Large numbers of seabirds were killed by both acute and chronic oil pollution in the waters around the Northern Isles of Scotland in 1979. These mortalities closely coincided with the opening of the Sullom Voe Terminal in Shetland, the largest of Britain's North Sea oil-ports, and appeared to stem largely from the illegal discharge of ballast water or tank slops from tankers trading to Sullom Voe. By the middle of 1979, the seabird deaths around Orkney and Shetland had accounted for 85% of the British total of that year.

Public and political concern at these events forced the introduction of a number of non-statutory measures designed to eliminate or reduce chronic pollution offshore. In rapid and novel fashion the local authority and oil industry between them achieved a far greater degree of control than formerly over tanker traffic—through the introduction of such schemes as tanker routing, ‘areas of avoidance’, unscheduled aerial surveillance of all tankers, rigorous inspection of ballast quality and quantity, and the introduction through chartering contracts of the necessity for vessels to carry at least 35% ballast on arrival at the port (so providing a strong disincentive to deballast at sea).

Since the introduction of these measures, pollution, in the form of oil and oiled birds coming ashore, has decreased dramatically, and is now at a level which is tolerable, considering the scale of oil-related developments in and around Orkney and Shetland.

A substantial proportion of the population in the area concerned depends on fuel-wood as its major source of fuel. As a result, forests around towns — as in the case of Upper Pokhara Valley — are undergoing degradation. Private forestry could be an attractive option to control or even to reverse this process. Besides providing employment and income opportunities to fanners, this would help to alleviate pressure on commonland forests and control erosion.

A survey of vegetation around an aluminium factory in Renukoot, Mirzapur, U.P., India, was made in the course of a study of the polluting effects on plants of gaseous hydrogen fluoride. These ‘pollugenic’ effects were analyzed by examining the chlorotic and necrotic symptoms of injury on the leaf surfaces, the plants then being classified into three categories on the basis of their sensitivity.

The study revealed the absence, from the vicinity of the factory, of certain plant species which are normally present in the surrounding unpolluted areas. The tree species were the first to be affected, followed by shrubs, grasses, and finally forbs. These differences in response could be attributed in part to differences between the ambient air and ground-level concentrations of the pollutant. The concentrations in the ambient air, being higher than those at ground-level, were responsible for the greater impact on trees, with less on shrubs and grasses, and least on forbs, this being in part a function of the exposure-height of the plant species.

The gradual improvement noted in the performance of the plants and the number of their species at increasing distances from the aluminium factory, was consequent on the gradual decrease in the concentration of the polluting hydrogen fluoride. Such a trend is clearly evident in the north-east direction, where the pollutant fallout was directed by the prevailingly southwesterly winds.

The case of Western Samoa is used to challenge the tendency in the recent literature to polarize the issue of tropical deforestation as caused by either political economic forces or increasing human demands. While it is recognized that political economic forces must be changed in many cases to make just and sustainable use of the forest possible, the case of Western Samoa is used to highlight the difficult challenge of conserving tropical forests and their biodiversity even under customary land-tenure and local control of forest resources.

Four selected reserves in Jordan have been studied to find out the effect of conservation on wildlife. These reserves are: Shaumari in the eastern desert; Surra in the Irano-Turanian region in the north of Jordan; Dab'aa in the Irano-Turanian in the southeastern part of Jordan; and Al-Fugaug in the Mediterranean region in the south of Jordan. The four reserves are representative of the three major biogeographical regions represented in the country.

Using the quadrat method of survey, the vegetation height, cover, phytomass, diversity, and total number of macrophytic species, were statistically analysed. The results obtained show that the values of the factors studied tended to be 2–3 times as much inside as outside the fence in the unprotected area.

These reserves were not subjected to any special treatment, merely being fenced and protected under natural condition without any human interference such as spreading of seeds, irrigation, fertilization, or any other anthropogenic factors.

The following recommendations are offered in order to protect wildlife: foundation of reserves for wildlife protection; increasing well-planned rangelands and grazing areas for meat production; implementation of the laws against offences; improvement of the rangelands through research and by using fertilizers or nodular Bacteria associated with leguminous plants adapted to dry conditions; increased water research in dry areas in the hopes of producing irrigated rangelands; marginal lands with a low rainfall must not be used for cultivation; scientific research is needed to determine the carrying capacity of rangelands in different regions of the country; development of new methods of animal feeding to decrease the grazing pressure on natural rangelands; prohibition of hunting for at least five years; and finally, intensive information and publicity through the different media should be given out to educate the public and make them aware of the urgent need to protect wildlife and make proper use of it.

The rehabilitation plan for a surface-mined area should be in detail and prepared as part of the mining plan. The area to be disturbed should be identified as to its vegetation-types and potential for rapid and complete restoration. The rehabilitation plan should show, by means of topographic maps or three-dimensional maps prepared before the advent of mining, the general lay of the terrain and the reconfiguration after mining. Such maps will indicate how soil-slope regulations are being met, how aesthetic acceptability can be evaluated, and how ecological response-units for revegetation can be characterized.

In order to prepare a detailed revegetation plan before mining, the following maps and information are needed: (1) a topographic map, (2) a soil-series map, (3) a vegetation-cover map, and details concerning (4) the wildlife that inhabits the area, (5) the prevailing climatic conditions such as wind and the amount and form of precipitation, and (6) the character of each geological stratum that lies above the coal-seams or whatever is to be mined—including its structure, depth, and possible toxicity.

The detailed revegetation plan should identify where the topsoil or other plant-growth medium will be obtained, so that it can be stockpiled to be redistributed over the spoil material. Fine sandy loams, silty clay soils, and soils that are high in toxic elements or low in organic matter, should be avoided. It is recommended that topsoil material be redistributed over the spoil material to a minimum depth of 18 to 24 inches (457 to 610 mm), in order to furnish adequate depth for root concentration and for storage of reserve moisture following the spring snow-melt. The seedbed should be firm and free from competitive weeds. On harsh sites, water-holding basins or contour trenches should be constructed.

The method of seeding should include either drilling or broadcasting the seed, with due provisions for seed coverage by soil, and the addition of fertilizers and mulches where appropriate. The selection of species should include both native and introduced species that are adapted to the site. A wide diversity of life-forms and species should be included, to ensure stabilization of the area and furnish the wildlife habitat requirements. The season of seeding should be the period prior to the incidence of the most dependable precipitation in the area. The quantities of different seeds in the mixture and the overall amount employed will vary from site to site and with the method of planting. Generally speaking, poorer sites require more seed than favourable sites, and broadcasting requires about twice as much seed as does drilling.

Direct on-site costs for reclamation may vary from $250 to as much as $2,750 per acre (0.405 ha), depending upon saving and distributing the topsoil, shaping the overburden, seed-bed preparation, planting, fertilization, drainage control, mulching, and irrigation.

The goals of ecosystem based management (EBM) are strategically ambiguous, meaning that they require interpretation to identify objectives for ecosystem state. Ecosystem states that are useful for achieving such objectives are known as reference points. Soft reference points specify both a state and a probability of the ecosystem being in that state. They are used with simulation models to identify management measures for which the risk of the ecosystem entering an undesirable state is below a specified level. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is responsible for the EBM of Antarctic krill fisheries. CCAMLR used soft reference points for the krill stock in the Scotia Sea and southern Drake Passage to set a regional catch limit. However, this catch limit needs spatial subdivision to protect predators from localized depletion. Model-based evaluations of different options for subdividing the catch limit used illustrative reference points to assess the depletion risk to multiple predators. This study demonstrates that the apparent risk is sensitive to the choice of reference point and method for aggregating modelled predators. EBM practitioners and stakeholders need to be aware that these factors could therefore bias comparisons of management measures. Nonetheless, qualitative distinctions between different spatial subdivision options are relatively consistent except at high levels of aggregation and extreme reference points. This study also demonstrates a lack of generality in the relationship between current and future ecosystem state. Thus, the EBM goal of maintaining ecosystem resilience implies different reference points for the current state of different ecosystem components. Despite early progress in defining soft reference points for the krill stock, CCAMLR has not yet defined reference points for krill predators. Structured dialogue aimed at identifying collective objectives might be necessary to achieve further progress in CCAMLR and other EBM organizations.

The ultimate measure of the success or failure of conservation initiatives in an area will be the ecological health of that area and the sustainability of institutions which support that ecological health. Heretofore, no comprehensive data has been presented about the current conservation state of the area known as the Heart of Borneo (HoB), a mostly intact subset of the island of Borneo, which is an international conservation priority. This paper identifies a set of indicators representative of the biodiversity status of the HoB; collecting and analysing data concerning these indicators and combining these data with supplemental conservation information should provide an accurate assessment of the overall conservation state of the HoB. Based on the indicators identified in this study, the general biodiversity status of the HoB is rated as good, or viable, although there are specific elements of concern. Using the threat indicators identified in this study, the overall threat level is medium. Major threats from industrial forest conversion and mining currently exist mainly on the edges of the HoB, but are likely to expand further inland without any intervention simply based on proximity. Though most habitats within (but not outside) the HoB are generally intact, the current protected area system is insufficiently representative of the natural ecosystems of the HoB area and its management effectiveness is as yet unknown.

Human–wildlife interactions (HWIs) occur in many rural African communities, with potential impacts on livelihood vulnerability. High livelihood vulnerability may force communities to employ strategies that increase the risk of negative HWIs, yet the extent to which HWIs drive or are driven by vulnerability is unclear. We hypothesized that more vulnerable households are more likely to be exposed to wildlife and experience negative interactions. To test this hypothesis, we calculated the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) of rural households in and around Quirimbas National Park (north-eastern Mozambique) and assessed whether there is a link between livelihood vulnerability and HWIs. We found a two-way association between LVI and HWIs, with more vulnerable households indeed taking greater risks and encountering wildlife when fetching water from rivers, whereas less vulnerable households tended not to employ strategies likely to increase wildlife encounters. We also observed that HWIs exert a strong effect on livelihood vulnerability, suggesting that HWIs should be included as an exposure factor in vulnerability assessments for rural households. We recommend that livelihood strategies and community vulnerability should be considered when designing HWI mitigation schemes and implementing conservation measures.

Footpath erosion in mountain wilderness areas is generally undesirable, and maintenance and rehabilitation of eroded paths are costly. Although path erosion results from a complex interactioin between recreational and geomorphological forces and each path's resistance, the processes involved are not well understood.

There currently exists an environmental spectrum ranging from ecology (i.e. a basic, theoretical research approach) to environmental science (i.e. an applied, problem-solving testing approach). It is suggested that applied ecology be recognized as an integrative paradigm which encompasses the principles, concepts, and procedures, of both ecology and environmental science in an attempt (a) to unite reductionist and holistic research approaches and educational philosophies, (b) to generate a new synthesis for addressing important ecological topics such as biotic diversity and ecosystem regulation, (c) to educate personnel across the total environmental spectrum, and (d) to develop transdisciplinary ‘centres of excellence’ which serve as vital industrial-academic-governmental focal-points for long-term, integrative research endeavours.

At present there is a dire need to develop unifying theory and coherent principles regarding the patterns, processes, and interactions, of both the natural and man-made environment. There also exists an urgent need to help solve problems related to world food production, energy resource management, genetic diversity, and environmental contamination, among many others. Further, the progress of emerging fields of study, such as landscape ecology and systems communications, will be likely to be impeded if such fields are not recognized as the synthetic interactions of numerous related disciplines. These fields of study hold great research potential for systematically addressing the above-mentioned problem-areas, but require the flexibility to merge new research approaches, technologies, and scientific theories, in an efficient, cost-effective manner. It is suggested that applied ecology serve as an integrative paradigm for these new and vital interdisciplinary fields of knowledge.

Effective implementation of conservation and development strategies, such as buffer zones adjacent to national parks, requires tailoring these strategies to a park's individual external situation. A methodology is presented for conducting an assessment of adjacent land and local population issues for national parks. The methodology covers three principal subjects: (1) biological conservation issues, (2) the relationship between the park and local people, and (3) the socioeconomic situation of park neighbours.

The methodology was applied to lands adjacent to Braulio Carrillo National Park, Costa Rica. The application provides a brief summary of the Park's external situation, for use in management and planning, and identifies the most effective types of conservation and development strategies for the region. In this case, the methodology identified the principal issue facing the Park as being the rapid conversion of lowland forest to pasture on lands adjacent to the Park. Solutions to this problem include stopping the cycles of migration and colonization that drive people to settle forested lands, and increasing the importance of forest in local land-use systems.

The impacts of hydropower developments on local environment, ecology, and socio-economics, has influenced, and will continue to influence, the efficacy in decisionmaking and planning/design processes. Big dams have several disadvantages: (a) high costs, (b) possible collapse, (c) evaporation loss, (d) flooding of prime agricultural land, (e) siltation of reservoir, (f) salt-water intrusion in coastal areas, (g) deforestation and ‘greenhouse’ effect, and (h) destruction of habitat for rare species. We must refine our environmental understanding of how hydropower development affects species, both individually and in their interactions with each other. The utter dependence of organisms on appropriate environments is what frustrates most attempts to proceed with development and still protect ecosystems and wider ecocomplexes. Conservation objectives must be integrated with other objectives in formulating national and other policies, before they crystallize into projects and programmes. When ecological factors are considered only at the end of the process, they are liable to be viewed as obstructing development, which can be disastrously wrong. But if integrated at the basic level of decision-making, they can positively guide development most propitiously and beneficially. Translated to the global context, this is best served by holistic thinking.

The Great Central Lake story from British Columbia provides an interesting microcosm which touches on a variety of Man's activities. Other aspects which have not been discussed but were touched upon during the course of the experiment include logging, mining, hydroelectric power, recreational activities, and drinking-water. These ‘resources’ are also part of Man's use of the Great Central Lake system.

To conserve its wildlife, Botswana has set aside more than 17% of its total land area as game reserves, national parks, and wildlife management areas. Despite this generous allocation to wildlife, the fauna of the country is declining in both absolute numbers and species diversity. Lack of permanent water-sources in some game reserves, obstruction of fauna migration routes by cattle fences, and a poorly-developed tourist industry, are partly responsible for this decline.

In a developing country such as Botswana, tourism should yield sufficient funds for the maintenance of game reserves and national parks. But currently the tourist industry accounts for less than 2% of the gross national product. Unless the industry is encouraged to flourish and expand into dormant reserves such as the Gemsbok National Park and Mabuasehube Game Reserve, animals in those sanctuaries are likely to be driven by drought into South Africa.

Worldwide, irrigation development has affected pre-existing natural habitats and created novel aquatic habitats, and future changes in management will continue to influence flood-dependent vegetation and fauna. Irrigated agriculture has had a profound influence on native biodiversity in the Riverina region of temperate Australia. Current irrigation practices provide large amounts of water to the landscape in the form of constructed wetland habitats: irrigation channels, impoundments and flooded crop-growing areas. Flooded rice bays support many species of native wetland plants, and 12 of the 14 species of frog recorded in the region. All constructed habitats provide a food resource for waterbirds, but not breeding habitat. While a species of tortoise benefits from the provision of constructed habitats, terrestrial reptiles and mammals are most abundant in remaining native vegetation. The climate is predicted to become increasingly hot and dry, with a reduced and more variable supply of irrigation water, thus placing increasing stress on farming and on natural ecosystems. The predicted reduction of constructed aquatic habitats may affect the native species using them, but may not have a major adverse impact on biodiversity regionally because the species recorded in constructed habitats tend be abundant and widespread, and such species also occur in natural wetland habitats. Sensitive species that depend on native vegetation persisting in reasonable amounts and in good condition are at greater risk. In the Riverina, the remaining native vegetation should be managed to protect and improve its condition, including appropriate managed inundation events for flood-dependent communities. The landscape should be managed to provide the best context for the function and health of existing vegetation including moderating the effects of soil disturbance, fertilizers and herbicides. The impacts of changed irrigation practices should be mitigated through managed flooding of remnant vegetation. In countries with more evolved, traditional rice-growing systems than the Riverina, there will be greater emphasis on biodiversity coexistence with cultivation. Nonetheless, in all settings there is value in jointly considering the role of both natural and constructed habitats in biodiversity research and conservation.

Arid regions are increasingly being anthropogenically altered. In the north-western Sahara, a growing road network facilitates the use of habitats adjacent to roads. In regions where livestock is the traditional and main economic resource, local people are currently building numerous water cisterns for watering livestock, leading to an increase in the extent of pasturing of domestic livestock. Cisterns may attract desert vertebrates and act as death traps for species with already sparse populations in these arid areas. This paper is the first to examine the impact of cisterns as lethal traps for amphibians and reptiles in the Sahara, using a survey of 823 cisterns in south-western Morocco to identify and quantify species affected. Four amphibians and 35 reptiles were trapped in cisterns, some of which were listed as threatened. At least 459 017 individual amphibians and reptiles were trapped annually within the study area. The low productivity and low population densities of terrestrial vertebrates in this arid region suggest cisterns have a substantial impact upon amphibian and reptile species. As cistern construction is increasing, management actions are required to mitigate this impact on the herpetological community.

Throughout southern Africa, there have been growing concerns about the rates of ecosystem degradation. This issue and natural resource governance concerns in general remain key challenges. We conducted a scoping review of 135 articles to inductively assess how governance challenges have manifested in natural resource management during 2010–2020 in southern Africa. The paper’s findings show that governance challenges in southern Africa are ‘hydra-headed’. The results suggest that governance challenges related to the maintenance of system integrity and functioning – specifically lack of coordination, accountability, capacity, skills and resources to define effective natural resource management – were the most reported in literature. Challenges related to achieving socially equitable governance were the second most mentioned, followed by those related to institutional robustness. Challenges related to the adaptability and flexibility of institutions, specifically learning, monitoring capacity and innovation, were the least identified, showing that these areas are poorly studied or that these attributes are considered less problematic for achieving sustainable outcomes. Furthermore, the review highlights critical gaps – the limited engagement with governance-related frameworks, specifically polycentricity, adaptive governance and social-ecological stewardship. In concluding, we highlight governance reforms and future research needs on the topic of natural resources in southern Africa.