of financing of marine biodiversity conservation.     

一种CT中间件的研究与实现

开发的中间件,将用于支持不同交换机的计算机电话集成,实现交换机和应用系统之间的电话服务请求和状态消息传递,协调语音和附加数据同步转移,使客户端应用程序能够与服务器之间进行数据交换,屏蔽不同交换机拥有的CT中间件协议和CT中间件接口,使应用程序员无需关心消息是如何在计算机、交换机、自动语音应答服务器之间传递,无需关心交换机的私有协议与接口,而专注于客户端的应用开发,并且使客户端应用程序兼容不同交换机.     

Assessing Disagreement and Tolerance of Misclassification of Satellite-derived Land Cover Products Used in WRF Model Applications

As more satellite-derived land cover products used in the study of global change,especially climate modeling,assessing their quality has become vitally important.In this study,we developed a distance metric based on the parameters used in weather research and forecasting(WRF) to characterize the degree of disagreement among land cover products and to identify the tolerance for misclassification within the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme(IGBP) classification scheme.We determined the spatial degree of disagreement and then created maps of misclassification of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectoradiometer(MODIS) products,and we calculated overall and class-specific accuracy and fuzzy agreement in a WRF model.Our results show a high level of agreement and high tolerance of misclassification in the WRF model between large-scale homogeneous landscapes,while a low level of agreement and tolerance of misclassification appeared in heterogeneous landscapes.The degree of disagreement varied significantly among seven regions of China.The class-specific accuracy and fuzzy agreement in MODIS Collection 4 and 5 products varied significantly.High accuracy and fuzzy agreement occurred in the following classes:water,grassland,cropland,and barren or sparsely vegetated.Misclassification mainly occurred among specific classes with similar plant functional types and low discriminative spectro-temporal signals.Some classes need to be improved further;the quality of MODIS land cover products across China still does not meet the common requirements of climate modeling.Our findings may have important implications for improving land surface parameterization for simulating climate and for better understanding the influence of the land cover change on climate.     

Achieving additional emission reductions under a cap-and-trade scheme

Over the last decade, cap-and-trade emissions schemes have emerged as one of the favoured policy instruments for reducing GHG emissions. An inherent design feature of cap-and-trade schemes is that, once the cap on emissions has been set, no additional reductions beyond this level can be provided by the actions of those individuals, organizations and governments within the covered sectors. Thus, the emissions cap constitutes an emissions floor. This feature has been claimed by some to have undesirable implications, in that it discourages ethically motivated mitigation actions and preempts the possibility that local, state and national governments can take additional mitigation action in the context of weak national or regional targets. These criticisms have become prominent in Australia and the US within the public debate regarding the adoption of an emissions trading scheme (ETS). These criticisms and their potential solutions are reviewed. A set-aside reserve is proposed to automatically retire ETS permits, which would correspond to verified and additional emissions reductions. This minimizes the possibility that ethically motivated mitigation actions are discouraged, allows for additional action by other levels of government, while providing transparency to other market participants on the level of permit retirements.     

LULUCF-based CDM: too much ado for…a small carbon market

Abstract

The Bonn agreement reached in July at the sixth conference of the parties (COP) to the FCCC states “that for the first commitment period, the total of additions to and subtractions from the assigned amount of a party resulting from eligible LULUCF activities under Article 12 (i.e. CDM), shall not exceed 1% of base-year emissions of that party, times five”. The most probable size of this LULUCF-CDM market is analyzed in light of each Annex I party's actual and projected emissions and policies. Results show that the market size would be only about 110 Mt CO₂ eq. for 2000–2012, representing a maximum global market value of about US$ 876 million.