Agricultural growth, environmentaldegradation, poverty and nutrition : links and policy implications
Agricultural production ; Agricultural technique ; Agriculture ; Environmentaldegradation ; Nutrition ; Poverty ; Rural development
The links and feedbacks between agricultural growth, environmentaldegradation, and poverty are complex and manifold. This paper examines these linkages under two situations : when new yield-increasing agricultural technologies are available
The AA. hypothesize that environmentaldegradation had a major effect on grain production in many of China's agricultural areas. A nationwide fixed effect grain-yield function is introduced which incorporates both traditional input variables
and an additional set of variables that reflect trends in environmentaldegradation at the provincial level. The model is estimated using time-series data for the period from 1978 to 1980.
Environment ; Environmentaldegradation ; Human impact ; Man-environment relations ; Population pressure ; Resource management
Excellent discussion of the physical and human interactions that result in land degradation. Material organized as either creative destruction and destructive creation - the two are linked for in the interest of sustaining human population, one must
first destroy in order to create. Thoughtful conclusion on how land degradation can be minimized. - (DWG)
Author criticizes the two extreme views of environmental security : the pessimist view (the theory of Himalayan environmentaldegradation) that population is growing while the resource bas eis static or declining and the optimist view (heralded
by Julian Simon) that there are no environmental limits because of unfailing human ingenuity. He suggest rejecting the mutually opposed orthodoxies for socially informed understanding of environmental security that considers types of social solidarity
Environmentaldegradation and productive transformation in Mexico : the contradictions of crisis management
An overview of Mexico's environmental problems and how the public and private sectors are beginning to deal with them. The highest priority is directed to air pollution in the Basin of Mexico. Whereas confidence in governmental action has fallen
, popular efforts to deal with local environmental problems are still poorly developed. - (DWG)
Defining degradation : the impacts of swidden on forests in Northern Thailand
Special issue on integrating natural and social environmental science
Environment ; Environmentaldegradation ; Ethnic community ; Forest ; Land clearing ; Shifting cultivation ; Thailand ; Vegetation dynamics
A reevaluation of the usual view that shifting cultivation leads to forest degradation, soil erosion, water shortages, and other undesirable changes. Author examines the swidden farming near three upland villages in northern Thailand. swiddens
Evaluating environmental sensitivity at the basin scale through the use of geographic information systems and remotely sensed data : an example covering the Agri basin (Southern Italy)
The sensitivity of the Mediterranean environment to degradation caused by land use and climate change. Special issue
Arid area ; Basilicata ; Desertification ; Ecosystem ; Environmentaldegradation ; Geographical information system ; Italy ; Mediterranean area ; Remote sensing ; Soil erosion
The aim of this study is to develop a methodological reference framework, for use at the basin scale, from which environmental sensitivity can be evaluated. The results of a 3-year investigation into the degradation processes related
to desertification in the Agri basin environment (Southern Italy) are presented. Different degradation stages or desertification risks are also evaluated at the plot scale. These data, and the derived results, are integrated into a Geographic Information System (GIS
) along with regional scale information layers related to selected environmental and socio-economic factors.
Environmental change in the Kalahari : integrated land degradation studies for nonequilibrium dryland environments
Arid area ; Botswana ; Ecosystem ; Hydrochemistry ; Kalahari ; Model ; Nutrient ; Over-grazing ; Pastoral ; Scrub ; Soil degradation ; Soil moisture ; Soil water
Patterns of ecological change, notably increased bush dominance, have been linked to increased cattle-grazing intensity, but it remains contentious whether these changes represent land degradation. Given the inherent ecological variability
of drylands, the AA. argue that degradation assessments should be based, not on ecological observations alone, but on the study of long-term changes in pastoral production figures and on changes in the ecologically determining factors of soil water and soil
nutrient avaibility. They present a model of ecosystem dynamics that does not display bush encroachment as a definite form of land degradation.
Land degradation and its control strategies in China
Afforestation ; China ; Cultivated land ; Desertification ; Environment ; Environmental management ; Nutrient ; Pollution ; Salinisation ; Soil degradation ; Soil erosion ; Statistics ; Water erosion ; Water resources ; Wind erosion
Following the discussion of the causes and disasters of land degradation, this paper presents the achievements gained in prevention and control of land degradation since 1949. The several control strategic measures in combating land degradation
[b1] Dep. Natural Conservation, National Environmental Protection Agency, Beijing, Chine
Crossing the thresholds : human ecology and historical patterns of landscape degradation
Agricultural land use ; Common agricultural policy ; Environmentaldegradation ; Historical geography ; Human ecology ; Human impact ; Iceland ; Modelling ; Over-grazing ; Soil erosion ; Tephrochronology
The AA. assess the extent to which common land domestic grazing pressures were the primary external force causing soil erosion and land degradation during the period of occupation from ca. 874 AD in Southern Iceland. They first provide field
observation of soil erosion, temporally defined by tephrochronology, to highlight the extent of land degradation during this period. The tragedy of the commons explanation of degradation is then assessed by evaluating historic documentary sources
, and by environmental reconstruction and modeling of historic grazing pressures.
Landscape Degradation Modelling: An Environmental Impact Assessment for Rural Landscape Prioritisation
EIA ; Environment ; Environmentaldegradation ; Environmental management ; Haizuka Dam ; Impact study ; Japan ; Landscape ; Landscape Degradation Model ; Methodology ; Modelling ; landscape compartments ; rural landscape
Landscape Degradation Assessment (LDA) of rural areas can play a crucial role in landscape planning. Japan lacks quantitative and cumulative Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) methodologies, especially in the area of LDA. Although a decision
support system is in place for very large projects (Class-1) in Japan, EIAs for much smaller projects are non-existent, which often results in ambiguity with regard to environmental problems. To improve the transparency of the decision-making process
for rural landscape planning, increase the scale of the assessment of project size to a more strategic local level, and enhance effective communication with decision-makers, a new EIA procedure is proposed with the development of a Landscape Degradation
Model (LDM) for rural areas in Japan. The procedure is based on the equation, LD=Σ kI/V, where LD represents the degradation coefficient of the landscape compartments, Σ kI represents the cumulative impact of human activities, and V quantifies
The development of an environmental assessment map in this recreation area allows for further research in the protection and conservation of this environmentally at risk area. - (JS)
Economic development and environmental management in Malaysia
Development ; Development strategy ; Economic development ; Environment ; Environmentaldegradation ; Environmental management ; Malaysia
Through a series of five years plans, the economy has greatly expanded. The A. highlights the consequences of these economic changes to the Malaysian environment, summarises measures taken by government to reduce consequential environmental problems
The physical processes of climate change require a rethinking of the typical mechanisms of environmentaldegradation to account for the renewed possibilities for accumulation emerging in the Arctic. The effects of historic, fossil fuel combustion
are being organized into new regional production strategies that sharpen and deflect environmentaldegradation. The opportunities for new Arctic energy extraction and shipping are both heightened and complicated by contemporary geopolitics and commodity