Henry David Venema

Forest structure optimization using evolutionary programming and landscape ecology metrics

Abstract A new design framework is introduced for forest structure optimization based on a genetic algorithm landscape encoding and landscape ecology metrics. Landscape ecology is an important interface between the forest management community, which is a traditional user of operations research methods, and the biological conservation community which is relatively new to OR methods and whose goals are increasingly allied with the spatial ecology concepts emerging from landscape ecology. Deforestation and forest fragmentation are increasingly recognized as the underlying drivers of global biodiversity loss, hence forestry management will need to explicitly incorporate spatial ecology objectives. A deforestation model is presented which simulates a landscape progressively fragmenting by the incremental removal of forest patches. Principal components analysis (PCA) of multiple deforestation simulations captures the relative influence of the mean proximity index and the mean nearest neighbour distance, two widely used landscape ecology metrics. An evolutionary programming method based on a genetic encoding of landscape structure is used to optimize forest patch selection by maximizing landscape performance with respect to single and multiple landscape ecology metrics weighted according to the PCA. This optimization approach is envisioned as a key component of a new forestry OR paradigm for designing multi-use landscape systems, incorporating both biodiversity and community needs.

Bioenergy Systems Planning Using Location–Allocation and Landscape Ecology Design Principles

Rural energy planning is a nexus of sustainable development issues, particularly the sustainable utilization of biomass resources, on which rural parts of the developing world remain critically dependent. A landscape based rural bioenergy planning framework is presented, which is based on location–allocation and landscape ecology principles and considers both domestic and commercial energy demands and energy flows, as well as the landscape impact of the required bioenergy production zones. p-median modelling principles underly the location–allocation formulation. Optimized bioenergy landscape designs are presented, which illustrate both accessibility and landscape ecology objectives.

Watershed Management and Public Health: An Exploration of the Intersection of Two Fields as Reported in the Literature from 2000 to 2010

Watersheds are settings for health and well-being that have a great deal to offer the public health community due to the correspondence between the spatial form of the watershed unit and the importance to health and well-being of water. However, managing watersheds for human health and well-being requires the ability to move beyond typical reductionist approaches toward more holistic methods. Health and well-being are emergent properties of inter-related social and biophysical processes. This paper characterizes points of connection and integration between watershed management and public health and tests a new conceptual model, the Watershed Governance Prism, to determine the prevalence in peer-reviewed literature of different perspectives relating to watersheds and public health. We conducted an initial search of academic databases for papers that addressed the interface between watershed management (or governance) and public health themes. We then generated a sample of these papers and undertook a collaborative analysis informed by the Watershed Governance Prism. Our analysis found that although these manuscripts dealt with a range of biophysical and social determinants of health, there was a tendency for social factors and health outcomes to be framed as context only for these studies, rather than form the core of the relationships being investigated. At least one cluster of papers emerged from this analysis that represented a cohesive perspective on watershed governance and health; “Perspective B” on the Watershed Governance Prism, “water governance for ecosystems and well-being,” was dominant. Overall, the integration of watershed management/governance and public health is in its infancy.

Evidence of Climate Change in the Senegal River Basin

International development policy makers are recognizing climate change and desertification as fundamental obstacles to the social and economic development of the Third World. Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the Sahel region, has been severely impacted by the compounding effects of drought, deforestation and desertification. The Senegal River Basin in the West Africa is a prime example of a region where development objectives are seriously undermined by the drought-induced desertification process. The basic hydrologic constraint on development is revealed in a time series decompositionof Senegal River annual flow volumes, which strongly suggests that water resources availability has been substantially curtailed since 1960. Two alternative time series mechanisms are hypothesized to account for the decreased flow volumes in recent decades. The first time series model suggests the presence of a long-term periodicity, while the second model hypothesizes an ARMA(1,1,) process. The second hypothesis provides a ...

Prospects for mainstreaming ecosystem goods and services in international policies

Abstract Although most management decisions affecting ecosystem goods and services (EGS) are made at a local level, these local decisions are conditioned by national and international policies. International policy domains provide clear opportunities to mainstream (integrate) EGS in ways that can support poverty reduction. However, positive poverty reduction and EGS outcomes cannot be taken for granted. Mainstreaming EGS needs careful consideration because many of the opportunities identified can reduce poverty, but may have the opposite effect if poorly managed or implemented. A major challenge is to ensure consistent policies across scales and policy domains based on analysis of the local situation. In order to support poverty reduction it matters how the mainstreaming is done and who benefits locally. Based on an analysis of EGS delivery and poverty reduction in drylands, tropical forests and coastal areas in the tropics, this paper analyses the prospects of mainstreaming EGS in a number of relevant international policy domains including: i) development assistance; ii) trade; iii) climate change and; iv) international financial institutions. For these policy domains it is analyzed how mainstreaming EGS can contribute to reaching poverty reduction and development goals, what relevant policy tracks for mainstreaming EGS exist, and what priority issues should mainstreaming focus on. The paper next provides an overview of possible tools and mechanisms for mainstreaming and ends with conclusions on what the role of the CBD can be in mainstreaming.

Championing Ecosystem Sustainability and Health: Profile and Tribute to the Life and Work of James Kay (1954–2004)

The past decade has seen considerable developments in the integrated study of ecosystem sustainability and health. Important developments in theory, methods, and application of this area have emerged from the work of key individuals and informal, multidisciplinary networks of peers working across continents and countries and based in governments, universities, and private organizations. This profile focuses in particular on the critical influence of James Kay as a key advocate and intellectual champion for incorporating complexity and uncertainty into the “Ecosystem approach.” The intent is to provide an overview of an important era in the application of this approach to address health and sustainability concerns and to highlight the frameworks, methods, and networks that have emerged as collective acknowledgments to the life and work of James Kay (1954–2004).

Adaptation of food production to drought in the Senegal River Basin.

Neither the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) nor the Vienna (Ozone Layer) Convention seriously considers adaptation. Indeed, such a consideration may be unnecessary-especially with regard to food security. Agriculture has been and is one of the most adaptable of human production systems. Only an extremely adaptable system could have expanded world food production sufficiently to meet most of the needs engendered by world population growth in the last two centuries. Yet the persistence of drought and hunger in the developing world suggests otherwise. However, this failure is not principally due to climate. It is rooted in the separation of the producers from the means of production and the separation of the techniques of production from the local ecology. This is the perspective of ecological (eco)-political economy (Yapa, 1982).

Policy adaptability in practice: Lessons learned in the application of the Adaptive Design and Assessment Policy Tool (ADAPTool) to examine public policies in Canada in the context of climate change

Abstract Designing public policies to effectively address comingled economic, social and environmental issues is a fundamental challenge facing sustainable development policy-makers in the twenty-first century. Raising the stakes is the added challenge of doing so in today’s complex, dynamic and uncertain conditions. Policies that cannot perform under such conditions run the risk of not achieving their intended purpose and hindering the ability of individuals, communities and businesses to cope with and adapt to change. To explore the principles of adaptive policies, a four-year empirical investigation was launched in Canada and India to extract practical insights from complex adaptive systems literature and to study the characteristics of policies that have been effective under changing socio-economic and environmental conditions. Seven core principles for creating adaptive policies were identified and a practical policy analysis tool was developed to help policy-makers translate the principles into tangible recommendations. This paper presents the results of applications of the ADAPTool (Adaptive Design and Assessment Policy Tool) by four provincial governments in Canada on policies aimed at supporting climate change adaptation efforts. Lessons learned from the applications are discussed.