This book aims at visualizing to a broad audience how fifty years of scientific research can make a huge contribution to worldwide efforts in conservation. A model case is presented showing how interdisciplinary work across a broad range of scientific disciplines (Evolution Science, Botany, vertebrate Zoology, Terrestrial Ecology, Marine Ecology, Fisheries Science, Oceanography, Social and Economic Science) has contributed to the conservation and sustainable development of the Galapagos archipelago, the natural environment made famous by Charles Darwin in the nineteenth century.

The book describe the state-of -the-art knowledge on the Galapagos socio-ecosystem, presents modern modelling tools for the integration of information from diverse science disciplines and shall highlight contrasting viewpoints with regard to future scenarios for reconciling conservation with the socio-economic development of the archipelago. The book is innovative in its multidisciplinary focus on conservation and in presenting up to date tools for scenario modelling. Its conclusions are applicable globally.

Proceedings of the ISPRA Course Held November 25-29, 1985, Organized in Collaboration with the European Safety and Reliability Association-ESRA

This book explores the nexus among food, energy and water in peri-urban areas, demonstrating how relevant this nexus is for environmental sustainability. In particular it examines the effective management of the nexus in the face of the risks and trade-offs of mitigation policies, and as a mean to create resilience to climate change. The book delineates strategies and actions necessary to develop and protect our natural resources and improve the functionality of the nexus, such as: integrated management of the major resources that characterize the metabolism of a city, stronger coordination among stakeholders who often weight differently the services that are relevant to their individual concerns, integration of efforts towards environmental protection, adaptation to and prevention of climate change and disaster risks mitigation.

This book illustrates operation and maintenance practices/guidelines for economic generation and managing health of a thermal power generator beyond its regulatory life. The book provides knowledge for professionals managing power station operations, through its unique approach to chemical analysis of water, steam, oil etc. to identify malfunctioning/defects in equipment/systems much before the physical manifestation of the problem. The book also contains a detailed procedure for conducting performance evaluation tests on different equipment, and for analyzing test results for predicting maintenance requirements, which has lent a new dimension to power systems operation and maintenance practices. A number of real life case studies also enrich the book. This book will prove particularly useful to power systems operations professionals in the developing economies, and also to researchers and students involved in studying power systems operations and control.

Russia is the world's foremost energy superpower, rivaling Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer and accounting for a quarter of the world's exports of natural gas. Russia's energy reserves account for half of the world's probable oil reserves and a third of the world's proven natural gas reserves. Whereas military might and nuclear weapons formed the core of Soviet cold war power, since 1991 the Russian state has viewed its monopolistic control of Russia's energy resources as the core of its power now and for the future. Since 2005, the international news has been filled with Russia's repeated demonstrations of its readiness to use price, transit fees, and supply of gas and oil exports as punitive policy instruments against recalcitrant states that were formerly part of the Soviet Union, striking in turn the Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, and Lithuania. Orban reveals for the first time in "Power, Energy, and the New Russian Imperialism" Russia's readiness to wield the same energy weapon against her neighbors on the west, all of them former Soviet satellite states but now EU and NATO member nations: the three Baltic nations and the five East European nations of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia.

Orban shows how the Kremlin since 1991 has systematically used Russian energy companies as players in a concerted neo-mercantilist, energy-based foreign policy designed to further Russia's neo-imperial ambitions among America's key allies in Central East Europe. Her unprecedented analysis is key to predicting Russia's strategic response to American negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic to host the US missile shield. She also reveals the economic and diplomatic modus operandi by which Russia will increasingly apply its energy clout to shape and coerce the foreign policies of the West European members of the EU, as Russia's contribution to EU gas consumption increases from a quarter today to three-quarters by 2020. Orban proves that Russia's neo-mercantilist energy strategy in East Europe is not at all dependent on the person of Putin, but began under Yeltsin and continues under Medvedev, the former chairman of Gazprom.

Against the background of colonial and postcolonial experiences, this volume shows that power relations and stereotypes embedded in the original Western idea of a national park are a continuing reality of contemporary national and transnational parks. The volume seeks to dispel the myth that colonial beliefs and practices in protected areas have ended with the introduction of 'new' nature conservation policies and practices. It explores this continuity against the backdrop of the development of the national park idea in the West, and its trajectories in colonial and postcolonial societies, particularly southern Africa.

This volume analyses the dynamic relations between people and national parks and assesses these in southern Africa against broader experiences in postcolonial societies. It draws examples from a broad range of situations and places. It reinserts issues of prejudices into contemporary national park systems, and accounts for continuities and interruptions in national parks ideals in different contexts. Its interpretation of material transcends the North-South divide.

This volume is accessible to readers from different academic backgrounds. It is of special interest to academics, policymakers and Non-Governmental Organisations. This book can also be used as prescribed or reference material in courses taught at university.

The global attention in recent years has focused primarily on water quantity and allocation issues. Water quality has received significantly less attention than water quantity. Commendable progress has been made by the developed world to control point sources of pollution, but commensurate progress in reducing non-point sources has not been made. In the third world countries both point and non-point sources of pollution are becoming increasingly a serious concern. Already, nearly all water bodies in such countries near and around urban centres have been severely polluted, with very high health and environmental costs.

The book assesses the current status of water quality management in both developed and developing worlds, as well as analysing the effectiveness of economic instruments and legal and institutional frameworks to control water contamination. It outlines the importance of building up social and political awareness to reverse the trend of continuing water quality deterioration, which is likely to be a most challenging task in the coming years.

This book was published as a special issue of International Journal of Water Resources Development.

More than 200 major river basins are shared by two or more countries and, together, these basins account for about 60% of the earth's land area, constituting a significant portion of the world's fresh water resources. They are thus both a significant asset to the nations sharing them, as well as a potential source of conflict. This book presents a generic framework for the analysis of decision making on international river issues. It emphasises the strategic character of the interactions between the basin states and addresses learning and institutionalization processes, taking account of the influence of the context on the decision making process. The case of the river Scheldt covers negotiations on the Belgian-Dutch water conventions covering a number of international issues relating to the river basins of the Scheldt and the Meuse, such as construction projects aimed at improving the maritime access to the port of Antwerp, the maintenance of the navigation channel in the Western Scheldt, pollution of the waters in the two rivers, and the distribution of water from the Meuse. The final part of the book contains a typology of strategies for the solution of upstream-downstream problems in international river basins. Audience: All those interested in international water and environmental management, international negotiations and politics, and public policy.

It is clear that our environment is changing, and not for the better. Companies cannot ignore environmental issues anymore. Public awareness is growing, legislation is tightening, and demand for ISO 14000 compliance is rising. For many, however, the field of environmental management (including ISO 14000) is full of unfamiliar terms, high learning curves, unproductive approaches, much frustration, and often little action. If environmental management is to become widely accepted and self-motivated in industry, it must connect to the basic motivators for business: increased competitiveness and profitability. Activity-Based Cost And Environmental Management: A Different Approach to the ISO 14000 Compliance demonstrates how environmental assessment and management can be performed based upon familiar principles: cost accounting and cost management. Specifically, this book describes how the well-established Activity-Based Costing and Management principles can be extended with non-monetary environmental dimensions. The result is a single, integrated framework called Activity-Based Cost and Environmental Management that provides the tools and abilities to do both environmental management and cost management in an integrated manner and according to modern management principles. This integration of economic and environmental dimensions based upon familiar cost accounting and management principles makes it easier for decision-makers to not only include the environment in their decision-making, but also to identify, rank and prioritize opportunities for win-win situations where competitiveness is increased and environmental impact reduced at the same time. In this book, the basic concepts of Activity-Based Cost and Environmental Management are described, as well as how to make your own integrated Activity-Based Cost and Environmental Management implementations and how to get the most out of them using uncertainty distributions, Monte Carlo simulations, and sensitivity charts. Among others, the book includes chapters on environmental management and Activity-Based Costing, as well as several real-life case studies from companies for which the authors implemented Activity-Based Cost and Environmental Management systems.

This book covers all sustainable fibres applicable in the fashion sector and discusses their importance in the context of sustainability. It is the first of its kind to address all the minute details pertaining to these fibres and to connect these fibres with the world of sustainable fashion. It stresses their importance in developing sustainable apparel, since fibres play a major role as the starting point in the life cycle of clothing.

Much has been written about the wealth of nations, the history of unequal distribution of wealth, and the creation of zones of affluence and deprivation, both within and between societies. This book sets out to explore why some Asian nations are more prosperous than others through an examination of how their interaction with and utilization of resources has changed over the centuries.

The rapid development of energy program evaluation has broad implications for the policy porcess and policy design. Evaluation plays a far-reaching role in the energy policy process, affecting all segments of the population and the allocation of billions of dollars in public and private expenditure. The authors have selected a variety of energy program evaluations from the hundreds that have been conducted over the past five years to illustrate this development in energy policy. Thus, they inform the policy community in both academia and in government of the impact of evaluation in the energy context. They also enlighten practitioners in energy program evaluation of the policy implications of this work.

Confronting an ecological crisis in 1860, French officials initiated an unprecedented policy of alpine reforestation. The Alps, Pyrenees, and Massif Central mountains were fragile and degraded, scientific experts determined, and the salvation of the mountains (for the benefit of lowland farmers and urban areas) would require watershed restorations and reduced access to forest and pasture for alpine peasants. This book is an environmental and political history of the disputes over the uses of mountains and forests in France from the mid-nineteenth century to the eve of World War II.

Grounded in detailed case studies of two highland communities -- Jarrier in Savoie and Massat in Ariege -- the book sheds new light on one of the most pronounced conflicts between upland peasants and the state in modern France. Whited argues that the state did not push aside seemingly marginal people in a quick, decisive move justified by the imperatives of modernization. Instead, protesting peasants employed an increasingly flexible arsenal of political responses that forced the state to backtrack and compromise.

The U.S. Ocean Commission Report identified the need for regional ecosystem assessments to support coastal and ocean management. These assessments must provide greater understanding of physical and biological dynamics than assessments at global and national scales can provide but transcend state and local interests. This need and timeliness is apparent for Long Island Sound, where a multi-state regional restoration program is underway for America s most urbanized estuary. Synthesis of the Long Island Sound ecosystem is needed to integrate knowledge across disciplines and provide insight into understanding and managing pressing issues, such as non-point sources of pollution, coastal development, global climatic change, and invasive species. Currently, there is a need for a comprehensive volume that summarizes the ecological and environmental dynamics and status of Long Island Sound and its myriad ecosystems.

It has been 30 years since a comprehensive summary of Long Island Sound was prepared and 50 years since the pioneering work of Gordon Riley. Major advances in estuarine science are providing new insights into these systems, and yet, the condition of many estuaries is in decline in the face of continuing coastal development. There is an opportunity to lay a foundation for integrative coastal observing systems that truly provide the foundation for improved decision-making. This book will provide a key reference of our scientific understanding for work performed over the past three decades and guide future research and monitoring in a dynamic urbanized estuary. "

Reflecting a new generation of conservation biologists' upper-division and graduate level conservation biology courses, as well as for individual reference, this book incorporates a number of new authors and additional chapters, covering all aspects of one of the most dynamic areas in the life sciences. Containing ten additional chapters, it includes such timely topics as ecosystem management and the economics of conservation.

Western Australia has over 3,500 islands, the largest number of any Australian state or territory. All remain in public ownership; almost all south of the Kimberley are managed by a single government agency, whilst almost all Kimberley islands are native title; a situation unique in the world. This book, written by two experienced wildlife scientists, documents the islands' plants and animals, and discusses the islands' history, impacts of invasive species, and management actions. It is arranged geographically, taking the reader on a journey from the Kimberley south along the west coast to Cape Leeuwin, and then east to the Archipelago of the Recherche. Throughout, you will be introduced to the Island Jewels of Western Australia in all their magnificence.

Food Security, Poverty and Nutrition Policy Analysis: Statistical Methods and Applications, Third Edition combines statistical data analysis and computer literacy, applying the results to develop policy alternatives through a series of statistical methods for real world food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty problems. The book presents the latest uses of statistical methods for policy analysis using the open source statistical environment R, in addition to having the original Stata files and applications. A new chapter on obesity brings in new datasets for analysis to effectively demonstrate the use of such data for addressing policy issues. Finally, program evaluation methods which can be directly applied to the data on food security, nutrition, poverty indicators and causal factors are included. This unique, real-world data takes the reader through a "hands-on" approach toward econometric practice whereby they can also test the effects of policy and program interventions. Further, this is the first book to explore actual data with STATA and R statistical packages that also provides a line-by-line guide to the programming and interpretation of results.

This book discusses the history of nuclear decommissioning as a science and industry. It explores the early, little-known period when the term "decommissioning" was not used in the nuclear context and the end-of-life operations of a nuclear facility were a low priority. It then describes the subsequent period when decommissioning was recognized as a separate phase of the nuclear lifecycle, before bringing readers up to date with today's state of the art. The author addresses decommissioning as a mature industry in an era in which large, commercial nuclear reactors and other fuel-cycle installations have been fully dismantled, and their sites returned to other uses. The book also looks at the birth, growth and maturity of decommissioning, focusing on how new issues emerged, how these were gradually addressed, and the lessons learned from them. Further, it examines the technologies and management advances in science and industry that followed these solutions. Nuclear Decommissioning is a point of reference for industry researchers and decommissioning practitioners looking to enrich their knowledge of decommissioning in recent decades as well as the modern industry. The book is also of interest to historians and students who wish to learn more about the history of nuclear decommissioning.

Tropical forests are disappearing, giving way to alternative land uses. Sven Wunder gives an economic perspective on deforestation. Following a survey of different deforestation definitions, theories and empirical evidence, a case study of Ecuador provides an historical picture of factors affecting forest loss throughout different periods, regions and ecosystems. It is shown that policy and market failures alone cannot explain why rapid deforestation decision makers follow a composite economic rationale in their continuous clearing of forests which can only be counteracted by concerted action.

Successive food, economic and environmental crises have prompted the world Agricultural Research for Development (ARD) bodies to spring into action. Faced with the clear failure of public development aid to reduce inequalities and hunger, especially in Africa, wide consensus has been achieved from the World Bank to the G8 via the UN, the European Union and the African Union these past five years on the need to improve agricultural production through sustainable rural development which shows respect for Man and Nature. The ARD has set itself the goal of supporting the implementation of technical, social and institutional responses to sustainable development through a partnership encouraging the pooling of knowledge, increased skills and the autonomy of key players.

At present, constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment are a widely used technology for treatment of various types of wastewaters. The International Water Association (then International Association on Water Pollution Research and Control) recognized wetlands as useful tools for wastewater treatment and est- lished the series of biennial conferences on the use of wetland systems for water pollution control in 1988. In about 1993, we decided to organize a workshop on nutrient cycling in natural and constructed wetlands with the major idea to bring together researchers working on constructed and also natural wetlands. It was not our intention to compete with IWA conferences, but the workshop should rather complement the series on treatment wetlands by IWA. We believed that the exchange of information obtained from natural and constructed wetlands would be beneficial for all participants. And the time showed that we were correct. The first workshop took place in 1995 at T?ebo? in South Bohemia and most of the papers dealt with constructed wetlands. Over the years we extended the topics on natural wetlands (such as role of wetlands in the landscape or wetland restoration and creation) and during the 6th workshop held at T?ebo? from May 30 to June 3, 2006, nearly half of 38 papers presented during the workshop dealt with natural wetlands. This workshop was attended by 39 participants from 19 countries from Europe, Asia, North and South Americas and Australia. The volume contains 29 peer-reviewed papers out of 38 papers which were presented during the workshop.

ELECTRE and Decision Support focuses on the areas of engineering and infrastructure investment. It begins with some general comments about the different decision components within the project planning process - the definition of objectives, the identification of alternative courses of action, the establishing of criteria, the evaluation of alternatives and the final recommendation. The authors highlight the ability of Multicriteria Decision Aid to reconcile the economic, technical and environmental dimensions of the projects for its planners. They emphasize the complexity of this process, illustrating the importance of identifying the stakeholders within it, as they greatly influence the definition of the decision criteria. A brief case study illustrates these different aspects. Following a comparison of Cost Benefit Analysis and Multicriteria Decision Aid, the introductory chapter sets out the structure of the book, with four subsequent chapters devoted to the methodology of ELECTRE and three outlining case studies involving different versions of ELECTRE. The chapters concentrating on the ELECTRE methodology first give an overview of the main MCDA methods before presenting the ELECTRE method in detail. Each chapter answers the following questions: (1) In what context should the ELECTRE methods be chosen? (2) Which version of the methods is most appropriate to apply to a given problem? Another chapter deals with a critical and delicate problem within MCDA - how to adequately assess the role played by each criterion in a given decision problem, and how this translates into an appropriate weighting for it. Each one covers a different civil engineering discipline and each uses a different version of ELECTRE. The final chapter on methodology presents some accessories which, when used with ELECTRE, can greatly enhance its usefulness in practice. This book is outstanding in many respects. I am convinced that the simple, clear and concise style of the authors will make this book accessible to very many readers. No important aspect of the subject is neglected, and the concise nature of this book does not hinder its originality. Last but not least, the manner in which the case studies are described allows the authors not only to demonstrate the validity of the approach and procedures presented, but also to help the reader understand how to apply them in an effective manner. Taken from the Foreword by Bernard Roy, University Paris-Dauphine

This book is the first to present in a systematic manner the application of game theory to fisheries management at both international and national levels. Strategic interaction among fishers and nations exploiting fishery resources is an inescapable fact of life. This has long been recognized at the international level, and is becoming increasingly recognized at the national/regional level. It follows, therefore, that, in order to be able to analyse effectively the management of these resources, the theory of strategic interaction game theory must be brought to bear. In this book the step-by-step development of the game theory is accompanied by numerous applications to the real world of fisheries management policy. As such, it is designed to appeal to policy makers and stakeholders, as well as to graduate students in Economics.

Scholars in philosophy, law, economics and other fields have widely debated how science, environmental precaution, and economic interests should be balanced in urgent contemporary problems, such as climate change. One controversial focus of these discussions is the precautionary principle, according to which scientific uncertainty should not be a reason for delay in the face of serious threats to the environment or health. While the precautionary principle has been very influential, no generally accepted definition of it exists and critics charge that it is incoherent or hopelessly vague. This book presents and defends an interpretation of the precautionary principle from the perspective of philosophy of science, looking particularly at how it connects to decisions, scientific procedures, and evidence. Through careful analysis of numerous case studies, it shows how this interpretation leads to important insights on scientific uncertainty, intergenerational justice, and the relationship between values and policy-relevant science.