This book explores the multi-dimensional asymmetries of scale, time, and directions in the large dam controversy with a regional focus on Asia, especially on India and China. Whereas the concept of large-scale transformation of fluvial environments into technological hydroscapes originated in the West, widespread construction of large dams started in the countries of the Global South in the period after decolonisation. Construction and operation of large dams are amongst the most prestigious but also most sensitive development issues, often accompanied by massive resistance of adversely affected people and civil society organisations. Based on the notion of a contested politicised environment, various case studies are analysed to identify the dominant narratives and imaginations that shape the large dams debate. This volume largely contains contributions related to several subprojects from within the Cluster of Excellence 'Asia and Europe in a Global Context: Shifting Asymmetries in Cultural Flows', based at Heidelberg University, with several expert contributions from external researchers.

This is a comprehensive handbook focused on geospatial applications used to study, assess, and monitor the Himalayan mountains. As a region of high relevance and very vulnerable regarding geohazards, it is crucial to detect landscape changes and understand the drivers behind the changes. With advanced remote sensing and GIS tools, in-depth analyses, and interdisciplinary approaches, the Handbook of Himalayan Ecosystems and Sustainability, Two Volume Set studies forest and agriculture ecosystems, urban sprawl and air pollution, geo and other hazards, and provides a breadth of data to support decision making and to aids in the preservation of the landscapes in a sustainable way. Features: Uses geospatial technology for studying fragile Himalayan ecosystems and their sustainability Includes 21 case studies from Indian Himalayan, Nepal, and Afghanistan regions Provides satellite data and geospatial modelling tools for assessing and monitoring all Himalayan landscapes Addresses cryospheric studies and related ongoing geohazards and potential climate change impacts Discusses ecology of the Himalayan rivers, biodiversity, and floristic shifting of endemic species, and landscape restoration

From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees, this guide to awakening your senses and engaging deeply with the forest is the perfect gift for hikers and walkers. "This book will fast-track you into the joys of spending time amongst the trees."--Tristan Gooley, author of The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs and How to Read Water You'll be changed after reading this fine and enchanting book."--Richard Louv, author of Our Wild Calling and Last Child in the Woods When you walk in the woods, do you use all five senses to explore your surroundings? For most of us, the answer is no--but when we do, a walk in the woods can go from pleasant to immersive and restorative. Forest Walking teaches you how to engage with the forest by decoding nature's signs and awakening to the ancient past and thrilling present of the ecosystem around you. What can you learn by following the spread of a root, by tasting the tip of a branch, by searching out that bitter almond smell? What creatures can be found in a stream if you turn over a rock--and what is the best way to cross a forest stream, anyway? How can you understand a forest's history by the feel of the path underfoot, the scars on the trees along the trail, or the play of sunlight through the branches? How can we safely explore the forest at night? What activities can we use to engage children with the forest? Throughout Forest Walking, the authors share experiences and observations from visiting forests across North America: from the rainforests and redwoods of the west coast to the towering white pines of the east, and down to the cypress swamps of the south and up to the boreal forests of the north. With Forest Walking, German forester Peter Wohlleben teams up with his longtime editor, Jane Billinghurst, as the two write their first book together, and the result is nothing short of spectacular. Together, they will teach you how to listen to what the forest is saying, no matter where you live or which trees you plan to visit next.

This book highlights the electronic governance in a smart city through case studies of cities located in many countries. "E-Government" refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management. The resulting benefits are less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions. The book is divided into three parts. * E-Governance State of the Art Studies of many cities * E-Governance Domains Studies * E-Governance Tools and Issues

There is no question that Africa is endowed with abundant natural resources of different magnitudes. However, more than a decade of high commodity prices and new hydrocarbon discoveries across the continent has led countless international organizations, donor agencies, and non-governmental organizations to devote considerable attention to the potential of natural resource-based development. Natural Resource-Based Development in Africa places a particular emphasis on the actors that help us understand the extent to which resources could be transformed into broader developmental outcomes. Based on a wide variety of primary sources and fieldwork, including in-person interviews and participant observations, this collection contributes to both scholarly and policy discussions around the governance and economic development roles of local entrepreneurs, transnational firms, civil society groups, local communities, and government agencies in Africa's natural resource sectors. Natural Resource-Based Development in Africa explores the impact that these actors have on regional trends such as resource nationalism and local procurement policies as well as grassroots-related issues such as poverty, livelihoods, gender equity, development, and human security.

This volume discusses the challenges of Latin America in global environmental geopolitics. Written by leading experts, this book brings together Latin American research on global environmental change. They cover a range of topics such as climate change, water, forest and biodiversity conservation connected with science policies, public opinion, priorities of international funds, and international politics of Latin American countries. The book describes the discrepancy between the international priorities and the regional needs or country interests. It includes several case studies and analyses the cooperation in multilateral negotiations on climate change. It also offers a synthesis of debates around global environmental changes and Latin American politics, which the authors have previously promoted in different academic events in South America, including in Santiago de Chile in Chile, and Buenos Aires and Ushuaia in Argentina. This book assesses the environmental problems from different perspectives, highlights the scientific development in the environmental changes affecting Latin America and offers a new view on geopolitics to help face those issues. Specialist readers in international relations, political sciences, environmental sciences, geography and geopolitics will appreciate this up-to-date examination of Latin America and the global environmental change.

An Illustrated Guide to British Upland Vegetation is the first comprehensive, single book on plant communities in the British uplands. It provides concise descriptions of all currently recognised British upland vegetation types. Written by a team comprising some of the most experienced upland field botanists and ecologists in the UK, the book brings together all of the upland communities described in the National Vegetation Classification together with a number of previously undescribed assemblages of plant species. A key enables the reader to classify vegetation in the field. Each vegetation type is described clearly and vividly, with guidance on how to differentiate between similar looking communities. There are detailed sections on the ecology, conservation and management of each community, and up-to-date distribution maps. This is the outcome of many years of field work in the British uplands, much of it supported by the UK Government conservation agencies. The book will be an indispensable guide for anyone with a keen interest in the uplands, notably ecologists, land managers, lecturers, and students, as well as the many organisations actively involved in this special environment. 'Using the Rodwell classification, the authors have blended in their own ecological expertise to produce - at last - an account of British upland vegetation which is readable, visual and comprehensive. Its value to nature conservation will be immense.' Dr Derek Ratcliffe, former Chief Scientist, Nature Conservancy Council 'Here is an outstanding companion and rich information-source for all whose occupations and interests lead them to the uplands. It not only furnishes a clear and 'user-friendly' guide to the diversity of vegetation types, but also provides a masterly overview of the upland environment.' Professor Charles H. Gimingham, Former Regius Professor of Botany, University of Aberdeen This book is a reprint edition of ISBN-10 1-86107-553-7 (2004).

This volume is written by leading authorities in red algae. All subfamilies, genera and species are described, notes on ecology and distribution given, and each named species is illustrated by one or more half-tones or line drawings showing distinctive features. User-friendly keys are provided to enable identifi cation of genera and species. Special features of this volume are the concise but comprehensive and practical introduction and a complete re-evaluation of British Isles taxa in consultation with other international specialists. This is a reprint edition of ISBN 1898298815 published in 1993.

Gale explains why international negotiations have not produced a sustainable solution to tropical rainforest degradation. Using an innovative, critical approach to international regimes, the author analyzes the structure and operation of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). He shows how the timber industry and producing- and consuming-country governments created a blocking alliance that favoured developmentalist interests and ideas. The ITTO bolstered this alliance by permitting environmentalists merely to voice, but not to negotiate, their concerns.

Man has had a complex relationship with inland drift sands through the ages. For some centuries these landscapes were seen as a threat, especially to agriculture and housing. This book considers the processes, origin, conservation and restoration of this very special but harsh biotope, one that is characterised by fields of lichens with sparse grasses and heather alongside a range of special animal, fungi and plant species.

"Porous Models for Wave-seabed Interactions" discusses the Phenomenon of wave-seabed interactions, which is a vital issue for coastal and geotechnical engineers involved in the design of foundations for marine structures such as pipelines, breakwaters, platforms, etc. The most important sections of this book will be the fully detailed theoretical models of wave-seabed interaction problem, which are particularly useful for postgraduate students and junior researchers entering the discipline of marine geotechnics and offshore engineering. This book also converts the research outcomes of theoretical studies to engineering applications that will provide front-line engineers with practical and effective tools in the assessment of seabed instability in engineering design.

Prof. Dong-Sheng Jeng works at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.

Climate change and ongoing transformation processes in economy and agriculture will have strong and multiple impacts in the Baltic region. In particular coastal zones face increasing hazards, e.g. due to sea level rise or changes in riverine nutrient loads and eutrophication. These changes also offer a wide range of new opportunities in the Baltic Region. Adaptation measures are needed but require a thorough and spatially differentiated understanding of underlying ecological, economic and social processes.

Sixteen contributions by authors from eight countries give a comprehensive overview of these changes, their consequences and practical challenges with focus on coastal zones. Besides risks, the chances and opportunities of changes for the region are addressed and adaptation examples and strategies are given. The practitioners perspective and their demands are integrated in the various contributions.

This book examines the planning and implementation of policies to create sustainable neighborhoods, using as a case study the City of Sydney. The authors ask whether many past planning and development practices were appropriate to the ways that communities then functioned, and what lessons we have learned. The aim is to illustrate the many variations within a city and from neighborhood to neighborhood regarding renewal (rehabilitation), redevelopment (replacement) and new development. Case study examples of nine City of Sydney neighborhoods note the different histories of planning and development in each. Features of the studies include literature searches, field work (with photography), and analysis. The authors propose a set of sustainability principles which incorporate elements of the twenty seven principles of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development Part One explores sustainable urban planning, and the importance of planning tools that enable best planning outcomes for communities and investors. Common factors in the nine case study neighborhoods are renewal, redevelopment and development pressures affecting Sydney from the 1970s to 2014. Also discussed are the differing circumstances of planning faced by authorities, developers and communities in each of the study areas. Part Two of the book is focused on the case study areas in City of Sydney East area: Woolloomooloo and Kings Cross. Part Three covers case study areas in Sydney's Inner South area: Chippendale, Redfern and Waterloo District. Part Four surveys the Inner West suburb of Erskineville. Part Five looks at the City West area, including the Haymarket District and the Pyrmont and Ultimo District. Part Six concentrates on the North West area suburb of Glebe. Part Seven of the book looks at the growth area of South Sydney District, which includes the suburbs of Beaconsfield, Zetland and the new localities of Victoria Park and Green Square. The authors recount lessons learned and outline directions of planning for sustainable neighborhoods. Finally, the authors challenge readers to apply the lessons of these case studies to further advances in sustainable urban planning.

Mountaintops have long been seen as sacred places, home to gods and dreams. In one climbing year Peter Boardman visited three very different sacred mountains. He began in the New Year, on the South Face of the Carstensz Pyramid in New Guinea. This shark's fin of steep limestone walls and sweeping glaciers is the highest point between the Andes and the Himalaya, and one of the most inaccessible, rising above thick jungle inhabited by warring Stone Age tribes. During the spring Boardman was on more familiar, if hardly more reassuring, ground, making a four-man, oxygen-free attempt on the world's third highest peak, Kangchenjunga. Hurricane-force winds beat back their first two bids on the unclimbed North Ridge, but they eventually stood within feet of the summit - leaving the final few yards untrodden in deference to the inhabiting deity. In October, he was back in the Himalaya and climbing the mountain most sacred to the Sherpas: the twin-summited Gauri Sankar. Renowned for its technical difficulty and spectacular profile, it is aptly dubbed the Eiger of the Himalaya and Boardman's first ascent of the South Summit took a committing and gruelling twenty-three days. Three sacred mountains, three very different expeditions, all superbly captured by Boardman in Sacred Summits, his second book, first published shortly after his death in 1982. Combining the excitement of extreme climbing with acute observation of life in the mountains, this is an amusing, dramatic, poignant and thought-provoking book, amply fulfilling the promise of Boardman's first title, The Shining Mountain, for which he won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1979.

This book is based on multidisciplinary research focusing on low-carbon healthy city planning, policy and assessment. This includes city-development strategy, energy, environment, healthy, land-use, transportation, infrastructure, information and other related subjects. This book begins with the current status and problems of low-carbon healthy city development in China. It then introduces the global experience of different regions and different policy trends, focusing on individual cases. Finally, the book opens a discussion of Chinese low-carbon healthy city development from planning and design, infrastructure and technology assessment-system perspectives. It presents a case study including the theory and methodology to support the unit city theory for low-carbon healthy cities. The book lists the ranking of China's 269 high-level cities, with economic, environmental, resource, construction, transportation and health indexes as an assessment for creating a low-carbon healthy future. The book provides readers with a comprehensive overview of building low-carbon healthy cities in China.

This book highlights both the diversity of perspectives and approaches to Arctic research and the inherent interdisciplinary nature of studying and understanding this incomparable region. The chapters are divided into four liberally-defined sections to provide space for dynamic interpretation and dialogue in search of sustainable solutions to the issues facing the Arctic. From governance to technology, scientific research to social systems, human health to economic development, the authors discuss fundamental questions while looking toward the Arctic's future. Whether the reader is well-versed in the history and complexity of Arctic policy or looking for an insightful introduction to the vast world of Arctic research, everyone will find answers that lead to new questions and even more discoveries in these pages, laying the foundation for tomorrow's discussion on the future of the Arctic. The Arctic's unique geographic and political characteristics pose questions for the international community, indigenous peoples, and economic interests not easily answered through traditional concepts. To that end, the Arctic Summer College has been engaging leading professionals, students, scholars, and policy makers from across the globe to exchange ideas and support further investigation into the Arctic. A joint venture between Ecologic Institute US and Ecologic Institute Berlin (Germany), the College participates at the annual Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik, Iceland, and continues to be at the forefront of international collaboration in this critical area of economic, political, environmental, and humanitarian development.

With an account of over 6.000 recent and 15.000 fossil species, phylum Bryozoa represents a quite large and important phylum of colonial filter feeders. This volume of the series Handbook of Zoology contains new findings on phylogeny, morphology and evolution that have significantly improved our knowledge and understanding of this phylum. It is a comprehensive book that will be a standard for many specialists but also newcomers to the field of bryozoology.

Explore the magic and mystery of the world's tropical rainforests in this fascinating volume that brings to life the plants, animals, and people that inhabit this fragile ecosystem. Focusing on the forests situated in the land area between the Tropics of Cancer and the Tropics of Capricorn, the "Encyclopedia" provides a rich and thorough presentation of the scientific, political, and economic significance of the region. An introductory essay vividly describes the world's tropical forests and sets the stage for understanding the mystery and complexity surrounding the rainforest. More than 50 percent of the world's known plants and animals live in the rainforests. Parts of the book offer interesting descriptions of forest wildlife including amphibians, birds, fish, insects, spiders, mammals, and reptiles and plants, especially flowering plants, ferns, and gymnosperms.

Entries in the People section cover 100 forest-dwelling indigenous groups and 54 of the naturalists, scientists, explorers, and activists from around the world who had--or have--an important role in our understanding of rainforests and their conservation. Other parts discuss the principal causes of deforestation, describe efforts to save the tropical forests, and offer extensive lists of rainforest resources, including print and video materials, Web sites, government agencies, conservation groups and international organizations, and organizations and government agencies in the United States and Canada. Maps, charts and graphs, and fifty-four quality color photographs enhance the accessible and easy-to-understand text and help to make this an excellent reference for younger audiences who want to learn about the incredible diversity and complexity of life in tropical forests.

Steppes form one of the largest biomes. Drastic changes in steppe ecology, land use and livelihoods came with the emergence, and again with the collapse, of communist states. Excessive ploughing and vast influx of people into the steppe zone led to a strong decline in nomadic pastoralism in the Soviet Union and China and in severely degraded steppe ecosystems. In Mongolia nomadic pastoralism persisted, but steppes degraded because of strongly increased livestock loads. After the Soviet collapse steppes regenerated on huge tracts of fallow land. Presently, new, restorative steppe land management schemes are applied. On top of all these changes come strong effects of climate change in the northern part of the steppe zone. This book gives an up-to-date overview of changes in ecology, climate and use of the entire Eurasian steppe area and their effects on livelihoods of steppe people. It integrates knowledge that so far was available only in a spectrum of locally used languages.

"Wetland Habitats" is a practical manual that puts developments in the field of wetland restoration and conservation of diverse animal species into plain English, placing much of the more recent work in this field into a single, coherent and user-friendly framework. As with "Planting Wetlands and Dams," the text explains the various approaches to and aspects of each problem, so that readers will be able to make informed decisions about managing wetlands on their own properties.Although the examples are drawn from a wide range of wetland animals, including some which aren't necessarily found in wetlands on private properties, the primary emphasis will be on species and aspects of management that are likely to be of most use to landholders with wetlands to be restored, or species in need of conservation.The plants and planting aspects of created wetlands and dams are dealt with in detail in the second edition of "Planting Wetlands and Dams."Key features: Reversing the effects of drainage, grazing, weirs, deteriorating water quality and associated algal problems, and allowing for global warming and sea level rises Setting realistic targets for wetland restoration and longer-term goals for management Understanding natural change in wetlands seasonal, ecological and chemical"