Qinhua Fang

Marine Functional Zoning in China: Experience and Prospects

With rapid socioeconomic development in coastal and marine areas, degradation of the marine environment and destruction of marine ecosystems have received widespread attention. Traditional sector-by-sector management cannot effectively solve the problems in the various uses of sea areas. Marine spatial planning (MSP) is increasingly considered an effective tool that can resolve conflicts among various human uses as well as the conflicts between human uses and the marine environment. Many countries such as Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, and United States have already initiated or implemented MSP. In China, marine functional zoning (MFZ) has developed independently since it was first proposed by the Chinese government in 1988. In this article, the evolution of MFZ in China was briefly introduced. The process of MFZ was summarized as the following elements: preparatory work, collecting data, defining and analyzing present and future conditions, developing the zoning scheme, approving and revising the zoning scheme. Through exploring the problems and deficiencies of existing MFZ from both technical and administrative perspectives, the principles and ways to improve MFZ in China were proposed in the context of international MSP practice before a new cycle of revision.

Towards adaptive town environmental planning: the experience from Xiamen, China

In China, concern is growing with regard to environmental issues related to the growth of peri-urban towns. Rapid urbanization and the backlog in constructing needed environmental infrastructure have resulted in severe environmental issues for many peri-urban towns, affecting their sustainable development. In Xiamen, a coastal city, town-level environmental planning was proposed in 2003 as an important tool to control pollution and conserve ecosystems. But for environmental planning to work, it needs to be more adaptable to local circumstances and decision-making processes. This paper presents a framework for adaptive environmental management and discusses how it was implemented in Dongfu Town, one of the peri-urban towns around Xiamen. It describes the principles of adaptive peri-urban town environmental planning and how this process integrates information from multiple sources and different stakeholders. This experience shows how science can be integrated into the decision-making process, avoiding both the narrow-minded viewpoints of planners and the natural resource use conflicts among a variety of stakeholders. It also shows how the environmental planning process can propose results that are acceptable to local communities and decision makers, even when they suggest directions that were not in accordance with the publics initial priorities. Finally, it shows that sustainable development of targeted areas can be achieved through well-designed environmental planning.

Divergence between general public's risk perception and environmental risk assessment: A case study of p-xylene projects in China

ABSTRACT The growing public opposition to p-xylene (PX) project proposals in China requires understanding the divergence between the general publics risk perception and environmental risk assessment (ERA) results and its implications on its decision-making. In a case study in Fujian Province of China, a questionnaire was designed to investigate the public perception of risks of a proposed PX project, interviews were further conducted in Zhangzhou City and Xiamen City, and the survey results were compared with the ERA results of the proposed PX project. Results indicate that the environmental risk is acceptable according to current technical ERA guidelines and standards, while the public acceptance of the PX project is very low. The underlying factors causing the difference between the general publics risk perception and ERA results were identified from the ERA technical perspective. A better understanding of the risk perception divergence from different disciplinary perspectives is helpful for the public acceptance of these kinds of projects, which are on high demand in China. This study not only highlights the necessity to improve the risk communication but also provides insights on future research of ERA for this kind of large-scale project proposal.

The cumulative effects assessment of a coastal ecological restoration project in China: An integrated perspective

Large scale coastal land-claim and sea-enclosing (CLASE) activities have caused habitat destruction, biodiversity losses and water deterioration, thus the local governments in China have recently undertaken seabed dredging and dyke opening (SDADO) as typical ecological restoration projects. However, some projects focus on a single impact on hydrodynamic conditions, water quality or marine organisms. In a case study in Xiamen, China, an integrated effects assessment framework centres on ecohydrology, using modeling of hydrodynamic conditions and statistical analysis of water quality, was developed to assess the effects of ecological restoration projects. The benefits of SDADO projects include improving hydrodynamic conditions and water quality, as a precursor to further marine biological improvements. This study highlights the need to comprehensively consider ecological effects of SDADO projects in the planning stage, and an integrative assessment method combining cumulative effects of hydrodynamic conditions, water quality and biological factors.

AN APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY OF ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT FOR STRATEGIC DECISION-MAKING

Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) is a powerful set of technical and analytical instruments for analyzing environmental impacts, and has found application in supporting Decision-Making Processes (DMPs) over the last two decades. However, there is no interrelated application of ERA in Strategic Decision-Making (SDM) processes, and no systematic research on the approaches and methods of ERA to support the processes of SDM. In this paper, a new approach and methodological system of ERA for SDM process is set up, and then applied to the Principal Coastal Functional Zoning (PCFZ) in Xiamen Bay, China, as a case study to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach and its methodology. The results show that the approach and methodology of ERA for SDM could integrate ERA into the entire SDM process, and thereby support the PCFZ directly. Furthermore, this approach avoids or mitigates against dire environmental risk that are sometimes introduced by the SDM processes.

Management effectiveness evaluation of Bunaken National Park of Indonesia using an updated framework

Evaluation of management effectiveness is a very crucial aspect behind the management of every successful Marine Protected Area (MPA). It gives broader understanding of the management progress, how effective the management has been and what can be done to improve management performance. The paper evaluates the management effectiveness of Bunaken National Park (BNP) management performance from 2004 to 2009. Moreover, seeing that the past evaluation framework in BNP is inadequate to assess broader issues BNP is currently facing, this paper proposes a different evaluation framework that could better fit BNP’s current condition and provide deeper assessment to help understand BNP’s overall management effectiveness in greater detail. The evaluation was conducted in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) framework which assesses six good management elements (context, planning, input, processes, outputs, and outcomes). The results highlighted a range of management problems in BNP, including poor management planning, lack of management intervention and inadequate monitoring. The paper provides insights on how essential management elements that are often neglected in management practices could affect overall management performance.

Methods for integrating environment into decision-making in China

The prevailing systems for decision-making in many countries tend to separate environmental factors at the policy, planning and management levels, a practice that has important implications for sustainable development. Among many methods, at different decision-making levels, environmental planning and environmental assessment are currently the most widely used in China. This article briefly introduces four case studies featuring environmental planning and assessment in Xiamen, a coastal city in southeast China. Differences in scope of application, timing, nature, legal status, methodologies and effectiveness are described. Six principles for the successful integration of environmental protection and development are advanced based on the analytical results. As well, a simplified integration framework is proposed.

Adapting Chinese cities to climate change

On 15 September, Typhoon Meranti—the strongest recorded tropical cyclone to date in 2016 ([ 1 ][1])—made landfall over the city of Xiamen, China. The winds and floods caused 10.2 billion RMB (1.6 billion USD) in direct economic losses ([ 2 ][2]). The havoc wreaked by Meranti makes clear that