Why mountain forests are important

Mountains cover 24% of the Earths land surface, are home to 12% of the global population, and include 28% of the worlds forests. Mountain forests provide a wide range of benefits to both mountain and downstream populations, notably the protection of watersheds and of transport infrastructure. They are also important as centres of biodiversity; important sources of timber, fuelwood and non-wood products; places for tourism and recreation; and sacred places. Many are also being considered as possible carbon sinks to mitigate climate change. Mountain forests are subject to many forces of change, interacting in complex ways. The frequency of natural disturbances is increasingly influenced by human activities at local, regional, and global scales. Air pollution has influenced many forests downwind of industrial areas, but climate change represents a greater and highly unpredictable force for change. It will require new types of decisions by all stakeholders, and new forest management approaches and policies. The International Year of Mountains, 2002, presents a unique opportunity to foster greater co-operation to ensure that mountain forests continue to provide benefits to a significant proportion of the worlds population well into the 21st century and beyond. Key words: forests, sustainable development, mountains, climate change, co-operation

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Shifting the mindset of commercial lawyers to rewire contracts, to mitigate climate change more effectively in practice: The Chancery Lane Project

Environmental Law Review ◽

10.1177/14614529211000152 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 3-8

Author(s):

Jennifer Ramos

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Adaptation ◽

Sustainable Use ◽

Central Element ◽

Law Firms ◽

Essential Change ◽

Wide Range ◽

The World ◽

Tackle Climate Change ◽

Mitigate Climate Change

Climate change, sustainable use of natural resources and biodiversity no longer live in an ‘environmental box’ but are increasingly a central element of commercial decision-making. A fair and sustainable transition to net zero and the associated climate adaptation and mitigation can be driven by the legal community but will need a shift in the values and norms that inform how lawyers and law firms conduct themselves and view their role in, and impact on, society and the environment. Environmental lawyers are key to informing and enabling their commercial colleagues to make this shift. The Chancery Lane Project has facilitated collaboration by lawyers from a wide range of practice areas and across several jurisdictions to produce a significant selection of climate-conscious clauses. However, with the time to solve the climate crisis rapidly running out, the project needs more lawyers from around the world, including those with environmental expertise, to guide, inform, participate in and support their own organisations, clients and others to deliver the essential change needed to achieve a more sustainable and just future. Rewiring contracts to tackle climate change should, if done right, lead to a significant improvement in mitigating climate change across an array of industries across the world.

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Appreciating Rapid Technology Integration in Creating Value in Enterprises

Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations ◽

10.4018/jeco.2014010104 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 53-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Mambo G. Mupepi ◽

Sylvia C. Mupepi

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Creation ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Social Economy ◽

Primary Objective ◽

Social Enterprises ◽

Use Of Technology ◽

Wide Range ◽

The World ◽

Skilled Personnel ◽

Increase Productivity

The primary objective of this paper is about innovation within specific social organization which compacts with the division of labor, knowledge creation, and the use of technology such as e-enterprise in social economy aimed at improving productivity. A significant proportion of the world's economy is organized to make profits not only for investors but to sustain the employment of many disadvantaged people throughout the world. It includes cooperative organizations, foundations and many other social enterprises that provide a wide range of products and services across the globe and generate sustainable employment. Productivity tends to increase when the job is divided into manageable portions and then performed by adequately skilled personnel. In order to succeed in an environment in which other businesses fiercely compete along with social enterprises it is imperative to take into account innovative systems such as e-enterprise to leverage competition and increase productivity.

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Cycling Pathways

10.5117/9789463728478 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Henk-Jan Dekker

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

The Netherlands ◽

Political Struggle ◽

The Road ◽

Wide Range ◽

The World ◽

Road Space ◽

History Of ◽

On The Road

In an effort to fight climate change, many cities try to boost their cycling levels. They often look towards the Dutch for guidance. However, historians have only begun to uncover how and why the Netherlands became the premier cycling country of the world. Why were Dutch cyclists so successful in their fight for a place on the road? Cycling Pathways: The Politics and Governance of Dutch Cycling Infrastructure, 1920-2020 explores the long political struggle that culminated in today’s high cycling levels. Delving into the archives, it uncovers the important role of social movements and shows in detail how these interacted with national, provincial, and urban engineers and policymakers to govern the distribution of road space and construction of cycling infrastructure. It discusses a wide range of topics, ranging from activists to engineering committees, from urban commuters to recreational cyclists and from the early 1900s to today in order to uncover the long and all-but-forgotten history of Dutch cycling governance.

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Global Overview of Tropical Dry Forests

Practice, Progress, and Proficiency in Sustainability - Handbook of Research on the Conservation and Restoration of Tropical Dry Forests ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-0014-9.ch001 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-23

Author(s):

G. N. Tanjina Hasnat ◽

Mohammed Kamal Hossain

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Endangered Species ◽

Land Surface ◽

Forest Type ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Tropical Dry Forests ◽

Land Conversion ◽

Dry Period ◽

Dry Forests ◽

The World

Forests cover almost one-third of the Earth's land surface. Tropical dry forests are the second-most-important forest type in the world covering approximately 42% of tropical and sub-tropical forest area. The main features of these forests are their deciduousness, a prolonged dry period extending 3-9 months, and little annual precipitation of 250-2,000 mm. Tropical dry forests are found in five of the eight realms in the world. More than half of the forests are distributed in the Americas, with other portions in Africa, Eurasia, Australia, and Southeast Asia. The forests are unique in nature, and provide shelter to a huge number of endemics and endangered species. Among woody plant species, about 40% are not found anywhere in the world. These forests are now the most threatened among all forest types. The conservation status of these forests is endangered. Deforestation, rapid civilization, land conversion, fire, and climate change are the major threats. Proper management with time-oriented policy could be helpful to restore these forests and protect the existing remnant areas.

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Risk of Human-to-Wildlife Transmission of SARS-CoV-2

10.20944/preprints202005.0141.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sophie Gryseels ◽

Luc De Bruyn ◽

Ralf Gyselings ◽

Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer ◽

Fabian Leendertz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Significant Proportion ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Evolutionary Origins ◽

Wide Range ◽

The World ◽

Zoo Animals ◽

Long Time ◽

In The Wild ◽

Wildlife Reservoir ◽

Endangered Animals

It has been a long time since the world has experienced a pandemic with such a rapid devastating impact as the current COVID-19 pandemic. The causative agent, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is further unusual in that it appears capable of infecting many different mammal species. As a significant proportion of people worldwide are infected with SARS-CoV-2 and may spread the infection unknowingly before symptoms occur or without any symptoms ever occurring, there is a non-negligible risk of humans spreading SARS-CoV-2 to wildlife, in particular mammals. Because of SARS-CoV-2’s evolutionary origins in bats and reports of humans transmitting the virus to pets and zoo animals, regulations for prevention of human-to-animal transmission have so far focused mostly on these animal groups. Here, we summarize recent studies and reports that show that a wide range of distantly related mammals are likely susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and that susceptibility or resistance to the virus is in general not predictable, or only to some extent, by phylogenetic proximity to known susceptible or resistant hosts. In the absence of solid evidence on the SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility/resistance for each of the >5,500 mammal species, we argue that sanitary precautions should be taken when interacting with any mammal species in the wild. Preventing human-to-wildlife SARS-CoV-2 transmission is important for protecting these (sometimes endangered) animals from disease, but also to avoid establishment of novel SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs in wild animals. The risk of repeated re-infection of humans from such a wildlife reservoir could severely hamper SARS-CoV-2 control efforts. For wildlife fieldworkers interacting directly or indirectly with mammals, we recommend sanitary precautions such as physical distancing, wearing face masks and gloves, and frequent decontamination, which are very similar to regulations currently imposed to prevent transmission among humans.

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Application of FIDIC general conditions in transport infrastructure projects in Croatia

10.5592/co/cetra.2020.1071 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ksenija Čulo ◽

Vladimir Skendrović

Keyword(s):

Oil And Gas ◽

Public Procurement ◽

Standard Form ◽

Transport Infrastructure ◽

The European Union ◽

Infrastructure Projects ◽

Construction Contracts ◽

Wide Range ◽

The World ◽

General Conditions

Infrastructure is a broad term encompassing a wide range of facilities from roads and railway lines to wind, waste and water projects, oil and gas facilities, pipelines and processing plants. Whilst infrastructure construction contracts have key provisions in common, there is no one standard form that fits all projects. Any standard form will need to be tailored to suit the demands of the projects, the risk profile of the parties and comply with the legal jurisdiction of the contract and project location. Increasingly contractors are enhancing their expertise and working on infrastructure projects internationally. As a result, the forms of construction contracts used are becoming more standardized. Nowadays, FIDIC forms of contract are intended to be suitable for projects carried out around the world by all types of employers with the extensive support of large investors such as the World Bank or the European Union. The terms of the Conditions of Contract for Construction have been prepared by the Fédération Internationale des Ingénieurs-Conseils (FIDIC). Two most frequently used FIDIC models of construction contracts are Conditions of Contract for Construction (known as Red Book) and Conditions of Contract for Plant and Design-Build (known as Yellow Book). These general conditions are also used as contract conditions in Croatia for public procurement of transport infrastructure projects. The use of FIDIC General Conditions of Contract in the realization of transport infrastructure construction works in Croatia is presented in the paper.

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Water Resources and Climate Change

Environmental Science ◽

10.1093/obo/9780199363445-0119 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Peter Gleick

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Resources ◽

Hydrologic Cycle ◽

Ice Dynamics ◽

Sea Levels ◽

Precipitation Patterns ◽

The Past ◽

Wide Range ◽

The World ◽

Snow And Ice

Natural and human-caused climate changes are strongly linked to the hydrologic cycle and freshwater resources. The hydrological cycle is a core part of climate dynamics involving all three common forms of water—ice, liquid, vapor—and the movement of water around the world. Changes in climate affect all aspects of the hydrologic cycle itself through alterations in temperature, precipitation patterns, storm frequency and intensity, snow and ice dynamics, the stocks and flows of water on land, and connections between sea levels and coastal wetlands and ecosystems. In addition, many of the social, economic, and political impacts of climate change are expected to be felt through changes in natural water resources and developed water systems and infrastructure. Extensive research extending back a century or more has been conducted around the world on all the subsection categories presented below. Despite many remaining uncertainties, major advances in basic scientific understanding of the complex processes surrounding freshwater and climate have been made in the past decadet. New ground- and space-based sensors collect far more water- and climate-related data in the 21st century than in the past. Improvements in both regional and global hydrological and climatological modeling have permitted far greater understanding of water and climate links and risks. And more water management institutions and managers are beginning to integrate information about past and future climatic variability into water system planning, design, and construction. Recent observational evidence indicates that the impacts of human-caused climatic changes can now be observed in some regions for a wide range of water resources, including changing evaporative demand associated with rising temperatures, dramatic changes in snow and ice, alterations in precipitation patterns and storm, rising sea levels, and effects on aquatic ecosystems.

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Nutzung des geernteten Holzes – Substitution und Senkenwirkung | The use of harvested wood – substitution and sink effects

Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen ◽

10.3188/szf.2008.0288 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 159 (9) ◽

pp. 288-295 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Peter Hofer ◽

Ruedi Taverna ◽

Frank Werner

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Energy Source ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Wood Products ◽

Waste Wood ◽

Mitigate Climate Change ◽

Gas Effect

The greenhouse gas effect can be mitigated by using wood in wood products and as an energy source. The effects of different wood use scenarios over more than 100 years can be demonstrated simulating associated wood flows and changes in wood stocks. The following recommendations have been developed on the basis of such models in order to optimize the contribution of the forestry and timber sector to mitigate climate change: 1) the maximum possible sustainable increment should be generated in the forest; 2) this increment should be harvested continuously; 3) the harvested wood should be processed in accordance with the principle of cascade use; 4) waste wood that is not suitable for further use should be used to generate energy.

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