A comparison of the management models of protected areas between China and the southern Africa region

A comparison of the management models of protected areas between China and the African south region allows reading and evaluating the similarities and differences in the use of management model as a management tool for protected areas and specifi- cally some positive and negative features of the management approaches in these two regions. Previous to this study it verified the designation of protected areas as increasing at a faster rate than ever before, comparatively much faster now in China than southern Africa regions. With the aim of evaluating similarities and differences in the use of management model as a management tool for pro- tected areas in China and southern Africa Region, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Qualitative data were mainly from policy documents, scientific articles and magazine reports, whereas quantitative （secondary data） statistical data from Interna- tional Union for Conservation of Nature Resources （IUCN） and World Database on Protected Areas （WDPA）. In view of the data sources above, the study found that in China all the protected areas are state owned whilst in southern Africa regions there are some protected areas that are privately owned; also that the models or typology of governance applied are successful for the fact that they both combine co-management or collaborative management, community-conserved areas and private protected areas that are subject to greater success and can help design planning and management than those who use exclusively government management. To this, the study concluded that the use of management model is influenced by the type of governance a country applies to its reserved areas.

The comparative African regional economics of globalization in financial allocation efficiency: the pre-crisis era revisited

This study assesses the role of globalization-fueled regionalization policies on the financial allocation efficiency of four economic and monetary regions in Africa from 1980 to 2008.Banking and financial system efficiency proxies are used as dependent variables and seven bundled and unbundled globalization variables are employed as independent indicators.The bundling is achieved by principal component analysis,while the empirical evidence is based on interactive fixed effects regressions.The findings are as follows.First,financial allocation efficiency is more sensitive to financial openness compared to trade openness and most sensitive to globalization.The relationship between allocation efficiency and globalization-fueled regionalization policies is defined by:(i)a Kuznets or inverted U-shaped curve in the UEMOA and CEMAC zones(evidence of decreasing returns for allocation efficiency from globalization-fueled regionalization)and(ii)a U-shaped relationship overwhelmingly in the COMESA and scantily in the EAC(increasing returns to allocation efficiency due to globalization-fueled regionalization).These relationships are relevant to the specific globalization dynamics within regions.Economic and monetary regions are more prone to surplus liquidity than pure economic regions are.Policy implications and measures for reducing surplus liquidity are also discussed.

Sensitivity Study of the RegCM4’s Surface Schemes in the Simulations of West Africa Climate

Two simulations of five years (2003-2007) were conducted with the Regional Climate models RegCM4, one coupled with Land surface models BATS and the other with CLM4.5 over West Africa, where simulated air temperature and precipitation were analyzed. The purpose of this study is to assess the performance of RegCM4 coupled with the new CLM4.5 Land surface scheme and the standard one named BATS in order to find the best configuration of RegCM4 over West African. This study could improve our understanding of the sensitivity of land surface model in West Africa climate simulation, and provide relevant information to RegCM4 users. The results show fairly realistic restitution of West Africa’s climatology and indicate correlations of 0.60 to 0.82 between the simulated fields (BATS and CLM4.5) for precipitation. The substitution of BATS surface scheme by CLM4.5 in the model configuration, leads mainly to an improvement of precipitation over the Atlantic Ocean, however, the impact is not sufficiently noticeable over the continent. While the CLM4.5 experiment restores the seasonal cycles and spatial distribution, the biases increase for precipitation and temperature. Positive biases already existing with BATS are amplified over some sub-regions. This study concludes that temporal localization (seasonal effect), spatial distribution (grid points) and magnitude of precipitation and temperature (bias) are not simultaneously improved by CLM4.5. The introduction of the new land surface scheme CLM4.5, therefore, leads to a performance of the same order as that of BATS, albeit with a more detailed formulation.

The Distribution of Petroleum Resources and Characteristics of Main Petroliferous Basins along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, abbreviated as the Belt and Road Initiative, is a primary development strategy of China＇s future international cooperation. Especially, the energy resource cooperation, including oil and gas resources cooperation, is an important part of this initiative. The Belt and Road has undergone complicated geological evolution, and contains abundant mineral resources such as oil, gas, coal, uranium, iron, copper, gold and manganese ore resources. Among these, Africa holds 7.8% of the world＇s total proven oil reserves. The oil and gas resources in Africa are relatively concentrated, with an overall low exploration degree and small consumption demand. Nigeria and Libya contain the most abundant oil resources in Africa, accounting for 2.2% and 2.9% of the world＇s total reserves, respectively. Nigeria and Algeria hold the richest natural gas resources in Africa, occupying 2.8% and 2.4% of the world＇s total reserves, respectively. Africa＇s oil and gas resources are mainly concentrated in Egypt, Sultan and Western Sahara regions in the northern Africa, and the Gulf of Guinea, Niger River and Congo River area in the western Africa. The Russia--Central Asia area holds rich petroleum resources in Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The potential oil and gas areas include the West Siberia Basin, East Siberia Basin and sea continental shelf in Russia, the northern and central Caspian Basin in Kazakhstan, the right bank of the Amu-Darya Basin, the East Karakum uplift and the South Caspian Basin in Turkmenistan, and the Amu-Daria Basin, Fergana Basin, Afghan-Tajik Basin and North Ustyurt Basin in Uzbekistan. The Middle East oil and gas resources are mainly distributed in the Zagros foreland basin and Arabian continental margin basin, and the main oil-producing countries include Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq. The Asia Pacific region is a new oil and gas consumption center, with rapid growth of oil and gas demand. In 2012, this region consumed about 33.6% of the world＇s total oil consumption and 18.9% of the world＇s total natural gas consumption, which has been ranked the world＇s largest oil and gas consumption center. The oil and gas resources are concentrated in China, Indosinian, Malaysia, Australia and India. The abundant European proven crude oil reserves are in Norway, Britain and Denmark and also rich natural gas resources in Norway, Holland and Britain. Norway and Britain contain about 77.5% of European proven oil reserves, which accounts for only 0.9% of the world＇s proven reserves. The Europe includes main petroliferous basins of the Voring Basin, Anglo-Dutch Basin, Northwest German Basin, Northeast German-Polish Basin and Carpathian Basin. According to the analysis of source rocks, reservoir rocks, cap rocks and traps for the main petroliferous basins, the potential oil and gas prospecting targets in the Belt and Road are mainly the Zagros Basin and Arabic Platform in the Middle East, the East Barents Sea Basin and the East Siberia Basin in Russia-Central Asia, the Niger Delta Basin, East African rift system and the Australia Northwest Shelf. With the development of oil and gas theory and exploration technology, unconventional petroleum resources will play an increasingly important role in oil and gas industry.

Conservation of Quiver Trees in Namibia and South Africa under a Changing Climate

Aloe dichotoma (Quiver tree) occurs in the arid regions of Namaqualand and Bushman land in South Africa, and in arid regions of southern Namibia. The Quiver trees are not only threatened by agricultural expansion, overgrazing, and mining;but also by climate changes and droughts. Previous studies show that Quiver trees are very sensitive to environmental changes, and do not respond well to extreme hot and dry conditions. This study investigates the current status of the Quiver tree within its existing environment, and also assesses the projected future changes of the Quiver tree habitat under different climatic scenarios. It provided evidence regarding the importance of the study to understanding the climate change impacts on the Quiver tree and its geographical response to climate changes.

Rainfall patterns of Algerian steppes and the impacts on natural vegetation in the 20^th century

Since 1960, the steppe regions of North Africa have been subject to an increasing desertification, including the degradation of traditional pastures. The initially dominant species （Artemisia herba-alba, Lygeum spartum and Slipa tenacissima） declined and were progressively replaced by other species （Atractylis serratuloides and Salsola vermiculata） that are more tolerant to the new conditions. It is not clear whether these changes are due to anthropogenic reasons or climatic determinism. We have carried out a statistical analysis of the climate to detect putative rainfall changes during the 20th century in the Algerian steppes based on data from 9 meteorological stations, including 2 Saharan stations （El Oued and Touggourt）, 3 pre-Saharan stations （Biskra, Laghouat and Ain Sefra） and 4 steppe stations （Djelfa, Saida, M6ch6ria and E1-Bayadh） located in the arid high plains, which represent the bioclimate diversities of the region. Previous studies suggested that significant rainfall changes for the 20th century only had records in the south of the Oran region. Most of the studies, however, looked at restricted territories over limited periods, and did not integrate the rainiest period 2004-2014. Our work is designed to integrate all the longest time series of meteorological data available for the steppe regions of Algeria. Our results confirm the spatial rainfall distribution （significant rainfall changes only recorded in the southwestern region） evidenced by previous studies, and reveal a decreasing rainfall gradient from northeastern to southwestern Algeria. Moreover, the results reveal a trend of significant decrease of rainfall in the southern Oran region, marked by two drought periods in 1980- 1985 and 1999-2003. However, with the exception of the southwestern region, rainfall overall has not declined since the beginning of the 20th century. While less marked in other regions, the drought appear to have affected all territories of the Algerian steppe. Consequently, our study implies that the climate was not a leading influence in the on-going degradation of the vegetation cover of steppe landscapes. Such a vegetation evolution thus appears to be have been determined more by human activities than by climate forcing.

Explanatory Factors for the Variation in HIV Prevalence between Regions of Côte d’Ivoire: An Ecological Study

Introduction: No study has analyzed the reasons for the difference in HIV prevalence between Ivorian regions ranging from 1.3% in the central-western region to 4.1% in Abidjan among men. Objective: To analyze explanatory factors for the difference in HIV prevalence observed in men in Côte d’Ivoire’s regions. Methodology: Assessment of the relationship between HIV prevalence per region and risk factors explored in the 2012 Côte d’Ivoire Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). A multivariate analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between HIV prevalence and each variable. Results: The explanatory power of the variation of HIV prevalence between regions was 98%. There was a significant association between HIV prevalence and union (r = −0.38;p = 0.008;95% CI (−0.53 to −0.23)), condom use (r = −0.01;p = 0.19;95% CI (−0.03 to −0.01)), practice of Christian religion (r = −0.1;p = 0.017;95% CI (−0.16 to −0.05)), and schooling (r = −0.01;p = 0.25;95% CI (−0.04 to 0.02)). There was a paradoxical association between HIV prevalence and mean age at first sexual intercourse (r = −0.1;p = 0.017;95% CI (−0.16 to −0.05)) and sexual infections (r = −0.48;p = 0.016;95% CI (−0.75 to −0.22)). Conclusion: The explanatory factors for the difference in HIV prevalence observed in men in the regions of the country were union, condom use, mean age at first sexual intercourse, sexual infection, sexual activity, and multiple sexual partnerships. However, only union and condom use were effective in reducing HIV prevalence by preventing new infections.

Human security and sexuality in the IPPF Africa Region

The influence of human security components on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights （SRHR） of individuals was explored in four sub-Saharan Africa countries of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Uganda from November 2008 to April 2009. The present results suggest that the major threat to human security is the competing economic demands that make it difficult for the population to prioritize reproductive health services in their household budgets. This study concludes that there are potential benefits of human security approaches for furthering the goals of SRHR initiatives, in line with the principles and guidelines expressed in the Maputo Plan of Action and the Millennium Development Goals （MDGs）. The results of this study suggest that IPPF Africa Region can start to prioritize economic security, community security and health security which have greatest impact on the reproductive health of the sub-Saharan African population. The key lesson learnt is that the effective use of family planning services mitigates the effects of other human insecurities, including economic, food, and health insecurities as its application in the families will reduce family size and demand on available resources.

Study of Changing Features of Precipitation from 1900-2010 Years in Africa-Asia Arid and Semi-Arid Area

The relationship between time-space variation characteristics and the variation of the general atmospheric circulation of rainfall occurred in Asia, Africa through North Africa-Middle East-Western Middle Asia-Eastern Middle Asia, Northwest China-Eastern Northwest China-North China and Northeast China is studied based on the analysis of GPCC rainfall data from 1901 to 2010 and annual precipitation in relevant cities of China from 1901 to 2010, and the data of NCEP of surface pressure as well as 500 Hpa potential high from 1950 to 2010. The result shows that the total precipitation presents a decreasing trend in north Africa to the northeast of China in recent 100 years. It has a mutation in 1950s. The precipitation presented a decreasing trend in North Africa and Middle East, in recent 100 years;it presented a further decreasing trend after 1950s. It presented a decreasing trend before 1950s and an increasing trend after 1950s in Middle Asia and Northwest china. It also presented a decreasing trend before 1950s and an increasing trend between 1950s to 1990s, and decreased later in Eastern Northwest China, North China and Northeast China which also presented in a more or less period in different areas from North Africa to Northeast China. The beginning of less precipitation years and less period occurred after it presented less period in north Africa in time and space. After it moved to the east areas as the year past, at last, the SLPA fields which presented more or less precipitations of years from North Africa to Northeast China were analyzed. It also shows that the SLPA fields which presented more were beneficial to the precipitations and presented negative effects of precipitations in the polar, high and mid- and lower latitudes.

Assessment of Regional Climate Models over Côte D'Ivoire and Analysis of Future Projections over West Africa

The ability of six Regional Climate Models (RCMs) used in AMMA-ENSEMBLES project is assessed over six meteorological stations in C&#244te d’Ivoire. The ensemble mean of the models is also used for the prediction of climate change over West Africa. The study focused on two periods: the period 1995-2005, the present-day simulations, is used to evaluate the skills of the models over the country and the years 2010-2013, for assessment of the future climate change scenario used. The results show that the skills of the models vary from one station to another and from one season to another. None of the models considered, presents an excellent performance over the entire country and in all the seasons. Generally, the ensemble mean of all the models presents better results when compared with the observation. These results suggest that the choice of any model for study over the country may depend on the focus of interest: intensity or variability of the rain and also on area of interest. The projection for 2020-2040, future climate change over West Africa shows that the Sahel exhibits a tendency to be drier while wetter Guinean coast is observed.

中非贸易对人民币区域化的影响研究

论文基于非洲54个国家和中国2010-2021年的面板数据,探究中非贸易对人民币非洲区域化的影响,并分析其影响机制。研究发现,中非贸易规模扩大能够显著推进人民币在非洲的区域化进程。异质性分析发现,相较于低收入国家,中非贸易规模扩大对较高收入国家的人民币非洲区域化程度的促进作用更明显。机制检验表明,中非贸易深化能够通过降低双边贸易成本和提升非洲国家对中国的贸易依存度来促进人民币的非洲区域化。在“一带一路”倡议下,中国与非洲国家在政策沟通、设施联通、贸易畅通、资金融通和民心相通等方面开展合作,有助于推动人民币在非洲的使用。从贸易结构角度出发,中国与非洲的贸易互补性强,6类商品和7类商品的出口能显著促进人民币在非洲的使用。

非洲大湖地区农业发展水平与粮食安全耦合关系及影响因素研究

以农业发展水平与粮食安全为基础,综合运用熵权法、耦合协调模型、灰色关联度模型,对非洲大湖地区2000年—2020年农业发展水平与粮食安全耦合关系及影响因素进行测度研究.结果发现:(1)农业发展水平与粮食安全水平时间关联显著,农业发展水平从2000年的0.214提升到2020年的0.304,粮食安全水平从2000年的0.219提升到2020年的0.269.(2)农业发展水平与粮食安全水平时空耦合关联以时间尺度为主,2000年的濒临失调(0.457)发展到2020年的勉强协调(0.514).(3)农业发展水平演替驱动了粮食安全水平演化,大湖地区农业发展中技术投入(0.813)对粮食安全的关联度最低,土地投入(0.928)对粮食安全的关联度最高.

肯尼亚内罗毕快速路预制装配桥墩构造设计

肯尼亚内罗毕快速路项目是“一带一路”重要工程之一,是东非地区首次采用预制装配桥墩设计与施工的示范项目。结合项目的建设条件和特点,总结适用于当地城市高架桥预制装配桥墩的设计思路与要点,对构件连接方式进行研究和比选,同时对预制装配桥墩和传统现浇桥墩工程经济效益进行对比。对后续东非地区城市高架桥的建设具有参考意义。

Economic development and diabetes prevalence in MENA countries: Egypt and Saudi Arabia comparison

Diabetes is increasing in epidemic proportions globally, exhibiting the most striking increase in third world countries with emerging economies. This phenomena is particularly evident in the Middle East and North Africa(MENA) region, which has the highest prevalence of diabetes in adults. The most concerning indirect cost of diabetes is the missed work by the adult population coupled with the economic burden of loss of productivity. The major drivers of this epidemic are the demographic changes with increased life expectancy and lifestyle changes due to rapid urbanization and industrialization. Our focus is to compare MENA region countries, particularly Egypt and Saudi Arabia, in terms of their economic development, labor force diversity and the prevalence of diabetes.

北斗三号卫星导航系统在非洲地区控制测量的应用研究

我国北斗三号卫星导航系统(简称北斗三号,BDS-3)具备全球服务能力,研究北斗三号的海外应用性能,有助于北斗三号在“一带一路”沿线国家的应用推广。本文首次将北斗三号应用于非洲赤道几内亚某工程测量控制网,该控制网采用点连式E级网观测策略,包含5个观测时段、11个控制点,每个时段的平均基线长度为3.67~6.25 km。使用国产接收机、国产基线解算软件和国产平差软件的数据处理结果表明:①在赤道几内亚,可观测到的北斗三号数量为8~10颗;②使用北斗三号的基线解算、三维无约束平差、二维平面约束平差,整体精度优于GPS;③使用北斗三号得到的控制点二维平面坐标,与GPS的差异不超过1.09 cm。本文验证了北斗三号在非洲地区具备与GPS相当的控制测量应用性能。对于北斗三号控制测量应用走向全球,提供了参考。

Africa’s Regional Focus

THIS year the African Union （AU） will mark the 50thanniversary of the founding of the Organ zation of African Unity （OAU）, a precursor of the current organization, on May 25, 1963. The OAU embodied a collective spirit that brought together 32 governments to sign the OAU Charter in Addis Ababa. This spirit has since spread, and the AU＇s membership now includes 54 countries.

博洛尼亚进程与非洲高等教育协调战略的比较与启示

欧洲博洛尼亚进程是高等教育领域进行区域合作一场具有开创性的实践。以博洛尼亚进程作为模型,非盟于2007年提出了非洲高等教育协调战略以推进非洲高等教育一体化进程。尽管两者在政策目标、战略措施和组织推进方面颇具相似之处,但实施成效却存在差距。基于对欧盟和非盟官方文件的回顾,从功能路径、组织路径和政治路径对博洛尼亚进程和非洲高等教育一体化进程进行分析比较,可以发现:政治路径上,两者都采用渐进式政策推进,但由于社会背景与教育基础不同而成效各异;功能路径上,两者行动策略相仿,却由于行动者角色、协调水平和自主权上的差异而导致结果不同;组织路径上,两者组织结构相似,但后者由于利益相关者参与度不足和殖民分割带来的语言文化阻隔增加了协调难度,导致政策成效降低。上述经验可为其他国家和地区高等教育区域化建设提供借鉴与启示。

非洲法语区硕士留学生课程体系优化探讨——以道桥渡学科为例

提升道桥渡学科硕士留学生的培养水平是我国“一带一路”倡议实施的重点抓手。针对非洲法语区硕士留学生自身固有特点,以锻炼硕士生国际工程思维为导向,从课程体系优化着手,提出增设“道桥渡工程中法规范对比释义”课程,并对课堂教学内容进行改良,优化授课形式,建立基于“互动课堂+校企合作”的阶段式渐进教学模式,综合考虑各项评价指标,改进相应的考核体系,以建立更加完备的培养体系,充分发挥留学生的优势,培养非洲硕士留学生对工程实践新问题的灵活应对与创新能力。

非洲发展潜力及能源化工产业合作前景分析

非洲是全球经济增长第二快的经济体,北部非洲禀赋条件最好,有望建成均衡发展的工业体系,占据产业链优势位置;东部非洲市场活跃、增长快、缺口大,资源开发程度低;南部非洲市场集中在南非一国;西部非洲和中部非洲是传统资源富集区,但市场潜力有限。在能源化工产业领域,非洲油气资源丰富,海上资源潜力巨大,勘探开发程度低,成品油需求增速快,化工消费保持高度增长。中非关系进入历史最好时期,但北部非洲、南部非洲、东部非洲、西部非洲和中部非洲5个次区域发展水平不平衡,应采取差异性投资策略,同时要高度重视防范安全、合规和汇率风险。

刚果(金)BSG水电站厂房位置选择设计研究

结合BSG水电站枢纽布置及地形地质条件拟定上、下两个厂址,主要从水能利用、引水系统建筑物布置、发电厂房布置、地质条件、施工组织、投资6个方面对BSG水电站厂房位置进行了经济技术比较。选定上厂址为推荐厂房位置方案。