Mapping of sensitivity to oil spills in the Lithuanian Baltic Sea coast.

This research develops an integrated environmental assessment tool for Lithuanian coastal area that takes due account of the major oil spill risks posed by the D-6 oil drilling platform, vessel traffic in the south-eastern Baltic Sea, and operation of the Butinge oil terminal. The goal of this paper is to present an environmental sensitivity index (ESI) mapping approach based on four specific indexes: coastal features (ESIC), socio-economic aspects (ESISE), biological (ESIB) and fishery resources (ESIF). The relevant methodology approach was selected. The core dataset is provided by GIS-based environmental atlas updated with other relevant GIS data of Lithuanian coastal resources. Four ESI maps were developed and an overall environmental sensitivity index (OESI) map produced. Results indicate that in the case of an oil spill, two areas need to be prioritized due to their biologic and socio-economic resources: the 25 km long shoreline between the settlements of Nida-Juodkrante on the Curonian Spit (CS) and the mainland coast (MC) between the settlements Palanga and Sventoji

Assessment of Potential Shifts in Europe's Natural Vegetation due to Climatic Change and some Implications for Nature Conservation

One of the objectives of IIASA's Study "The Future Environments for Europe: Some Implications of Alternative Development Paths" is to characterize the large-scale and long-term environmental transformations that could be associated with plausible scenarios of Europe's socio-economic development over the next century. An important environmental transformation is the expected climatic change which will place additional stresses on the natural ecosystems in Europe. This Working Paper describes an assessment of the potential shifts in natural vegetation due to a change in climate and addresses some of the major implications for nature conservation

Open Haringvliet levert jaarlijks half miljard op

Het omvormen van de Haringvliet tot een getijdengebied dat aansluit op De Biesbosch levert op lange termijn miljarden op. Dat zegt Dolf de Groot van de leerstoelgroep Milieusysteemanalyse van Wageningen University

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

Evaluation of environmental functions as a tool in planning, management and decision-making

Although there is a growing awareness about the many benefits of natural ecosystems, concrete information on their full economic value is still scarce. This thesis provides a comprehensive method whereby all functions and values of natural and semi-natural ecosystems can be assessed and evaluated in a systematic manner. A checklist of 37 environmental functions is given with examples of the functions and socio-economics value of three major types of ecosystems: tropical moist forests (based on a case study of the Darien National Park, a pre-montane rainforest on the border between Panama and Colombia), wetlands (based on a case study of the Dutch Wadden Sea) and an oceanic, volcanic island ecosystem: the Galapagos National Park (Ecuador). In order to achieve the conservation and sustainable utilization of nature and natural resources, better information on the (economic) importance of natural areas alone, however, is not enough. Unless ecological information is structurally integrated in economic planning and decision-making, solving environmental problems will prove difficult, if not impossible. In the last section of this thesis, the use of the function-concept as a tool in planning, management and decision-making is therefore discussed in detail, including the application in project-evaluation, in environmental (or ecological) economics, in environmental law, and in environmental education.</p

A Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment: involving stakeholders in European policy making, a case study of land use change in Malta

A Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment is presented for use within European land use policy impact assessment. The context and rationale for the development of the Framework are outlined, both in the context of European policy making and within a project called "Sustainability Impact Assessment: Tools for Environmental, Social and Economic Effects of Multifunctional Land Use in European Regions". A detailed description of the sequence of methods that make up the Framework is provided, followed by illustrations and details of the practical application and results from a case study in Malta, where the Framework was used to carry out an impact assessment of biodiversity policies. After reporting on the reflections of the research team and valuable feedback provided by Maltese stakeholders, the Framework’s ability to enhance the quality, credibility and legitimacy of European policy impact assessment is discusse