Suchergebnisse

Given the behavior of the pest control industry, together with the housing and timber industries, and performance of the State regulatory agencies, it is not surprising that all of these groups were philosophically ill-prepared to consider alternative measures after June 1995 when the use of organochlorines in termite control were banned. However, conditions have altered and there is an awareness of such alternatives. In the future, termiticides will have properties and characteristics vastly different from the chemicals previously used as termiticides in the 'organochlorine-era'. Thus, innovative, flexible and performance based evaluative methods are required to screen potential termiticides that may act as bait, dust, or soil barrier toxicants. Furthermore, physical barrier methods will need to be coupled with chemical systems. Suggestions are offered for the pest control industry, government, the building and the timber industries and the general public to pursue and engage in an integrated pest management (IPM) approach to termite control based on sound ecological parameters and social priorities. These include adopting a mix of alternative strategies as mentioned above, plus planning to ensure continuous funding for termite R&D and training and education programs necessary to supply 'termite expertise' in the future. Screening and evaluation methods of new generation termiticides have to be flexible and considerate of the ecological impact. The assessors would be required to have a broader knowledge than just termiticide toxicity data and termite control.

AbstractApproaches to coastal management have focused increasingly on 'soft'engineering methods such as beach/foreshore recharge or the managed realignment of coastal defences. In this context, the creation/maintenance of salt marshes is often seen as being of ecological and flood‐defence importance. However, until recently, no field data of wave attenuation over Northern European salt marshes had been available; therefore the debate on the sea‐defence value of salt marshes has remained highly speculative. This paper (a) reviews results from a field and numerical modelling study at Stiffkey, north Norfolk, (b) presents a scientifically based argument for the evaluation of salt marshes as part of sea‐defence schemes, and (c) discusses the relationship between hydrodynamic parameters, salt‐marsh surface characteristics, and possible management implications and engineering guidelines.

Resilience is widely seen as an important attribute of coastal systems and, as a concept, is increasingly prominent in policy documents. However, there are conflicting ideas on what constitutes resilience and its operationalisation as an overarching principle of coastal management remains limited. In this paper, we show how resilience to coastal flood and erosion hazard could be measured and applied within policy processes, using England as a case study. We define resilience pragmatically, integrating what is presently a disparate set of policy objectives for coastal areas. Our definition uses the concepts of resistance, recovery and adaptation, to consider how the economic, social and environmental dimensions of coastal systems respond to change. We develop a set of composite indicators for each dimension, grounded empirically with reference to national geospatial datasets. A prototype Coastal Resilience Model (CRM) has been developed, which combines the dimensions and generates a quantitative resilience index. We apply it to England's coastal hazard zone, capturing a range of different stakeholder perspectives using relative indicator weightings. The illustrative results demonstrate the practicality of formalising and quantifying resilience. To re-focus national policy around the stated desire of enhancing resilience to coastal flooding and erosion would require firm commitment from government to monitor progress towards resilience, requiring extension of the present risk-based approach, and a consensus methodology in which multiple (and sometimes conflicting) stakeholder values are explicitly considered. Such a transition may also challenge existing governance arrangements at national and local levels, requiring incentives for coastal managers to engage with and apply this new approach, more departmental integration and inter-agency cooperation. The proposed Coastal Resilience Model, with the tools to support planning and measure progress, has the potential to help enable this transition.