Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-192).

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2002. Graduate Programme in Social Anthropology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-107). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ71574.

Thesis (M.E.S.)--The Evergreen State College, 2008. / Title from title screen (viewed 2/25/2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-52).

There are currently 962 geographic sites in the world that have been classified as World Heritage. World Heritage is a unique concept, privy to and defined by UNESCO-- the United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization, one of the specialized agencies and autonomous organizations established within the UN-United Nations system. World Heritage is governed by an international treaty called the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972 (The `Convention'). The inscription of a World Heritage Site or designation of World Heritage Status is highly coveted and considered in UNESCO parlance to be of "Outstanding Value to Humanity." There are only 4 heritage property sites of English-speaking islands in the Caribbean basin, one of which is located on the island of St. Lucia called The Pitons Management Area (PMA). The PMA comprises 2902 hectares of protected marine and terrestrial property inscribed in 2004. In 2008, the island faced the threat of placement on UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger (LWHD) for breaches of the Convention. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the perceptions of World Heritage Status from three identified stakeholders: UNESCO, the St. Lucian national government and the local Soufrière township-home of the PMA. This was an exploratory attempt at gauging perceptions of local voices on World Heritage Status as it relates to the PMA and the island's classification as a small-island developing state (SIDS). Using political ecology as a theoretical framework for analyzing the role of power relationships in this case study, this research revealed that there is an overall lack of communication between the Soufrière community and the national government regarding education and sensitizing about the World Heritage program mandates and incorporating the local citizenry in the protection of their heritage. The majority of the local participants' support for World Heritage Status on the island of St. Lucia was dependent on perceptions of increased income and employment opportunities associated with World Heritage as a global construct and narrative. This research also showed concerns of UNESCO and the St. Lucian national government to be at odds with the 1972 Convention. Results indicated that the varied perceptions of the three stakeholder groups are based on the prioritized interests of each and incommensurate with the aims of protecting the PMA's heritage for posterity.

This dissertation develops an optimization framework for conservation planning and illustrates the framework using case studies from Alaska, Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge (BCNWR) in central Texas, and Mexico. The common theme of the chapters is the use of optimization models to design conservation areas. Chapter 1 explains how the subsequent chapters are related to one another. Chapter 2 develops a framework for measuring how the cost of establishing conservation areas changes over time. When this method is applied to a data set on Mexican mammals, it is shown that twice as much land would have to be set aside to protect adequate mammal habitat today than would have been required in 1970 due to ongoing deforestation. Chapter 3 presents an optimization model for planning the establishment of conservation areas that incorporates forecasts of species' responses to global warming. The model is applied to analyze endangered birds and the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) on the Arctic coast of Alaska. Chapter 4 discusses the modeling of habitat for two endangered bird species, the Black{capped Vireo (Vireo atricapillus) and the Golden{cheekedWarbler (Dendroica chrysoparia), at BCNWR using a machine{learning algorithm (Maxent). These habitat models serve as part of the input for a one{stage optimization model for acquiring land to expand BCNWR. Chapter 5 uses graph theory to select corridors to establish connectivity between conservation areas in Mexico. The planning method presented in Chapter 5 is implemented in a free software package for corridor design, LQGraph. / text

What effects do natural resources, and more specifically the revenues from the extraction and sales of commodities, have on the economies of well-endowed countries in Latin America? How does the political administration of natural resource wealth affect the economic trajectories of these developing countries? Under what conditions do countries successfully use political institutions to administer natural resource windfalls prudently? My dissertation addresses these questions and ultimately explains why natural resource wealth is a blessing for the development of some countries and a curse for others. Specifically, I examine the effectiveness of specific government institutions—called Nonrenewable Resource Stabilization Funds (NRSFs or stabilization funds), which help countries to manage the economic challenges associated with relying upon volatile natural resource revenues—in Chile and Venezuela, two natural resource-rich Latin American countries. Although both of these countries created a NRSF, Chile’s has been very successful while Venezuela’s was extremely weak from the outset. My research suggests that the degree of stabilization fund success—which impacts the severity of the resource curse—depends on these institutions constraining political actors from using rents for venal purposes. In turn, I find that the capacity of NRSFs to restrain the passions of self-interested executives is largely a product of the circumstances accompanying the creation of these institutions; that is, the conditions into which these institutions are born impact stabilization fund performance, but not in the way that the traditional literature predicts. In contrast to extant explanations suggesting that NRSF success is dependent upon clear institutional rules or general state capacity, I find that stabilization funds tend to be unsuccessful when political needs drove their creation while these institutions are likely to function well when economic concerns were the impetus for their adoption. I substantiate the case study evidence of Chile and Venezuela with a broad statistical analysis of 20 other countries that have created NRSFs. / text

This Study was in accordance with the Threats Classification Scheme (Version 3.2) developed by the IUCN – CMP to identify the potential pressures and threats to the Mai Po Nature Reserve (MPNR), and with the Rapid Assessment and Prioritization of Protected Area Management (RAPPAM) developed by WWF to evaluate the management effectiveness of the MPNR. The pressure and threat identifications were conducted by on-line and on-site questionnaire surveys in Phase 1 of this Study whilst the management effectiveness evaluation was conducted by on-line questionnaire survey and interview script sent to representatives from AFCD and WWF-HK in Phase 2 of this Study. This Study identified the most significant impact on the MPNR was pollution followed by climate change and severe weather, residential and commercial development, and invasive exotic and problematic species, genes and diseases. Other than these impacts, it also identified that sedimentation was another significant impact on the MPNR. In view of the management effectiveness, the results shown that the management effectiveness of the MPNR was considered as adequate. Biodiversity conservation and habitat management as well as education and scientific research efforts were the strengths of the MPNR. However, insufficient long-term financial outlook was ranked as the least indicator in this Study, and lack of financial resources was also reported as one of the major factors influencing the management goals for the MPNR in reality. Comparison with other protected areas outside Hong Kong in terms of management effectiveness, and non-parametric correlation test, Spearman’s Rank Correlation Analysis, were conducted in this Study, and the results shown that there were significant positive correlations between inputs and outputs as well as between processes and outputs contributing the overall management effectiveness. It was suggested that stakeholders and communities should be engaged in future planning for the MPNR for better management making decision processes, and a proposed one-day pass measure was recommended in this Study as a considerable option for the future financial resource of the MPNR. Meanwhile, efforts should also be made proactively on seeking for other sources to make the MPNR being operated smoothly and sustainably. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Discharge hydrographs computed from the theory of linear flow through topologically random channel networks are compared to observed hydrographs on nine arid-region watersheds, with drainage areas ranging from 0.33 hectares to 1363 hectares, at the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed in southeast Arizona. Over 90 rainfall-runoff events are tested, with extremes ranging from 12.5 mm to 71 5 mm for rainfall depth, 0.4 mm to 50 mm for runoff volume, and 0.031 ems to 73.5 ems for peak discharge. Topologic Instantaneous Unit Hydrographs (TIUH's) are estimated from topologic and link-length parameters, and a scaling parameter. The topologic information is parameterized as the number of first-order links (magnitude) and the link-length distribution is parameterized by the mean. Both can be measured in the field or from topographic mapping and aerial photography. The scaling parameter is the "effective" kinematic celerity, which is a single-valued estimate of the kinematic celerity of the flow through the channel network for the duration of the event. The TIUH's lead to unit hydrographs, which are convolved with temporally distributed rainfall excess patterns computed using both the 0 index and the curve number, to give composite watershed hydrographs. Effective kinematic celerities are varied until the composite hydrographs match the observed hydrographs in terms of peak discharge and hydrograph efficiency. Results indicate that the TIUH approximately reproduces observed hydrographs, with calibrated effective kinematic celerities that fall within a reasonable range of magnitudes. Agreement between simulated and observed hydrographs is improved by introducing a lag to account for overland travel times to the channel network. The magnitude of the calibrated effective kinematic celerity is significantly related to watershed characteristics, including area, length, and slope. Regression equations are developed and the resulting predicted celerities are combined with map measured topologic and link-length parameters to give simulated hydrographs that approximately match the observed. Magnitude and link-length combine into a single parameter that is consistent across map scales and has the potential to be a watershed descriptor. Calibrated values of effective kinematic celerity vary little across map scales, suggesting that adequate results are obtained without additional expense for highly detailed mapping.

No description available.

In 1992, several thousand residents from northern Bosnia's Prijedor region were detained in the Omarska concentration camp, which was created and run on the site of an iron mine by the mine's own engineers, labourers and management. Often overlooked in discussions about the ethnoreligious nature of the Balkan conflict is the fact that Omarska's workers relied heavily on their technical knowledge (of organic compounds, geology and terrain, machinery) to generate new ways of concentrating and executing prisoners. / Anthropology