Monitoring and evaluation of air quality in urban and industrial areas are essential for air quality management. For evaluating the composite air-quality in the concomitant presence of several pollutants in the atmosphere, many air quality indices have been developed. This paper presents two indices, the ‘composite air-quality index (I1)’ and ‘the standard-exceeding index of air pollution (I2)’ together with their respective sub-indices, for the pollutants monitored and for use in combination.

The first index, I1, is based on the annual average concentration measured in a year for each pollutant; it measures the overall composite air-quality. By relating the annual average concentration (Ci) of each pollutant to its hygienic standard (Si), as many (Ci/Si) values as the number of pollutant parameters monitored are found, whereupon I1 is computed as the geometric mean of the maximum and average of all (Ci/Si) values. A greater value of I1 means worse composite air-quality. It is simpler to compute than those more sophisticated ones in the literature, and holds the unique characteristic of considering, and yet not overemphasizing as formula (3) does (Nemerow, 1974), the maximum (Ci/Si) value.

Criteria in selecting a symbol for The World Campaign for The Biosphere are analyzed around fourteen questions posed to the World Council For The Biosphere (WCB) and the International Society For Environmental Education (ISEE). To be truly supranational the symbol must be free from words and focused on mind and The Biosphere—the key end-points in the circular causal chain of ‘education for ecologically sustainable development’. As the target audience is external to WCB-ISEE, the symbol should be open to use by other organizations, and perhaps have a designated place for their identification. To the extent that the symbol poses a moral question it should be spiritual, emotive, and applicable to instances of overexploitation and excessive waste. Technology should not be automatically excluded, nor should the focus be restricted to organizations (versus people) or specific age-groups.

The essential message to be communicated is wholeness through feedback. Suitable geometric forms include irregular lines ending where they begin, circles, spheres, and (in terms of computer imagery) pulsating objects. Existing symbols with appropriate traditions to build on include: the yin-yang symbol of the Tao; the Atlas symbol of person-planet; individual life-forms such as a tree; and the glory—the shadow of a human head surrounded by concentric, rainbow-coloured circles.

In Lake Baikal in southeastern Siberia during an evolution of some 25 million years, a unique, rich, and highly diverse, biocoenosis has developed, in which some three-quarters of the ca 2,400 plant and animal species are endemic. Conditions for its survival include stability of the chemical composition and water temperature of, particularly, the deeper parts of the Lake. Recently the large-scale development of wood-processing industries has had, as described in the present paper, an increasingly destructive influence on this biocoenosis. This destruction seems irreversible as the deeper parts of the Lake, which goes down to 1,620 metres, cannot be renewed.

Knowledge of the present status and future potential of the world's marine food resources is a key prerequisite to their ecological exploitation. Rationales for the exploitation of these resources are twofold. Most important is the expectation that more time to reduce human population growth—the ultimate goal—could be made available. Secondly, because fish and shellfish are typically high in their content of protein and low in fat, nutritional quality in the human diet can be improved through their increased use.

Fundamental to marine biological production are the phytoplankton populations which comprise the basis of the oceanic food-structure. This production involves the photosynthesis of organic matter by phytoplankton and the subsequent flow of this matter through the food-web. Spatial and temporal discontinuities in marine production are related to the patchy distributional pattern of phytoplankton and to natural fluctuations in oceanic populations due to geographically and temporally varying conditions. A review of past estimates of the potential marine yield suggests that there has been significant variation in the methodology employed to arrive at these estimates.

Much-improved management of the oceanic food resources is urgently needed. Present mismanagement of these resources includes chemical pollution and the overexploitation of several important fish-stocks, which together threaten the viability of marine life. On the positive side, the future potential of the overall marine food-resources appears to be considerably larger than the present yield. The current harvest can be augmented by further development of aquaculture and by the exploitation of unconventional species, both of which could offer a relatively untapped source of valuable protein. Thus, Man must quickly establish and implement a rational, global management plan for the world's oceans and control his own population numbers to ensure conservation of the marine food-resources.

From early in August 1976 to late in July 1977, monthly surveys were carried out of the total recreational use of an area comprising 42 km2 of unenclosed moorland in the North York Moors National Park, England. Data were recorded on the following five variables for every person who was not either in or on a moving vehicle, with the exception of pedal cyclists and motor-cycle scramblers: location, age and sex, recreational activity, site type, and distance from the nearest road. A total of 2,506 individuals were recorded. Data from the surveys were grouped to represent the four seasons.

Bushmeat hunting poses a huge challenge for biodiversity conservation, but bushmeat is also an important source of essential protein in many locations. Although war may have substantial impacts on hunting, how these effects vary across different spatial scales and over multiple stages of warfare remain largely unknown. In addition, despite serious conflicts that may have affected hunting patterns in West Africa, no studies have examined the impacts of war on hunting in Sierra Leone. We used the randomized response technique together with semi-structured interviews to examine variations in hunting techniques and the proportion of the population that engages in hunting over three time periods (before, during and after war) among different communities bordering a protected area. At the scale of the whole protected area, the proportion of people hunting did not vary significantly over time. Similarly, the methods used for hunting were generally consistent over time and space. However, within each community, the proportion of the population hunting varied significantly over time, and the locations with the greatest participation rates in hunting changed at each time period. Access to alternative livelihood options and the severity of the war's impact shaped patterns of change in hunting participation across different communities. Our results point to the importance of adaptive management approaches that can adjust management strategies in order to account for spatial or temporal variations in hunting behaviour.

Fisheries stocks are rapidly declining around the world. A reduction in the consumption of unsustainable seafood may help curb this decline. Sustainable seafood consumption is not commonplace, even in the marine science and conservation community. The frequency of unsustainable and/or unlabelled seafood at marine science and conservation meetings motivates this enquiry and call for leadership. Information about the species served and where they were caught/farmed was obtained for seven marine ecology and conservation meetings held in Australia, attended by c. 4000 people from around the world. Menu item sustainability was assessed according to the relevant sustainable seafood guide, which considered stock status and impact of fishing/aquaculture method. Seafood was served at all meetings; four meetings served at least one unsustainable species, and only two meetings served a sustainable species. Additional leadership by marine scientists, especially conservationists, is urgently required to turn science into action and ensure that sustainable seafood is available, not only at meetings, but more widely, to achieve a positive conservation outcome.

Within the global oil shipping sector, flag states that inadequately fulfil obligations to effectively exert jurisdiction over vessels flying their flags have been criticized for facilitating the existence of substandard ships. This paper examines the topic of flag-use and its potential association with oil spill risk. Flags most associated with accidental oil spills were identified through comparing the flag composition of the global oil tanker fleet with that of vessels that have been involved in the 100 largest tanker spills on record. Vessels flying flags of states that have exhibited consistent patterns of failure in compliance with international obligations, defined here as ‘flags of non-compliance’ (FoNCs), were found to be significantly more common amongst the vessels that have been involved in spill incidents. However, this was dependent on how the Liberian flag was qualified throughout the time period considered. If measures are being sought to reduce the risk of tanker involvement in large-scale oil spills further, vessel owners should be deterred from registering with FoNCs that are highly accessible to foreign owners, and political measures should be taken to put pressure on flag states that operate all other FoNCs to improve effective jurisdiction over ships flying these flags.

Despite efforts spanning more than a decade, plastics continue to be the least recycled component of the USA's municipal waste stream. This study addresses a significant gap in knowledge about the operation of the plastics recycling market by investigating and analysing the characteristics and experiences of manufacturers and vendors of consumer products with recycled plastics content.

The study collected information through a survey of this segment of the USA's plastics recycling industry. The analysis of this information confirmed that the industry, as a whole, is young. Nevertheless, it offers a very wide variety of products. These face stiff competition from virgin resin plastic products, or from other virgin competing materials such as wood and cotton. Recycled plastic products are often more expensive than their competitors. Some manufacturers and vendors, especially the younger ones, addressed this problem by finding a niche market with consumers who are willing to pay a premium for environmentally friendly products. On the other hand, companies whose products are successfully competing against virgin products are more likely to have operated longer, to be vertically integrated (producing raw materials and consumer products), and to be more diversified in the number of resins they handle.

Manufacturers and vendors of recycled plastic products in the USA have gained considerable experience since the early years of plastics recycling. Nonetheless, they continue to face some serious challenges. Operators of materials recovery facilities that process PCR have an important role to play in supporting the industry by improving the quality of their product (i.e. PCR). However, the most important factor for securing continued growth of the industry is the expansion of markets for the industry's products. The responses to the survey indicate that, while there are actions that manufacturers and vendors can take to increase their chances of success, the effect of government policy remains overwhelming. Policymakers can facilitate growth in plastics recycling by stepping up their efforts to implement effective demand-side policies and by adopting policies to internalize the environmental and social externalities of plastics manufacturing and use.

Programmes focused on buffer zones (BZs) and park revenue-sharing (PRS) are aimed at sharing protected area (PA) benefits with local communities to meet their development needs and, in turn, improve the PA–people relationship. However, whether and how these programmes improve public attitudes towards PAs is little understood. We assessed how residents perceive the benefit and burdens of Nepal’s BZ programme, which shares up to 50% of PA revenue with communities, and how this process relates to their perceptions of change in the PA–people relationship since the BZ programme was implemented. Survey results from 2122 households in the BZs of six PAs showed that residents’ perceptions of PA–people relationships had improved since the BZ programme’s implementation. Furthermore, the perceived trend in the PA–people relationship was positively related to the perception of benefits and satisfaction with coordination between the PA and local government; it was negatively related to perceived burdens of BZ-related laws in rural development, history of damage/loss from wildlife and misunderstandings of the purpose behind BZ funds being given to local communities. These findings provide valuable insights for PA managers in Nepal and worldwide in designing new or improving existing mechanisms of benefit-sharing with local people and to improve PA–people relationships.