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Book Dams and Development in China

Download or read book Dams and Development in China written by Bryan Tilt and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2014-12-02 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: China is home to half of the world's large dams and adds dozens more each year. The benefits are considerable: dams deliver hydropower, provide reliable irrigation water, protect people and farmland against flooding, and produce hydroelectricity in a nation with a seeimingly insatiable appetite for energy. As hydropower responds to a larger share of energy demand, dams may also help to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, welcome news in a country where air and water pollution have become dire and greenhouse gas emissions are the highest in the world. Yet the advantages of dams come at a high cost for river ecosystems and for the social and economic well-being of local people, who face displacement and farmland loss. This book examines the array of water-management decisions faced by Chinese leaders and their consequences for local communities. Focusing on the southwestern province of Yunnan—a major hub for hydropower development in China—which encompasses one of the world's most biodiverse temperate ecosystems and one of China's most ethnically and culturally rich regions, Bryan Tilt takes the reader from the halls of decision-making power in Beijing to Yunnan's rural villages. In the process, he examines the contrasting values of government agencies, hydropower corporations, NGOs, and local communities and explores how these values are linked to longstanding cultural norms about what is right, proper, and just. He also considers the various strategies these groups use to influence water-resource policy, including advocacy, petitioning, and public protest. Drawing on a decade of research, he offers his insights on whether the world's most populous nation will adopt greater transparency, increased scientific collaboration, and broader public participation as it continues to grow economically.

Book Dams and Development

    Book Details:
  • Author : World Commission on Dams
  • Publisher : Routledge
  • Release : 2016-05-13
  • ISBN : 1134898053
  • Pages : 834 pages

Download or read book Dams and Development written by World Commission on Dams and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-13 with total page 834 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the year 2000, the world had built more than 45,000 large dams to irrigate crops, generate power, control floods in wet times and store water in dry times. Yet, in the last century, large dams also disrupted the ecology of half the world's rivers, displaced tens of millions of people from their homes and left nations burdened with debt. Their impacts have inevitably generated growing controversy and conflicts. Resolving their role in meeting water and energy needs is vital for the future and illustrates the complex development challenges that face our societies. The Report of the World Commission on Dams: - is the product of an unprecedented global public policy effort to bring governments, the private sector and civil society together in one process - provides the first comprehensive global and independent review of the performance and impacts of dams - presents a new framework for water and energy resources development - develops an agenda of seven strategic priorities with corresponding criteria and guidelines for future decision-making. Challenging our assumptions, the Commission sets before us the hard, rigorous and clear-eyed evidence of exactly why nations decide to build dams and how dams can affect human, plant and animal life, for better or for worse. Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making is vital reading on the future of dams as well as the changing development context where new voices, choices and options leave little room for a business-as-usual scenario.

Book Tropical Forest Ecosystem Services in Improving Livelihoods For Local Communities

Download or read book Tropical Forest Ecosystem Services in Improving Livelihoods For Local Communities written by Zaiton Samdin and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-12-13 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited book covers major importance of tropical forest diversity and its values to vegetation, wildlife, and the local community. It addresses the current issues and opportunities in the Southeast Asia’s tropical forests. This book lays the groundwork for a better understanding of tropical forest ecosystem services. Ecosystem services has four concepts: provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services. In an era of rapid population growth and increasing pressure on tropical natural resources, ecosystem services have become central to the discussion of climate change mitigation. The values of tropical forest ecosystem services deserve to be the highlighted when it comes to shaping responsible behaviors towards sustainable development goals (SDGs). This book is of interest and useful to researchers and academics teaching in the field of tropical forest conservation, tropical ecosystems, tropical products technology, ecotourism, forest plantation management, bio industrial economy, agroforestry business and marketing. Professionals, foresters, industrial entrepreneurs, ecologists, and a valuable source of reference to the relevant researchers and students in the region.

Book Living in the Shadow of the Large Dams

Download or read book Living in the Shadow of the Large Dams written by Dzodzi Tsikata and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2006-05-01 with total page 463 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book on dam-affected communities of the Volta River Project breaks with the mould and tackles the question of long term environmental and socio-economic impacts and responses of two often neglected groups of communities- the downstream and lakeside communities.

Book Dams and Development

    Book Details:
  • Author : United Nations Environment Programme. Division of Environmental Policy Implementation. Dams and Development Project
  • Publisher : UNEP/Earthprint
  • Release : 2007
  • ISBN : 9789280728163
  • Pages : 196 pages

Download or read book Dams and Development written by United Nations Environment Programme. Division of Environmental Policy Implementation. Dams and Development Project and published by UNEP/Earthprint. This book was released on 2007 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a compilation of relevant practices of dealing with environmental and social issues during the planning, design and management of dams. The Compendium covers 9 topics selected by the multistakeholder Dams and Development Forum. It discusses the state of the art regarding dealing with the topics around the world. It shows how they are captured by regulatory frameworks and provides a number of examples illustrating how they have been implemented on the ground.--Publisher's description.

Book The Three Gorges Dam s Impact on Peasant Livelihood

Download or read book The Three Gorges Dam s Impact on Peasant Livelihood written by Jan Trouw and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2014-04-23 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Due to the Three Gorges Dam, China’s Yangtze becomes a 600 kilometers long reservoir that submerges everything below. Therefore, more than 1.3 million people lose their houses, their arable land, as well as their personal belongings. The book in hand examines the socio-economic impact on peasant livelihood before, during and after the state-forced resettlement.

Book Dams and Water Transfers     An Overview   Barrages et Transferts d   Eau   Aper  u

Download or read book Dams and Water Transfers An Overview Barrages et Transferts d Eau Aper u written by Cigb Icold and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2021-08-09 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present Bulletin presents a complete response from the ‘Technical Committee of ICOLD on Dams and Water Transfer (CDWT)’ to the Terms of Reference. It starts with related global information, brings out related efforts made in countries with completely differing climate, economy, population distribution etc. about present status within and between river basins & countries – both surplus and or deficit, while recognizing the crucial role played by dams in water transfer to needy regions. It then enumerates guidelines followed in considering various options, while identifying geographical issues, limited by political territories & legal issues like water treaties. Essentially then, it dwells on possible need, potential and problems in water transfers that must be handled to overcome B/C issues faced by needy countries. In order to assist concerned professionals, the Bulletin finally elaborates on objections raised by different stake-holders in the subject and provides answers generated globally. The on-going debate world-over about WRD versus environmental impacts is then dealt with to help Member-countries overcome various issues. Le présent Bulletin présente une réponse complète du « Comité Technique sur les barrages et les transferts d’eau ». Il commence par des informations mondiales, fait ressortir les efforts déployés dans des pays au climat, à l'économie, à la répartition de la population, etc. complètement différents sur l'état actuel au sein et entre les bassins fluviaux et les pays - à la fois excédentaire et / ou déficitaire, tout en reconnaissant le rôle crucial joué par les barrages dans le transfert d'eau vers les régions nécessiteuses. Il énumère ensuite les lignes directrices suivies pour considérer diverses options, tout en identifiant les problèmes géographiques, limités par les territoires politiques et les questions juridiques comme les traités sur l'eau. Essentiellement, il s'attarde donc sur les besoins, le potentiel et les problèmes possibles des transferts d'eau qui doivent être traités pour surmonter les problèmes auxquels sont confrontés les pays dans le besoin. Afin d'aider les professionnels concernés, le Bulletin élabore enfin les objections soulevées par les différents acteurs du sujet et apporte des réponses générées globalement. Le débat en cours dans le monde entier par rapport aux impacts environnementaux est ensuite traité pour aider les pays membres à surmonter divers problèmes.

Book Impacts of Large Dams  A Global Assessment

Download or read book Impacts of Large Dams A Global Assessment written by Cecilia Tortajada and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-02-02 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most controversial issues of the water sector in recent years has been the impacts of large dams. Proponents have claimed that such structures are essential to meet the increasing water demands of the world and that their overall societal benefits far outweight the costs. In contrast, the opponents claim that social and environmental costs of large dams far exceed their benefits, and that the era of construction of large dams is over. A major reason as to why there is no consensus on the overall benefits of large dams is because objective, authoritative and comprehensive evaluations of their impacts, especially ten or more years after their construction, are conspicuous by their absence. This book debates impartially, comprehensively and objectively, the positive and negative impacts of large dams based on facts, figures and authoritative analyses. These in-depth case studies are expected to promote a healthy and balanced debate on the needs, impacts and relevance of large dams, with case studies from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and Latin America.

Book The Large Dam Dilemma

    Book Details:
  • Author : Pu Wang
  • Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
  • Release : 2013-10-18
  • ISBN : 9400776306
  • Pages : 112 pages

Download or read book The Large Dam Dilemma written by Pu Wang and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-10-18 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Large dam construction has significant environmental and social impacts at different scales. As the largest developing country in the world, China has built about half of the world’s large dams, and more are expected to be built over the next two decades to meet the country’s rapidly growing demand for energy. This book summarizes and updates information about the history, distribution, functions, and impacts of large dams, both globally and at China’s national level. It then addresses the environmental and social-economic impacts of large dams in China with particular emphasis on the impacts of large dams on relocated people and associated compensation policies. Lastly, it introduces an integrated ecological and socio-economic study conducted in areas affected by dams along the Upper Mekong River, China. This book has the following three goals. The first goal is to summarize and update information on large dams globally and at China’s national level (Ch. 2). We examine large dam problems from different perspectives, ranging from their spatial and temporal distributions and their environmental and social impacts, to discussions and debates centered on them. We also incorporate the results of an empirical investigation of the environmental and socio-economic impacts of large dams on the Upper Mekong River, China, and draw conclusions out of the analysis (Chs.3 & 4). Our second goal is to provide an analysis framework to help understand the environmental and social-economic impacts of dam construction and the resulting environmental degradations and social inequities at different scales (Chs.3 & 4), as well as to offer recommendations for mitigating these impacts within China’s socio-political context (Ch. 5). The significant environmental effects resulting from dam construction include damage to ecological integrity and loss of biological diversity. The most significant social consequences brought by dam projects are their negative impacts on relocated people. Our analysis framework provides approaches to help comprehensively understand these impacts. Our third goal is to provide clues and suggestions for further studies of large dam problems both globally and in China (Ch. 5). The construction of large dams is proceeding rapidly in different parts of the world despite the heated debates on whether they should be built at all. The decision-making process related to building large dams involves considerations of economic viability, environmental sustainability, and social equity. Therefore, interdisciplinary collaborations are required in large dam research and development projects in order to reconcile the interests of different stakeholders and avoid harming ecosystems, biodiversity, and human welfare. Overall, we hope our book facilitates future examinations of large dams by providing summaries of existing data and research related to large dams, and offering a framework for better understanding and analyzing their environmental and social impacts.

Book The Future of Large Dams

Download or read book The Future of Large Dams written by Thayer Ted Scudder and published by Earthscan. This book was released on 2012 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Viewed by some as symbols of progress and by others as inherently flawed, large dams remain one of the most contentious development issues on Earth. Building on the work of the now defunct World Commission on Dams, Thayer Scudder wades into the debate with unprecedented authority.Employing the Commission's Seven Strategic priorities, Scudder charts the 'middle way' forward by examining the impacts of large dams on ecosystems, societies and political economies. He also analyses the structure of the decision-making process for water resource development and tackles the highly contentious issue of dam-induced resettlement, illuminated by a statistical analysis of 50 cases.

Book Dam and Levee Safety and Community Resilience

Download or read book Dam and Levee Safety and Community Resilience written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-10-11 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although advances in engineering can reduce the risk of dam and levee failure, some failures will still occur. Such events cause impacts on social and physical infrastructure that extend far beyond the flood zone. Broadening dam and levee safety programs to consider community- and regional-level priorities in decision making can help reduce the risk of, and increase community resilience to, potential dam and levee failures. Collaboration between dam and levee safety professionals at all levels, persons and property owners at direct risk, members of the wider economy, and the social and environmental networks in a community would allow all stakeholders to understand risks, shared needs, and opportunities, and make more informed decisions related to dam and levee infrastructure and community resilience. Dam and Levee Safety and Community Resilience: A Vision for Future Practice explains that fundamental shifts in safety culture will be necessary to integrate the concepts of resilience into dam and levee safety programs.

Book Communities  Livelihoods and Natural Resources

Download or read book Communities Livelihoods and Natural Resources written by International Development Research Centre (Canada) and published by IDRC. This book was released on 2006 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book synthesizes results from a 7-year programme of applied research on community-based approaches to natural resource management in Asia. By presenting field reports of innovative approaches to poverty reduction and sustainable resource use, it provides practitioners with models of ""good practice"" in participatory, community-based resource management, and it demonstrates how site-based research contributes to broader learning in the field of natural resource management and policy. There are 11 case studies featured, from some of the most marginal areas of rural China, Mongolia, Laos, V.

Book The Hydropolitics of Dams

Download or read book The Hydropolitics of Dams written by Mark Everard and published by Zed Books Ltd.. This book was released on 2013-08-08 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Hydropolitics of Dams charts the troubled waters of 'heavy engineering' approaches to ecosystem management, exploring the history, benefits and problems of large dams. It then explores diverse ecosystem-based approaches to management of human interactions with the water cycle, concluding that a synthesis of approaches is needed in future. The book also addresses political, economic and legal dimensions of water management. Featuring case studies from China, India and South Africa, this insightful new book argues that there are more appropriate physical and social technologies that can help to sustainably provide access to clean water for all.

Book Contested Knowledges

Download or read book Contested Knowledges written by Esha Shah and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2019-05-20 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Water acquisition, storage, allocation and distribution are intensely contested in our society, whether, for instance, such issues pertain to a conflict between upstream and downstream farmers located on a small stream or to a large dam located on the border of two nations. Water conflicts are mostly studied as disputes around access to water resources or the formulation of water laws and governance rules. However, explicitly or not, water conflicts nearly always also involve disputes among different philosophical views. The contributions to this edited volume have looked at the politics of contested knowledge as manifested in the conceptualisation, design, development, implementation and governance of large dams and mega-hydraulic infrastructure projects in various parts of the world. The special issue has explored the following core questions: Which philosophies and claims on mega-hydraulic projects are encountered, and how are they shaped, validated, negotiated and contested in concrete contexts? Whose knowledge counts and whose knowledge is downplayed in water development conflict situations, and how have different epistemic communities and cultural-political identities shaped practices of design, planning and construction of dams and mega-hydraulic projects? The contributions have also scrutinised how these epistemic communities interactively shape norms, rules, beliefs and values about water problems and solutions, including notions of justice, citizenship and progress that are subsequently to become embedded in material artefacts.

Book Knowing the Salween River  Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River

Download or read book Knowing the Salween River Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River written by Carl Middleton and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-08-12 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book focuses on the Salween River, shared by China, Myanmar, and Thailand, that is increasingly at the heart of pressing regional development debates. The basin supports the livelihoods of over 10 million people, and within it there is great socio-economic, cultural and political diversity. The basin is witnessing intensifying dynamics of resource extraction, alongside large dam construction, conservation and development intervention, that is unfolding within a complex terrain of local, national and transnational governance. With a focus on the contested politics of water and associated resources in the Salween basin, this book offers a collection of empirical case studies that highlights local knowledge and perspectives. Given the paucity of grounded social science studies in this contested basin, this book provides conceptual insights at the intersection of resource governance, development, and politics of knowledge relevant to researchers, policy-makers and practitioners at a time when rapid change is underway. - Fills a significant knowledge gap on a major river in Southeast Asia, with empirical and conceptual contributions - Inter-disciplinary perspective and by a range of writers, including academics, policy-makers and civil society researchers, the majority from within Southeast Asia - New policy insights on a river at the cross-roads of a major political and development transition

Book Coastal Reservoir Technology and Applications

Download or read book Coastal Reservoir Technology and Applications written by Shu-Qing Yang and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2022-02-18 with total page 654 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Coastal Reservoir Technology and Applications presents the analyses showing that the world is not running out of water, but water is running out of river mouths—we need to work to harness this resource. Compared with inland water storages and desalination technology, coastal reservoirs are a nature-based water solution without disturbing the environment. This book mainly answers the questions of what the coastal reservoir technology is, where we should construct coastal reservoirs, and how to supply sufficient, high-quality and affordable water to the world with minimum environmental/social impacts. Chapter 1 reviews modes of water resources development in the history along with current problems and reasons. Chapter 2 discusses the definition of coastal reservoirs, its classifications and applications, and the SPP/downstream water management strategy. Other chapters analyse water crisis in every continent, as well as their water solutions. The possible coastal reservoir for each major river is suggested as well. Without freshwater, no one can survive. Likewise, without sufficient, high-quality and affordable freshwater, no community can achieve sustainable development. However, water is also a killer when it is too much (floods), too dirty (pollution), and too turbid. Different from other books, this resource shows how to solve these water problems. Coastal reservoirs and SPP strategy are suggested to develop floodwater in a safe way in coastal and inland regions, respectively. Solution of water-food-energy-ecosystem nexus needs a paradigm shift from upstream to downstream water management, i.e., from mountainous dams to coastal reservoirs, which conserves the precious, clean freshwater in seawater environment. - Provides an analysis of every large river in the world to help users determine the feasibility of using a coastal reservoir in each location - Presents a global coverage, including case studies where this technology has already been implemented - Authored by a world expert on coastal reservoirs, with several patents in the area

Book OECD Development Pathways Multi dimensional Review of Lao PDR Financing Sustainable Development

Download or read book OECD Development Pathways Multi dimensional Review of Lao PDR Financing Sustainable Development written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2024-06-06 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has made significant headway on its development path over the past three decades. The country’s sustained economic growth has been led by booming commodity exports and substantial inflows of external financing. Many Laotians have seen significant improvements in their well-being. Poverty has declined as household income has increased, and many important development goals in education and health have been achieved. In the face of macroeconomic challenges, a shift from commodity-driven growth to a more inclusive prosperity paradigm that emphasises the creation of broad-based opportunities, human capital development and green sustainability can unlock Lao PDR’s future development. This report presents priorities for overcoming the country’s current fiscal constraints and finding ways to fund this shift. Recommendations address strengthening Lao PDR’s sustainable finance and debt management, revenue generation and tax reform, investment promotion, and data capacity in order to tap into green finance mechanisms.