Persistence of cattle ranching in the Brazilian Amazon: A spatial analysis of the rationale for beef production

Fed by demand for beef within Brazil and in global markets, the Brazilian herd grew from 147 million head of cattle in 1990 to ≈200 million in 2007. Eighty-three percent of this expansion occurred in the Amazon and this trend is expected to continue as the industry bounces back from a recent agricultural downturn. Intensification of the cattle industry has been suggested as one way to reduce pressure on forest margins and spare land for soybean or sugarcane production, and is the cornerstone of Brazil's plan for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, federal credit programs and research and development activities in Brazil are aligning to support intensification goals, but there is no guarantee that this push for intensification will decrease the demand for land at the forest margin and as result curb CO₂ emissions from deforestation. In this paper we use a spatially explicit rent model which incorporates the local effects of biophysical characteristics, infrastructure, land prices, and distance to markets and slaughterhouses to calculate 30-year Net Present Values (NPVs) of extensive cattle ranching across the Brazilian Amazon. We use the model to ask where extensive ranching is profitable and how land acquisition affects profitability. We estimate that between 17% and 80% of land in the Amazon would have moderate to high NPVs when ranched extensively if it were settled, i.e. if the rancher does not buy the land but acquires it through land grabbing. In addition, we estimate that between 9% and 13% of land in the Amazon is vulnerable to speculation (i.e. areas with positive NPVs only if land is settled and not purchased), which suggests that land speculation is an important driver of extensive ranching profitability, and may continue to be in the future. These results suggest that pro-intensification policies such as credit provision for improved pasture management and investment in more intensive production systems must be accompanied by implementation and enforcement of policies that alter the incentives to clear forest for pasture, discourage land speculation, and increase accountability for land management practices if intensification of the cattle sector is to deter new deforestation and displace production from low-yield, extensive cattle production systems in frontier regions of the Brazilian Amazon.     

Duck Hunting and Wetland Conservation: Compromise or Synergy?

Duck hunting is an issue — often controversial — that generates both benefits and costs to society. Hunters enjoy benefits from engaging in their sport, while those who have ethical concerns regarding the shooting of ducks endure costs. Some in the community fear that duck hunting puts pressure on the continued ecological viability of the hunted species, while others argue that the demand for hunting provides sufficient economic incentive for wetland conservation. Whether society as a whole should permit or restrict duck hunting is to some extent an empirical question: Are the costs to society of allowing duck hunting greater or less than the benefits it generates? Evidence presented in this paper addresses this question. The benefits enjoyed by people who hunt ducks in the upper south east of South Australia are estimated using the travel cost method. The ethical costs borne by the general community because of duck hunting are estimated using the choice modeling technique. Finally a threshold value analysis is used to assess the activities of Wetlands and Wildlife, a not‐for‐profit organization that manages wetlands in part for hunting.     

Is recreational hunting important for landscape multi-functionality? Evidence from Denmark

Recreational hunting may be important to the shaping of the agricultural landscape. Land owners who hunt or lease out hunting rights have an incentive to promote landscapes that contain wildlife biotopes, which may serve wider societal values, such as landscape aesthetics, biodiversity, and preservation of valued and/or threatened animal and plant species. Recreational hunting may thus contribute to preserve and enhance landscape multifunctionality. Yet, little is known about the importance of hunting interests in motivating such landscape management. In this article, we seek to shed light on these issues on the basis of data from a nationally representative survey of Danish landowners. Our findings show a mixed picture of the role of recreational hunting in supporting multifunctional landscapes. We observe a broad swathe of landscape changes for multifunctionality cross properties with different forms of hunting utilization and non-hunted properties. The likelihood of such landscape changes is higher on holdings that are hunted by the owner or where the hunting is leased out, than on properties where the owner lets family or friends hunt for free or where there is no hunting. Non-hunted holdings are smaller and have a less varied land use pattern than larger, hunted holdings. Yet, some of their production characteristics appear to favor multifunctionality and they feature a high intensity of landscape changes that favor multifunctionality. In terms of policy implications, our results indicate that support for multifunctional landscapes should emphasize a broader focus on the interests and identity of different types of landscape managers in information and advisory services and stimulate owners of smaller holdings to cooperate across holdings and see their holding in a broader landscape context.     

木材加工企业规模结构及经济性研究

认识木材加工企业的规模以及效率问题,对产业政策制定有重要的指导意义。以2004年山东省经济普查数据为基础,运用统计分析、比较分析等手段,对山东木材加工工业的规模结构、影响因素以及规模经济性展开了讨论。认为:木材加工业企业规模受技术进步、资源和市场以及政策影响;在当前条件下,木材加工业具有企业规模小、集中度低的特征,产业发展更倾向于通过外部规模经济途径实现。     

产业经济学视角下地勘单位改革思考

地勘单位改革中存在的问题：忽略了矿产资源勘查行业自身的基本特点、地质勘查产业的一般性以及行业改革与国内外市场经济大环境的协调。当今世界矿产资源勘查产业组织呈现清晰的二元结构,即“大型巨轮”与“小型舢板”,这也是我国地勘单位与国际通行模式接轨的目标模式。在体制转轨的过渡时期,可以通过地勘单位的子模式与整合模式来实现地勘单位的改造。产业经济学视角下地勘单位改革建议：①发挥政府机构在地勘单位改造中的促进作用;②发挥行业协会在地勘单位改造中的指导作用;③发挥中介组织在地勘单位改造中的影响作用;④发挥从业人员在地勘单位改造中的参与作用。     

中国家具产业:比较优势和“走出去”战略

近几年以来,内外经济环境的变化使中国家具产业开始面临对外投资和外向发展的问题,即实施所谓“走出去”战略的问题。中国家具产业的要素结构是以丰富的低成本劳动力为特征的。中国家具产业的资源优势是组织与企业家资源的相对丰盈,这是中国家具产业取得良好发展绩效的主要原因之一,也是外向发展的有利因素。充分利用中国家具产业的比较优势,准确地把握“走出去”的目标和模式,是中国家具产业成功地实施“走出去”战略的关键。     

贵阳市猕猴桃产业化发展模式研究

贵阳市属云贵高原海拔适中的地区,土地肥沃、气候温和、雨量充沛,是猕猴桃生长的理想之所。经过多年发展,贵阳市猕猴桃产业已具备一定基础,在大力发展生态农业的产业政策引导下,贵阳市猕猴桃产业面临着巨大的发展机遇。进一步发展贵阳猕猴桃产业,需要借鉴国内外发展模式,如新西兰猕猴桃产业的规范种植、合作经营模式,湖南和陕西的科技指导、规模种植模式等。发展贵阳市猕猴桃产业,更重要的是加强规划引领,利用该地资源,特别是做好项目引导、连片种植和基础设施建设。在猕猴桃产业化模式选择上,要强化合作组织带动型模式,特别是发展"公司+合作社+农户"这一新兴产业发展模式,由龙头企业牵头对产业实施深度开发。要发挥政府的主导作用,进一步建设专业市场和示范区牵动型模式,实现猕猴桃产业的发展。在发展过程中,还需强化科技服务和品牌打造工作。     

Drug trafficking,cattle ranching and Land use and Land cover change in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve

Drug trafficking organizations are driving deforestation in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve. Drug traffickers deforest the protected area in order to illegally ranch cattle, which serves as a mechanism of money laundering, drug smuggling, and territory control. Journalists and ethnographers have analyzed “narco-cattle ranching” activities in the reserve and resulting “narco-deforestation,” yet land use change scientists have yet to quantify the contribution of illegal cattle ranching to forest loss. This article uses remote sensing and GIS analysis to distinguish the relative contribution of cattle ranching, farming, and land speculation to reserve deforestation and other forms of land use and land cover change. We also use ethnographic methods to provide evidentiary links between illegal cattle ranching and drug trafficking activities that suggest a large part, but not all, of illegal cattle ranching is narco-capitalized. Our research finds that illegal cattle ranching is responsible for the majority of reserve deforestation, ranging from 59 to 87% of photographs on deforested lands in three sampled areas. We also found illegal cattle ranching activities are the highest in the reserve’s western national parks, which should be strictly protected from land use change. Contrary to popular debate, these findings suggest drug traffickers in the context of the US-led War on Drugs are to blame for forest loss, not subsistence farmers illegally living in the reserve.     

中原城市群旅游一体化发展研究

中原城市群旅游资源丰富,经济状况良好,区位条件优越,旅游业发展前景广阔。在中原城市群经济一体化的背景下,旅游业作为具有比较优势的产业,一体化的要求更加迫切。应树立“大旅游”观,统一打“中原城市群旅游”品牌,联合宣传营销,整合开发旅游资源,提高旅游企业竞争力,同时加强政府主导,培育一体化旅游市场,实现中原城市群的可持续旅游发展。     

关于完善黑龙江省森工管理体制问题的探讨

完善森工管理体制,是促进森工振兴发展的关键性环节。政企分开是大方向。文章提出了内部分开型过渡模式的基本构想。渐进性“内部分开型”改革有利于森林资源保护和培育,有利于国有林区生态、经济和社会发展,有利于有效解决森工“人往哪里去、钱从哪里来”的问题。     

The origins and functioning of the private wildfowling lease system in a major Mediterranean wetland: the Camargue (Rhone river delta, southern France)

All over the world, the demand for high-quality hunting areas has been growing in recent decades and this trend is expected to continue in the future. In the Camargue (southern France), where there are large wintering populations of ducks, the leasing of privately owned estates for wildfowling is becoming an alternative economic activity that can supplement and even exceed the income from other uses of farmland. In this region, several habitats of conservation concern, including Mediterranean seasonally flooded marshes, are managed for this purpose. However, data on wetland management for shooting and on the status of private shooting clubs in relation to local farming, are scarce. We investigated the characteristics of 42 private wildfowling clubs in the Rhone river delta. Aerial surveys were used to collect the data on land use on these sites. In addition, interviews and questionnaires allowed us to identify habitat management practices undertaken by landowners and hunting managers. We describe the origins and functioning of the private wildfowling club system. A multifactorial analysis and an ascending hierarchical classification distinguished three types of club. We evaluated leasing costs and incomes in the Camargue, their determinants, and some consequences of the leasing system on rural development and the conservation of wetlands.     

Estimating the economic value of big game habitat production from prescribed fire using a time series approach

This paper demonstrates a time-series production technique to quantify the deer harvest and deer hunting benefits of controlled burns or prescribed fire. The time series regression model showed a statistically significant and positive effect of prescribed fire on deer harvest. The net economic value of the resulting additional deer hunting benefit was estimated using the Contingent Valuation Method at $ 98 per additional deer harvested. The initial deer hunting benefits of an additional 1,000 acres of prescribed burning are between $ 2,674 and $ 3,128 or $ 2-3 per acre. The costs of prescribed burning greatly exceed these benefits, suggesting that deer hunting benefits represent only a small part of the multiple use benefits of prescribed fire.     

Absent neighbours and passive shareholders – The issue of residency and involvement in the management of a forest common

The Swedish forest commons can be regarded as self-organized community groups which jointly manage a forest resource. However, previous studies point out the diminishing role and engagement of shareholders in terms of governance, thereby challenging some vital design principles of robust common-pool resource institutions. We assume that major reasons for this is associated with socio-demographic changes meaning a large proportion of shareholders do not live in the area. Therefore this study compares resident and non-resident shareholder participation in and perceptions about their common, as well as assesses their engagement in the management of one major forest common in Northern Sweden. To this end a questionnaire survey was conducted together with regular consultations with the common's board and staff to discuss shareholder participation and other major issues concerning the common.The study shows that the common has a low shareholder engagement and a high proportion of non-resident shareholders. Even though a large proportion of resident shareholders acknowledged benefits from the common, they were also less satisfied with the cooperation among shareholders and less optimistic about the possibilities to influence management decisions. In contrast, the majority of non-resident shareholders saw ‘no disadvantages’ of the common. Although most of the shareholders regularly visit the common, hardly any participate in the general meetings. While residency outside the municipality certainly seems to have an impact on the engagement of non-resident shareholders, our study suggests that simple strategies from the board including accessible information and better timing and/or location of meetings might even increase the participation among all shareholders.     

Drifting Rhinos and Fluid Properties: The Turn to Wildlife Production in Western Zimbabwe

This paper presents and analyzes a number of tensions that arose in the shift from extensive livestock production to wildlife ranching and tourism in a dispersed community of white farmers in western Zimbabwe. It sketches the broader context of that shift and considers some of its effects, including those on the small (black)farmers of neighbouring Communal Areas. The tensions highlighted and manifested between the ranchers of Mlilo include the necessary movement from a characteristic view of wildlife as 'vermin', destructive of the conditions for livestock (and crop) production, to an appreciation that they are an exploitable and valuable resource ('ecological capital'); and how inherited views and practices concerning the boundaries of private landed property are subverted by the demands of wildlife ranching.     

农牧交错区苜蓿草业产业化开发研究

我国北方农牧交错区不仅是生态环境人为破坏最为严重的地区,也是土地荒漠化发展速度最快的地区。根据农牧交错区面临的主要生态问题,选择退耕还草、发展苜蓿草业,对该区生态、经济、社会的可持续发展具有重要作用。该文结合农牧交错区的实际,提出了该区苜蓿草业产业化开发的基本模式、阶段特征及基本对策。     

天然橡胶产业发展政策分析:红线与红利

在介绍天然橡胶的产业和价格波动的基础上,从天然橡胶产业“红线”与“红利”的视角出发,解读了天然橡胶政策“红线”不能保障战略资源安全和天然橡胶市场“红利”不能保障农户生计发展。最后,提出了争取天然橡胶国际定价权,通过股权运作等方式控制产量和交易成本等;设定合理天然橡胶“红线”,以进口依赖度、胶园开割率和单产等指标确定中国天然橡胶“红线”为110万hm 2;释放双向天然橡胶“红利”,在宜胶区实施“价格支持”政策,在非宜胶区实施“退胶还林”政策等建议。     

Abstracts of Second- and Third-Place Undergraduate Papers

This paper presents an analysis of the demand for hunting licenses in Alberta from 1968 to 2004. Regression analysis was used to estimate the effects of some of the commonly thought reasons for the decline in hunting participation in Alberta; specifically, the effects of changes in wildlife certificate prices, species license prices, income levels, and the proportion of the population living in urban areas. I found that hunting appears to be an inferior good since the income elasticity of demand was elastic—as provincial income levels increase, it is expected that less people will participate in hunting. In addition, the price elasticity of demand was inelastic indicating that raising license prices could theoretically generate increased revenues for wildlife management. I further hypothesize that if hunting participation needs to be increased for wildlife management purposes, it can be accomplished by decreasing the prices of licenses without directly affecting the revenue generated. Ultimately, we must realize that many of the hypothesized reasons for the decline in hunting participation in Alberta are qualitative and non-economic in nature and are thus difficult to include in most analyses. Whereas price and income are important determinants of hunting demand, they are only part of the story.     

Livelihood roles of cattle and prospects for alternative land uses at the wildlife/livestock interface in South Africa

The emergence of wildlife ranching as an alternative land use option to agriculture, in Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs), has cast renewed interest on the role of cattle farming in rural livelihoods in areas close to wildlife parks. This study analysed the contribution of cattle to livelihoods and relationships between cattle and potential wildlife land uses in rural areas near Kruger National Park. Data were collected through household surveys, key informant interviews and community workshops. About 11% of households studied owned cattle, and cattle income constituted 29% of total household income. Benefits from cattle were also derived by households without cattle. About 71% of households had at least three sources of income, reflecting diversity of livelihoods. Wildlife related land uses were perceived by some households as threatening cattle production, whilst others viewed them as opportunities for alternative livelihoods. We conclude that cattle production has important livelihood roles, but is not sufficient as a driver of economic development in these areas. Incentives to encourage diversification of livelihoods at the wildlife/livestock interface, with possibilities for rural communities to explore wildlife based land uses should be put in place. In addition, land use policy and planning in such areas should focus on creating institutional mechanisms through which programmes integrating conservation and rural development goals can benefit rural communities.     

发展赴俄森林采伐产业的思考

内蒙古大兴安岭森林采伐量锐减,为了有效地解决问题,林区应该根据自身发展的需要,把赴俄采伐作为森工企业的发展项目,坚持"走出去"的发展战略,整合现有对俄采伐加工项目,建立统一管理的赴俄采伐机构,实行股份合作制经营,走规模化经营发展之路,扩大赴俄合作采伐的生产规模,真正促进赴俄采伐产业的健康有序发展。针对内蒙古大兴安岭林区发展赴俄采伐产业实际进行分析,提出了相应的意见和建议。     

中国家具产业发展的地区差异与演化路径研究——基于泰尔指数的测度

为测度中国家具产业的地区差异并探寻中国家具产业的路径演变,基于2004—2015年中国28个省级行政区域家具产业发展的纵向数据,采用泰尔指数方法测度了全国家具产业的区域差异,探讨了中国家具产业发展的地区差异程度的域内差异和域间差异及其地理维度上的演变路径。研究发现:2004—2015年中国家具产业的整体差异呈现出逐步缩小的趋势;2004—2008年总体差异由区域间差异主导,2009—2015年则为区域内差异主导;2004—2015年中国家具产业经历"萌芽期""发展期"和"多元发展期"其对应的区域转移为"北移""中聚"和"西拓"。因此,缩小中国家具产业区域差异的重点是域内差异,同时要施行多方向演变共同发展的战略方针。