Assessing the trade‐offs of increased mining activity in the Surat Basin,Queensland: preferences of Brisbane residents using nonmarket valuation techniques

The mining boom in Australia since 2003 has produced significant economic benefits for regional, State and National economies, creating new job opportunities and revenue flows. Despite the contribution of the resources sector to economic growth, questions are frequently raised about the concomitant negative social, economic and environmental impacts. The Surat Basin in southern Queensland is a traditional agricultural region with a small but growing coal mining sector and a rapidly developing liquefied natural gas industry (mainly associated with extracting coal seam gas). In this paper, the preferences of residents in Brisbane, the State capital, are explored in relation to the relative importance of social, economic and environmental impacts of the resource boom in the Surat Basin. A choice modelling experiment was conducted to assess the trade‐offs Brisbane residents would make (in monetary terms) between the economic benefits and the associated costs of increased mining activity on local communities. The results identify the strength of concerns about community and environmental impacts and can potentially be used to help evaluate the net benefits of resource development.     

煤炭开采的生态效应及其地域分异

研究目的:分析不同地域矿区煤炭开采引起的生态效应及其地域分异现象,为差异性土地复垦与生态重建技术提供依据。研究方法:综述法、实地调查法和比较研究法。研究结果:煤炭开采扰动生态系统要素,改变生态系统结构和功能,其生态效应明显;这种效应在矿区内和矿区间表现程度和形式不尽相同,存在分异现象;影响生态效应差异的主要因素是采矿扰动因子和本底生态条件。研究结论:开展矿区生态监测和修复需要分区对待,并探索其敏感性指标或建立综合性指标评价体系。     

A probabilistic approach for the socioeconomic assessment of urban river rehabilitation projects

Urban river rehabilitation aims to enhance the ecological status of urban watercourses and promote measures for the local population to increase their well-being by making a direct or indirect use of the services these ecosystems may provide. The social and economic feasibility is evaluated by contrasting the resources used in the rehabilitation process with the benefits derived from it through the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA). By means of a case study, this work not only introduces the most innovative CBA approaches in environmental projects, but also implements probabilistic simulation methods in order to increase the robustness of the assessment indicators.The case study encompasses two projects, whose global costs total €46 M in 50 years, for the environmental rehabilitation of the stretch of the River Segura that flows through the city of Murcia. The benefits have been obtained by a contingent valuation exercise: €3.3 M/year (€0.6 M/year of use benefits, and €2.7 M/year of non-use benefits). Three different CBA approaches (economic, extended and dual) are applied to contrast these costs and benefits, conducting the analyses of uncertainty and sensitivity of the benefit items through a Monte Carlo simulation. The results highlight the importance of environmental benefits for this kind of projects to be socioeconomically feasible thanks to the profitability indicators they provide.     

Environmental protection or subversion in mining? Planning challenges,perspectives and actors at the largest gold deposit in Europe

The gold ores in Roşia Montană have been intensely mined for the last two thousand years, as this mining district was one of the richest gold deposits in the Apuseni Mountains (the so-called Golden Quadrangle of Romania). Itis currently considered the largest gold deposit in Europe. Up until a few decades ago, gold mines had a relatively predictable path, which began with exploration and ended with abandonment. This has since changed, once the impact of abusive past or current exploitation methods and technologies has been deemed unacceptable by the state and the public. With its millennia-old history of mining, Roșia Montană raises the intriguing question of what does the future hold for different actors in a situation that is clearly unsustainable, but which may be continued through environmental rehabilitation, or even a larger mine. We address the question for this particular mine by drawing on a worldwide database of similar cases contained in the Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas). We consider three scenarios, namely: 1) continued degradation with no intervention; 2) approval of large-scale mining, due to international arbitration; 3) environmental rehabilitation. These capture the most plausible future scenarios of the Roșia Montană case and, by relating them to the relevant transnational environmental justice context, we aim at assessing their implications for different actors and also the extent to which they are illustrative for the fate of other mines worldwide. Mine closure and the rehabilitation of the environment, regardless how distant they may seem at the beginning of the prospection and extraction stage, are imminent in the mine life cycle and a mandatory step of the environmental management process. We conclude by suggesting under which governance regimes each scenario is likely to unfold and what implications can be drawn for public policy.     

A thriving coal mining city in crisis? The governance and spatial planning challenges at Witbank,South Africa

The city of Witbank in the eMalahleni Local Government, or municipality as it is referred to in South Africa, and its economy are experiencing rapid growth. The growth is largely as a result of coal mining and associated activities such as power generation and the metal industry, which attracts an inflow of migrants to the area. The paper discusses how a flourishing city such as Witbank, with its economy based on non-renewable resources, manages its vulnerabilities. This was researched against a background of eMalahleni being placed under Administration, because the local government failed to deliver basic services. An administrator was appointed to manage and monitor the financial affairs of the local government, by the second sphere of government, known as the Provincial Administration in South Africa. The results show that Witbank prioritised mineral wealth above social, agricultural and environmental concerns. While good governance is generally important for a growing city, Witbank appears to manage with a limited contribution from the local government as the wealthier citizens are able to provide for their immediate needs or move elsewhere. It was suggested that South Africa needs to have a more balanced perspective on the costs and benefits of mining and to develop a long term vision for mining areas, which includes plans for the community once the mineral reserves are depleted.     

资源枯竭矿区采煤塌陷地生态环境损害评价

资源枯竭型城市不只是面临着经济的转型,同时也必须面对经受采矿活动扰动的生态系统的重建与发展。本文以淮北市主城区采煤塌陷地为研究对象,在分析自然、社会经济及采矿扰动条件的基础上,筛选参评因子并构建了评价指标体系,综合应用层次分析法和GIS空间分析功能,对采煤塌陷地生态环境损害程度进行了评价,明确了主城区内受损生态系统的空间分布格局,为下一阶段城市生态修复规划方案编制奠定了基础。     

基于国家所有权的矿业权价值的实现

我国的矿产资源是国家所有的,但是我国的矿产资源开发的法律政策实际上是将矿业权定位为用益物权,考虑到矿产资源的耗竭性,矿业权的使用权事实上转化成为一种对矿产资源的所有权。矿产资源的国家所有权并未实现,这直接导致了矿产资源开发利益分配的不均衡,影响了矿业的可持续发展,迫切需要通过顶层设计,确定矿产资源的国家所有价值,完善制度,确保矿产资源开发对经济社会的持续保障。因此,要通过改善税费政策、完善矿业权评估、落实环境保护、建立利益分配机制来实现矿业权的国家所有权,促进矿业开发的持续发展。     

基于环境经济效益的旅游开发区投资决策分析

旅游业在给人们带来丰厚收益的同时,也对环境产生不利影响。旅游开发区内的环境经济效益,是旅游业生存和发展的基础。环境经济效益分析中影响因素较多,基于旅游资源开发主体——水域的环境脆弱性,运用环境经济学、技术经济学、现代数学等有关理论和方法,以某旅游开发区为实例,说明费用——效益分析方法在评价水域旅游开发区环境经济效益的有效性。     

攀钢钒钛磁铁矿矿区地质灾害影响的三维可视化分析

随着矿产资源的开发利用,形成了以矿区为中心的经济社区,但与此同时,由于开采技术水平低,管理者的环境意识淡薄,掠夺性开采造成了矿区环境的生态系统退化和破坏.基于地理信息系统对攀钢钒钛磁铁矿开采对周围环境影响,讨论了滑坡和泥石流对矿区周围环境的影响,以三维GIS的方法,构建了矿区的三维地形模型,通过三维模型分析可以很直观的求出滑坡和泥石流对矿区、居民区、水资源的影响,可以发现由于开采、尾矿堆放、矿坑排水的影响,不但可能会引发更多的泥石流、滑坡等地质灾害,而且对当地人民的生活产生较大的影响,利用GIS的强大建模和分析功能,为矿区开采及环境保护、合理利用矿产提供技术支持和决策依据.     

矿山生命周期性环境治理模式探析

我国通过倡导绿色勘查、推进绿色矿山建设,在矿山环境治理方面取得阶段性成效,但仍存在着矿山环境治理碎片化和中空化等问题。文章在研究矿业发达国家矿山环境治理模式基础上,结合我国国情研究提出我国建立矿山生命周期性环境治理体系建议,包括鼓励探索最佳工业实践,制定矿山生命周期各阶段环境管理的详细指南,建立矿山环境绩效评价与配套激励制度,形成制度与机制加强和规范公众参与,以及加强本底调查和矿山生命周期性环境动态监测等。     

Bt Cotton,Pesticide Use and Environmental Efficiency in Pakistan

There is a broad literature on the impact of Bt cotton adoption in different countries, but few studies have explicitly looked at environmental and health effects from an economic perspective. We analyse the impact of Bt cotton on environmental efficiency in Pakistan, using farm survey data and a doubly heteroskedastic stochastic production function framework. Negative environmental and health effects of chemical pesticide use are quantified with the environmental impact quotient. Bt‐adopting farms have higher cotton yields, while using lower pesticide quantities and causing less environmental damage. Bt farms are both technically and environmentally more efficient than non‐Bt farms. Bt adoption increases environmental efficiency by 37%. Achieving the same reduction in negative environmental and health impact without Bt would cost conventional cotton farmers US$ 54 per acre in terms of foregone yields and revenues (7% of total revenues). Extrapolating this shadow price of the technology's health and environmental benefits to the total Bt cotton area in Pakistan results in an aggregate value of US$ 370 million. These benefits are in addition to the profit gains for Bt‐adopting farmers. Our results suggest that Bt technology can contribute to sustainable agricultural development.     

Valuing financial,health, and environmental benefits of Bt cotton in Pakistan

Data from a farm survey and choice experiment are used to value the benefits of Bt cotton in Pakistan. Unlike previous research on the economic impacts of Bt, which mostly concentrated on financial benefits in terms of gross margins, we also quantify and monetize health and environmental benefits associated with technology adoption. Due to lower chemical pesticide use on Bt cotton plots, there are significant health advantages in terms of fewer incidents of acute pesticide poisoning, and environmental advantages in terms of higher farmland biodiversity and lower soil and groundwater contamination. Farmers themselves value these positive effects at US$ 79 per acre, of which half is attributable to health and the other half to environmental improvements. Adding average gross margin gains of US$ 204 results in aggregate benefits of US$ 283 per acre, or US$ 1.8 billion for the total Bt cotton area in Pakistan.     

济源市观光采摘旅游效益构成分析

[目的]以河南省济源市为研究对象,探究济源市观光采摘旅游的效益构成,并针对发展中的问题提出相应对策,以期促进济源市观光采摘旅游的健康与可持续发展。[方法]文章采用统计数据分析法和文献分析法。搜集济源市观光采摘旅游相关的数据,分析其对济源市经济、文化等各项发展带来的影响,详细说明济源市观光采摘旅游效益构成。[结果]2008~2015年,济源市观光采摘旅游的人数占旅游总人数比例的年平均增长率41.03%,收入占旅游总收入比例的年平均增长率44.41%;星级酒店数量减少5个;果蔬种植面积和产量年平均增长率为2.41%和3.90%;此外,济源市农产品销售渠道拓宽,消耗能源和排放污染物数量减少。2010~2015年,济源市就业人员年平均增长速率5.83%,失业率减少0.50%,文盲率下降0.07%,大学及以上学历人数增长3.80%。51.4%的游客认为观光采摘旅游等生态休闲旅游增强了自己的环保知识。[结论]济源市观光采摘旅游效益主要由经济效益、生态效益和社会效益构成。经济效益方面:政府和居民收入提高,当地旅游业发展水平提高,农业种植结构得到改善,农业种植效益得以提高,农产品销售渠道得以拓宽;生态效益方面:生态环境得到改善;社会效益方面:当地居民的就业率和文化素质得以提高,社会大众的环保意识得以加强。在以后的观光采摘旅游发展过程中,应发挥当地特有的文化优势并注重提升自我,采取针对性措施解决现存问题。     

基于社会责任的绿色矿山政策取向

矿山企业社会责任层次的划分应突出矿业的特殊性,按照利益相关者和外部性的双重视角,将节约资源和保护环境分别作为社会责任体系中的一个层次。据此构建的矿山企业社会责任体系中,经济责任和法律责任是责任体系的基础支撑部分;环境责任和资源责任构成了责任体系的主体部分;而伦理责任和慈善责任是矿山企业在优先落实资源与环境责任基础上更高的责任层次。将绿色矿山基本条件与矿山企业社会责任结合起来,建立社会责任与基本条件矩阵,为绿色矿山政策制定提供分析工具。通过分析对比,资源与环境责任、伦理与慈善责任是矿山企业持续发展面临的现实要求,而且其行为结果均具有明显的社会性,成为绿色矿山鼓励政策抉择的重要取向。     

The dynamics of land-cover change in western Honduras: exploring spatial and temporal complexity

This paper presents an econometric analysis of land‐cover change in western Honduras. Ground‐truthed satellite image analysis indicates that between 1987 and 1996, net forest regrowth occurred in the 1015 km² study region. While some forest regrowth can be attributed to a 1987 ban on logging, the area of forest regrowth greatly exceeds that of previously clear‐cut areas. Further, new area was also deforested between 1987 and 1996. Thus, the observed land‐cover changes most likely represent a complex mosaic of changing land‐use patterns across time and space. Using satellite imagery from 1987, 1991 and 1996, we estimate a series of models, including binary probit models for each date, and a random‐effects probit model using panel techniques. We also experiment with spatial sampling schemes designed to reduce residual spatial autocorrelation, and qualitatively compare the impact of spatial sampling on model accuracy. Lastly, we find that changes in relative prices, infrastructure improvement, and topography are all significantly related to changing land‐cover patterns.     

论南非矿业本土化的立法规制与风险防范

南非是世界五大矿产国之一,也是中国在非洲投资规模最大的国家。南非矿业的增加值约为2305亿兰特,占其G D P的7.3%。矿业已占据中国对南非投资比重的四分之一以上。南非矿业历史悠久,法律制度完善,受殖民主义和种族隔离影响,矿业成为了南非黑人经济振兴政策的重要领域。因此,南非矿业本土化的立法与评估体系对矿业所有权、矿山社区发展、当地采购、住房和生活条件、人力资源开发和就业平等六大方面提出了更高的要求。在赴南非投资矿业的进程中,中国企业必须高度关注其矿业本土化立法的规制,积极做好提升本土化评估等级、履行环境保护义务的举措。     

Environmental protection and management: A water pollution case study within the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area,Australia

The Grose River is contained almost entirely within a World Heritage Area. While sewage pollution in the area has been addressed, pollution at damaging levels continues from a disused coal mine, closed in 1997. Despite some surface rehabilitation, no action has occurred to remediate zinc polluted waters emanating from the mine. We examine the historical regulation and management of the Australian Commonwealth and New South Wales governments and highlight gaps in both regulatory systems. We conclude that there is an urgent need to improve regulation of water pollution, mining and management of the environment in highly valued world heritage areas.     

县级土壤环境功能区划研究与示范——以登封市为例

土壤是人类赖以生存与发展的物质基础,土壤环境功能区划是合理开发利用与有效保护管理的重要基础性工作。土壤环境功能区划工作亟须详细展开,且区划方案因尺度不同而异。县级土壤环境功能区划结果要求更具体、可操作性更强。文章深入分析了县级土壤环境功能区划的区划思路、区划原则、区划方法、区划依据与指标体系等区划方案,并以河南省登封市为例进行县级土壤环境功能区划示范研究。登封市土壤环境功能区划分为4级:一级区划分为生产功能区、生活功能区、生态功能区等3类;二级区划分为基本农田种植区、一般农业发展区、商品林生产种植区、农村居民区、城镇建设区、独立工矿区、港口与交通用地区、生态公益林种植区、生态安全控制区、自然景观与文化遗产保护区、湿地保护区、草地保护区等12类;三、四级区划分别根据土壤环境质量现状、潜在风险等进行空间100m格网大小评价并各划分为5个等级。该研究关于县级土壤环境功能区划方案与示范应用,为土壤环境保护与可持续利用提供科学参考,也可为其他地区县级土壤环境功能区划提供科学借鉴。     

基于灰色关联模型的内蒙古自治区土地整治综合效益分类

[目的]内蒙古自治区是我国土地整治的重点区域,但各地级市差异明显,各类整治工程效益迥异。根据不同盟市发展与地区定位,从自治区层面综合分析不同类型土地整治综合效益,确定地区土地整治目标和重点,对部署土地整治战略具有重要意义。[方法]文章使用灰色关联模型,选取经济、社会和生态3方面共10个评价指标,应用层次分析法,对内蒙古自治区"十二五"期间12个盟市的土地整理、复垦和开发工程的综合效益进行评价。[结果]内蒙古整理工程综合效益最显著的地区位于东部的赤峰市、通辽市、兴安盟和呼伦贝尔市4盟市,复垦工程综合效益最显著的地区位于通辽市、兴安盟和西部的巴彦淖尔市和鄂尔多斯市等传统煤矿产区,开发工程以鄂尔多斯市、巴彦淖尔市和通辽市综合效益最为显著。依照不同类型土地整治工程综合效益位序排列,内蒙古12个盟市可划分为4类,其中第I类为均衡发展重点整治区域,第Ⅱ类为土地整理工程效益优先区域,第Ⅲ类为土地复垦工程效益优先区域,第Ⅳ类为复合类型整治区域。与第I类区域相比,后3类区域各类工程综合效益略低,但具有明显的优势类型。[结论]作为我国土地整治的重点区域,内蒙古土地整治工作应考虑不同区域发展条件的差异和经济发展水平的地域差异,因地制宜,适度整治。