LANDHOLDER COOPERATION FOR SUSTAINABLE UPLAND WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: A THEORETICAL REVIEW OF THE PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

Despite national legislation and substantial donor investments, watershed degradation continues to threaten the sustained economic development and social welfare of millions of citizens in the developing world. Past efforts have largely concentrated on the physical rather than institutional aspects of watersheds, and have often relied on external incentives to coerce or persuade individuals to adopt conservation practices. In contrast to this conventional "physical" perspective, watersheds can be considered as sets of vested interests (and social relations) within a physically defined space. In essence, watersheds are physically defined subsets of rural society. Actors with vested interests within watersheds are interdependent because of water flow across political boundaries. From this perspective, the achievement of watershed management is a question of social relations, and cooperation between individual actors. Though there is growing realization for an expanded role of local, cooperative institutions in watershed management, theories on how such institutions might be identified, evolve or be promoted are limited. Toward this end, this paper examines some of the theoretical aspects of landholder cooperation for watershed management: the socio-political setting of upland watersheds; the physical attributes of watersheds influencing cooperation; the nature of externalities and incentives in watersheds; and the economic and socio-cultural factors affecting the emergence of collective action units. The processes by which collective action groups actually form are also reviewed. The paper concludes with a synthesis of the prospects for landholder cooperation approaches, the appropriate role of policy and a proposed process for promoting such cooperation.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

POLICY LESSONS FROM NATURAL RESOURCES PROJECTS IN HAITI: A FRAMEWORK FOR REFORM

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

INTEGRATING SUSTAINABILITY INTO AGROFORESTRY PROJECTS: A WORKSHOP FRAMEWORK FOR NGO PROGRAM MANAGERS

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

PEASANT INITIATIVE FOR SOIL CONSERVATION: CASE STUDIES OF RECENT TECHNICAL AND SOCIAL INNOVATIONS FROM MAISSADE, HAITI

Theories of Haitian underdevelopment, and of the causes and solutions to that underdevelopment are many, complex and often competing. At a very basic level though, Haitian development involves the mastery of ever changing conditions and requires continual innovation, adaption and the ability to create and exploit resources both internal and external to the farm, to the community and to the nation. The capacity to innovate and adapt is thus essential and is a foundation of sustained economic and social development. The purpose of this paper is to consider the phenomenon of innovation in rural Haiti by examining two case studies of technical and social innovations for soil conservation The studies are prefaced with a historical review of indigenous and donor responses to soil erosion, and a synopsis of theories concerning how innovations emerge and the factors influencing that emergence. Special attention is paid to the role of history and culture, political economy, and social organization in innovation. The studies suggest that the soil conservation innovations examined can be understood as thrifty and incremental cultural evolution; that small groups were loci for innovation; and that knowledge shared between scientists and peasants in a conversational approach positively affects the generation of innovations.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

A Method for Establishing Outdoor Recreation Project Priorities in Alaska

The authors thank Theodore Smith, Edward Kramer and Nat Goodhue of the Division of Parks for information and comments supplied during this study, and Frank Orth, Charles Marsh, Ed Kramer, C.E. Logsdon, and Frank Wooding for reviewing the manuscript. Thanks is also due the Department of Business Administration, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Dale Swanson, Head, for their cooperation in this research project.The objectives of this study are to define outdoor recreation benefits to the public and to develop a priority ranking method for proposed outdoor recreation projects. A careful analysis of the benefits which people derive from outdoor recreation provides a frame of reference for evaluating a recreational facility. A project should supply those benefits which are most highly demanded by the public. Fifteen benefits of recreation are defined and discussed. They are divided into two major categories; those which accrue to recreational participants and those which accrue to non-participants.This research was supported by a grant from the Division of Parks, State of Alaska

Ultracompact and low-power optical switch based on silicon photonic crystals

Switching light is one of the most fundamental functions of an optical circuit. As such, optical switches are a major research topic in photonics, and many types of switches have been realized. Most optical switches operate by imposing a phase shift between two sections of the device to direct light from one port to another, or to switch it on and off, the major constraint being that typical refractive index changes are very small. Conventional solutions address this issue by making long devices, thus increasing the footprint, or by using resonant enhancement, thus reducing the bandwidth. We present a slow-light-enhanced optical switch that is 36 times shorter than a conventional device for the same refractive index change and has a switching length of 5.2 m.The work was funded through the EU FP6-FET “Splash” project and we acknowledge the Nanostructuring Platform of EU FP6-NoE “epixnet” for technical support. T. P. White is supported by an 1851 Royal Commission Research Fellowship