In order to provide water security in the twenty-first century, there is universal agreement that a continuation of current policies and extrapolation of trends is not an option. Also clear is that from both water supply and development perspectives, the world's arid and semi-arid regions are those currently and potentially experiencing the highest water stresses. One third of the world's land surface is classified as arid or semi-arid, and about half of all countries are directly affected in some way by problems of aridity. The hydrology of arid and semi-arid areas is also known to be substantially different from that in more humid regions. It is therefore essential that investigation methods appropriate to the former are developed and applied, and that strategies for arid and semi-arid region water resources development recognise the principal characteristics of in-situ hydrological processes.

This book explores a new model for addressing the central issue of environmental and other collective actions. An alternative to the classical models: central authority, privatization, and self-governance, it has provisionally been named "expert and scholar-based-" or "knowledge-driven governance". The book also identifies seven working rules (or design principles) for successful knowledge-driven governance, and argues that the more strictly these rules are abided by, the more successful this model of governance becomes. Lastly, it demonstrates that in addition to Lindblom's observed intellectually guided society and preference-guided/volition-guided society, there may be the possibility of a knowledge-driven society in which knowledge or intellect plays a greater role. The results obtained are supplemented by numerical calculations, presented as tables and figures. This book is intended for graduate students, lecturers and researchers working in environmental management, environmental science and engineering, sustainable development, collective action, and public administration.

Flood disasters continue to occur in many countries in the world and cause tremendous casualties and property damage. To mitigate the effects of floods, a range of structural and non-structural measures have been employed including dykes, channelling, flood-proofing property, land-use regulation and flood warning schemes. Such schemes can include the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for modelling the rainfall run-off process as it is a quick and flexible approach which gives very promising results. However, the inability of ANN to extrapolate beyond the limits of the training range is a serious limitation of the method, and this book examines ways of side-stepping or solving this complex issue.

This book offers an in-depth look at how changing ideas of what nature is and what it means for the United States, have been represented in buildings and landscapes over the past century.

The word "nature" comes from natura, Latin for birth - as do the words nation, native and innate. But nature and nation share more than a common root, they share a common history where one term has been used to define the other. In the United States, the relationship between nation and nature has been central to its colonial and post-colonial history, from the idea of the noble savage to the myth of the frontier. Narrated, painted and filmed, American landscapes have been central to the construction of a national identity.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203402030

This wide-ranging selection of original papers covers many aspects of desertification including environmental and weather factors, land management policy, groundwater resources, understanding biodiversity in fragile ecosystems, technological approaches to the study and remedy of desertification.

This book gives an overall analysis of the current knowledge status about structures, functions, utilization for German Baltic coast ecosystems. The main focus of this book is on the aquatic area, but land/sea interactions as well as river outfalls are included as well. Characteristic for this book is the inclusion of social science aspects. Approximately one third of its extent will be about the ecosystem services. In this segment the results of the last 6 years are presented in which a comprehensive quantification of the social relevance of ecosystems was carried out covering the entire area of the German Baltic Sea. This part builds directly on the results of scientific investigations and are in relation to social ideals. The assessment will not only be economically and ethically but also the mechanisms that are used for the valorisation of the ecosystem services will be evaluated. Both sub-areas, the classic natural science part as well as the part of social science aspects, deal with the changes caused by increasing anthropogenic influence and social (including demographic) changes. This will be among others in the sense of an exemplary historical outline. The final chapter of the synthesis therefore not only presents a summary of the level of knowledge gained and a deduction of the research needs. It further contains a presentation of the application aspects resulting from the analysis of the social relevance gained from basic scientific research. The book is aimed at scientists (and students) of natural, life and social sciences, analysing functioning and structures of coastal ecosystems with regard to sustainable use and nature protection, including aspects of coastal protection. Besides, it is thought to become a reference for all levels of decision makers and stakeholders in coastal and marine management of the Baltic and North Sea region, providing also a blueprint for system analysis respecting for societal as well as biological aspects world-wide.

This book contains the lectures given in the International Course "Improving efficiency and reliability in water supply systems," hosted and sponsored by the Menendez Pelayo International University (U.I.M.P.) and co-sponsored by Aguas de Valencia, the British Council and the EC Cornett and Erasmus programmes. The short course took place in Valencia (Spain) in November 1994, with an attendance of more than one hundred delegates. We must not only acknowedge and thank Dr. Joaquin Azagra, as UIMP Director, but also his collaborators D. Luis Moreno and Lidia Lopez for their support in the preparation of the Course and during the course taking place. UIMP sponsorship allowed us to assemble in Valencia an eminent cadre of lecturers coming from all over the world, that covered in an ordered and precise fashion some of the more relevant aspects on efficiency and reliability in water supply systems. We are very thankful to all these leading lecturers for their invaluable cooperation. The publication of this book and the Spanish edition as well, have been made possible thanks to the sponsorship of both Polytechnic University of Valencia througout its Chancellor, Justo Nieto, and Aguas de Valencia throughout its General Director Alvaro Aguirre. We must also thank Kluwer Academic Publishers and especially their Publisher Petra van Steenbergen for her assistance, careful presentation and production of the book.

Agroforestry systems are believed to provide a number of ecosystem services; however, until recently evidence in the agroforestry literature supporting these perceived benefits has been lacking. This volume brings together a series of papers from around the globe to address recent findings on the ecosystem services and environmental benefits provided by agroforestry. Specifically, this volume examines four major ecosystem services and environmental benefits: (1) carbon sequestration, (2) biodiversity conservation, (3) soil enrichment and (4) air and water quality. Past and present evidence clearly indicates that agroforestry, as part of a multifunctional working landscape, can be a viable land-use option that, in addition to alleviating poverty, offers a number of ecosystem services and environmental benefits. This realization should help promote agroforestry and its role as an integral part of a multifunctional working landscape the world over. The book should be particularly useful to students, professionals, researchers and policy makers involved in natural resource management, agroforestry, biodiversity conservation, and environmental management.

Reprinted from Agroforestry Systems, Volume 76, No. 1 (2009)

This book focuses on the water-energy-climate nexus, which can be used to improve energy security and quality of life for millions of people in developing countries. It enhances the reader's understanding of the link between energy and climate, through the development of new approaches to and methods for energy generation, energy use, and climate change adaptation and resilience. By presenting case studies and research reports, the book addresses the relevant issues needed in order to analyze and successfully implement technologies in the water-energy-climate nexus. It focuses on the contributions of higher education institutions in terms of capacity-building for energy efficiency, energy access and energy security, as they relate to climate change mitigation. The book combines results from the authors' own research with detailed analyses, and the research presented lays the foundation for innovative new concepts and ideas, which the authors subsequently discuss. The book will appeal to all those interested in the links between energy issues, sustainability and climate change, as it focuses on the exchange between science and technology experts, as well as decision makers. It also supports students studying renewable energies and energy security, while serving as a valuable reference source for researchers, professionals, practitioners and scientists.

Irrigated agriculture and the use of water resources in agriculture face the challenges of sustainable development. Research has advanced our knowledge of water use by crops, soil-water-solutes interactions, and the engineering and managerial tools needed to mobilize, convey, distribute, control and apply water for agricultural production. However, the achievements booked in user practice have revealed the need for new developments in the areas of resource conservation, control of environmental and health impacts, modernisation of technologies and management, economic viability and the social acceptance of changes. The contributions to Sustainability of Irrigated Agriculture cover most of the relevant disciplines. Besides its multidisciplinarity, the different origins, experience, backgrounds and practices of the authors provide a wide, in-depth analysis of the various aspects of water resource utilization in agriculture. The papers review scientific, technical and managerial aspects, highlighting the main problems, issues and future developments. The book covers the different aspects of sustainability, including environmental, technical, economic, institutional and social ones. Advances in irrigation science and engineering are dealt with, both on- and off-farm. Special attention is paid to the different components of water quality management, to the transfer of technology, and to capacity building.

Environment, Economy and the `Great Transformation' The State in the Forest uses a case study of conflict over use of wood - the principal source of energy and the primary raw material at the time - to offer an environmental history of the nineteenth century `great transformation'. The focus is on Cadore, a supposedly peripheral area that was, in fact, at the core of the wood economy. The region comprises several valleys of the Eastern Italian Alps that constituted the main timber supply basin of Venice and other cities of the Veneto plain. With vivid and in-depth description of the role of forest resources for both local communities and state apparatus, the book sheds new light on key aspects of the nineteenth century agrarian world: the debate on wood shortage and the rise of scientific forestry; the social and environmental consequences of Napoleonic administrative reforms; the ambivalent relationship between privatisation of common lands and the restrictions imposed by state authorities on common and customary activities; the reorganisation of timber trade networks during the first steps of the industrial transition in continental Europe. Local socio-economic dynamics illuminate the interrelations between the macro and micro scales, showing how general transformations were perceived and experienced on the ground and how local actors were both subjects and agents of these events.

The former Soviet Union possessed some of the world's largest reserves of energy and mineral resources. With the dissolution of the country in 1991, the former Soviet republics are now exercising complete control over their mining industries. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) consists of several new nations, well-endowed in hydrocarbons, metals, and industrial materials, and efforts are now underway to boost development activities and attract foreign investment. Commonwealth members today are implementing policies to regulate energy and mineral development and enhance economic growth. This text provides a comprehensive overview of the energy and minerals industries of the CIS and other former Soviet republics outside the Commonwealth. Prospects for international co-operation and trade in hydrocarbons, metals, and nonmetals are examined, as are opportunities for joint ventures and technology transfers in mining. Economic relations between the CIS and several Asian nations are also analyzed. Contributors to the book from throughout the Commonwealth, Asia, Europe, and North America have a wide variety of backgrounds in the energy and mineral fields, including government, academia, and industry.

This book discusses the production, distribution, regulatory and management frameworks that affect food in urban settings. It plugs a gap in knowledge especially in the sub-Saharan Africa region where food, despite its critical importance, has been ignored as a 'determinant of success' in the planning and management of cities and towns. The various chapters in the book demonstrate how urban populations in Zimbabwe and elsewhere have often devised ways to produce own food to supplement on their incomes. Food is produced largely by way of urban agriculture or imported from the countryside and sold in both formal and informal stores and stalls. The book shows how in spite of the important space food occupies in the lives of all city residents, the planning and regulatory framework does not facilitate the better performance of food systems.

Maintaining and improving energy security is one of the biggest challenges worldwide. The NATO ARW conference in Tashkent, October 2012, was devoted to discussing visions and concepts that are currently discussed in different research fields. Leading scientists have written concise contributions to introduce the reader to this exciting topic. The present volume summarizes the discussions at the conference.

Resource interdependence has driven economic integration in the Asia-Pacific. Through trade and investment ties, Northeast Asian steel industries have developed global production networks with mining industries on the Pacific Rim for the supply of steelmaking raw materials. But by spanning multiple national spaces, these production networks unite many national economies while belonging exclusively to none. Who, therefore, is in control? Jeffrey D. Wilson examines how states and firms coordinate their activities to govern global production in the Asia-Pacific steel industry.

Sustainable Tourism is vital reading for anyone seeking to understand the complexities associated with sustainable tourism development, and how government and industry have responded to the challenges the concept poses.
The major areas addressed in this edited volume are:
* perspectives and issues associated with the concept of sustainable tourism development
* accreditation, education and interpretation, including specific examples such as Green Globe 21, the European Blue Flag Campaign and the WWF's PAN Parks Programme
* sustainable tourism case studies of tourist destination regions, natural areas and tourism enterprises drawn from Africa, Australia, the South Pacific, North America, South-east Asia and the Caribbean
An impressive international editorial team has combined to present in this text not only a variety of perspectives on sustainable tourism development, but also significant insights into barriers, challenges and current industry and government responses to it in various parts of the globe. 'Sustainable Tourism' will be a welcome addition to the libraries of tourism industry professionals, individuals involved in the management of natural areas; tourism policy makers; tourism academics; and students with an interest in the future sustainability of tourism and the industry that supports it.
Covers both conceptual issues and case studies
Unique global perspective with multinational contributor team
Accessible yet rigorous treatment of a vital issue

This book completes Robert G. Bailey's celebrated study of ecoregions, begun in the landmark Ecosystem Geography (1996) and further articulated in Ecoregions (1998). In this third installment, the author expands his system for defining large-scale ecological zones to encompass principles of land management, regional planning, and design. In an engaging, non-technical discussion, he shows how larger patterns and processes that characterize a region-its climate, topography, soils, vegetation, fauna, and human culture-provide essential keys to the sustainability of ecosystems. Regional Landscape Ecology and Sustainable Design will be welcomed by land and resource managers, landscape architects and urban planners, ecologists, students, and anyone interested in ecology-based design. Robert G. Bailey is a geographer with the United States Forest Service in Fort Collins, Colorado.

In the conflict between logging as a material resource and preservation the forests are becoming depleted throughout the world and this depletion is aggravated by the effects of air pollution. The concept of utilization is thus now being expanded to include vital societal values. These issues are nowhere more acute than in Central and Eastern Europe, where obsolete, poorly maintained industrial plant is common. Air pollutant levels are so high that one area has been called the Black Triangle. Timber is required in this region as a building material and logging for fuelwood is practised, giving rise to a complex linkage between industry, energy supply, deforestation, agriculture, value-added forestry products and economic development. This book presents current information on national and regional issues relating to environmental threats to forest land, focusing on: ecology, environment and science; forest ownership and management; forest product utilization; government and public agency roles. The recommendations, action items and the human network needed for regional-level implementation are detailed in `situation', `position' and `state of the art' papers. The final objective is to develop a plan of action to help abate the negative impacts while sustaining or expanding the forests, the economy and the energy sufficiency of the region.

The Ural river, the third longest river in Europe, is a unique ecosystem. Unlike other large European rivers the river has not been regulated and the natural hydrological regime is still intact. Thanks to that it has the only remaining spawning habitats in the entire Caspian basin for all sturgeon species. Nevertheless, this fact is not well known to the broader scientific and environmental communities.

The Ural river is also an interesting place due to its rich history of sustainable use of aquatic resources in general and sturgeons in particular. The traditional life style of the local communities, Ural Cossacks, was focused on the preservation and rational use of sturgeon species. This interesting experience of sustainable river-related management is not adequately reported in literature.

To secure further Ural sturgeon preservation the river basin ecosystem and human activities in the region must be managed in an integrated sustainable manner. The sturgeon species can be used as a natural indicator and an incentive for such transboundary IWRM cooperation taking into account all three components of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. To secure basin IWRM and sturgeon stock restoration the International Ural Sturgeon Park should be established. The role of the Park will be to secure the natural reproduction in the Ural as the primary strategy for the sturgeon stock replenishment. The Ural River Basin Project, which aims at the creation of such a Park, was launched in 2007. This volume is devoted to the uniqueness, history and problems of the Ural river basin, its sturgeons and perspectives of their conservation.

Any understanding of the complex politics of the post-Soviet Caucasus presupposes an understanding of the relationship between the transportation of Azerbaijan's oil, inter-state relations and ethnic conflicts. Energy and Security in the Caucasus is an ambitious new contribution to the debate revolving around the geo-politics of the Caucasus.

Design options and planning procedures must be critically examined to ensure that landscapes are created with sensitivity to water quality and management issues as well as overall ecological integrity. Handbook of Water Sensitive Planning and Design presents the history of water as a design and planning element in landscape architecture and describes new interpretations of water management. This text pushes the frontiers of standard water management in new directions, challenging readers into abandoning the comfortable safety of conducting business-as-usual within narrow disciplinary confines, and instead directing views outward to the exciting and incompletely mapped regions of true interdisciplinary water sensitive planning and design.

With contributions from renowned practitioners, Part I provides seventeen chapters addressing the subject of site-specific water sensitive design and Part II presents another seventeen chapters focusing on issues relating to the water sensitive planning of riparian buffers and watersheds. In addition, Professor France has provided a "Response" to accompany each chapter, which succinctly underscores the salient features in more detail and emphasizes cross-linking to other chapters in the book. The "Overview" provides a brief road-map to navigate through the section. Finally, the discussion summaries at the end of each section elaborate on past problems, current challenges, and future directions. Handbook of Water Sensitive Planning and Design puts forward the very best of modern water sensitive planning and design and should be required reading for everyone involved in this dynamic and crucial field.

The book aims to initiate a sustainable use of land and water resources in Central Asia by the transfer of scientific methods. It deals with the most advanced methods worldwide for better monitoring and management of water and land resources. We offer an array of methods of measuring, assessing, forecasting, utilizing and controling processes in agricultural landscapes. These are laboratory and field measurement methods, methods of resource evaluation, functional mapping and risk assessment, and remote sensing methods for monitoring and modeling large areas. The book contains methods and results of data analysis and ecosystem modeling, of bioremediation of soil and water, field monitoring of soils, and methods and technologies for optimizing land use systems as well. The chapter authors are inventors and advocators of novel transferrable methods. The book starts with an analysis of the current state of water and land resources. Finally concrete proposals for the applicability of novel methods are given.

The Proceedings of the Symposium at World Water Day, 2001 presents a discussion of dams and dikes. Various speakers considered the benefits and drawbacks of dams, and there was discussion about why it is that people are against dams in specific situations, and how such situations may be resolved. Solutions are suggested to such controversies. These proceedings contain the full text of the presentations. They will be a useful resource for decision-makers and planners of future projects. This work highlights the international nature of these important hydraulic engineering strucures and both their technology and social implications.

This study describes the development of water management in Bangladesh, including flood control and drainage schemes. The present landuse situation and hydrological conditions are presented and the coastal lowland development of Southeast Asia is reviewed. A performance analysis of different flood control and drainage systems are discussed, with reference to the coastal belt of Bangladesh. This book aims to set out an approach for sustainable development and water management for coastal Bangladesh, developing the concepts of effective techniques, tools and institutional infrastructure which should support implementation of flood control and drainage schemes.

The ability of renewable energy sources to supply global energy needs - if not completely then to a significant degree - has been amply demonstrated. What needs to happen now in order to make large-scale implementation possible? Leading researchers and specialists in the various fields of renewable energy have once again been commissioned by EUREC Agency (the European Union Renewable Energy Centres Agency) to completely re-assess the position of renewable energy technologies in the context of global energy supply, and to recommend a development path for each technology branch based on this analysis. The Future for Renewable Energy 2 presents the results of this extensive research, incorporating the findings of specialists from over 40 renewable energy research institutes, which represent in total over 1000 scientists. The Future for Renewable Energy 2 examines each of the major renewable energy technologies. It provides a qualitative evaluation of their achievements to date, proposes for each sector detailed, realistic goals for a strong and coherent research, development and demonstration (RD&D) policy, and maps out a path to a stronger market and more widespread deployment of renewable energy sources. Individual chapters cover biomass, photovoltaics, small hydro, solar buildings, solar thermal power stations, wind energy and solar process heat as well as other renewables including ocean energy and solar chemistry. Further chapters discuss the integration of these various technologies and their uptake by developing countries. Essential reading for energy policy makers and planners, and for all those involved in renewables whether as researchers, manufacturers, utilities or practitioners, The Future for Renewable Energy 2 will be regarded as a critical and authoritative source for strategic planning of renewable energy development worldwide.