First published in 2005, this book examines the contribution of planning and integrated landscape management to the process of reversing the continuing deterioration of our natural environment. Planning for integrated buffer zones is important to conserve national parks, nature reserves, threatened habitats, other ecologically sensitive areas and heritage sites. This book begins with an examination of the role and nature of planning. It identifies the main types of planning problems and details a 'model' planning process that can be usefully applied to resolve them. Several theoretical and practical approaches to buffering environmentally sensitive areas are evaluated and a classification of existing approaches is detailed. Case studies are included to illustrate and test some of these approaches. The book concludes by recommending that integrated buffer zone planning should become a standard tool in real-life environmental planning and management. To facilitate this, an innovative approach to the design and implementation of integrated buffers is offered, including a step-by-step planning guide.

First published in 2005, this book examines the contribution of planning and integrated landscape management to the process of reversing the continuing deterioration of our natural environment. Planning for integrated buffer zones is important to conserve national parks, nature reserves, threatened habitats, other ecologically sensitive areas and heritage sites. This book begins with an examination of the role and nature of planning. It identifies the main types of planning problems and details a 'model' planning process that can be usefully applied to resolve them. Several theoretical and practical approaches to buffering environmentally sensitive areas are evaluated and a classification of existing approaches is detailed. Case studies are included to illustrate and test some of these approaches. The book concludes by recommending that integrated buffer zone planning should become a standard tool in real-life environmental planning and management. To facilitate this, an innovative approach to the design and implementation of integrated buffers is offered, including a step-by-step planning guide.

The United States has been a generous sponsor of global health programs for the past 25 years or more. This investment has contributed to meaningful changes, especially for women and children, who suffer the brunt of the world's disease and disability. Development experts have long debated the relative merits of vertical health programming, targeted to a specific service or patient group, and horizontal programming, supporting more comprehensive care. The U.S. government has invested heavily in vertical programs, most notably through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), its flagship initiative for HIV and AIDS. PEPFAR and programs like it have met with good success. Protecting these successes and continuing progress in the future depends on the judicious integration of vertical programs with local health systems. A strong health system is the best insurance developing countries can have against a disease burden that is shifting rapidly and in ways that history has not prepared us for. Reaching the poor with development assistance is an increasingly complicated task. The majority of the roughly 1 billion people living in dire poverty are in middle-income countries, where foreign assistance is not necessarily needed or welcome. Many of the rest live in fragile states, where political volatility and weak infrastructure make it difficult to use aid effectively. The poorest people in the world are also the sickest; they are most exposed to disease vectors and infection. Nevertheless, they are less likely to access health services. Improving their lot means removing the systemic barriers that keep the most vulnerable people from gaining such access. Investing in Global Health Systems discusses the past and future of global health. First, the report gives context by laying out broad trends in global health. Next, it discusses the timeliness of American investment in health systems abroad and explains how functional health systems support health, encourage prosperity, and advance global security. Lastly, it lays out, in broad terms, an effective donor strategy for health, suggesting directions for both the manner and substance of foreign aid given. The challenge of the future of aid programming is to sustain the successes of the past 25 years, while reducing dependence on foreign aid. Investing in Global Health Systems aims to help government decision makers assess the rapidly changing social and economic situation in developing countries and its implications for effective development assistance. This report explains how health systems improvements can lead to better health, reduce poverty, and make donor investment in health sustainable.

Our intention is to improve the lives of elders, helping them stay mentally alert and sharp, and reducing their risk of falls and accidents. You can participate as a group leader, a caregiver, or on your own. Perhaps you are aging, you work with elders, or you are concerned about your aging parents. Here's how to bring confidence and joy into the aging years. This brightly illustrated book, which links to 60 on-line demonstration videos, is loaded with dozens of movements (not exercises) that anyone can do, even the frailest elder. The payoff: increased coordination, sharper cognitive skills, better vision, and enhanced self-confidence. Preventing falls means preventing disaster Staying mentally alert and sharp is paramount. Please go to our website MoveWithBalance.org to learn about our award-winning program. Move With Balance(r) is the winner of the 2012 MetLife MindAlert Award from the American Society on Aging in the category for programs designed to enhance mental fitness for the general population of older adults. One independent study shows a 38% reduction in falls for the treatment group. This is not a "workout" program in the usual sense with muscle-strengthening and limbering exercises as the primary goal. The activities combine coordinated movement with cognitive skills. For example, we move, but while we move we read, or recognize shapes, or recite a poem. The underlying principle: challenge the brain and body simultaneously with some sensory-motor activity, repeat until the challenge becomes easier or even automatic, then up the stakes by repeating the activity at a higher level. Once you buy the book, you have access to the videos. Along with full color photos of the exercises, the book explains the movements in depth, the why and the how. The videos give you a quick visual, and in combination with the book, should make it easy for you to learn the movements. The program is user friendly, light-hearted and playful. Move With Balance(r), based on the most current research in brain plasticity, vision training, and kinesiology, uses movement to help prevent falls and enhance cognitive functions. Our activities improve balance, sensory integration, spatial awareness, integration of the two hemispheres of the brain, brain timing and sequencing, reaction time, binocular teaming, and proprioception. Additionally, our mentoring system, of having active, mobile seniors "mentor" their more frail peers, reduces the isolation of elders by increasing socialization. Move with Balance(r) founder and director Karen Peterson has devoted the past 27 years to research into the brain-body connection, 18 of those years working with senior citizens, and the many ways that movement can correct neurological imbalance. "This program is based on cutting-edge science. It uses modified techniques that Olympic athletes employ with good success. I wholeheartedly endorse this work to make seniors safer and to help them lead more active and productive lives." - from the Introduction by Dr. Ed Manni