Environmental impact assessments of the Three Gorges Project in China: issues and interventions

The paper takes China's authoritative Environmental Impact Statement for the Yangzi (Yangtze) Three Gorges Project (TGP) in 1992 as a benchmark against which to evaluate emerging major environmental outcomes since the initial impoundment of the Three Gorges reservoir in 2003. The paper particularly examines five crucial environmental aspects and associated causal factors. The five domains include human resettlement and the carrying capacity of local environments (especially land), water quality, reservoir sedimentation and downstream riverbed erosion, soil erosion, and seismic activity and geological hazards. Lessons from the environmental impact assessments of the TGP are: (1) hydro project planning needs to take place at a broader scale, and a strategic environmental assessment at a broader scale is necessary in advance of individual environmental impact assessments; (2) national policy and planning adjustments need to react quickly to the impact changes of large projects; (3) long-term environmental monitoring systems and joint operations with other large projects in the upstream areas of a river basin should be established, and the cross-impacts of climate change on projects and possible impacts of projects on regional or local climate considered. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.Xibao Xu, Yan Tan, Guishan Yan

Just transitions for a Climate-Resilient Development in Africa – Transforming Dialogue into Action

CCDA-X1, hosted by the Government of Namibia, convened on the theme: “Just transitions for a Climate-Resilient Development in Africa – Transforming Dialogue into Action” in collaboration with Africa’s civil society organisations, academia, development partners, regional and international organisations and the private sector. The conference resulted in the following key messages to be taken forward to COP27 by Namibia

Habitat classification and inventory methods for the management of Oregon estuaries

This volume is divided into two parts. Part 1 discusses estuary and estuarine habitat classification as a basis for resource planning. A hierarchical classification system is presented and suggested as an appropriate system for Oregon estuaries. Part 2 of the report suggests guidelines for estuarine resource inventories, including a list of specific categories of data and methods of data collection most needed for planning. The guidelines are also presented as a checklist for identifying research needs for estuaries where these data are not currently available. Volume 2 in this series consists of several reports summarizing current physical and biological data and describing the habitats for selected Oregon estuaries. Specific management and research recommendations are discussed in each estuary report. Estuaries without a previously completed planning inventory or with special planning needs were given priority for these reports

Natural resources of Coos Bay Estuary

This report is one of a series prepared by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) which summarizes the physical and biological data for selected Oregon estuaries. The reports are intended to assist coastal planners and resource managers in Oregon fulfilling the inventory and comprehensive plan requirements of the Land Conservation and Development Commission's Estuarine Resources Goal (LCDC 1577). A focal point of these reports is a habitat classification system for Oregon estuaries. The organization and terminology of this system are explained in volume 1 of the report series entitled "Habitat Classification and Inventory Methods for the Management of Oregon Estuaries." Each estuary report includes some general management and research recommendations. In many cases ODFW has emphasized particular estuarine habitats or features that should be protected in local comprehensive plans. Such protection could be achieved by appropriate management unit designations or by specific restrictions placed on activities within a given management unit. In some instances ODFW has identified those tideflats or vegetated habitats in the estuary that should be considered "major tracts", which must be included in a natural management unit as required by the Estuarine Resources Goal (LCDC 1977). However, the reports have not suggested specific boundaries for the management units in the estuary. Instead, they provide planners and resource managers with available physical and biological information which can be combined with social and economic data to make specific planning and management decisions