Research Progress of the Planning Methods of Prior Conservation Areas

The planning of prior conservation areas is an important part of nature re- serve system, ：it is of great significance for biodiversity conservation. The methods of priority planning include hot-spots analysis, gap analysis, systematic conservation planning analysis and multi-criteria decision analysis. The key issues of priority area planning include the determination of the protect objects, the analyses of the protec- tion value and protection cost, the win-win development of protection and economy, and the changes of the management strategies of the protected areas. In this study, the features and research progress of different conservation methods were analyzed, and based on the discussion on the key issues of the planning of the protected areas, the application prospect of different methods was analyzed.

Discussion on Improvement and Conservation Planning for Pool Landscape in the Process of Urbanization

Taking the water regulation of Dingjia pool in Bozhou as an example,the countermeasures of improvement and conservation planning for pool landscape in the process of urbanization were discussed in this study.It was essential for the sound development of water of pools in cities to conduct the following rules:① The protection planning of water in cities must be done well,while improvement and conservation planning of pools must be carried out based on the landscapes.② Management according to law or green line of pools must be strengthened or supervised,while illegal buildings and structures are forbidden in the planning range of green line of water,so the filled and infringed pools should be immediately banned.③ It is forbidden to discharge various sewage or dump garbage,residue soil,toxic and harmful substance into water.④ Propaganda of public voice and supervising mechanism should be strengthened,while illegal behaviors should be disclosed,so water protection of pools is rooted in the hearts of people.

Applying systematic conservation planning to constitute a protection strategy for broad-leaved Korean pine forests in Changbai Mountains, China

The broad-leaved Korean pine(Pinus koraiensis) forest is one of the most biodiverse zonal communities in the North Temperate Zone and an important habitat for many endangered species.Broad-leaved Korean pine forests(BKPFs) are shrinking quickly due to deforestation and rapid urbanization. Thus, scientific protection strategies are urgently needed to change this status. Changbai Mountains contains one of the largest BKPFs and is considered a priority biodiversity conservation area in China. Guided by systematic conservation planning(SCP) methods and procedures, we chose representative species and communities in BKPFs ecosystem as priority conservation objects, and set quantitative conservation target, which is in the light of the biodiversity characteristic of BKPFs. The watershed area is used as planning unit. We used CPlan software to calculate the irreplaceability(Ir)value of each planning unit and the contribution value(Ti) of each conservation object to(1) assess the conservation efficiency;(2) identify the conservation gap of the existing conservation network. Then wecalculated a human disturbance index(HDI) for planning units in the conservation gaps and combine this with the Ir value to design three conservation scenarios to optimize the conservation network.Results show that planning units with high conservation value 14.16% of the total area, with3084.36 km2 were covered by the existing conservation network. 79.28% of planning units with high conservation value have not been protected which were concentrated mainly in the eight gap areas.Only 25.3% of protection objects achieved their conservation target with the existing conservation network. Conservation efficiency is low. Three conservation scenarios are constituted, each prioritizing a different aim:(1) ecological value;(2)species rescue; and(3) economical avoidance. The three conservation schemes potentially enable 93%,88% and 51% of conservation objects, respectively, to achieve identified conservation targets, thereby improving conservation efficiency significantly.

Surrogacy of bird species in systematic conservation planning and conservation assessments in Yunnan Province,China

Bird diversity is often used as surrogates for other species diversity,but there is a limited understanding of the extent of this surrogate in identifying representative priority conservation areas(PCAs).We used Yunnan Province in China as a case to measure the surrogacy of birds in systematic conservation planning.Here,we collected distribution records of mammals,amphibians,reptiles,and birds from public databases and literature,and applied systematic conservation planning methods to identify PCAs.We targeted four taxonomic groups at conservation targets of 17%,31%,and 50%of the total study area,and used the Jaccard similarity index to evaluate the surrogate extent of bird PCAs for the other three groups.Then,we overlapped different portfolios of PCAs with six categories of protected areas(PAs)in Yunnan,calculated the protection rates,and evaluated the effect of sustainable-use PAs on improving the protection rate of strict Nature Reserves.The results showed that bird PCAs generally had the highest surrogacy for representing PCAs of the other three taxa.At the 50%conservation target,the Jaccard indices between birds and the other taxa reached about 0.50.Moreover,amphibian PCAs had a good surrogacy for conserving reptiles,with a Jaccard index of 0.30,0.44 and 0.51 at the 17%,31%and 50%conservation targets,respectively.The existing PA system had quite low coverages for PCAs of these four taxa,and the average protection rates were 22.97%,19.78%and 16.52%at the three levels of conservation targets,respectively.The sustainable-use PAs can greatly complement the strict Nature Reserves by achieving average increased PA coverages of 10.00%,9.20%and 7.90%at the three conservation targets.Our findings provide a basis for surrogate-based conservation planning for areas with insufficient biodiversity information.

Conservation Planning of Plant Diversity in Jinghong City of Xishuangbanna

General situation of Jinghong City was introduced in this study.Based on analyzing its vegetation components,species diversity,rare and endangered species,alien species,plant resources,7 biodiversity conservation contents were planned,including focusing on the construction and management of nature reserves,constructing forest park and developing science popularization engineering,establishing the area of banning hunting(picking) wild species and connection corridors,constructing wild elephant park into a zoo,promoting the role of urban parks in protecting biodiversity,devoting more in protecting rare and endangered species,preventing the danger of invasive species.4 countermeasures for applying biodiversity in urban green spaces were proposed,specifically,creating urban garden plant community by simulating natural ones to form urban plant ecosystem,determining species cardinal of urban garden plants to protect and develop species diversity,applying both local and alien plants to create diversified landscapes,introducing,domesticating or culturing new garden plants to enrich the diversity of garden plants.Also 3 countermeasures for protecting biodiversity in urban green spaces were put forward,that is,joint development of rural economy and biodiversity protection around cities,protecting species and comprehensively renovating habitats,fully utilizing ex-situ conservation to protect biodiversity.

Use of Augmented Reality Methods to Support Legal Conflicts in the Planning Process for Wind Turbines Using the Example of the Landscape Conservation Area “Eulenkopf and Surroundings”

The world’s growing energy demand poses a serious problem. At the same time fossil fuels are finite, which we must work against. Therefore, the Federal Government of Germany has set itself the goal to push forward the use of renewable energy in order to completely do without the generation of nuclear energy by 2023. There are, however, no specific guidelines from the European Directive on the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources for the internal electricity market regarding how high each share of the different production method should be and, above all, which specific aim should be achieved by the share of wind energy. Nevertheless, it presents a crucial step toward a nuclear phaseout and a concomitant change of course of the Federal Government of Germany in the spring of 2011 regarding the expansion of renewable energy, taking the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima into account. Using new legal planning approaches, also including the area of Rhineland-Palatinate, opportunities should be provided to make previously protected land available for setting up facilities for the generation of renewable energy. However, it is important to examine the legal situation regarding the installation of these kinds of constructions more detailed, as no general statements can be made. This will be illustrated using the example of the landscape conservation area “Eulenkopf and surrounding area” in the district of Kaiserslautern. The stated goal of the Social Democrat/Green coalition of the federal state government of Rhineland-Palatinate is to considerably expand the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources so that by 2030 at least the entire electricity demand can be covered by those. Due to the enormous potential of wind power, it is therefore necessary to quintuple its share of electricity generation by 2020, compared to 2011 numbers. In order to achieve the desired political objectives, by 2030 the number of turbines has to be increased to around 2650, representing a capacity of 7500 MW. This increase gives reason for boundary conditions to manage the generation of wind energy to be adjusted. This is intended to facilitate management and simultaneously minimise negative effects, such as the “sprawling” of wind turbines.

Climate Change Adaptation Planning for Biodiversity Conservation:A Review

Climate change has been linked to well-documented changes in physiology, phenology, species distributions, and in some cases, extinction. Projections of future change point to dramatic shifts in the states of many ecosystems. Aceommodating these shifts to effectively conserve biodiversity in the context of uncertain climate regimes represents one of the most difficult challenges faced by conservation planners. A number of adaptation strategies have been proposed for managing species and ecosystems in a changing climate. However, there has been little guidance available on integrating climate change adaptation strategies into contemporary conservation planning frameworks. The paper reviews the different approaches being used to integrate climate change adaptation into conservation planning, broadly categorizing strategies as continuing and extending on ＂best practice＂ principles and those that integrate species vulnerability assessments into conservation planning. We describe the characteristics of a good adaptation strategy emphasizing the importance of incorporating clear principles of flexibility and efficiency, accounting for uncertainty, integrating human response to climate change and understanding trade-offs.

Assessment of Diversity, Distribution, Conservation Status and Preparation of Management Plan for Medicinal Plants in the Catchment Area of Parbati Hydroelectric Project Stage-Ⅲ in Northwestern Himalaya

The developmental activities, particularly the construction of hydroelectric projects are causing a great loss of biodiversity in the Indian Himalayan Region. The Himaehal Pradesh, a part of IHR is well known for the development of hydroelectric projects. The Parbati H.E. Project is amongst the major projects of the State. The different stages of the project are all causing loss of biodiversity of the area. Stage Ⅲ of the Parbati H.E. Project is a run of the river scheme on the Sainj River downstream of Power House of Parbati H.E. Project Stage Ⅱ. The project shall utilize regulated discharge of Parbati H.E. Project Stage Ⅱ and inflow of River Sainj for power generation, and has been contemplated as a peaking station operating in tandem with Stage Ⅱ. The present study has been undertaken to see the impact of hydroelectric project on the biodiversity, particularly on medicinal plants. A total of 104 species of medicinal plants, belonging to different life forms, i.e., trees （23 spp.）, shrubs （22 spp.）, herbs （57 spp.） and ferns （2 spp.） were recorded. The species have been analyzed and studied for their distribution, classification, altitudinal zones, part （s） used, indigenous uses, nativity, endemism and rarity.Different parts of these species, such as whole plants, roots （including rhizomes and tubers）, leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, stems, barks, spikes, nuts and insect galls are used by the inhabitants for curing various diseases and ailments. 3o species are native to the Himalayan region, 9 species native to the Himalayan region and adjacent countries also and 65 species are non-natives. 9 species are near endemics. Considering the whole Himalaya as a biogeographie unit （sensu lato）, the near endemics are endemic to the Himalaya. Among these species, Zanthoxylum armature is categorized as Endangered and Valeriana wallichii as Vulnerable. Hedychium spicatum, Rhus javanica, Berberis lycium, Thalictrum foliolossum, Salvia lanata, Rubia cordifolia and Bergenia ligulata may be considered as threatened species due to their over exploitation for trade. 90 species are propagated by seeds, 8 species by seeds and rhizomes/roots/tubers, 4 species by seeds and cuttings, and 2 species by sori. A management plan for the cultivation and conservation of the medicinal plants in the dam submergence area, and the commercially viable medicinal plants with high value in the catchment area is suggested.

Conservation priority for endemic birds of China's Mainland based on a phylogenetic framework

In this report, a conservation priority scenario for endemic birds of China's Mainland is proposed from a phylogenetic perspective. By utilizing and comparing seven phylogenetic diversity (PD) indices, the study shows that the top ifve endemic birds with high conservation priority are Ar-borophila ardens, A. gingica, A. ruifpectus, Lophophorus lhuysii and Alectoris magna respectively. The ranking of species, based on the IUCN Red List and PD indices, were compared by means of a Wilcox signed rank test and Pearson’s correlation, drawing the inference that the PD ranking of endemic birds for China's Mainland shows a distinct and statistically signiifcant difference from the IUCN rank-ing. Therefore, the ranking of conservation priority for endemic birds of China using PD indices might offer new insights on species conservation from an evolutionary-heritage perspective, serving as a complement to the IUCN ranking.

Community Forest Management: A Strategy for Rehabilitation, Conservation and Livelihood Sustainability: The Case of Mount Oku, Cameroon

Well-managed forests are major sources of livelihoods for the fringed communities. However, the remoteness, inaccessibility of most forested areas coupled with conflicts from adjacent forest communities, who often depend on it for livelihood is a daunting task in implementing conservation, viz-a-viz the Sustainable Development Goals. The Mt Oku forest is a unique, remote but represents novelty in forest management in remote areas in Cameroon, with devolution of management rights. The forest is well noted for its high level of endemism. This study is focused on the legal, institutional, socio-economic and regulatory framework put in place, for appropriate conservation and livelihood sustenance as forest management rights were devolved to the local community. A multidimensional framework guiding the development of testable hypothesis that assesses the relationship between the forest users’ activities and forest degradation, which have a multiplier effect on the SDGs, was used. The alternate livelihood options/strategies and benefits after the institution of the Forest Management Project (FMP) was examined in randomly selected frontline and secondary villages. Selected Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools and registers from FMIs aided relevant data collection. The results indicated a significant relationship (χ2 = 0.65.4, p = 0.00) between the activities of forest users and forest degradation. Adopted alternate livelihood strategies/options include, direct employment, tourist guides, bee farming, agricultural intensification, agroforestry, capacity building for skill acquisition, selective exploitation and sales of Prunus spp. Forest regeneration strategies ranged from, forest guards, removal of exotic species, forest enrichment, raising nurseries, fire tracing, etc. It is concluded that giving greater access and ownership of forest to the local community in the Mount Oku Region, led to transparency, accountability and social stability, which contributed tremendously both to the recovery and conservation of forest for improved livelihoods. However there is a dire need for the reinforcement of mechanisms for capacity building to improved livelihoods and conservation and the implementation of a system where stakeholders enjoy favorable conditions for information exchange and learning.

Research on Traditional Village Protection Development Planning Based on Value Characteristics——Taking Heshe Village in Jiangxi Province As An Example

Traditional villages are the foundation of human history, the crystallization of agricultural civilization, the important carder of homeland feelings, and the spiritual homeland of the Chinese nation. In the important period of attaching importance to the protection of traditional villages and making active plans for the protection and development of traditional villages, the planning of conservation has been stereotyped, which only cares about quantity and speed. Every traditional village has its unique value and soul, and ignoring its internal cultural connotation and value characteristics can result in the lack of scientific and comprehensive planning, making it unable not be implemented in practice. In this paper, taking Heshe Village in Jiangxi Province as an example, the value characteristics oriented planning strategy for traditional villages were proposed through the refinement of its value characteristics based on the scientific planning principles.

Offshore Wind Power for Marine Conservation

The seas of northern Europe are strongly affected by human activities and there is a great need for improved marine conservation. The same region is also the current hotspot for offshore wind power development. Wind farms can have negative environmental impacts during construction, but during the operational phase many organisms are attracted to the foundations and thereby may also find refuge from fisheries. Given the recent implementation of marine spatial planning in Europe and elsewhere, this is a critical time to address potential compatibility and synergies between marine conservation and wind power. This review concludes that offshore wind farms can be at least as effective as existing marine protected areas in terms of creating refuges for benthic habitats, benthos, fish and marine mammals. The degree of advantage for these organisms depends on the location of the wind farm and the level of imposed fishing restriction. Under certain conditions wind farms may even be more efficient means of conservation than ordinary marine protected areas. However, offshore wind farms can be negative for several species of seabirds, essentially as occupying preferred feeding or wintering grounds. In areas important to these seabirds wind farms may not comply with conservation. The results bring important messages to marine spatial planning as some but not all wind farms can be spatially combined with, and even synergistic to, marine conservation.

Energy-Efficiency Economics as a Resource for Energy Planning

The objective of this work is a multi-criteria decision-making assessment that aims to facilitate the Energy-Efficiency Economics, introducing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as part of power-system planning tool for an energy-efficiency application. It addresses to include qualitative aspects in the decision-making agendas of energy-efficiency projects. The manuscript details the limitations of non-rigorous financial analysis and proposes an alternative for including energy-efficiency measures in discussions pertaining to the financial opportunities available to any investor, and it presents the methodology that supports the qualitative aspects and the software package used to execute this methodology. As case study a complete example including a sensitivity analysis is presented.

Investigating climate change vulnerability and planning for adaptation: Learning from a study of climate change impacts on the Mountain Gorilla in the Albertine Rift

Climate change represents an unprecedented challenge for the conservation and management of endangered species and habitats. Effective climate smart conservation will require robust predictions of vulnerability and future changes, along with the design and prioritisation of effective adaptation planning and management responses that are clearly linked to projected climate impacts. To achieve this goal, conservation managers urgently need practical tools and approaches for vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning. This article explores lessons emerging from a recent vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning exercise conducted on the impact of climate change for mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei). We describe the main findings emerging from this initiative and explore key lessons for climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning for conservation management. Data limitations were a key factor determining the utility of model outputs and we stress the importance of stakeholder engagement and collaboration throughout the vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning cycle. These findings are of relevance to conservation practitioners seeking to incurporate climate change considerations into ongoing management planning for endangered species conservation.

Is Evidence-Based Conservation Applied in Urban Forestry? A Case Study from Toronto, Canada

Evidence-based conservation seeks to incorporate sound scientific information into environmental decision making. The application of this concept in urban forest management has tremendous potential, but to date has been little applied, largely because existing scientific studies emphasize the importance of urban forests in large-scale ecological and anthropogenic processes, but in practice, scientific evidence is ostensibly incorporated into North American urban forest management only when deciding the fate of individual trees. Even under these disjunctive conditions, the degree to which evidence influences tree-level decisions remains debatable. In analyzing preliminary data from a case study from Toronto, Canada, we sought to test if and how scientific evidence factored into the decision to remove or preserve 53 trees, located in close proximity to a provincially significant area of natural and scientific interest (ANSI). We found that by far the strongest tree-level correlate of the recommendation to remove or preserve trees was whether or not an individual tree was in conflict with proposed development. In comparison, species identity, tree condition, and suitability for conservation were statistically unrelated to the final recommendation. Our findings provide the basis to expand our analysis to multiple case studies across Canada, and internationally. Furthermore, when interpreted with available research and policy, our preliminary (and future) analysis highlights clear opportunities where scientific evidence can and should be readily incorporated into urban forestry management and policy.

新时期长江流域水资源保护规划及管理工作的思考

组织编制并实施水资源保护规划是国家赋予水行政主管部门的法定职责,也是水利部门履行水资源管理和生态环境保护责任的重要工作。长江流域水资源保护规划经历了从起步、探索、实践与发展到形成完善体系的过程,推进了流域水资源保护与管理科学有序发展。随着国家机构改革部门职能调整和《中华人民共和国长江保护法》出台,为更好地推进和落实新时期长江流域水资源保护规划和管理工作,系统梳理长江流域水资源保护规划发展历程与成效,分析当前流域水资源保护面临的形势与挑战,厘清流域水资源保护工作定位和思路,并据此提出新时期流域水资源保护规划及管理的工作建议,对凝聚流域水资源保护规划共识、建立流域水资源保护规划体系、推进水资源保护高质量发展、助力实现治江现代化具有重要的指导意义。

关于新一轮淮河流域防洪规划修编有关问题的思考

2009年国务院批复《淮河流域防洪规划》以来,通过加快实施治淮19项骨干工程、全力推进进一步治淮38项工程等建设,基本建立了与全面建成小康社会相适应的防洪除涝减灾体系,为流域经济社会发展、人民幸福安康提供了有力的防洪安全保障。当前,对标对表全面建设社会主义现代化国家和新阶段水利高质量发展要求,流域防洪减灾体系还存在一些突出问题和薄弱环节。重点围绕淮河中游分级设防及河道整治、淮河入江水道中下段扩大、洪泽湖周边滞洪区分区调整、沂沭泗河洪水东调南下提标等新一轮防洪规划修编难点热点问题,研究解决思路和治理方案,以期为新阶段淮河防洪治理提供有益参考。

低空遥感技术在水土保持规划设计中的应用研究

为满足水土保持规划设计对数据高精度、高效率及现势性要求,并探究低空遥感技术在水土保持规划设计中的应用前景,本研究以榆林市横山区鲍家寺景区为研究区,基于数字正射影像(DOM)和数字高程模型(DEM)构建三维模型和矢量图。结果表明:与公开获取的遥感数据在时效性、分辨率和精度方面进行对比分析发现,公开获取的实验区遥感影像偏移量中误差约为1.75 mm,低空遥感获取的实验区影像偏移量中误差约为0.47 mm,低空遥感影像较谷歌等可公开获取的影像精度更高、分辨率更好、时效性更强。

基于C-Plan规划软件的生物多样性就地保护优先区规划——以中国东北地区为例

以中国东北地区为研究区域,根据生物多样性属性特征,选择研究区域内具有代表性的濒危物种作为指示物种,利用系统保护规划方法(Systematic Conservation Planning,SCP)和保护规划软件(C-Plan),对该区域进行了优先保护规划研究。通过计算规划单元的不可替代性值(Irreplaceability,IR),找出区域生物多样性热点地区和保护空缺地区,然后利用C-Plan规划软件对该地区进行保护优先等级划分,确定必须保护(Mandatory Reserved,MR)、协商保护(Negotiated Reserved,NR)和部分保护(PartiallyReserved,PR)3个等级保护区域的具体位置和面积,并针对保护现状提出保护规划建议。结果显示,必须保护区域的总面积占区域总面积的8.17%,主要分布于长白山核心地区和大兴安岭北部原始林区;协商保护区域占总面积的7.51%,主要分布于大兴安岭东南部和松嫩平原湿地;部分保护区域占总面积的9%。保护空缺分析结果显示,现有国家级自然保护区对生物多样性的保护存在3个明显的保护空缺,即长白山林区的龙岗山地区、老爷岭北部和张广才岭南部;大兴安岭北部原始林区、呼玛河—黑龙江流域的平原湿地和伊勒呼里山东南部山区;大兴安岭南部森林草原过渡区的东南部森林地区。结合区域内已建立的国家级自然保护区情况,利用C-Plan规划软件对不同时期建立的保护区实现保护目标的贡献率做了分析。截止2000年,已建保护区可实现预期保护目标的17.5%,通过对贡献率大小的比较确定了不同时期保护的有效程度。研究打破了传统的对称几何形状的单元划分方法,根据植被类型和自然地形地貌,采用自然多边形进行单元划分,提高了物种分布范围准确度。研究通过C-Plan规划软件的实际应用,丰富了系统保护规划研究的方法,从理论上为区域保护规划提供了科学依据,并可指导我国自然保护区管理政策的制定和中长期规划的编制。

国家节水中长期规划编制思路浅析

近二十年来,我国相继印发实施多个节水规划,指导和推动节水工作取得显著成效。科学编制节水中长期规划,系统谋划未来一个时期节水工作推进的战略方向、总体布局、重点任务等,有利于全面提升我国水资源节约集约利用水平、加快推进节水型社会高质量建设。总结我国节水规划实践情况,评估规划目标制定及其完成情况,分析我国现状用水节水水平,面向基本实现现代化,对标新质生产力和水利高质量发展要求,提出节水中长期规划编制的总体思路,梳理重点任务,包括摸清节水现状与形势需求,制定节水目标指标体系,谋划节水重大战略布局,提出重点节水行动与举措,梳理重点工程项目和实施计划,完善体制机制和制度政策保障等,针对性提出推进规划编制工作的有关建议。