Land Consumption and Land Take: Enhancing Conceptual Clarity for Evaluating Spatial Governance in the EU Context
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Constructed Technosols: a Strategy Toward a Circular Economy
applied sciences Review Constructed Technosols: A Strategy toward a Circular Economy Debora Fabbri 1 , Romeo Pizzol 1, Paola Calza 1, Mery Malandrino 1 , Elisa Gaggero 1, Elio Padoan 2,* and Franco Ajmone-Marsan 2 1 Department of Chemistry, University of Turin, via P. Giuria 5, 10125 Turin, Italy; [email protected] (D.F.); [email protected] (R.P.); [email protected] (P.C.); [email protected] (M.M.); [email protected] (E.G.) 2 Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Food Sciences, University of Turin, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Soil is a non-renewable natural resource. However, the current rates of soil usage and degra- dation have led to a loss of soil for agriculture, habitats, biodiversity, and to ecosystems problems. Urban and former industrial areas suffer particularly of these problems, and compensation measures to restore environmental quality include the renaturation of dismissed areas, de-sealing of surfaces, or the building of green infrastructures. In this framework, the development of methodologies for the creation of soils designed to mimic natural soil and suitable for vegetation growth, known as constructed soils or technosols, are here reviewed. The possible design choices and the starting materials have been described, using a circular economy approach, i.e., preferring non-contaminated wastes to non-renewable resources. Technosols appear to be a good solution to the problems of land degradation and urban green if using recycled wastes or by-products, as they can be an alternative to the remediation of contaminated sites and to importing fertile agricultural soil. -
Land-Use, Land-Cover Changes and Biodiversity Loss - Helena Freitas
LAND USE, LAND COVER AND SOIL SCIENCES – Vol. I - Land-Use, Land-Cover Changes and Biodiversity Loss - Helena Freitas LAND-USE, LAND-COVER CHANGES AND BIODIVERSITY LOSS Helena Freitas University of Coimbra, Portugal Keywords: land use; habitat fragmentation; biodiversity loss Contents 1. Introduction 2. Primary Causes of Biodiversity Loss 2.1. Habitat Degradation and Destruction 2.2. Habitat Fragmentation 2.3. Global Climate Change 3. Strategies for Biodiversity Conservation 3.1. General 3.2. The European Biodiversity Conservation Strategy 4. Conclusions Glossary Bibliography Biographical Sketch Summary During Earth's history, species extinction has probably been caused by modifications of the physical environment after impacts such as meteorites or volcanic activity. On the contrary, the actual extinction of species is mainly a result of human activities, namely any form of land use that causes the conversion of vast areas to settlement, agriculture, and forestry, resulting in habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation, which are among the most important causes of species decline and extinction. The loss of biodiversity is unique among the major anthropogenic changes because it is irreversible. The importance of preserving biodiversity has increased in recent times. The global recognition of the alarming loss of biodiversity and the acceptance of its value resultedUNESCO in the Convention on Biologi – calEOLSS Diversity. In addition, in Europe, the challenge is also the implementation of the European strategy for biodiversity conservation and agricultural policies, though it is increasingly recognized that the strategy is limitedSAMPLE by a lack of basic ecological CHAPTERS information and indicators available to decision makers and end users. We have reached a point where we can save biodiversity only by saving the biosphere. -
The State of Soil in Europe
The State of Soil in Europe A contribution of the JRC to the European Environment Agency’s Environment State and Outlook Report— SOER 2010 Arwyn Jones, Panos Panagos, Sara Barcelo, Faycal Bouraoui, Claudio Bosco, Olivier Dewitte, Ciro Gardi, Markus Erhard, Javier Hervás, Roland Hiederer, Simon Jeffery, Anke Lükewille, Luca Marmo, Luca Montanarella, Claudia Olazábal, Jan-Erik Petersen, Vit Penizek, Thomas Strassburger, Gergely Tóth, Miet Van Den Eeckhaut, Marc Van Liedekerke, Frank Verheijen, Eva Viestova, Yusuf Yigini EUR 25186 EN - 2012 European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute for Environment and Sustainability Contact information Arwyn Jones Address: TP 280, Via Enrico Fermi, 2749 ‐ 21027 ‐ Ispra (VA) – Italy E‐mail: [email protected] Tel.: +39 0332 789162 Fax: +39 0332 786394 http://ies.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ http://www.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ Legal Notice Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of this publication. Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00 800 numbers or these calls may be billed. A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server http://europa.eu/ JRC68418 EUR 25186 EN ISBN 978‐92‐79‐22805‐6 (print) ISBN 978‐92‐79‐22806‐3 (PDF) ISSN 1018‐5593 (print) ISSN 1831‐9424 (online) -
UNU-IAS Policy Report
UNU-IAS Policy Report Cities, Biodiversity and Governance: Perspectives and Challenges of the Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity at the City Level The United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) is a global think tank whose mission is “to advance knowledge and promote learning for policy-making to meet the challenges of sustainable development”. UNU-IAS undertakes research and postgraduate education to identify and address strategic issues of concern for all humankind, for governments, decision-makers, and particularly, for developing countries. Established in 1996, the Institute convenes expertise from disciplines such as economics, law, social and natural sciences to better understand and contribute creative solutions to pressing global concerns, with research and programmatic activities related to current debates on sustainable development: . Biodiplomacy Initiative . Ecosystem Services Assessment . Satoyama Initiative . Sustainable Development Governance . Education for Sustainable Development . Marine Governance . Traditional Knowledge Initiative . Science and Technology for Sustainable Societies . Sustainable Urban Futures UNU-IAS, based in Yokohama, Japan, has two International Operating Units: the Operating Unit Ishikawa/Kanazawa (OUIK) in Japan, and the Traditional Knowledge Initiative (TKI) in Australia. UNU-IAS Policy Report Cities, Biodiversity and Governance: Perspectives and Challenges of the Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity at the City Level Jose Antonio -
Land Recycling Annual Report
helped us remediate these Land Recycling sites and make them safe. At the same time, we’ve put these sites to productive use and created new jobs. You may have heard of the many great business success stories, like the redevelopment of the Industrial Plaza of York, which won the prestigious Phoenix Award at this year’s International Industrial Site Recycling Conference. Or, perhaps you’ve heard of the partnership between Bethlehem Steel s Governor, I’m proud to say that Corporation and the Smithsonian Institution to Pennsylvania is on the move and form an Industrial Heritage Museum, the first Achanging before our eyes. We have of its kind in our nation. cut business taxes, slashed red tape and are nurturing our already vibrant technology The following report will take you on a journey community. through time from an era not so long ago when Pennsylvania was a bustle of industrial activity Pennsylvania’s Land Recycling Program is to our Commonwealth of today — a about change. In May 1995, I signed the bills Pennsylvania that is more economically and that established the Land Recycling Program as environmentally vital than ever before. a national model for the reuse of industrial sites. At that time, I described the program as I now invite you to read about the extraordinary “simply a case of government making sense.” results this program has demonstrated in just Today, I think the program’s track record two years. And I invite you to contact DEP to speaks for itself. In just over two years, close find out how your company and community to 300 sites have entered the program and can participate in the Land Recycling Program we’ve successfully completed more than 100 and share in our success. -
Land Policy and Urbanization in the People's Republic of China
ADBI Working Paper Series LAND POLICY AND URBANIZATION IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Li Zhang and Xianxiang Xu No. 614 November 2016 Asian Development Bank Institute Li Zhang is an associate professor at the International School of Business & Finance, Sun Yat-sen University. Xianxiang Xu is a professor at the Lingnan College, Sun Yat-sen University. The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of ADBI, ADB, its Board of Directors, or the governments they represent. ADBI does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use. Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with ADB official terms. Working papers are subject to formal revision and correction before they are finalized and considered published. The Working Paper series is a continuation of the formerly named Discussion Paper series; the numbering of the papers continued without interruption or change. ADBI’s working papers reflect initial ideas on a topic and are posted online for discussion. ADBI encourages readers to post their comments on the main page for each working paper (given in the citation below). Some working papers may develop into other forms of publication. Suggested citation: Zhang, L., and X. Xu. 2016. Land Policy and Urbanization in the People’s Republic of China. ADBI Working Paper 614. Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute. Available: https://www.adb.org/publications/land-policy-and-urbanization-prc Please contact the authors for information about this paper. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Unless otherwise stated, figures and tables without explicit sources were prepared by the authors. -
Land Recycling Program Q&A Database the Following Questions and Responses Were Found in the Database: 221 Agricultural Land
Page 1 of 119 Land Recycling Program Q&A Database The following questions and responses were found in the database: ID#: 221 Category: Agricultural Land Question: Are farms ineligible for Act 2 liability relief? Response: Generally, yes. Act 2 was enacted to facilitate the cleanup of former industrial sites and return them to productive use, and to help prevent the needless development of prime farmland, open space areas and natural areas. Act 2 does not apply to farmland that has residual concentrations of agricultural chemicals applied to the land using normal, routine and proper application methodologies established by the EPA, DEP, the PA Department of Agriculture, and the chemical’s manufacturer. Such normal agricultural practices do not constitute “releases” for the purposes of Act 2. If specific areas of a farm have been affected by a spill or release of regulated substances (i.e., through a practice) that does not fit within the scope of normal and routine agricultural practices, Act 2 would be available for those affected parts of the farm. An example of this would be a release of fuel oil from a leaking storage tank. Regulations: References: ID#: 222 Category: Agricultural Land Question: What if the farm has a known release of a contaminant? Response: The Department will use its authority under statutes other than Act 2 to enforce the cleanup of releases to farmland properties of agricultural chemicals that do not fit the definition of being released in the normal course of farming practices, such as leaks from fuel storage tanks. Regulations: References: Page 2 of 119 ID#: 223 Category: Agricultural Land Question: Can I take a whole farm through the Act 2 program? Response: No. -
Overview of the Land Recycling Program
Overview of the Land Recycling Program The Need for Land Recycling Past environmental policies in Pennsylvania disincentivized the private cleanup of old industrial sites, sometimes referred to as brownfields. Both state and federal cleanup laws can impose full responsibility for a site cleanup on new buyers, despite having no involvement in the contamination of the property. Pennsylvania’s policies promoted never-ending liability and discouraged private firms, lenders, and even public redevelopment authorities from getting involved. The positive aspects of an old industrial site, such as its location and available infrastructure, were frequently negated by the threat of huge, unknown cost and never-ending liability for an environmental cleanup of the site. Lenders were reluctant to invest in the purchase of such property if they become exposed to perpetual liability. Innocent buyers particularly shunned sites where those persons who were responsible for causing the contamination were bankrupt or couldn’t be identified. Too often, developers have chosen virgin properties as an alternative to old industrial sites with contamination problems. This has led to urban sprawl and the resulting loss of farmland, forests, and open space across Pennsylvania. The Land Recycling Program encourages the recycling and redevelopment of old industrial sites. It sets standards, by law, that are protective of human health and the environment and which consider future use. It provides potential developers with clear cleanup standards based on risk, not a moving target in a negotiated agreement, and provides an end to liability when that cleanup standard is achieved. These changes made many old industrial sites more attractive to potential developers. -
Future Urban Land Expansion and Implications for Global Croplands
Future urban land expansion and implications for SPECIAL FEATURE global croplands Christopher Bren d’Amoura,b, Femke Reitsmac, Giovanni Baiocchid, Stephan Barthele,f, Burak Güneralpg, Karl-Heinz Erbh, Helmut Haberlh, Felix Creutziga,b,1, and Karen C. Setoi aMercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, 10829 Berlin, Germany; bDepartment Economics of Climate Change, Technische Universität Berlin, 10623 Berlin, Germany; cDepartment of Geography,Canterbury University, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand; dDepartment of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742; eDepartment of the Built Environment, University of Gävle, SE-80176 Gävle, Sweden; fStockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden; gCenter for Geospatial Science, Applications and Technology (GEOSAT), Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843; hInstitute of Social Ecology Vienna, Alpen-Adria Universitaet Klagenfurt, 1070 Vienna, Austria; and iYale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 Edited by Jay S. Golden, Duke University, Durham, NC, and accepted by Editorial Board Member B. L. Turner November 29, 2016 (received for review June 19, 2016) Urban expansion often occurs on croplands. However, there is little India, and other countries (7–9). Although cropland loss has scientific understanding of how global patterns of future urban become a significant concern in terms of food production and expansion will affect the world’s cultivated areas. Here, we combine livelihoods (10) for many countries, there is very little scientific spatially explicit projections of urban expansion with datasets on understanding of how future urban expansion and especially global croplands and crop yields. Our results show that urban ex- growth of MURs will affect croplands. -
Policy Brief Soil Sealing and Land Take
The RECARE project is funded by the European Commission FP7 Programme, ENV.2013.6.2-4 ‘Sustainable land care in Europe’. POLICY BRIEF SOIL SEALING AND LAND TAKE SUMMARY Urbanisation is an ongoing trend in Europe leading to land take and soil sealing at the expense of agricultural land and other open landscapes. Despite the extensive loss of productive soils and the valuable ecosystem services that soils provide, the awareness of the magnitude and negative implications of these processes remain relatively low. Systematic solutions are required to reduce the scale of land take and soil sealing. More specifically, an overall strategic aim and framework for sustainable soil management at EU and national level are needed, complemented by binding and quantitative land take targets and adequate financial and technical support at national scale. Municipal spatial planning is one of the most important instruments to foster sustainable city development and highlights the importance of cities to guide this process. This also includes testing and deploying new approaches such as joint regional planning, Open Space concepts or the application of zoning concepts to protect the most fertile and valuable soils from sealing. In this policy brief, we illustrate the scale of the problem and identify ready-made solutions and steps policy makers and practitioners can take across different levels, from city planning to national and European level. INTRODUCTION B Europe loses about 1.007 km² of soil due to land take M r annually (EEA 2017), which is approximately a loss f the size of the city of Berlin. Land take especially affects metropolitan areas (peri-urban areas) usually e characterized by land with high soil quality and some of the most productive agricultural soils. -
Land Degradation
SPM4 Land degradation Coordinating Lead Authors: Lennart Olsson (Sweden), Humberto Barbosa (Brazil) Lead Authors: Suruchi Bhadwal (India), Annette Cowie (Australia), Kenel Delusca (Haiti), Dulce Flores-Renteria (Mexico), Kathleen Hermans (Germany), Esteban Jobbagy (Argentina), Werner Kurz (Canada), Diqiang Li (China), Denis Jean Sonwa (Cameroon), Lindsay Stringer (United Kingdom) Contributing Authors: Timothy Crews (The United States of America), Martin Dallimer (United Kingdom), Joris Eekhout (The Netherlands), Karlheinz Erb (Italy), Eamon Haughey (Ireland), Richard Houghton (The United States of America), Muhammad Mohsin Iqbal (Pakistan), Francis X. Johnson (The United States of America), Woo-Kyun Lee (The Republic of Korea), John Morton (United Kingdom), Felipe Garcia Oliva (Mexico), Jan Petzold (Germany), Mohammad Rahimi (Iran), Florence Renou-Wilson (Ireland), Anna Tengberg (Sweden), Louis Verchot (Colombia/ The United States of America), Katharine Vincent (South Africa) Review Editors: José Manuel Moreno (Spain), Carolina Vera (Argentina) Chapter Scientist: Aliyu Salisu Barau (Nigeria) This chapter should be cited as: Olsson, L., H. Barbosa, S. Bhadwal, A. Cowie, K. Delusca, D. Flores-Renteria, K. Hermans, E. Jobbagy, W. Kurz, D. Li, D.J. Sonwa, L. Stringer, 2019: Land Degradation. In: Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems [P.R. Shukla, J. Skea, E. Calvo Buendia, V. Masson-Delmotte, H.-O. Pörtner, D. C. Roberts, P. Zhai, R. Slade, S. Connors, R. van Diemen, M. Ferrat, E. Haughey, S. Luz, S. Neogi, M. Pathak, J. Petzold, J. Portugal Pereira, P. Vyas, E. Huntley, K. Kissick, M. Belkacemi, J. Malley, (eds.)]. In press. -
Biodiversity Strategy Planning in a Sustainable Development Context
BiodiversityBiodiversity StrategyStrategy PlanningPlanning inin aa SustainableSustainable DevelopmentDevelopment ContextContext • PLANNING GUIDE • BIODIVERSITY PLANNING MATRIX • NATIONAL CASE STUDIES • SYNERGY BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS UNEP Forthcoming Biodiversity Strategy Planning in a Sustainable Development Context Jacques Prescott Benoît Gauthier Jonas Nagahuedi Mbongu Sodi Institut de l’énergie et de l’environnement de la Francophonie (IEPF) Ministère de l’Environnement du Québec United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) September 2000 PRODUCTION TEAM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Authors: Jacques Prescott, M. Sc. The publication of this paper was made possible by Direction du patrimoine écologique the financial assistance of the United Nations et du développement durable Development Programme’s Biodiversity Planning Ministère de l’Environnement du Québec Support Programme, United Nations Environment Benoît Gauthier, Ph. D. Programme’s, the Institut de l’énergie et de l’envi- Direction du patrimoine écologique ronnement de la Francophonie and the Ministère de et du développement durable l’Environnement du Québec. The authors wish to Ministère de l’Environnement du Québec thank all those who have contributed to the deve- Jonas Nagahuedi Mbongu Sodi, Ph. D. lopment of this document with their comments and Coordinator of the Convention suggestions with a special consideration for the on Biological Diversity national planning teams that have used the proposed Democratic Republic of Congo methodology