The ecosystem approach,ecosystem services and established forestry policy approaches in the United Kingdom

A series of approaches have been proposed for natural resource management and biodiversity conservation in recent decades. In the important forestry sector, two of the most dominant policy paradigms have been multi-purpose forestry and sustainable forest management. The Convention on Biological Diversity, amongst other transnational commitments, added the ecosystem approach and its related idea of ecosystem services to this succession which is increasingly becoming the basis for natural resource management, including in the United Kingdom (UK). However, this latest addition raises the stimulating question of whether in forestry the ecosystem approach and the associated ecosystem services concept really constitute something fundamentally new, or are merely an extension or re-branding of existing policy approaches. This paper contributes to a lively contemporary debate surrounding the ecosystem approach and ecosystem services, by examining how these two interrelated but distinctly different concepts are currently understood and adopted within UK forestry and in the context of established forestry policy paradigms. For this purpose, I undertook a review of the scholarly literature and legal and policy documents which have been triangulated with a survey of the attitudes, interpretations and opinions of forestry stakeholders through expert interviews. The analysis suggests that in the UK forestry sector, as elsewhere, the frequency of, often broad and ambiguous approaches to natural resource management and biodiversity conservation in general, and forestry policy and management in particular, are causing confusion amongst some stakeholders, who, unsurprisingly frequently conflate concepts seemingly without understanding the details. However, a clear understanding of the differences and similarities of these important concepts, stemming from overlapping but different disciplines, is crucially important for successful policy implementation and sustainable forest management. This article attempts to contribute to such a clarification and to further interdisciplinary understanding.     

Land contamination risk management in Cameroon: A critical review of the existing policy framework

Land affected by contamination from human activities has been identified as a major environmental problem in developed countries and there are established mechanisms for identifying, prioritising, characterising, assessing and remediating the land so that risks to human health and environmental receptors are minimised. However, comparative mechanisms and approaches for sustainable land management are often lacking in developing countries such as Cameroon. This paper presents a critical review of the existing policy framework in Cameroon in relation to environmental management, particularly land contamination.It is established that in Cameroon, there is an acute lack of comprehensive information on land contamination from economic development and industrialisation, inadequate legal and institutional framework, weak enforcement capacity and unsatisfactory coordination between various stakeholders towards sustainable land management practices. The coastal town of Douala, which has the highest level of industrial activity in the sub region is used to demonstrate how dealing with land contamination is a public health priority and requires attention in the context of sustainable development. The United Kingdom (UK) regulatory policy framework on land contamination risk management is used to show how land contamination issues and risk management approaches, including conceptual site models, could be introduced into the sustainability discourse in Cameroon. A number of recommendations including proposals for a radical overhaul of the current regulatory policy framework are formulated and presented. Specifically, the creation of an independent Cameroon Environment Protection Agency (CEPA) that will be the main regulatory body responsible for developing and implementing the policy proposals in this paper is advocated.     

Using IT approaches to promote public participation in renewable energy planning: Prospects and challenges

In response to recent policy initiatives and UK and European legislation there is increasing focus on alternative methodologies and procedures to encourage public participation in environmental planning. This paper is concerned with outlining those methodologies that involve the use of IT methods in enabling a possible consensus to be reached between participatory groups on decisions that may effect their local environment. Specifically, we focus on integrated approaches that involve the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) techniques in facilitating public participation using the case study of the planning of wind farms. The introduction of renewable energy technologies can be a particularly contentious issue in some areas of the UK and we draw on a review of the use of such software tools in order to highlight their application within a decision support system framework. One area where there has been less input from potentially affected local communities or stakeholders relates to the use of computer-generated visualisations in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. We describe future research challenges facing those charged with encouraging participation in the siting of such facilities before re-iterating the policy relevance of this research given the UK governments’ stated commitment to the incorporation of public input into the decision-making process.     

UK Land Use Futures: Policy influence and challenges for the coming decades

This paper, originally contributed as part of the government's Foresight investigation of Land Use Futures, considers the likely shape of policies affecting UK rural land use up to 2060, based on literature review, analysis of past and current trends and drivers, and discussion with selected policy experts. The postwar, centralised approach to spatial planning and countryside management has come under increasing challenge from domestic and international needs and concerns. European policy influence has increased in respect of agriculture and the natural environment. Zoning of land-use and a restrictive approach to built development have gradually weakened, and land-use drivers have become more multifunctional. Policy has moved away from a ‘top-down’ process designed in Whitehall towards a multi-layered structure within which international agreements and negotiations must be reconciled with regional and local, partnership-based approaches to planning and management, via national frameworks and a complex mix of regulatory and market-based instruments. Climate and energy policy, as well as policies on food and health, will require new and more diverse forms of development. A major challenge for the future could be the extent to which current, multi-layered spatial planning policies can accommodate the scale of change implied by the new mix of drivers from other policy areas. There is the possibility of an increasingly differentiated response across the UK countryside, as well as much more radical change in the system driven from the centre, as pressures increase.

While the Government Office for Science commissioned this review, the views are those of the author, are independent of Government, and do not constitute Government policy.     

The introduction of catchment-wide co-operations: Scalar reconstructions and transformation in Austria in flood risk management

The management of flood risk in Europe is changing. In several European Member States there are significant ongoing processes to shift certain flood risk management duties and responsibilities from the national to the local level. Previously, national authorities dominated the discourse about national flood risk management policy, but increasingly, local and private stakeholders have become responsible for flood risk management. This has greatly influenced the governance structure and arrangements for flood risk management policy. As a result, the co-operation among various stakeholders has become increasingly important. The consequences of this shift toward local stakeholders can be understood in the context of rescaling. This paper analyses the rescaling processes through catchment-wide management plans in the Austrian flood risk management system. Therefore, we selected three different Austrian study sites (Aist in Upper Austria, Triesting-Tal in Lower Austria and Ill-Walgau in Vorarlberg). New management ideas required new dynamics within the current scales and allowed changes in the interaction of local, regional, and national stakeholders in terms of negotiation, funding, and strategy development. The new policy direction demonstrates not only the importance of network connections between stakeholders at the same scale, but also networks between stakeholders at different scales, especially between local and national levels. However, engagement at the local level strongly depends on social capacities, such as knowledge, motivation/self-interest, networks at various levels, and procedural capacity. The theoretical framework of politics of scale helps in understanding and analysing the impact of the new decentralisation policy and practice.     

关于福建林业发展若干政策问题的思考

文章在分析了福建林业的自然属性以及当前在政策和管理方面所存在问题的基础上,指出要解决这些问题主要应通过政策的不断完善来实现,即通过改革和完善森林资源转让政策、低产林改造政策、森林采伐政策、木材流通政策、木材税费政策、征占用林地政策和规范公益林的经营等举措,以实现福建林业的可持续发展。     

IS MORE CO-OPERATION THE ANSWER?*

This paper examines the recent decision of the UK authorities to extend co-operative organisation by the creation of second-tier co-operatives. It does this in the light of the development of second- and third-tier co-operatives elsewhere in the EEC and compares their characteristics with those of the proposed British institutions. The overall conclusion is that the measures proposed for the promotion of supra-co-operative organisation in the UK are likely to be insufficient, of themselves, to produce the advantages which such organisation has encouraged on the Continent of Europe but that they will begin the process of attitude change on the part of co-operative managers and farmer-members which is an essential prerequisite of a successful policy for second-tier co-operatives.     

英国农村区域协调发展的经验与启示

[目的]党的十九大报告提出实施"乡村振兴战略"和"区域协调发展战略"。英国是较早实现农业现代化的国家,在区域农业开发、区域农业协调发展等方面历史较早、积累经验较多、政策的制定比较成功,这些工作方法和政策思路对我国促进农业区域协调发展具有重要的政策借鉴意义。[方法]文章回顾了英国农业发展政策和城乡关系演变历程,较为系统地总结英国现代农业特点及其区域不平衡性基础上,评述英国促进农村与农业区域协调发展的主要做法。[结果](1)设立专项资金,加强对欠发达地区的扶持;(2)中央政府放权,赋予地方更多自主权;(3)加强小城镇基础设施建设,促进城乡协调发展;(4)鼓励规模化经营,提高农业竞争力;(5)促进乡村旅游,提升农村地区吸引力;(6)重视绿色发展,提高农业可持续能力;(7)注重农民职业培训,吸引更多年轻人从事农业;(8)加强对区域特色农业产业扶持,增强农业竞争力。[结论]提出促进我国农业农村区域协调发展的8条政策建议:坚持农业综合生产能力建设,加强农业发展宏观调控,多措并举消除地区贫困,大力推进一、二、三产业融合发展,发展区域特色产业,加强农民职业培训,加强精准综合管理,适时调整中英农业合作战略。     

Sustainable rural communities? A legal perspective on the community right to buy

Sustainable development is the underlying policy behind the community right to buy land in rural Scotland enshrined in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, Part 2. The Act explicitly requires communities wishing to exercise the right to buy to have sustainable development at the heart of their community body and all their plans for the land. This paper examines the role and interpretation of sustainable development in the CRB. Since the Act was passed three administrations have headed up the Scottish government and sustainable development issues and strategies for Scotland have been aired in four important and distinctive policy documents showing that it is still very much an evolving concept in Scottish politics. The current administration has adopted the most econocentric approach yet seen in the UK, focusing on sustainable economic growth. Meanwhile, the community right to buy has developed its own sustainable development agenda. This review of decisions taken under the legislation illustrates that a diverse range of community ownership plans have been deemed consistent with sustainable development, from creation of sports facilities to preservation of castles, lighthouses and village greens. A range of economic, social and environmental objectives have been approved. On the other hand, communities that fail to adopt the ‘right’ approach to the principle will not be successful in using the legislation.     

Adjusting policy to institutional,cultural and biophysical context conditions: The case of conservation banking in California

This paper examines the political construction of a policy instrument for matching particular institutional, biophysical and cultural context conditions in a social–ecological system, using the case of conservation banking in California as an example. The guiding research question is: How is policy design negotiated between various actors on its way from early formulation of ideas and principles to an accepted policy solution on a state or national level? The underlying assumption is that in order for a policy instrument to be implemented, it has to be adjusted to various context conditions. That is, it has to become accepted by affected actors associated with the institutional framework, and it has to gain local validity for implementation by actors related to a particular ecological and cultural context. We assume that ideas about policy adjustments are not only functionalistic questions determined for example by the materiality of the resource it governs, but are constructed and politically negotiated because these ideas may differ among the mental models of the associated actors. These actors are stakeholders affiliated with the policy process, i.e. authorities, public and private organizations, interest groups, firms or think tanks dealing with, or being shaped by, the policy at different stages of its development.As a result certain context conditions and related concerns such as institutional interplay or match to ecological particularities become inscribed in policy design as an outcome of power struggles, values, and interests. These in turn may vary at different stages of policy development and implementation. Each time the instrument is transferred in a new setting it is likely that the incipient policy design may be opened-up and begin a mutual adjustment process among the newly concerned actors. Thus, such policy developments are not immutable but are dynamic. In this paper, the creation of fit for policies on conservation banking to the issue of species protection in the State of California and later to the U.S. environmental governance domain, are analyzed to understand the instrument's emergence and development toward an established policy solution. The focus is on the negotiation processes among the enrolled actors and their strategies for matching the instrument to certain institutional, cultural and ecological context conditions on different scales. Changes in policy design, its underlying influences, actors’ interests, conflicts and perceived effects are identified, respectively.     

Public evaluation of landscape content and change: Several examples from Europe

This paper considers rural land use by analysing stakeholder values and perceptions concerning various landscape components. The purpose is to show that landscape content and land cover interactions with societal connections should be a base for land use development. The practical goal is to deliberate research tools to quantify public opinions and attitudes, which could form bases for developing of decision support tools. The main research objectives are: (1) to assess existing opinions concerning land use changes and provide a clearer insight into public attitudes to the role of woodlands for an integrated development of the countryside; (2) to place ecological and socio-economic values on inanimate natural components of landscapes; and (3) to assess values and preferences held by land use policy and management experts regarding multiple landscape components and features to assist in decision-making. Through the different levels of importance (values) accorded by the respondents to the integration of nature components in rural landscapes public priorities were identified. The paper develops an understanding of why certain aspects of land use changes are unfavourably viewed by some people and favourably received by others. It suggests some innovative perspectives on the areas of consensus and conflict between people, providing initial information for the selection and evaluation of land use management decisions.     

The breakdown of the Milk marketing schemes

Abstract

For almost 60 years milk marketing in the UK has been controlled by statutory milk marketing boards, which have often been regarded as a classic example of the use of discriminatory monopoly pricing exercised for the benefit of producers. This paper describes the development and characteristics of the system, questions the effectiveness of the boards, and considers the challenges to their authority which have recently emerged. These stem partly from opposition by producers and processors and from the latent antagonism of the European Commission. It is now anticipated that the boards will lose their statutory powers and possibility be replaced by unitary voluntary cooperatives. This paper considers the prospects for co‐operative success concluding that there are substantial difficulties still to be overcome.     

农地流转与化肥减量——来自农地流转政策的准自然实验

目的 推动化肥减量是实现农业可持续发展、绿色发展的必然要求，而农地流转的发展为推动化肥减量提供了新的思路。方法 文章基于2005—2020年中国省级面板数据，运用连续型DID模型、中介模型等考察农地流转政策对化肥减量作用、作用机制以及异质性作用。结果 （1）基准模型估计结果表明，农地流转政策对化肥减量具有显著的促进作用，即农地流转能够促进化肥减量。（2）作用机制分析表明，农地流转政策可以通过调整种植结构和扩大经营规模的渠道对化肥减量起促进作用。（3）异质性分析表明，在自然地理区位维度，农地流转政策对东部和西部地区带来的化肥减量作用更为明显；在粮食生产功能区维度，农地流转政策对非粮食主产区带来的化肥减量作用更为明显；在化肥用量分布维度，对于化肥用量位于0.9分位点的省份，农地流转政策实施带来的化肥减量作用相对较弱。结论 应继续有序推进农地流转，提高农地流转比例；应遏制农地流转“非粮化”，促进农业适度规模经营；应结合各区域经济社会发展，因地制宜的探索农地流转模式。     

Modelling the impacts of policy on entry into organic farming: Evidence from Danish–UK comparisons, 1989–2007

This paper analyses organic farming entry decisions using a piece-wise linear depiction of policy. Our goal is to ascertain, from the available but limited information, whether Danish and UK policy measures toward organic agriculture have affected participation. Despite considerable interest in the growth of organic farming there has been little systematic analysis of it, although it is commonly believed that enhanced income levels have played a part. Whilst analyses of organic farming policy have provided extensive reviews of instruments applied, generally speaking, the spirit of those enquiries takes as datum that organic policies have had the desired impacts. Yet such conjectures remain mostly untested. Hence, there is a need to examine systematically if there exist relationships between the introduction of organic farming policies and the growth of organic farming, and whether particular policy measures are more effective than others. Here, we take a first step in this endeavor by undertaking an econometric analysis of the relationship between 14 organic farming policy measures and participation rates in Denmark and the UK during 1989–2007. Using two response variables – the numbers of farmers converted to organic production and the total land area under organic practice – we implement a simple, Bayesian methodology and evaluate the stepwise-linear impacts of policy. Extensions for future work are discussed. Six policy measures in the two study countries were found to be significant influences on participation, five of them direct supply-side instruments. For the UK, all of the policies are annual subsidies for organic farmers once conversion was complete. For Denmark, the policies are the introduction of organic subsidies for non-dairy farms, the extension of subsidies beyond 1997 and support for the costs of marketing services.     

Matching new entrants and retiring farmers through farm joint ventures: Insights from the Fresh Start Initiative in Cornwall,UK

Concerns about the sustainability of an ageing farming population have brought interest in so called entry-exit issues in policy circles. Policy interventions to date have offered limited scope in stimulating farm transfer in UK, however, the increase in unconventional tenures which include partnerships, share farming and contract farming (collectively called joint ventures) would appear to offer new opportunities for those wishing to enter or leave farming. In recognition of this the Fresh Start initiative in Cornwall set up a matchmaking element with the aim of identifying and facilitating potential joint ventures agreements between new entrants and older farmers. The emphasis was on setting up long-term arrangements that would enable the new entrant to ‘buy into’ an existing farm business, gradually taking over managerial control. This paper examines the processes of matching partners for the possible formation of farm joint ventures, using qualitative data derived from interviews with the participants, deliverers and stakeholders involved in the matchmaking element of this initiative. The results reveal that there is a deep rooted reluctance amongst participants in the initiative to enter formal long term joint ventures due to differing motivations, expectations, and concerns about their respective responsibilities in the working relationship and about the validity of the legal framework. Only where a relationship had already been informally established was there a commitment to formalise a joint venture agreement. Future emphasis in policy should therefore be on helping to facilitate and formalise existing partnerships, rather than trying to artificially orchestrate matches where the parties do not know each other.     

Management of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites in Nigeria: Current challenges and future direction

Sites affected by petroleum hydrocarbons from oil exploitation activities have been identified as a major environmental and socio-economic problem in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The current Nigerian regulatory instruments to manage these contaminated sites are fragmented and the roles and responsibilities of government agencies, such as the Department for Petroleum Resources (DPR), and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), are not well defined. This lack of coordination has led to ineffective land contamination policy and poor enforcement more generally. Appropriate, risk-based policy instruments are needed to improve regulatory capacity, and to enhance the regulator's ability to manage new and existing petroleum hydrocarbons contaminated sites. Lessons can be learned from countries like the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States America (USA) that have experience with the management and clean up of historically contaminated land. In this paper, we review the status of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites management in Nigeria and identify the gaps in existing policy and regulation. We review the contaminated land policies and regulation from the UK and the USA, and identify lessons that could be transferred to the Nigerian system. Finally, we provide a series of recommendations (e.g. source – pathway-receptor approach, soil screening criteria, clean-up funding, liability) that could enhance contaminated land legislation in Nigeria.     

Land-use change in the ‘edgelands’: Policies and pressures in London's rural–urban fringe

Green Belt policies have helped to create chaotic landscapes at the rural–urban interfaces of the United Kingdom's largest cities. Their prime functions, to control urban sprawl and preserve an encircling green girdle to separate the urban from the open countryside, have created ‘edgelands’ that have been remarkably dynamic despite relatively strong controls on certain types of development. A detailed case study of one part of London's Metropolitan Green Belt, drawing upon analysis of planning registers, reveals long-term trends in land-use change linked to the development controls operated within the context of the Green Belt and the adjacent built-up area. This paper also outlines the history of the Green Belt policy in the United Kingdom (UK) and discusses recently proposed policy changes that have provoked ongoing debate about this form of control on urban sprawl and its consequences for the land use of Green Belts and the edgelands.     

农电价格政策的利益相关者及利益共赢问题分析

本文分析发现,首先,目前我国农电价格政策存在定价缺乏科学参考标准、利益相关者决策地位不平等、价格水平和补贴机制不利于农电行业和农业的协调发展等严重问题;其次,农电政策除受核心利益相关者的影响外,农业管理部门、国资委等蛰伏利益相关者也能产生较大影响;农村应该推行阶梯电价政策、改目前以低电价补贴供电企业为合理电价补贴农电用户、农电价格水平应该接近供电企业的边际成本、主要使用科学测定方法和横向比较方法分析农村供电成本。     

安徽省农地流转绩效差异分析

[目的]正确认识安徽省农地流转工作成果,剖析不同地区农地流转绩效差异,探讨有效提高农地流转绩效措施,对改革和完善农地政策具有重大现实意义。[方法]文章利用安徽省皖北、江淮和皖南3个区域农地流转情况调查数据和其他相关资料,运用层次分析法和模糊评价法构建农地流转绩效评价体系,综合分析农地流转绩效区域差异表现及原因。[结果]研究表明:(1)3个区域的农地流转绩效主要与区域内农村社会发展是否得到重视、农户家庭是否全面发展和流转工作是否落实有关,三者形成的合力最终导致综合绩效的差异;(2)农地流转绩效的提升是一项受多重因素影响的系统性工作,包括政策方针、经济发展和社会保障等方面。[结论]研究认为安徽省农地流转工作成果值得肯定,为进一步完善相关工作,建议综合协调各方资源,借鉴成功工作经验,大力发展地区经济、推广土地整治工作、加强农地经营权交易市场和社会保障体系建设。     

PART TIME FARMING—IMPLICATIONS FOR FARM FAMILY INCOME

The Common Agricultural Policy has been more successful at securing food supplies than at providing adequate incomes for small farmers. Among proposals for resolving the problem, part time farming is a promising option. To date, agricultural policy has at best ignored farms below the ‘full time’ threshold, at worst discriminated against them. The new Agricultural Structures policy embodies a more positive approach, however. Robson's paper calls for better information on farm households with other gainful activities. Statistics from the 1983 Farm Structure Survey provide insight into the nature and extent of part time farming in the European Community. Neglect of part time farming in the UK up to now may have stemmed from its perceived irrelevance for agricultural policy. Now that it is being viewed in a more favourable light, policy makers need to be appraised of the facts. Currently about one third of main agricultural holdings in England and Wales are part time farms in the sense that farmer or spouse combines another paid job with farming. Gasson's paper explores the nature of these other jobs and features of their distribution. Following trends in other developed countries, non-farm activities are becoming increasingly important for UK farming families. Growth in part time farming has obvious implications for income support, widely agreed to be the fundamental objective of agricultural policy in western Europe. Existing farm income measures are not adequate for assessing the extent of the income problem in agriculture. Data from the Inland Revenue's Survey of Personal Incomes and the Wye College part time farming survey fill some of the gaps left in official measurements. Non-farming earnings, pensions and investment income contribute significantly to farm household incomes. A majority of part time farming families in England and Wales make more from other sources than from farming. Although average incomes of part time farmers may exceed those of full timers, Hill's paper identifies a section of part time farming families with inadequate incomes from all sources.