Enforcement Measures Relating to Straddling Stocks - An International and South African Perspective

On 10 March 1995, Canadian fisheries authorities boarded and arrested the Spanish fishing vessel, Estai, outside the Canadian 200 mile Exclusive Fishing Zone on the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland alleging that the vessel was fishing in breach of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) conservation and management measures. This action served to focus world attention on a dispute that had its origins in the failure of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ("the 1982 Convention") to implement an effective conservation and management regime for fish stocks on the high seas, particularly with respect to fish stocks that straddle the EEZ of Coastal states

Innovative financing mechanisms for sustainable ecosystem management

The increasing human influence on ecosystems and the ensuing unsustainable exploitation and degradation has led in many places to depletion and loss of function of these ecosystems. These problems cannot be solved by (innovative) financing mechanisms, as the causes do not lie in a lack of financing mechanisms. Although decifit in funding in general is an important issue - the amount of finance available for ecosystems and biodiversity falls short of the funding neede

Survival of Dutch heathlands

OBJECTIVES OF THE THESISHeathlands in The Netherlands are vanishing due to the invasion of trees. The transition from heathland to woodland in Dutch heathlands may either proceed directly or is preceded by the development of an intermediate grass heath. These changes are due to natural succession in the absence of management. In addition to the absence of management atmospheric pollution i.e. increased inputs of nitrogen has accelerated the replacement of heather heath by grass heath.The main hypothesis in this thesis is that the encroachment of grasses in heathlands as well as the response of the vegetation to management and environmental change depend on soil type, climatic conditions, and previous management. This thesis deals in particular with the performance of heather (Calluna vulgaris) and grasses (Molinia caerulea, Deschampsia flexuosa) on dry lowland heath as a function of environmental conditions in a site, with the purpose of matching management options with site conditions (Chapter 1).CHANGES IN DUTCH HEATHLANDSEvidence for replacement of heather by grasses in The Netherlands was obtained from sequential air photographs of heathlands. It is shown that apart from the transition of heathland to woodland, even before atmospheric pollution started in the seventies, heather was already being replaced by grasses in sites where there was no periodic management. However, in most sites the increase of grasses has been accelerated appreciably during the last decade (Chapter 2).RESTORATION OF HEATHThe results of long term field experiments (since 1976) show that a heathland taken over by grasses can be restored by turf cutting. Other treatments i.e. burning, ploughing or mowing treatments had no result, or in the case of mowing (including removal of the biomass), the result was short lived (Chapter 3).The good result of turf cutting may be due to physical environmental changes or changes in nutrients. It is shown that the establishment of heather after turf cutting has partly a physical explanation i.e. can be attributed to exposure of the bare soil, which enables heather seeds in the seed bank to germinate, while the shortlived grass seeds are absent (Chapter 4). These results also suggest that direct succession of heath to woodland (without a grassy stage) is due to the absence of grass seeds.SOIL TYPE AND LIFE SPAN OF HEATHERAlthough the establishment of heather after turf cutting has a physical explanation, the removal of nutrients by turf cutting does increase the life span of Calluna and reduces the competitive ability of the grasses. The effect of turf cutting lasts longer on poor soils. A heathland subjected to turf cutting appears to be more enduring on podzol soils than on more fertile brown podzolic soils, where the lifespan of heather plants is shorter. The advantage of a longer life span of heather is that the formation of suitable gaps for the establishment of grasses or other species is retarded (Chapter 5). Furthermore, in this chapter it is shown that the accelerated encroachment of grasses in heathland due to atmospheric pollution (Chapter 2) is likely to occur only in heathlands on brown podzolic soils. On such soils growth is limited by nitrogen, whereas on podzol soils, where growth is limited by phosphorus, nitrogen does not affect growth (Chapter 5).MANAGEMENT AND LIFE SPAN OF HEATHERThe nutrient status of a site depends not only on the soil present, but also on the management, and therefore growth rates and the life span of heather probably also depend on these. An analysis of the effects of burning on nutrient levels reveals that as much nitrogen may be depleted by fire as by turf cutting, particularly if the shorter rotation period of prescribed burning is taken into account (Chapter 6). Thus, it seems likely that the nitrogen-depleting effects of turf cutting and burning are more or less equal on brown podzolic soils, where nitrogen is the growth-limiting factor. Turf cutting, however, depletes phosphorus more effectively than burning and the phosphorus available to plants may even increase after a fire (Chapter 6). This implies that growth rates on podzol soils will be higher on burnt heath than on heath subjected to turf cutting. A comparison of growth of Calluna in Dutch heathlands confirms this (Chapter 7).CLIMATE AND LIFE SPAN OF HEATHERFinally, the effect of climatic conditions on the performance of heather is assessed. It is shown that the climate in The Netherlands - especially in the south of the countries sub- optimal for heather (Chapter 7). Periodic drought and frost frequently damage heather in Dutch heathlands and make it more susceptible to attack and damage from the heather beetle (Chapter 8).THE NEED FOR SITE SPECIFIC MANAGEMENTIt is hypothesized that heather plants in The Netherlands have a shorter life span because the climatic conditions are adverse for them. These adverse conditions can, however, be compensated to some extent by low nutrient levels, which induce higher carbohydrate levels in the heather plants. Plants with enhanced carbohydrate contents are less susceptible to plant damage and enable the plant to regrow after dying back. It is concluded that under climatic conditions that are sub-optimal for heather, as occur in The Netherlands (particularly in the South) heather can only for longer periods survive if nutrient levels are low. Turf cutting as practised in The Netherlands in the past was therefore not only an economic necessity, but seems also to be ecologically necessary if Dutch heathlands are to be kept purple (Chapter 8)

Bodemtype bepaalt effectiviteit plagbeheer in droge heidegebieden

Uitkomsten van ons onderzoek tonen aan dat behoud van 'paarse heide' op de relatief voedselrijke moderpodzolen (merendeel van de glaciale gronden van pleistoceen Nederland) alleen bij zeer intensief beheer mogelijk is. Plaggen van vergraste heiden blijkt hier maar korte tijd effect te hebben en kan op langere termijn bezien zelfs averechts uitwerken, doordat bij het plaggen steeds rijkere bodemlagen worden aangesneden. Dit onderzoek heeft dankbaar gebruik gemaakt van het dertig jaar lang in stand houden van de onderzoekslocatie

Changing minds : Training educators to use drama as an alternative method for life orientation teaching

South Africa’s education system has undergone substantial changes in the last ten years. The shift to Inclusive Education attempts to provide all learners, regardless of their disability, learning difficulty, or disadvantage with access to education (Department of Education1, 2001). Curriculum 2005, in the context of an Outcomes Based Education (OBE) philosophy was an attempt by the Education Department to address the inadequate ‘Bantu’ education of the past. OBE was intended to replace teacher-centred approaches by encouraging children to become actively involved in the learning process, to gain knowledge as well as skills, and to think independently and creatively (DoE, 1998b). School ‘subjects’ of the past were changed to ‘Learning Areas’ some undergoing dramatic shifts in content and teaching strategies. These new Learning Areas also emerged with alternative assessment practices. Life Orientation (LO) is one such learning area. Many educators were suddenly required to teach these new Learning Areas, despite having little or no training in them. As a result many educators experienced frustration with the demands now placed upon them, and some felt unable to teach effectively. This study used a qualitative actionresearch design to obtain an in-depth understanding of the educators’ capacities to change their teaching practices in their Life Orientation classrooms. Six educators in a public primary school setting participated in a series of workshops aimed to introduce them to drama methods to be used in their Life Orientation teaching. The workshops were highly experiential in nature and were designed with the specific personalities and needs of each educator in mind. The results of the research indicate that educators are highly responsive to training, provided that they feel acknowledged as individuals and provided that the training builds upon their current expertise rather than attempting to change their practices altogether. Another key finding from the training was the opportunity for the educators to engage in the training as human beings with their own difficulties and frustrations being openly acknowledged. Many of the educators experienced the workshops as therapeutic and reported that this made the training both useful and personally fulfilling

Zur soziologie und Synoekologie der Buchen- und Buchenmischwaelder der nordwestdeutschen Mittelgebirge

The beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) occurs in Europe in pure and mixed mesophile, deciduous, dominantly broad-leaved forests belonging to the phytosociological order of the Fagetalia silvaticae. This order includes the true beech forests united into the Fagion alliance and is represented in the area considered by the Fagetum boreoatlanticum (with 5 subassociations), and the mixed beech forests belonging to the Fraxino-Carpinion and represented by the Querceto-Carpinetum medioeuropaeum (with 2 subassociations). A further subdivision into variants and subvariants was made.Some of the subassociations only occur on soils with a high watertable; others represent ultimate equilibrium stages in vegetational development under normal conditions, called climax vegetation types. Diemont concluded from his investigations that the climax types varied with the soil; nevertheless, within one climatic region, they were so much alike to be considered members of one climax swarm ('Klimaxschwarm'). However distinct differences between the floristic composition on northern or eastern slopes and on other slopes were found; within one region such types may be combined into one climax group ('Klimaxgruppe').Physical and chemical soil analysis supported the botanical classification. Climatic data were added. Some notes were included on the ephemeral vegetation occurring after removal of the forest.The natural forest types and the ecological conditions under which they occurred supplied valuable information on the most suitable tree and shrub species for reforestation and the treatment of the forest.<p/