Testing the orthodoxies of land degradation policy in Swaziland

This paper explores Swaziland's National Action Programme (NAP) to combat desertification; the country's main strategy for implementing the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). It considers whether this policy tackles real problems supported by micro-level scientific evidence and local experiences, or whether it further reinforces popular orthodoxies about land degradation. Data from one case study chiefdom in Swaziland are used to test two key orthodoxies identified within the country's NAP: (1) the presentation of degradation as a neo-Malthusian problem resulting from population pressure and (2) the assumption that the poor are responsible for degradation of their environment, in particular, the over-use of forest areas and the degradation of soils. It is found that diverse rural livelihoods inherently deliver patches of degradation at the micro-level but it is not necessarily population pressure or poor people that cause the degradation. Households with varying assets simultaneously degrade and conserve different parts of the land resource through pursuing different livelihood activities. The data indicate that while the NAP focuses on mythical problems grounded in the orthodoxies, policy attention is directed away from the more serious land degradation issues affecting rural livelihoods. The findings of this study provide a more nuanced understanding of the gaps between land degradation policy, local conservation practice and environmental and livelihood outcomes, and suggest that policymakers need to evaluate more critically the outdated and simplistic degradation orthodoxies on which much current policy is based. Stronger links need to be made between scientific and policymaking communities, while more credence should be given to land users’ own knowledges, perspectives, concepts and categories surrounding issues of soil conservation and degradation. It is suggested that steps need to be taken towards the development of broadly applicable benchmarks and indicators that bring together local and scientific knowledges across levels. Without this, popularised orthodoxies will continue to provide a basis for inappropriate land policy

The Use of Social Media by UK Local Resilience Forums

The potential uses of social media in the field of emergency preparedness, resilience and response (EPRR) are varied and interesting. The UK government have produced guidance documents for its use in the UK EPRR field but evidence of use is poorly documented and appears sporadic. This paper presents the results of a survey of Local Resilience Forums (LRF) in the UK on their use and engagement with social media. The findings suggest that the level of application of social media strategies as emergency planning or response tools varied significantly between the LRFs. While over 90percent of respondents claimed that their LRF used social media as part of their strategy, most of this use was reactive or passive, rather than proactive and systematic. The various strategies employed seem to be linked most strongly to local expertise and the existence of social media ‘champions’ rather than to the directives and guidance emerging from government

Housing design and sustainable economic development in the East Midlands

Investigates the economic, social and environmental benefits of good housing design and the extent to which these benefits are evident in recent developments in the East Midlands. Includes a series of detailed case studies

A proposed adjustable RF cable connector

In system that requires negligible loss, it may be necessary to adjust cable length to exact multiple of transmitted wavelength. Adjustable cable connector saves time and cost by eliminating need to add to or cut from cable. Device was especially designed for use with high frequencies. For particular application, connector of suitable dimensions should be used

Studies on the Bryophytes of Southern Manitoba. IV. Collections from Bird's Hill Provincial Park

One hundred and seventeen taxa of bryophytes were collected in Bird's Hill Provincial Park, Manitoba. Habitats sampled included ditches, streams, marshes, moist clay banks, dry grassland, and areas forested by black spruce, tamarack, white cedar, white spruce, aspen, balsam poplar, and bur oak. Cephalozia catenulata, Platydictya confervoides, P. subtile, and Thuidium minutulum are new records for the province."The field work for this study was supported in part by Grant No. 140-118 from the University of Winnipeg.