Indigenous Knowledge of Natural Resource Management and Population Control for Dong Ethnic Group in Guizhou Province

Dong ethnic people have rich indigenous knowledge in terms of their daily life and production, which plays an important role in the sustainable development of their village. This paper aims to understand traditional knowledge of Dong ethnic people in resource management and population control, including traditional resource management, traditional medicinal knowledge and village regulations in Zhanli Village in Southeast Guizhou Province. The research methods include key informant interview, group discussion, participant observation and secondary data collect- ing. The results show that Zhanli villagers try their best to utilize indigenous knowledge to manage the natural resources and keep the stable population to make themselves live in a sustainable way. Indigenous knowledge plays an important role in managing their limited natural resources and keeping the population stable under an excellent condition. Zhanli villagers employ indigenous knowledge to manage natural resources and use local herbs to control the population. Village regulation terms significantly influence villagers’ awareness in resource management and birth control. Women play the chief role in employing indigenous knowledge in weaving as well as medicinal knowledge in birth control, and these kinds of knowledge are passed down through the female line. However, the inheritance style of traditional knowledge is decreasing. Indig- enous knowledge plays an important role in the sustainable development of this village, which gives implications for development practices to involve indigenous knowledge to achieve sustainable development.

Theory and practice of value management and its innovation for natural resources from the perspective of sustainable development

The supreme obstacle for sustainable development of natural resources is the scarecity, bottleneck. So how to promote the sustainable utilizing and increase the using efficiency of natural resources is worth studying. This paper suggests that we should improve the model and means of evaluating method and value management based on th~ theory of natural resource compensation. This paper discusses the User Cost Method based on the microeeonomicaspect which can change the evaluating method for natural resources. From the perspective of value managemen model, we should use the User Cost Method to realize the linkage and integration of micro and macro eompensation for natural resources. Based on the evaluating and aecounting idea User Cost Method, this paper presents a theo. retical framework to harmonize and link micro and macro compensation for natural resources. At present, we should seek the new approach and method to manage natural resources, so can we realize the capitalization managemen focusing on the vahte management for natural resources.

Resource Flows of Villages with Contrasting Lifestyles in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Central Himalaya, India

Resource use efficiency analyses of village ecosystem are necessary for effective and efficient planning of resource utilization. This paper deals with economic and energy input-output analyses of different components of village ecosystem in representative buffer zone villages, which are practicing transhumance and settled way of lifestyles in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve （NDBR） of Garhwal Himalaya. While the villages practicing transhumance used various natural resources spatially segregated,the villages practicing settled way of lifestyle have to manage resources from a limited spatial area through rotation and varied extraction intensities. Forests subsidized the production activity in both type of villages and the per capita resource extractions were found to be greater in tran^humance village than settled village. Though crops provided maximum energy, in terms of economic criteria, animal husbandry played important role in both settled and transhumance villages. As villages representing both the situations showed different ways of adjustments to the conservation oriented land use changes, management authority needs to address the eco-development plans fulfilling the aspirations of all people traditionally using the resources of the Reserve to reduce the conflicts and encourage their participation in the conservation of the area.

Impacts of Mau Forest Catchment on the Great Rift Valley Lakes in Kenya

Remote sensing and GIS applications are being widely used for various projects relating to natural resource management. Forests are very important national assets for economic, environmental protection, social and cultural values and should be conserved in order to realize all these benefits. Kenya’s forests are rapidly declining due to pressure from increased population, technological innovation, urbanization human development and other land uses. Mau forest is one of the major forests in Kenya that is a catchment area for many Great Rift Valley lakes within the country and faces a lot of destruction. Continued destruction of the Mau forest will cause catastrophic environmental damage, resulting in massive food crises and compromising the livelihoods of millions of Kenyans, and the possible collapse of the tourism industry. The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between the increasing rate of deforestation and the reduction of the volumes of water in the neighboring lakes between the years 1989 to 2010. Satellite images from Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) were used for the detection of changes in the Mau forest and the dynamics of the neighboring water bodies that included lakes: Naivasha, Baringo, Nakuru, Elementaita and Bogoria. The research showed that from a period of 1989 to 2010 Mau forest has been decreasing due to deforestation and the water bodies have irregular dynamics in that, from 1989 to 2000, there was rise in the volume of water, this is attributed to the El Nino rains experienced in the country during the year 1997 and 1998. But between 2000 and 2010 the volume decreased as the forest is also decreasing. It is recommended that the government creates awareness to sensitize the public on the importance of such forests as catchment areas in Kenya.

SHORT COMMUNICATION Principal-agent Relationships: A Note on Biomass Depletion

Public authorities frequently mandate public or private agencies to manage their renewable natural resources.Contrary to the agency,which is an expert in renewable natural resource management,public authorities usually ignore the sustainable level of harvest.In this note,we first model the contractual relationship between a principal,who owns the renewable natural resource,and an agent,who holds private information on its sustainable level of harvest.We then look for the Pareto-optimal allocations.In the situation of an imperfect information setting,we find that the Pareto-optimal contracting depends on the probability that the harvesting level stands outside the sustainability interval.The information rent held by the agent turns out to be unavoidable,such that stepping outside the sustainability interval implies the possibility of depletion of the renewable natural resource.This,in turn,compromises the maintenance of the ecological balance in natural ecosystems.

Advance agriculture in the desert:the Israeli case story

The Israeli Desert constitutes 60% of the country＇s total area. Regional annual precipitation is 100-200 mm and evapora- tion reaches 2,500 mm. Traditional desert agriculture of rain fed wheat and sheep, goat and camels grazing is common. Despite the harsh climate conditions, advance agriculture is concentrated in foei where water resources exist. Desert ag- riculture takes advantage of the winter （October-April） due to a mild climate season for growing vegetables, flowers, herbs and fruit which are mostly exported to European countries. The key factor is the sustainable management of the local natural resources.

Analysis of Participatory Approach Applied in Creating a New Protected Area Anjozorobe Angavo

The political will in compliance with the Convention on Biological Diversity brings to the establishment of MSPA （Madagascar system of protected areas）. The aim is to conserve biodiversity, alleviate poverty and develop the country. Participation and involvement of local population in natural resources management, consultation with all sectors and responsibilization of regional and local authorities in protected areas management are all the basic principles of MSPA. The paper brought focus in the understanding of this participation of local actors （populations, local authorities） and in their interests to participate in the protected area management in Anjozorobe Angavo. The research has been conducted by doing investigations and meetings with local actors. A typology of participations had been done. It has been indeed noticed that the understanding was differentiated then motivations to participate were not always the environmental one. The populations＇ participation could be either by convenience, or for personal interest, or imposed participation, or conscious participation. But in order to reach the purpose of the protected areas sustainable management, the operator should admit that the participation in protected areas management is imposed naturally and should consider those differences in visions; at last, the approach should motivate local populations to participate consciously.

Comparative Study on the Antibacterial Activity of Fresh and Fallen Leaves of Terminalia catappa L.

In the work reported here, the potential of different methods （cold and hot water, and ethanolic） of extraction of Indian almond （Terminalia catappa L.）, fresh and fallen leaves as an anti-bacterial agent was investigated. The hot water extract did not show any spectrum of activity against the selected bacteria while the cold water extract showed slight antibacterial activity suggesting that the effective components are heat labile. The ethanolic extracts of the leaves have higher antibiotic spectrum of activity than the cold water extract showing ethanol to be a better solvent in extracting the effective component. The fallen leaves seem to have a higher concentration of the effective component against the bacteria while ethanolic extract of the fresh leaves have similar spectrum of activity to Ciprofloxacin and Nitrofuratoin. These suggest that some effective components are lost when leaves fall off while some seem to increase in concentration. Fresh and fallen leaves contain tannin and flavonoids. In addition, the fallen leaves contain flavones. This might be responsible for the higher activity of fallen leaves extract observed against Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus spp. in our study. Combined use of extracts from fresh and fallen leaves broadened the spectrum of activity.

Soil properties characterization for land-use planning and soil management in watersheds under family farming

Environmental monitoring of small,rural watersheds was one of the components of the Natural Re-sources Management and Rural Poverty Alleviation Program(RS-Rural)in southern Brazil.The purpose of the monitoring was to assess the impact of promoting soil conservation and environment manage-ment practices adopted by farmers and funded by the Program.In four small monitored watersheds,in a total of 95 plots representing distinct land use and soil management,surface soil was collected to characterize ground-zero of the Program by determining several soil physical,chemical and microbio-logical properties.Principal component analysis(PCA)shows soil physical,chemical and biological properties were decisive in defining the agricultural soils in the rural watersheds with family farming.The sensitivity to chemical properties provides an opportunity to improve soil quality if soil management focuses on altering those properties.Soil management practiced by tobacco farmers leads to rapid,intense degradation of some natural soil properties,especially those related to the dynamics of soil organic matter,compared with more conservationist uses(forest,regrowth,and grassland).Thus,soil management must be reoriented to avoid the progress of degradation and recover soil physical and biological quality.Cover crops and by land-abandonment to allow natural vegetation are important management strategies for the degraded soils used for tobacco production,increasing soil organic matter,nutrients and microbial activity and thus allowing further crop production.In conclusion,wa-tersheds with tobacco cropping have soils with lower quality than when under no-tillage grain pro-duction,requiring changes in land use and soil management.

Land Grab and Land Grant:Contextualizing Landscape Justice in Social Forestry in Indonesia

Social forestry has emerged as a popular approach to achieving landscape justice by empowering local communities.However,the development and implementation of such programs often face challenges.This paper explores the concept of landscape justice within the context of Indonesian social forestry in two ways.First,it juxtaposes the social forestry program with palm oil plantations to highlight the relationship between environmental initiatives and capital expansion,and the formation of green capitalism.By examining the historical development of social forestry,the paper argues that current political and legal frameworks have facilitated the depoliticization of previously radical,anti-capitalist,and anti-palm oil civil movements,despite notionally“empowering”local communities.Second,the paper interrogates the inclusivity of the social forestry program within local communities,noting that NGOs sometimes label local people as“cooperative”or“stubborn,”thus overlooking the pre-existing social tensions.The paper posits that more attention should be given to the social foundations underlying environmental projects and the new eco-social structure arising from environmental governance.

Comparison of ecosystem services provided by grasslands with different utilization patterns in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Although several previous studies in Inner Mongolia examined the effects of ecological conservation on the delivery of ecosystem services, they were often limited in scope（few ecosystem services were assessed） and often suffered from confounding by spatial variation. In this study, we examined the impact of conservation measures（changes in grassland utilization patterns） on the provision of selected ecosystem services in three types of grasslands（meadow steppe in Hulun Buir, typical steppe in Xilin Gol, and semi-desert steppe in Ordos） in Inner Mongolia. We examined five utilization patterns： no use（natural grasslands）, light use, moderate use, intensive use, and recovery sites（degraded sites protected from further use）. Through household surveys and vegetation and soil surveys, we measured the differences in ecosystem services among the different grassland utilization patterns. We also identified spatial factors that confounded the quantification of ecosystem services in different types of grasslands. We found that light use generally provided high levels of ecosystem services in meadow steppe and typical steppe, with the main differences in the supporting ecosystem services. Surprisingly, we found no consistently positive impacts of strict conservation activities across the sites, since the results varied spatially and with respect to differences in the land-use patterns. Our study suggests that appropriate grassland utilization patterns can enhance the supply of ecosystem services and reduce negative effects on both household livelihoods and the environment.