Die aktuelle politische Lage erfordert eine Überprüfung und eventuelle (Neu-) Justierung der Politik. Im Juni 2023 hat die deutsche Bundesregierung zudem erstmals eine nationale Sicherheitsstrategie vorgestellt. Der darin integrierte breite Sicherheitsbegriff umfasst den Schutz der natürlichen Lebensgrundlagen als einen elementaren Pfeiler. Die Aktivitäten, Maßnahmen und Ziele des Umweltressorts sind, auch mit und neben anderen Akteuren, im Ressortkreis wie auch auf europäischer/internationaler Ebene somit relevant für die Sicherheit und die Umsetzung der Strategie. Hieraus ergibt sich Forschungsbedarf, um z.B. eine umweltgerechtere, nachhaltige Sicherheitspolitik bzw. eine krisenpräventivere Umwelt- und Entwicklungspolitik zu gestalten und konkrete Möglichkeiten zur Umsetzung der Ziele der nationalen Sicherheitsstrategie und des immanenten breiten Sicherheitsbegriffes durch die Umweltpolitik in Deutschland aufzuzeigen. Die Analyse von drei noch auszuwählenden Themenfeldern wird abklären, in welchen konkreten Bereichen welche nationalen politischen Maßnahmen in Hinblick vor allem auf die Zuständigkeiten des BMUV auf internationaler Ebene am effektivsten verhindern können, dass 1) Konflikte zu Umweltzerstörung beitragen, 2) Umweltzerstörung zu Konflikten beiträgt und 3) Umweltschutzmaßnahmen zu Konflikten beitragen. Die Erkenntnisse und Herausforderungen sollen mit den Akteuren reflektiert und deren Austausch ermöglicht werden, um eine kohärente Politikgestaltung im Hinblick auf die Ziele zu fördern. Dabei sollen auch gute und schlechte Praxisbeispiele erfasst werden und in die Prozesse einfließen.
Background and Objectives: The project area is located in the Ashanti Region of Ghana / West Africa in the transition zone of the moist semideciduous forest and tropical savannah zone. Main land use in this region is subsistence agriculture with large fallow areas. As an alternative land-use, forest plantations are under development by the Ghanaian wood processing company DuPaul Wood Treatment Ltd. Labourers from the surrounding villages are employed as permanent or casual plantation workers. Within three forest plantation projects of approximately 6,000 ha, DuPaul offers an area of 164 ha (referred to as Papasi Plantation) - which is mainly planted with Teak (Tectona grandis) - for research purposes. In return, the company expects consultations to improve the management for sustainable timber and pole production with exotic and native tree species. Results: In a first research approach, the Papasi Plantation was assessed in terms of vegetation classification, timber resources (in qualitative and quantitative terms) and soil and site conditions. A permanent sampling plot system was established to enable long-term monitoring of stand dynamics including observation of stand response to silvicultural treatments. Site conditions are ideally suited for Teak and some stands show exceptionally good growth performances. However, poor weed management and a lack of fire control and silvicultural management led to high mortality and poor growth performance of some stands, resulting in relative low overall growth averages. In a second step, a social baseline study was carried out in the surrounding villages and identified landowner conflicts between some villagers and DuPaul, which could be one reason for the fire damages. However, the study also revealed a general interest for collaboration in agroforestry on DuPaul land on both sides. Thirdly, a silvicultural management concept was elaborated and an improved integration of the rural population into DuPaul's forest plantation projects is already initiated. If landowner conflicts can be solved, the development of forest plantations can contribute significantly to the economic income of rural households while environmental benefits provide long-term opportunities for sustainable development of the region. Funding: GTZ supported PPP-Measure, Foundation
LCA approaches are part of the broader field of sustainability assessment often connected to different disciplines. To increase the efficacy of sustainability decision making, LCA is to take into account broader externalities, broader interrelations and different application/user needs with often conflicting requirements (dynamic models; integration of environmental, economic, and social aspects; accessibility and user friendliness, etc). Roughly, development should be oriented to: - 'deepening', to improve reliability and usability by more adequately incorporating empirical mechanisms - 'broadening', to improve the significance, by expanding the scope of sustainability impacts and better linking to neighbouring models - 'leaping forward' by a revision/enrichment of foundations, through the crossing with other disciplines for sustainability evaluation. CALCAS develops analysis and development along two lines: 1 science framework; 2 user needs (Industry, Research organisations, Government, Consumers, NGOs); the results, are crossed to draw up mid- long-term research lines and road maps, including measures for implementation. Advanced results will often not be in line with the current ISO14040 series definitions and requirements on LCA, creating a need for reformulation. Partnership combines LCA 'producers' and 'users' and involves, with different responsibilities, a significant and highly qualified part of European scientists. Thus, the project promotes the networking both 'cross', among the scientific sectors, and 'vertical' between them and users. Expert working groups, cross-fertilisation workshops, and an open consultation of all scientific sectors and users, based on a Blue Paper combining intermediate proposals are inputs to the final results, both as described models and tools and as research tasks to be accomplished. They also promote dissemination and joint actions for training, knowledge exchanges and common projects. Prime Contractor: Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia elL'Ambiente; Roma; Italy.
Fliessgewässer unterstehen dauernden Veränderungen. Diese können natürlich oder anthropogen bedingt sein. Der Mensch 'korrigiert seine Flüsse und Bäche schon seit Jahrhunderten. Seit der Industrialisierung wurden die Eingriffe jedoch zunehmend stärker und umfangreicher. Ganze Flusssysteme wurden begradigt, Wasserkraftwerke stauen Flüsse über hunderte Kilometer an und Schleusen machen Fliessgewässer wiederum schiffbar. Heutzutage hat sich die Denkweise umgekehrt. Weniger Eingriffe, Rückbau von flussbaulichen Einrichtungen und die Forderung nach mehr Naturnähe bestimmen mittlerweile die Gedanken der Wasserwirtschaft. Erst recht durch die Umsetzung der EU-Wasserrahmenrichtlinie, die im Allgemeinen eine Verbesserung der Gewässer fordert. Laut dieser Forderung müssten einige stark veränderten Fliessgewässer von den Verbauungen 'befreit werden. Die Arbeit soll versuchen aufzuzeigen, wieso es auch wünschenswert wäre alte Eingriffe in die Flüsse zu schützen, weil sie besonders und einmalig sind und sie nach eingehender Überprüfung als kulturhistorische Denkmäler auszuweisen. Deshalb soll geklärt werden wie sich solche flussbauliche Konstruktionen zu kulturhistorischen Bauwerken entwickeln konnten . Infolgedessen soll besonders Wert auf die Identifikation der Bevölkerung und der Erbauer mit den jeweiligen Objekten gelegt werden. Welche Wünsche und Erwartungen hegten die Menschen bei der Erstellung der flussbaulichen Bauwerke? Welche Konflikte traten zutage? Wie hat sich der Stellenwert der Bauwerke über die Zeit bis heute verändert? Um die heutige kulturhistorische Bedeutung von Fließgewässern zu verstehen, ist die Kenntnis über die frühere Beziehung des Menschen, besonders der Flussanwohner, zu ihren Flüssen von besonderer Relevanz. Nur so kann geklärt werden wieso man heute das Interesse besitzt verbaute Flüsse zu erhalten, obwohl Möglichkeiten bestünden sie aus ihrem 'Korsett zu befreien. Diese Fragestellungen sollen am Beispiel des Hochrheins und dem schweizerischen Linthwerk untersucht werden. Als Untersuchungsmethode dienen das Studium und die Analyse diverser schriftlicher Quellen.
Landscapes and the natural environment in general have become resources that are increasingly contested by different stakeholders (Hunziker, et al., 2008). This is both the case for spectacular natural and cultural landscapes (cf. Antrop, 2006; UNESCO, 2010) as well as for ordinary landscapes (cf. Kienast, et al., 2007). Landscapes offer natural resources that provide vital life-support services and that often are of immense economic value (Antrop, 2006). But they are also a reference to the sense of place (including heritage) for many people and thus they provide immaterial services as well. Inappropriate landscape development can change and obliterate locally distinctive characteristics and cultural meanings, creating a break between communities and their past. (Antrop, 2005 in Stephenson, 2008:127) The sustainable use of natural resources and the quality of landscape services (i.e. ecosystem services) not only depends on stakeholders practices but also on their perception and interests (cf. Ormaux, 2005; Backhaus, et al., 2008). For example an area that is covered by rainforests can be regarded in rather different ways. Farmers working on fields adjacent to this rainforest may regard it as a source of vermin that endanger their crops that therefore ought to be cut down and made arable. Rainforests are also resources of timber for the timber industry. Wild animals living in the forests and rare plants attract hunters and collectors as well as biologists and nature lovers and indigenous people may regard it as a sacred place. Tourists are eager to visit this spectacular ecosystem for contemplation, observation but also to indulge in group activities. And lastly a global community of people in favour of the protection of rainforests is interested in its conservation even if they never set a foot in it. It is obvious that some of these interests are conflicting and cannot be satisfied all at the same time. This not only applies for tropical rainforests but also for many protected areas and other types of landscapes including urban landscapes (or cityscapes). Interests are closely connected to perceptions of the environment influencing each other. Both are moreover embedded in social and cultural structures. Therefore, the sustainable development of landscapes needs to take into account peoples cultural and social background as well as their preferences and interests. The proposed project attempts to do this in selected case study areas in Malaysia that are compared to similar studies undertaken in Switzerland.
Objectives: The study links East African and European re-searchers into strategic alliances so as to contribute to resolving conflicts prevailing between the needs of different forest stakeholders and the need to sustain the remaining forest and its biodiversity. The project will develop a scientific basis and directly applicable tools for forest ecosystem restoration and sustainable management. The particular objectives are to: - Establish and validate ecological & socio-economic criteria against which status and pro-cesses of forest and its management can be assessed - Assess indicators that permit inference of the status of a particular criterion and to formulate appropriate verifiers - Design and validate nature-based silvicultural tools to gear operations so as to improve local livelihoods and sustain forest resources - Integrate results into appropriate technology packages and disseminate to target-groups. Activities: Establishment of country-specific tandems of local and European institutions. Identification of locally applicable C&I for sustainable forest management and standardisation of research methods. Together with stakeholders, joint development of a framework in which C&I can be verified locally, based on prevailing information and complementary research. Participating NGOs to facilitate establishment of socio-economic context, research institutions to investigate status and dynamics of forests. In parallel, research will commence on silviculturally relevant ecosystem characteristics. Mid-project evaluation of descriptive-analytical 1st project phase so as to formulate the experimental, predictive 2nd phase of the study. Definition of research approaches to calibrate verifiers for indicators and to test silvicultural tools suited to guide the forest ecosystem into the desired direction or status. Research on the management of invasive species, natural establishment of desirable species and on stand improvement treatments. The continuous input and evaluation through an NGO moderator will help to fine-tune and ensure the client-orientated approach of the silvicultural research. A specific communication module serves to translate scientific findings into technological packages relevant to stakeholders. Expected Outcome: Regional framework to assess sustainability of forest management. Silvicultural tools for forest restoration and sustainable forest management. Research findings translated into formats appropriate to the target group, including extension, policy advice and management guidelines.
In strict nature reserves and core zones of protected areas hunting and forestry operations are often restricted or banned. However, regarding the management of Wild boar, such hunt-free zones are discussed controversially and can lead to conflict. Hunters whose areas border no-hunting zones (and who have to reimburse farmers for crop damages caused by Wild boar) are concerned that the boars may evade effective population management by staying within the limits of the no-hunting zone, and farmers fear increased crop damage in the surroundings of such areas. Some conservationists are also concerned because Wild boars increasingly root protected habitats and can cause damage to rare plant assemblies. The three-year project Wild boar problem in the vicinity of protected areas by the Game Research Institute (Wildforschungsstelle) at the Centre for Agriculture Baden-Württemberg (LAZBW) aims at investigating if and how no-hunting zones might affect Wild boar activity, movement patterns, home range size, and habitat use, as well as crop damage caused by boars, by comparing these aspects between hunting-free zones and unprotected areas. Although there have already been a number of telemetry studies on Wild boar, including space use in the context of hunting activity, to date there is no study that has specifically investigated spatial and ecological aspects in and around protected areas. My dissertation Ecology of Wild boar Sus scrofa in the vicinity of protected areas is being carried out within the scope of the Game Research Institutes project and apart from the aims outlined above, further aspects of Wild boar ecology will be investigated, especially the role of Wild boar as bio-engineer and habitat creator for other species vs. unwanted damages at protected sites. Twenty-seven Vectronic GPS-GSM satellite collars with integrated activity sensors are available to tag Wild boars in three study areas: the non-protected Altdorfer Forest near Aulendorf with regular hunting activity and forestry, the nature reserve Wurzacher Ried with its ca. 700 ha core zone that is a strict reserve with no human activity, and the Biosphere Reserve Swabian Jura, especially in the surroundings of the former military training area near Münsingen and the 170 ha no-usage-area Föhrenberg.
In my Phd-study, I examine the resource conflict over industrial logging in the South Moresby area on Haida Gwaii (former Queen Charlotte Islands) from 1974 to 1993. On this remote archipelago on British Columbias west-coast, a fierce dispute over logging practices, land rights, Aboriginal land claims and environmental issues had emerged in the face of devastating logging practices were not only threatening to destroy large parts of Moresby Island but also resulted in the destruction of salmon streams. The two major natural resources available on the islands were at stake during the 'war in the woods.' Together with environmentalist, the Haida First Nation successfully fought for the preservation of Gwaii Haanas (South Moresby Island) with blockades, protests, environmental campaigns, lobbying and legal action. The area is now protected as the 'Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve.-' Using a cultural approach combining aspects of 'storytelling,' the 'cultural memory' and 'actor-network-theory' (ANT), the core question arises whether the (Western) dualisms between 'nature' and 'culture' and between 'fact' and 'fiction' should be dissolved. Latour argues that such dualisms and even the separation between the human and non-human world (i.e., the world of things) do not exist. Assmann claims that we do not necessarily remember what has really happened', but what was repeatedly told us to have happened. Along with Thomas King, J. Edward Chamberlin and William Cronon, I stress the point that stories - fictitious or based on facts - do matter. The effect of stories on the way we understand our past, might often be more important than that of 'hard' facts: Stories shape both a societys concept of the past and its present identity. Canada, with its heterogeneous population, is a particularly interesting place to conduct research about different concepts of 'nature' and culture'. Analyzing the different stories that evolved around South Moresby, and taking into account diverging messages of native and non-native stories, offers a new perspective on similar resource conflicts that continue to exist and arise all over the world.
Combined production of fuels and chemicals from wood This project examines an innovative approach for pre-treating wood in order to produce fuels and chemicals. In this approach, the researchers combine hot water treatment with so-called radical scavengers. Background Biofuels from wood have economic and ecological advantages as compared to fuels from corn starch and sugar cane (costs, availability, no conflict with food production). However, it is much more difficult to transform wood into biofuels. This is because the components of wood-cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin-are strongly interwoven to protect the plant against external forces, in particular. In the production of biofuels, this impedes the enzymatic degradation of cellulose and lignocellulose into their respective sugars, which can subsequently be fermented to produce, for example, bio-ethanol. Therefore, it is necessary to pre-treat the wood in order to break up its structure and improve the enzymatic access. Aim One possible treatment of biomass would be to dissolve it in hot water, but this is hampered by cross-linking reactions of emerging lignin fragments. So-called 'radical scavengers' can stop these undesired reactions and make the wood much more soluble. This procedure is aimed at achieving, on the one hand, a cellulose fraction with improved enzymatic access and, on the other hand, a high-quality lignin fraction. The latter serves as a starting material for the production of aromatic chemicals. Significance The examined approach is aimed at producing fuels and aromatic chemicals which are today still gained from petrochemical resources. This opens up new avenues for gradually replacing fossil oil with biomass.
Studying resource-scarce areas in South Asia and East Africa, this research project seeks to identify new livelihood strategies for groups vulnerable to exclusion, particularly strategies that diminish reliance on natural resources. Special attention is given to the governing institutional context in order to reveal ways of supporting equity-effective institutions. We thereby ask the following guiding questions: How the livelihoods are secured at present, and what is the situation specifically of food security? What kind of alternative livelihood options (including options to secure food) do exist in these contexts, or are being fostered by development interventions? Who has access to these opportunities (i.e. is included), and who not (i.e. is excluded)? What are the institutional processes that produce these exclusions or inclusion? And how could equity-effectiveness of the institutional context be supported? Finally - looking into the future, which scenarios of impacts of climate change on livelihood security (food production etc.) exist? Which impacts could these processes have onto the already contested field of securing livelihoods; and which policies are necessary to cope with this? Our in-depth study of the changing patterns of livelihood strategies and identification of enabling livelihood options for marginal communities in the face of resource and food scarcity and social conflicts - especially beyond the (presently dominant) focus on natural resources - contributes to a comprehensive understanding of social conflicts and processes of exclusion and inclusion of certain social groups in the marginal areas, and reveals avenues for alternative livelihood options and support structures. These insights will then be used for a 'research informed constructive dialogue' with concerned stakeholders and practitioners to find ways of improving existing practices by using transdisciplinary approach. Case studies: Transnational Land Deals and Local Livelihoods in Tanzania (Martina Locher) In recent years there has been a rapid growth in the number of investors from Western, Asian and Gulf countries acquiring large shares of agricultural land in poorer countries, in order to plant food or biofuel crops, for forestry plantations and many other purposes. The strong increase of such investments triggered a lively debate on their impacts in host countries. Supporters claim that they entail new income opportunities, improved technologies and infrastructure in rural areas. Critics draw attention to violations of (formal and informal) land rights held by local people, decreasing access to and degradation of natural resources, and ultimately increased food insecurity in the respective areas. In sub-Saharan Africa, a hotspot region for foreign investment, the rush for foreign land happens in a context of unstable farming existences. Population growth and climate change lead to increased pressure on natural resources. usw.
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