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Landscape today is no longer just a cultural aspect, intended as an elitist phenomenon, but emerges as an essential element in the definition and the application of a modern approach in sustainable development. Historical locally adapted distinctive and ingenious combinations of management practices have contributed and continue to contribute tremendously to the biodiversity of the world, resulting not only in outstanding aesthetic beauty, but, in the sustained provision of multiple goods and services, food and livelihood security and quality of life. The development of policies to preserve and manage landscape resources, has to face both the degradation of cultural landscape due to socio-economic development and the need to develop appropriate methods and approaches. This book presents different methodologies developed to analyse, manage and plan landscape resources. It reports recent research findings and case studies from Europe and North America, suggesting also the revision of some orientations and views of the current policies concerning forestry, rural development and nature conservation, often contributing to degrade cultural landscapes.
Sustainable development and rural policies have pursued strategies where farming has been often regarded as a factor deteriorating the ecosystem. But the current economic, social and environmental problems of the Earth probably call for examples of a positive integration between human society and nature. This research work presents more than a hundred case studies where the historical relationships between man and nature have generated, not deterioration, but cultural, environmental, social and economic values. The results show that is not only the economic face of globalization that is negatively affecting the landscape, but also inappropriate environmental policies. The CBD-UNESCO program on biocultural diversity, the FAO Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems and several projects of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, as well as European rural policies acknowledge the importance of cultural values associated to landscape. This research intends to support these efforts.
Exploring a topic of vital and ongoing importance, Traditional Forest Knowledge examines the history, current status and trends in the development and application of traditional forest knowledge by local and indigenous communities worldwide. It considers the interplay between traditional beliefs and practices and formal forest science and interrogates the often uneasy relationship between these different knowledge systems. The contents also highlight efforts to conserve and promote traditional forest management practices that balance the environmental, economic and social objectives of forest management. It places these efforts in the context of recent trends towards the devolution of forest...
The first edited collection to bring ecocritical studies into a necessary dialogue with postcolonial literature, this volume offers rich and suggestive ways to explore the relationship between humans and nature around the globe, drawing from texts from Africa and the Caribbean, as well as the Pacific Islands and South Asia. Turning to contemporary works by both well- and little-known postcolonial writers, the diverse contributions highlight the literary imagination as crucial to representing what Eduoard Glissant calls the "aesthetics of the earth." The essays are organized around a group of thematic concerns that engage culture and cultivation, arboriculture and deforestation, the lives of animals, and the relationship between the military and the tourist industry. With chapters that address works by J. M. Coetzee, Kiran Desai, Derek Walcott, Alejo Carpentier, Zakes Mda, and many others, Postcolonial Ecologies makes a remarkable contribution to rethinking the role of the humanities in addressing global environmental issues.
Agriculture is often considered as one of the main threats to ecosystems. Unsustainable farming practices often result in habitat loss, inefficient use of water, soil degradation, pollution, genetic erosion, among other negative impacts on human life, including hunger, low food quality, reduced access to food resources, as well as the abandonment of rural areas. Nevertheless, when agriculture is practiced in a sustainable way, it can contribute to the preservation of many habitats, to the protection of watersheds, to the preservation and improvement of soil health. The use of sustainable and ecological practices is the key feature distinguishing traditional agriculture from intensive one. It...
Area Studies - Regional Sustainable Development Review: Canada and USA theme is a component of Encyclopedia of Area Studies - Regional Sustainable Development Review in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. This theme on Area Studies - Regional Sustainable Development Review: Canada and USA reviews, in two volumes, initiatives and activities towards sustainable development in Canada and USA such as: International Cooperation in Sustainable Development; Canada and USA: Demographic Dynamics and Sustainability; Promotion and Protection of Human Health in the Context of Sustainable Development; Integration of Envir...
Economics Interactions with Other Disciplines is the component of Encyclopedia of Development and Economic Sciences in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme on Economics Interactions with Other Disciplines reflects the new interdisciplinary approach of economists, focusing on the issues of health and the environment. The chapters range from standard applications of economic theory to more radical approaches. These two volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers, NGOs and GOs.
Fundamentals of Chemistry theme in two volumes, is a component of Encyclopedia of Chemical Sciences, Engineering and Technology Resources in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme is organized into six different topics which represent the main scientific areas : History and Fundamentals of Chemistry; Chemical Experimentation and Instrumentation; Theoretical Approach to Chemistry; Chemical Thermodynamics; Rates of Chemical Reactions; Chemical Synthesis of Substances. These two volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs
Physiology and Maintenance is a component of Encyclopedia of Biological, Physiological and Health Sciences in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme on Physiology and Maintenance with contributions from distinguished experts in the field, discusses the functions of our body and their regulations which are some of the most fascinating areas of science. The content of the theme is organized with state-of-the-art presentations covering the following aspects of the subject: General Physiology; Enzymes: The Biological Catalysts of Life; Nutrition and Digestion; Renal Excretion; Endocrinology; Respiration; Blood Circulation: Its Dynamics And Physiological Control; Locomotion in Sedentary Societies; Neurophysiology; Plant Physiology and Environment : A Synopsis, which are then expanded into multiple subtopics, each as a chapter. These five volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs.