Soil as World Heritage

Soil as World Heritage
Author: David Dent
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 489
Release: 2013-09-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9400761872

Soil as World Heritage celebrates a half century of field experiments on the Balti Steppe, in Moldova - where Dokuchaev first described the Typical Chernozem in 1877, protected from the elements by a unique system of shelter belts designed by the great man, and now provisionally listed as the first World Heritage Site for soil. The book presents contributions to the 2012 international symposium attended by researchers, practitioners and policy makers from the European Commission and countries as diverse as Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy , the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA and, of course, Moldova itself. The experimental data demonstrate the damage caused by human activity to the productivity and integrity of the black earth and, also, ways to restore its fertility. Results from even longer-established trials worldwide also demonstrate that agricultural practices are driving global warming, leaching of nutrients, pollution of water resources, diversion of rainfall away from replenishment of soil and groundwater to destructive runoff, and destroying soil organic matter and biodiversity. These are pressing issues for our generation and will press harder on future generations. Long-term field experiments, and the scientific skills and experience that they nurture, will be more and more valuable as a foundation and focus for interdisciplinary teams studying the effects of farming practices on the soil and soil life so as to devise a sustainable alternative. Europe-wide and worldwide contributions also discuss economic incentives - carbon and green water credits - which themselves require robust supporting data, and legislative aspects of promoting more sustainable farming systems. The outcomes of the conference include recommendations for institutional support for sustainable farming and a draft of the law on land and soil management for the Parliament of Moldova.

Water & Heritage

Water & Heritage
Author: Willem Willems
Publisher:
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2017-01-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9789088903861

Water is vital for life, and its availability has been a concern for mankind throughout the ages. Its presence has always been ascertained in a variety of ways and the development of human society everywhere is connected with various forms of water management. Man also needed to manage water to find protection from its dangers and the need for that is increasing. In the coming decades, the impact of climate change is expected to intensify floods and droughts, affect groundwater resources, raise sea levels, increase pollution and enhance the frequency and magnitude of disasters. Societies around the world are challenged to adapt to these threats to ensure water security, economic prosperity and environmental and cultural sustainability. This book deals with the heritage of water management and the use that was made of water, as well as the impact of water management on heritage. An example of the former may be an ancient irrigation system in the Filipines or in the Middle East that still functions today, while the latter may reflect the importance of maintaining groundwater levels for the preservation of organic remains on archaeological sites or of wooden piles underneath standing buildings. In either case the papers in this book reflect the dynamic nature of water, and hence the equally dynamic relation between water management and heritage. This publication follows up on a Heritage and Water conference in Amsterdam, the first of its kind. Its main purpose is to credibly present the importance and value of heritage and historical experience for water and sustainable development, and vice versa, present the importance of water management for the protection of heritage. It presents evolving insights and concepts about Water and about Heritage from a variety of disciplines, policy and public perspectives illustrated with cases studies and aims to connect decision makers with experts such as engineers, archaeologists, historians, geographers, ecologist and landscape architects

World Heritage forests

World Heritage forests
Author: International Union for Conservation of Nature
Publisher: UNESCO Publishing
Total Pages: 35
Release: 2021-10-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9231004808

Footprints in the Soil

Footprints in the Soil
Author: Benno P Warkentin
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 573
Release: 2006-04-18
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0080477879

The history of science discipline is contributing valuable knowledge of the culture of soil understanding, of the conditions in society that fostered the ideas, and of why they developed in certain ways. This book is about the progressive "footprints made by scientists in the soil. It contains chapters chosen from important topics in the development of soil science, and tells the story of the people and the exciting ideas that contributed to our present understanding of soils. Initiated by discussions within the Soil Science Society of America and the International Union of Soil Sciences, this book uniquely illustrates the significance of soils to our society. It is planned for soils students, for various scientific disciplines, and for members of the public who show an increasing interest in soil. This book allows us to answer the questions: "How do we know what we know about soils? and "How did one step or idea lead to the next one?The chapters are written by an international group of authors, each with special interests, bound together by the central theme of soils and how we came to our present understanding of soils. Each concentrate on soil knowledge in the western world and draw primarily on written accounts available in English and European languages. Academics, graduate students, researchers and practitioners will gain new insights from these studies of how ideas in soil science and understanding of uses of soils developed.* Discusses tracing soils knowledge accumulated from Roman times, first by soil users and after 1800s by scientists* Offers ideas about how soils knowledge was influenced by the social context and by human needs* Combines the history of ideas with scientific knowledge of soils* Written by chapter authors who combine subject matter expertise with knowledge of practical soil uses, and provide numerous references for further study of the relevant literature

A World Without Soil

A World Without Soil
Author: Jo Handelsman
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2021-01-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 030025640X

A celebrated biologist's manifesto addressing a soil loss crisis accelerated by poor conservation practices and climate change "Jo Handelsman is a national treasure, and her clarion call warning of a looming soil-loss catastrophe must be heard. Add her clearly written alarm to other future-shocks: climate change, pandemics, and mass extinctions."--Laurie Garrett, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World out of Balance "The ground beneath our feet is slipping away as we lose the precious soil that sustains us. Jo Handelsman's writing--as rich and life supporting as the soil itself--is a riveting warning."--Alan Alda, actor, writer, and host of the podcast Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda This book by celebrated biologist Jo Handelsman lays bare the complex connections among climate change, soil erosion, food and water security, and drug discovery. Humans depend on soil for 95 percent of global food production, yet let it erode at unsustainable rates. In the United States, China, and India, vast tracts of farmland will be barren of topsoil within this century. The combination of intensifying erosion caused by climate change and the increasing food needs of a growing world population is creating a desperate need for solutions to this crisis. Writing for a nonspecialist audience, Jo Handelsman celebrates the capacities of soil and explores the soil-related challenges of the near future. She begins by telling soil's origin story, explains how it erodes and the subsequent repercussions worldwide, and offers solutions. She considers lessons learned from indigenous people who have sustainably farmed the same land for thousands of years, practices developed for large-scale agriculture, and proposals using technology and policy initiatives.

World Heritage Sites

World Heritage Sites
Author: Takamitsu Jimura
Publisher: CABI
Total Pages: 191
Release: 2018-12-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1786392682

This book reviews the important interrelations between the industry, local communities and conservation work, bringing together the various opportunities and challenges for a destination. Proper heritage management and conservation activities are always vital. Reviewing new areas of development, such as Historic Urban Landscapes, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Memory of the World and Global Geoparks, it Includes global case studies to relate theory into practice and covers a worldwide industry of over 1,000 cultural and natural heritage sites.

World Heritage

World Heritage
Author: Simon C. Woodward
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2022-11-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000777294

World Heritage: Concepts, Management and Conservation presents an insight into discussions and debates surrounding the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the properties on it. Since its creation 50 years ago, the World Heritage Convention has been lauded as one of the most successful international expressions of cooperation, whilst at the same time being widely criticised as producing an overly commercialised and globalised sense of heritage. Offering an in-depth discussion of both sides of the debate, this book explores these issues by discussing the following topics: • How the World Heritage Convention was conceived and how it is operationalised; • How the World Heritage concept is currently being used and misused; • The benefits of inscription – perceived and actual existential threats faced by World Heritage Site managers including climate change, urban development, overtourism, military action and natural disaster; • The future of World Heritage as an instrument for conservation and economic development. Case studies from a global range of World Heritage Sites are included throughout, to showcase some of the successes and also missuses of World Heritage status. This book will be of pivotal interest to students and scholars in the fields of tourism, heritage, archaeology, natural resource management and development studies.

Adaptation strategies for soil and water conservation in a changing world

Adaptation strategies for soil and water conservation in a changing world
Author: Šarapatka, Bořivoj
Publisher: Palacky University Olomouc
Total Pages: 172
Release:
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 8024463180

Proceedings of abstracts from the WASWAC world conference on ADAPTATION STRATEGIES FOR SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION IN A CHANGING WORLD, which is intended mainly for the professional public and the scientific community.

Colonial Seeds in African Soil

Colonial Seeds in African Soil
Author: Paul Munro
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2020-02-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1789206251

“Empire forestry”—the broadly shared forest management practice that emerged in the West in the nineteenth century—may have originated in Europe, but it would eventually reshape the landscapes of colonies around the world. Melding the approaches of environmental history and political ecology, Colonial Seeds in African Soil unravels the complex ways this dynamic played out in twentieth-century colonial Sierra Leone. While giving careful attention to topics such as forest reservation and exploitation, the volume moves beyond conservation practices and discourses, attending to the overlapping social, economic, and political contexts that have shaped approaches to forest management over time.

Spatial Planning Systems in Central and Eastern European Countries

Spatial Planning Systems in Central and Eastern European Countries
Author: Maciej J. Nowak
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2023-10-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 303142722X

This book presents concise summaries of cutting-edge research and practical applications across the fields of physical, environmental, and human geography. It publishes compact refereed monographs under the editorial supervision of an international advisory board with the aim to publish 8 to 12 weeks after acceptance. Volumes are compact, 50 to 125 pages, with a clear focus. The series covers a range of content from professional to academic such as timely reports of state-of-the art analytical techniques, bridges between new research results, snapshots of hot and/or emerging topics, elaborated thesis, literature reviews, and in-depth case studies. The scope of the series spans the entire field of geography, with a view to significantly advance research. The character of the series is international and multidisciplinary and includes research areas such as GIS/cartography, remote sensing, geographical education, geospatial analysis, techniques and modeling, landscape/regional and urban planning, economic geography, housing and the built environment, and quantitative geography. Volumes in this series may analyze past, present, and/or future trends, as well as their determinants and consequences. Both solicited and unsolicited manuscripts are considered for publication in this series. This book is of interest to a wide range of individuals with interests in physical, environmental, and human geography as well as for researchers from allied disciplines.