The impact of human activity on biodiversity is very complicated, making it difficult to design practical indicators for assessment.Currently,state and response indicators are listed within Chapter15 of Agenda21,but n...The impact of human activity on biodiversity is very complicated, making it difficult to design practical indicators for assessment.Currently,state and response indicators are listed within Chapter15 of Agenda21,but no mention is made of driving force indicators and how they relate to biodiversity protection. This paper repre- sents an effort to identify and then operationalize the idea of driving force indicators at national level.Five human induced factors affecting biodiversity were discussed: (a) habitat loss and fragmentation; (b) overexploitation of resources;(c)species introduction;(d)pollution;and (e) climate change. From these five factors, a subsetwas selected to serve as possible driving force indicators:(1)habitat loss, (2)the ratio of exotic species to indigenous ones, and (3)the change in pollution status. Although the three indicators are relatively simple,they coverthe most important human impacts on biodiversity and offer the potential for further redefinition and ultimate use within the spirit of biodiversity protection.展开更多
The paper investigates the places of an urban region inside a Biosphere Reserve in southern Brazil and explores the potentialities for synergies between their biological and sociocultural systems. It assumes： （i） t...The paper investigates the places of an urban region inside a Biosphere Reserve in southern Brazil and explores the potentialities for synergies between their biological and sociocultural systems. It assumes： （i） the perception of their regional rootedness works beneficially for enhancing sustainability; （ii） current progress in place＇s conceptualization helps in the quest for sustainability, since the core factors of the concept deal precisely with the relationships between people and environment. The paper works both with the perception of existing, as invented places, analysing the perception they stimulate. Real places are seen as socially constructed; invented places, as economically promoted. Selection of empirical regional cases is based on their： perception （real and invented places）; scale （urban and ex-urban）; management （public or private）. In the area of Architecture-Urbanism, place is a created environmental form, imbued with symbolic significance to its users. In the present shift of paradigms from modernism to postmodernism, the discipline evolves towards a more thorough concern with the philosophical implications of places on phenomenological grounds. Also, the making and marketing of new places become increasingly accepted as influential tools to foster prosperity and well-being, by means of the economic development attributed to the creation of places. The concerted private and public management of the region＇s places and the restrained design they presently employ are providing grounds for an affluent development, showing a wise use of the regional resources. Altogether, it seems inhabitants have learned how to work in conjunction with the environment. This hints at a clear manifestation of sustainable development, worth investigating. Presumably, the concept of place, positioned as it is at the very interface of physical, social, economic and behavioural disciplines, seems to provide a likely means for tackling the challenges for a sustained regional development planning.展开更多
文摘The impact of human activity on biodiversity is very complicated, making it difficult to design practical indicators for assessment.Currently,state and response indicators are listed within Chapter15 of Agenda21,but no mention is made of driving force indicators and how they relate to biodiversity protection. This paper repre- sents an effort to identify and then operationalize the idea of driving force indicators at national level.Five human induced factors affecting biodiversity were discussed: (a) habitat loss and fragmentation; (b) overexploitation of resources;(c)species introduction;(d)pollution;and (e) climate change. From these five factors, a subsetwas selected to serve as possible driving force indicators:(1)habitat loss, (2)the ratio of exotic species to indigenous ones, and (3)the change in pollution status. Although the three indicators are relatively simple,they coverthe most important human impacts on biodiversity and offer the potential for further redefinition and ultimate use within the spirit of biodiversity protection.
文摘The paper investigates the places of an urban region inside a Biosphere Reserve in southern Brazil and explores the potentialities for synergies between their biological and sociocultural systems. It assumes： （i） the perception of their regional rootedness works beneficially for enhancing sustainability; （ii） current progress in place＇s conceptualization helps in the quest for sustainability, since the core factors of the concept deal precisely with the relationships between people and environment. The paper works both with the perception of existing, as invented places, analysing the perception they stimulate. Real places are seen as socially constructed; invented places, as economically promoted. Selection of empirical regional cases is based on their： perception （real and invented places）; scale （urban and ex-urban）; management （public or private）. In the area of Architecture-Urbanism, place is a created environmental form, imbued with symbolic significance to its users. In the present shift of paradigms from modernism to postmodernism, the discipline evolves towards a more thorough concern with the philosophical implications of places on phenomenological grounds. Also, the making and marketing of new places become increasingly accepted as influential tools to foster prosperity and well-being, by means of the economic development attributed to the creation of places. The concerted private and public management of the region＇s places and the restrained design they presently employ are providing grounds for an affluent development, showing a wise use of the regional resources. Altogether, it seems inhabitants have learned how to work in conjunction with the environment. This hints at a clear manifestation of sustainable development, worth investigating. Presumably, the concept of place, positioned as it is at the very interface of physical, social, economic and behavioural disciplines, seems to provide a likely means for tackling the challenges for a sustained regional development planning.
