scholarly journals Scenario-led modelling of broadleaf forest expansion in Wales

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 190026
Author(s):  
Syed Amir Manzoor ◽  
Geoffrey Griffiths ◽  
James Latham ◽  
Martin Lukac
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
The State ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Forest Expansion ◽  
Broadleaf Forest ◽  
Alternative Policy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Policy Scenarios

Significant changes in the composition and extent of the UK forest cover are likely to take place in the coming decades. Current policy targets an increase in forest area, for example, the Welsh Government aims for forest expansion by 2030, and a purposeful shift from non-native conifers to broadleaved tree species, as identified by the UK Forestry Standard Guidelines on Biodiversity. Using the example of Wales, we aim to generate an evidence-based projection of the impact of contrasting policy scenarios on the state of forests in the near future, with the view of stimulating debate and aiding decisions concerning plausible outcomes of different policies. We quantified changes in different land use and land cover (LULC) classes in Wales between 2007 and 2015 and used a multi-layer perceptron–Markov chain ensemble modelling approach to project the state of Welsh forests in 2030 under the current and an alternative policy scenario. The current level of expansion and restoration of broadleaf forest in Wales is sufficient to deliver on existing policy goals. We also show effects of a more ambitious afforestation policy on the Welsh landscape. In a key finding, the highest intensity of broadleaf expansion is likely to shift from southeastern to more central areas of Wales. The study identifies the key predictors of LULC change in Wales. High-resolution future land cover simulation maps using these predictors offer an evidence-based tool for forest managers and government officials to test the effects of existing and alternative policy scenarios.

scholarly journals The impact of forest regeneration on streamflow in 12 mesoscale humid tropical catchments

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 2613-2635 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. E. Beck ◽  
L. A. Bruijnzeel ◽  
A. I. J. M. van Dijk ◽  
T. R. McVicar ◽  
F. N. Scatena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Forest Regeneration ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Forest Area ◽  
Macro Scale ◽  
Annual Time Series ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Annual Time

Abstract. Although regenerating forests make up an increasingly large portion of humid tropical landscapes, little is known of their water use and effects on streamflow (Q). Since the 1950s the island of Puerto Rico has experienced widespread abandonment of pastures and agricultural lands, followed by forest regeneration. This paper examines the possible impacts of these secondary forests on several Q characteristics for 12 mesoscale catchments (23–346 km2; mean precipitation 1720–3422 mm yr−1) with long (33–51 yr) and simultaneous records for Q, precipitation (P), potential evaporation (PET), and land cover. A simple spatially-lumped, conceptual rainfall–runoff model that uses daily P and PET time series as inputs (HBV-light) was used to simulate Q for each catchment. Annual time series of observed and simulated values of four Q characteristics were calculated. A least-squares trend was fitted through annual time series of the residual difference between observed and simulated time series of each Q characteristic. From this the total cumulative change (Â) was calculated, representing the change in each Q characteristic after controlling for climate variability and water storage carry-over effects between years. Negative values of  were found for most catchments and Q characteristics, suggesting enhanced actual evaporation overall following forest regeneration. However, correlations between changes in urban or forest area and values of  were insignificant (p ≥ 0.389) for all Q characteristics. This suggests there is no convincing evidence that changes in the chosen Q characteristics in these Puerto Rican catchments can be ascribed to changes in urban or forest area. The present results are in line with previous studies of meso- and macro-scale (sub-)tropical catchments, which generally found no significant change in Q that can be attributed to changes in forest cover. Possible explanations for the lack of a clear signal may include errors in the land cover, climate, Q, and/or catchment boundary data; changes in forest area occurring mainly in the less rainy lowlands; and heterogeneity in catchment response. Different results were obtained for different catchments, and using a smaller subset of catchments could have led to very different conclusions. This highlights the importance of including multiple catchments in land-cover impact analysis at the mesoscale.

The UK drugs strategy 2017: contexts and analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 205-217
Author(s):  
Blaine Stothard
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Specific Content ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the content of the strategy and assess its claims to be evidence based. Design/methodology/approach This study is a close-reading of the text with commentary on specific content and reference to wider contexts. Findings The strategy makes use of evidence in its sections on treatment. Much evidence, including that of the UK ACMD, is dismissed or ignored. The issue of funding in times of austerity is not considered in the strategy. The range and complexity of drug use and users are not fully considered. Research limitations/implications The strategy can be seen as an idealised ambition with little basis in reality without funding to support its aims. Social implications There is no consideration of the impact of macro-economic policy on the extent of drug misuse. Originality/value Other commentaries on the strategy are emerging. This paper is a more extensive consideration than has so far appeared.

Beyond evidence-based policy and practice

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-36
Author(s):  
Mike Fisher
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Practice Research ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This paper concerns the impact of social work research, particularly on practice and practitioners. It explores the politics of research and how this affects practice, the way that university-based research understands practice, and some recent developments in establishing practice research as an integral and permanent part of the research landscape. While focusing on implications for the UK, it draws on developments in research across Europe, North America and Australasia to explore how we can improve the relationship between research and practice.

21. Applications: prisoners’ rights

2021 ◽  
pp. 433-447
Author(s):  
Howard Davis
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
The State ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Legal Knowledge ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Self Test ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Article 5 ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Domestic Law

Without assuming prior legal knowledge, books in the Directions series introduce and guide readers through key points of law and legal debate. It discusses European Convention law and relates it to domestic law under the HRA. Questions, discussion points, and thinking points help readers to engage fully with each subject and check their understanding as they progress and knowledge can be tested by self-test questions and exam questions at the chapter end. This chapter considers the application of Convention rights in the field of prisoners’ rights; the impact of Convention rights on prisoners in the UK is considered. Prisoners remain within the protection of the European Convention on Human Rights, though the application of these rights will take their position into account. Prisoners’ rights include not only rights to the non-arbitrary loss of liberty (Article 5) and rights to fair procedures (Articles 5 and 6), but also not to be disproportionately denied the rights and freedoms in Articles 8–11. Imprisonment deprives individuals of their liberty and, therefore, is a public function for which the state is responsible under the Convention. The controversy over prisoners’ right to vote is discussed in Chapter 25.

Historical Land-Cover Change Impacts on Climate: Comparative Assessment of LUCID and CMIP5 Multimodel Experiments

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1439-1459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quentin Lejeune ◽  
Sonia I. Seneviratne ◽  
Edouard L. Davin
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Diurnal Cycle ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Model Comparison ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Cmip5 Models ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Mean Temperature ◽  
Agricultural Areas ◽  
The Impact

Abstract During the industrial period, many regions experienced a reduction in forest cover and an expansion of agricultural areas, in particular North America, northern Eurasia, and South Asia. Here, results from the Land-Use and Climate, Identification of Robust Impacts (LUCID) and CMIP5 model intercomparison projects are compared in order to investigate how land-cover changes (LCC) in these regions have locally impacted the biophysical land surface properties, like albedo and evapotranspiration, and how this has affected seasonal mean temperature as well as its diurnal cycle. The impact of LCC is extracted from climate simulations, including all historical forcings, using a method that is shown to capture well the sign and the seasonal cycle of the impacts diagnosed from single-forcing experiments in most cases. The model comparison reveals that both the LUCID and CMIP5 models agree on the albedo-induced reduction of mean winter temperatures over midlatitudes. In contrast, there is less agreement concerning the response of the latent heat flux and, subsequently, mean temperature during summer, when evaporative cooling plays a more important role. Overall, a majority of models exhibit a local warming effect of LCC during this season, contrasting with results from the LUCID studies. A striking result is that none of the analyzed models reproduce well the changes in the diurnal cycle identified in present-day observations of the effect of deforestation. However, overall the CMIP5 models better simulate the observed summer daytime warming effect compared to the LUCID models, as well as the winter nighttime cooling effect.

scholarly journals The state, employment, and regulation: making work not pay

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Grady
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Employee Relations ◽  
Alternative Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Low Pay

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of specific active labour market policies (ALMP) and increased use of zero hour contracts (ZHCs) in creating an environment in which low-wage jobs flourish. Alongside these, it examines the role of financialization over the last 30 years in fostering the nuturalization of policies that institutionalize low wages and deregulate the economy in favour of big business. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws upon academic literature, official statistics, and analyses via the concept of neoliberalism. Findings This paper demonstrates that via a set of interconnected macro and micro factors low pay is set to remain entrenched in the UK. It has demonstrated that this is not the result of some natural response to labour market demands. Far from it, it has argued that these policy choices are neoliberal in motivation and the outcome of establishing low pay and insecure employment is a significant character of the contemporary labour market is deliberate. Research limitations/implications This paper encourages a re-think of how the authors address this issue of low pay in the UK by highlighting alternative forms of understanding the causes of low pay. Practical implications It presents an alternative analysis of low pay in the UK which allows us to understand and call into question the low-pay economy. In doing so it demonstrates that crucial to this understanding is state regulation. Social implications This paper allows for a more nuanced understanding of the economic conditions of the inequality caused by low pay, and provides an argument as to alternative ways in which this can be addressed. Originality/value The paper examines the relationship between the rise of neoliberalism and finance capital, the subsequent emergence of the neoliberal organization, the associated proliferation of ALMP and ZHCs, and the impact of these on creating a low-wage economy. It makes the argument that the UK’s low-wage economy is the result of regulatory choices influenced by a political preference for financialization, even if such choices are presented as not being so. Thus, the contribution of this paper is that it brings together distinct and important contemporary issues for scholars of employee relations, but connects them to the role of the state and neoliberal regulation.

scholarly journals Poverty as a Political Choice: a Comparative Analysis of Reports of the UN Rapporteur’s Visits to the UK and Spain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Cummins ◽  
Emilio José Gómez-Ciriano
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis paper presents a comparative analysis of two reports by the UN Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, one for Spain and one for the UK. In both countries, austerity policies were introduced following the banking crisis of 2008. The UN Rapporteur reports highlight the damage that was done by welfare retrenchment. In particular, the reports document the impact of austerity on the most vulnerable individuals and communities. The paper uses Somers' (2008) conceptual model of citizenship as the basis for a comparative analysis of two reports. Somers' (2008) model of citizenship is a triadic one which sees the state, market and civil society as competing elements. Each one can serve to regulate and limit the influence or excesses of the other two. Somers argues that neoliberalism has seen the dominance of the market at the expense of the role of the state and the institutions of civil society. Austerity policies saw the market dominating. Having examined the context of the two reports and their conclusions, the paper discussed the implications for individual social workers’ practice and the role of social work as a profession in tackling poverty and marginalisation.

scholarly journals MULTITEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF FOREST COVER CHANGE USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS OF KANHA TIGER RESERVE, CENTRAL INDIA

2018 ◽  
Vol XLII-5 ◽  
pp. 211-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Devi ◽  
B. Sinha ◽  
J. Bisaria ◽  
S. Saran
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Central India ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Land Use Land Cover ◽  
Tiger Reserve ◽  
The Impact

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Forest ecosystems play a key role in global ecological balance and provide a variety of tangible and intangible ecosystem services that support the livelihoods of rural poor. In addition to the anthropogenic pressure on the forest resources, climate change is also impacting vegetation productivity, biomass and phenological patterns of the forest. There are many studies reported all over the world which use change in Land Use Land Cover (LULC) to assess the impact of climate change on the forest. Land use change (LC) refers to any anthropogenic or natural changes in the terrestrial ecosystem at a variety of spatial or temporal scale. Changes in LULC induced by any causes (natural/anthropogenic) play a major role in global as well as regional scale pattern which in turn affects weather and climate. Remote sensing (RS) data along with Geographic Information System (GIS) help in inventorying, mapping and monitoring of earth resources for effective and sustainable landscape management of forest areas. Accurate information about the current and past LULC including natural forest cover along with accurate means of monitoring the changes are very necessary to design future adaptation strategies and formulation of policies in tune of climate change. Therefore, this study attempts to analyze the changes of LULC of Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR) due to climate change. The rationale for selecting KTR is to have a largely intact forest area without any interference so that any change in LULC could be attributed to the impact of climate change. The change analysis depicted changes in land use land cover (LULC) pattern by using multi-temporal satellite data over a period of time. Further, these detected changes in different LULC class influence the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. As the study site is a Sal dominated landscape; the findings could be applied in other Sal dominated landscape of central India in making future policies, adaptation strategies and silvicultural practices for reducing the vulnerability of forest-dependent communities.</p>

scholarly journals Land, development and the political class: In a translocal ‘Londoni’ village

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-235
Author(s):  
Ashraf Hoque
Keyword(s):  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Land Development ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Anthropology Of The State ◽  
Political Economies ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

This article expands Akhil Gupta’s (1995, American Ethnologist, 22(2), 375–402) thesis of ‘blurred boundaries’ between ‘the state’ and ‘society’ in South Asia to incorporate the impact of historic labour migrations, which complicate established conceptions of the state in Bangladesh. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in an area of high migration to the UK, the article draws attention to a class of transnational politicians, and their intra-class conflicts of interest, in shaping local-level politics. The article supports Faguet’s (2017, Modern Asian Studies 51(6), 1668–94) contention that the decentralisation of local government has led to the emergence of vernacularised political economies that operate in the shadow of the state, which are also intrinsically facilitated by it. It suggests that state actors appropriate symbols, offices and resources, together with traditional authority and kinship dynamics, to create an idiosyncratic polity. Aspiration towards power that might lead to the occupation of state offices are determined by either the aspirant’s status as a British citizen (Londoni) or through intimate social and economic connections to Britain through kinship (gushti) networks. The article thus makes a broader contribution to the existing literature on the anthropology of the state, transnational politics and the nexus of power, money and migration in postcolonial contexts.

The impact of 2013 UK NICE guidelines on the management of varicose veins at the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 612-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huw OB Davies ◽  
Matthew Popplewell ◽  
Gareth Bate ◽  
Lisa Kelly ◽  
Katy Darvall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Varicose Veins ◽  
Health Care Expenditure ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Foam Sclerotherapy ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Uk National Health Service ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Group 1

Objective Although varicose veins are a common cause of morbidity, the UK National Health Service and private medical insurers have previously sought to ration their treatment in a non-evidence based manner in order to limit health-care expenditure and reimbursement. In July 2013, the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published new national Clinical Guidelines (CG168) to promote evidence-based commissioning and management of varicose veins. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of CG168 on the referral and management of varicose veins at the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, UK. Methods Interrogation of a prospectively gathered database, provided by the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust Performance Unit, of patients undergoing interventions for varicose veins since 1 January 2012. Patients treated before (group 1) and after (group 2) publication of CG168 were compared. Results There were 253 patients, 286 legs (48% male, mean (range) age 54 (20–91) years) treated in group 1, and 417 patients, 452 legs, (46% male, mean (range) age 54 (14–90) years) treated in group 2, an increase of 65%. CG168 was associated with a significant reduction in the use of surgery (131 patients (52%) group 1 vs. 127 patients (30%) group 2, p = 0.0003, χ2), no change in endothermal ablation (30 patients (12%) group 1 vs. 45 patients (11%) group 2), a significant increase in ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy (92 patients (36%) group 1 and 245 patients (59%) group 2, p = 0.0001, χ2) and an increase in treatment for C2/3 disease (53% group 1 and 65.2% group 2, p = 0.0022, χ2). Conclusions Publication of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence CG168 has been associated with a significant increase (65%) in the number of patients treated, referral at an earlier (CEAP C) stage and increased use of endovenous treatment. CG 168 has been highly effective in improving access to, and quality of care, for varicose veins at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust.

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