Application of an ecosystem function framework to perceptions of community woodlands

Owners, local residents, government, and conservation organisations can express divergent preferences in the development and management of local woodlands. The perceptions of these four groups were examined, in the context of three community woodlands in Eastern England, using an ecosystem function framework. In a pilot study, residents were able to allocate a relative importance to woodland ecosystem services which were then related to “regulation”, “habitat”, and “production” or “information” functions. However residents also placed importance on negative services or “dis-services” associated with the woodland ecosystem. Therefore a fifth category of “dis-services” was included in the main survey which included 84 local residents, three woodland owners, three government institutions, and six representatives from conservation groups. Each of the four groups placed greatest importance on services associated with habitat (16–39% of the total importance) and information (30–50%) functions suggesting, in this example, mutual interest in the use of woodlands as a habitat or recreational resource. By contrast a potential area of difference was the particularly high importance placed by one owner on dis-services such as fly tipping. In addition the woodland owners placed higher importance (10–20%), than local residents and conservation groups (7–9%), on the productive services of the wood. This suggests a need for communication when production-related operations affect recreation. The ecosystem function framework appears to be a useful approach for highlighting potential tensions and areas of mutual interest in the management of semi-natural ecosystems.     

An evaluation framework for earthquake-responsive land administration

In recent years earthquakes and their secondary hazards have claimed the largest number of lives of all large natural disasters. Some of the world’s most earthquake-prone zones are also areas of high population density. The impact is magnified by vulnerability factors including non-enforcement of building codes, knowledge gaps, urban poverty and poor governance capacity to manage and reduce earthquake risks. Poor security of land tenure and property rights increases the vulnerability of people and affects their ability to respond to natural disasters.Earthquake recovery and reconstruction provides very significant challenges for land agencies, with these challenges differing from one country to the next due to differences in the local context. Drawing on contrasting case studies in Haiti, Nepal and New Zealand this paper identifies the common post-earthquake land administration functions and challenges that may apply to many contexts. These lessons provide land agencies and other key stakeholders with a summary of the challenges an earthquake poses for land administration at different post-disaster stages. We also discuss the policy and regulatory, institutional, operational and preparedness lessons for land administration. From these lessons we propose a framework for evaluating the earthquake-responsiveness of a land administration system. This framework can be used by a land agency in an earthquake prone region, or where an earthquake has recently occurred, to assess what challenges to land administration might occur in the event of an earthquake, and the preparedness of their land administration system.     

Agrarian Poverty,Nutrition and Economic Class – A Study of Gujarat,India

This paper analyses poverty and calorific undernourishment in the Indian state of Gujarat, where high and market‐led industrial growth has resulted in rapid economic improvement. The study is carried out through a combination of secondary and survey‐based data. We conclude that the neoliberal agenda of uncontrolled, outward‐looking growth has not resulted in significant reduction of poverty or malnourishment in rural areas. Furthermore, while land ownership is officially used as a proxy for wealth distribution, class position appears a better predictor of poverty status in the rural areas than landownership per se. At the policy level, there is a need to revive the agrarian economy and create new non‐agricultural assets, and the primary focus in the state must shift to the distribution of created assets rather than a single‐minded focus on growth.     

Does sustainable agricultural growth require a system of innovation? Evidence from Ghana and Burkina Faso

This paper tests the ‘systems of innovation’ hypothesis for a selection of crops in Ghana and Burkina Faso that have shown significant growth in production over an approximately 20-year period. The question is whether such growth can only occur if supported by a system of innovation. Using two indicators (a common understanding on objectives and priorities, and a high level of interactivity), we find little evidence for the existence of anything that might be considered a high functioning system of innovation.     

Local impacts of industrial tree plantations: An empirical analysis in Indonesia across plantation types

The values ascribed to industrial tree plantations are often controversial. Hence knowledge of their perceived impacts is important for improving their integration in rural landscapes. In 2016 we conducted household surveys with 606 respondents living in villages adjacent to acacia, teak and pine plantations across three islands in Indonesia (Java, Borneo, Sumatra). Results show that perceptions toward pine and teak plantations tend to differ from those toward acacia pulpwood plantations in several ways. Pine and teak plantations are perceived to have a higher number and variety of benefits and services, a higher number of positive impacts, a better environmental record, and to present more opportunities to local people for use of plantation land and products for improving rural livelihoods. In addition, we find that villagers around acacia pulpwood plantations tend to seek economic development and infrastructure to open up remote areas, yet their expectations were often only partially met. Recommendations from our analysis include: the role of the State in plantations must be clarified and potentially reinforced; the role of institutions as intermediaries is fundamental; and contributions by communities to design of management plans should be accommodated.     

Upstream demand for water use by new tree plantations imposes externalities on downstream irrigated agriculture and wetlands*

Large‐scale tree plantations in high rainfall upstream areas can reduce fresh water inflows to river systems, thereby imposing external costs on downstream irrigation, stock and domestic water users and wetland interests. We take the novel approach of expressing all benefits and costs of establishing plantations in terms of $ per gigalitre (GL) of water removed annually from river flows, setting upstream demands on the same basis as downstream demands. For the Macquarie Valley, a New South Wales sub‐catchment of Australia’s Murray‐Darling Basin, we project changes in land and water use and changes in economic surpluses under two policy settings: without and with a policy requiring permanent water entitlements to be purchased from downstream parties, before plantation establishment. Without the policy, and given a high stumpage value for trees ($70/m³), upstream gains in economic surplus projected from expanding plantations are $639 million; balanced against $233 million in economic losses by downstream irrigators and stock and domestic water users for a net gain of $406 million, but 345 GL lower mean annual environmental flows. With the policy, smaller gains in upstream economic surplus from trees ($192 million), added to net downstream gains ($138 million) from sale of water, result in gains of $330 million with no reduction in environmental flows. Sustaining the 345 GL flow for a $76 million (406–330) reduction in gains to economic surplus may be seen to cost only $0.22 million/GL; but this is much lower than the market value of the first units of that water to agriculture and forestry.     

Malaria incidence and agricultural efficiency in Uganda

The cost of accessing healthcare can be a major determinant of disease prevalence, which in turn has short‐ and long‐term welfare implications on poor households. In response, governments in developing countries often resort to subsidizing the cost of drugs, which, while perhaps easier to administer, may not always be the most effective way of addressing healthcare cost. In this regard, we analyze the impact of different types of household level health expenses on disease incidence and agricultural production efficiency. We use data from the 2006 Uganda National Household Survey, which covered approximately 7,400 households. The results suggest that a 10% increase in consultation, medicine, and hospitalization expenses would reduce malaria incidence respectively by 35.6%, 20.5%, and 21.3 %, which translates into a 1.1%, 0.6%, and 0.6 % decrease in agricultural inefficiency, respectively. The results indicate that helping poor households meet expenses for consultation through subsidies or eliminating consultation fees has a larger impact on malaria incidence and agricultural productivity among poor rural households than subsidizing the cost of medical drugs, the most common avenue chosen by developing country governments in the fight against the disease.     

国土资源行政管理的若干应用基础理论问题（上）——自然资源属性分析

从自然属性、技术属性、经济属性三个角度分析入手 ,建立了自然资源的科学分类体系。     

实施全球资源战略 保障资源供应安全

实施全球资源战略是经济全球化趋势的客观要求,而经济全球化在为发展中国家提供发展机遇的同时,又对国家安全提出了严峻挑战.本文在阐述我国实施全球资源战略客观性、必要性的基础上,提出了我国实施全球资源战略中防范和抵御全球化负面影响、保障资源供应安全的措施建议.     

重构乡村基层社会生活的实态--一个值得深入考察的徽州古村落宅坦

古村落宅坦位于绩溪西部的崇山峻岭之中 ,胡氏宗族在生存条件极为恶劣的情况下 ,组织族人改造环境 ,使之成为人与自然和谐相处的乡村社会。千百年来 ,在特定的时空条件下 ,经过一系列的社会变迁 ,古村落已形成宗族组织、文化科举和商业的良性互动 ,从而创造了古村落的文明。三者之间宗族居于核心地位。传统中国社会的动乱也会在这里引起反响 ,但是由于宗族聚居的格局使古村落乃至徽州社会具有特殊的应变力 ,直至近代仍保持自身的稳定。宅坦村有着丰富的资料遗存 ,为我们在宅坦从事田野考察、重构古村落的实态 ,提供了必要的前提。可以预见 ,宅坦必将以其丰富的人文内涵为世人所瞩目     

云南高原4个国际重要湿地生态旅游管理评价

在分析"云南高原国际重要湿地生态旅游管理评价体系"(含2个比选方案)各指标的赋值原则与标准的基础上,以层次分析法和德尔菲法确定各项指标的权重值,采用加权求和法进行综合评价。将从云南碧塔海、纳帕海、拉市海和大山包4个国际重要湿地采集的数据应用于该评价体系。结果均以碧塔海自然保护区生态旅游管理综合分值最高;大山包和纳帕海自然保护区的分值较低。评价体系中,指标越少越能降低重复加权的可能性。因指标多将掩盖一些重要指标的权重,使其重要性不能显现。指标选择应尽可能保留数据易采集和客观,又能直接反映评价内容的关键指标。     

现代中国外商企业林业政策与法律环境优化对策研究

自改革开放以来 ,外商企业直接投资中国林业的规模和质量迅速上升 ,投资区域集中在中国亚热带和热带地区 ,以合作、租赁以及收购等方式稳步发展。 2 0世纪 90年代开始 ,我国鼓励外商投资林业的法律环境基本形成 ;进入 2 1世纪 ,林业财政税收、森林采伐更新管理、森林资产抵押、森林资产的市场化等问题成为制约外资林业可持续发展的制度约束。本文就上述林业政策法律环境和问题进行了比较系统的整理 ,并提出了政策法律优化建议     

从企事制度的差异性分析看地勘单位改革

企业与事业单位各自有明显的特征,在人事用工制度、收入分配制度、会计核算制度、财政管理体制等方面也有显著差异,作为事业性质的国有地勘单位受内、外部环境压力影响必须进行改革.其改革路径是:以局为单元、以队为基础、以产业为载体,在职能归位基础上进行事企分离,坚持在政府主导下推进地勘单位改革;同时要有相关政策支持.     

Fertiliser Subsidies and Smallholder Commercial Fertiliser Purchases: Crowding Out,Leakage and Policy Implications for Zambia

Fertiliser intended for government subsidy programmes is sometimes diverted and sold to farmers at or near market prices. Failure to account for such ‘leakage’ can upwardly bias econometric estimates of the effect of government fertiliser subsidy programmes on total fertiliser use. This paper extends the framework used in earlier studies on the crowding in/crowding out effects of subsidised fertiliser on commercial fertiliser purchases to account for leakage, and then applies it to the case of Zambia. Results suggest that each additional kg of subsidised fertiliser injected into the system increases total fertiliser use by 0.54 kg. Without controlling for leakage, the estimate would have been 0.87, an overestimate of 61%.     

A Dynamic Computable General Equilibrium Treatment of the Ban on UK Beef Exports: A Note

Hubbard and Philippidis Journal of Agricultural Economics (2001) Vol. 52, pp. 87–95] employ the standard Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to analyse the impact of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)‐induced ban on exports of UK beef. This note extends that study in four ways: (i) the dynamic GTAP model is employed to characterise long‐run savings–investment behaviour more correctly; (ii) the effect of the foot‐and‐mouth disease (FMD) outbreak of 2001 is included; (iii) an allowance is made for different levels of recovery in consumer confidence; and (iv) the impact analysis is now compared through time with a ‘no‐ban’ baseline. Long‐run comparisons after removal of the ban suggest that its legacy may continue for some time. However, because of the remedial safeguards and assurances offered in the wake of the BSE and FMD crises, there is a possibility that exports and outputs increase. Nevertheless, the economy‐wide impacts are negligible in both the short and the long run.     

On the Role of Risk Versus Economies of Scope in Farm Diversification With an Application to Ethiopian Farms

This article investigates the economics of farm diversification. The analysis assesses economies of diversification using a certainty equivalent measure. It identifies two components: one associated with expected income, and one associated with risk exposure. This integrates two lines of research explored in previous literature: economies of scope and risk management. We examine the roles played by complementarity, scale and concavity effects in economies of diversification. The approach is applied to diversification decisions made on Ethiopian farms, with a focus on production uncertainty. The econometric analysis finds large complementarity benefits, providing incentives to diversify. But this is tempered by (non)‐concavity effects that provide incentives to specialise. The analysis also documents how risk affects diversification, including both variance and skewness effects. It provides new insights on economic tradeoffs between farm diversification and specialisation.     

U.S. Citrus Import Demand: Seasonality and Substitution

Citrus fruits make up 1/5 of all fresh fruit consumed in the United States. Given the increasing importance of imported citrus in the diet of American consumers, it is perhaps surprising that no import demand analysis of U.S. citrus has been conducted. Using quarterly U.S. import data for 6 citrus commodities, we employed a demand systems model and evaluated aspects of seasonality. The results suggest wide variations in price responses to different types of imported citrus. The average amplitude and phase shift suggest that all citrus fruits exhibit some seasonality in their imports, likely a result of peak harvesting schedules of exporters.     

ASDA: Organic Growth of a Retailer in the United Kingdom?

This article analyzes the role of glocalization in Wal-Mart's venture in the United Kingdom. In 1999, Wal-Mart acquired ASDA, a British food retailer. Glocalization refers to strategies adopted by multinational corporations to cater to local tastes and differences after entering a foreign market. The authors' main argument is the following: after Wal-Mart acquired ASDA, it did not manage to successfully impose its Wal-Martization strategies because they consisted mainly of “organic growth” strategies. Organic growth is a practice whereby a corporation overpoweringly imposes its home-based blueprint of product consumption and corporate culture on foreign cultures. As demonstrated in this analysis, Wal-Mart had to drop its Bentonville-based shopping and corporate formula and, instead, adopt the principles of glocalization.     

Prospects for Canada's protected areas in an era of rapid climate change

Given the known and potential impacts of climate change on ecosystem composition, structure, and function, some recent studies question the efficacy and relevancy of current protected area policies and management objectives. For example, in a rapidly changing climate is it practical to continue to identify and protect ‘representative’ samples of the natural heritage estate? This paper examines a number of climate-related issues that now confront agencies and organizations responsible for the protection of natural heritage areas, including the roles of protected areas, representation targets, ecological integrity, protected area design, management techniques, research and monitoring needs, and agency capacity to respond. Potential avenues for adaptation are proposed in light of these issues. The development and implementation of a cross-jurisdictional landscape-scale strategic conservation framework focused on protecting, connecting, and restoring ecosystems will be fundamental to enhancing ecological resilience to climate change. We conclude that even though climate change presents unprecedented and significant challenges, the protected area contribution to ecosystem function and human health and well-being will remain an essential and worthwhile investment in the 21st century.