When eucalypts are afflicted with dieback
Eucalypt dieback in forests and wetlands edited by K.M. Old, G.A. Kile and C.P. Ohmart, proceedings of a conference held at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Division of Forest Research, Canberra, ACT, 4-6 August 1980. 285 p. CSIRO, Melbourne, 1981. Price: $A 10.00.
Eucalypts are increasingly important in both tropical and temperate environments. It is all the more necessary, therefore, to examine various plantation problems of this extremely useful species. This book addresses eucalypt dieback as it has occurred over the years in the eucalypt's indigenous environment, Australia.
M.F. Day writes in the introduction that "Despite the magnitude of ... eucalypt dieback in woodland and farmlands, comparatively little research has been done on this subject. Foresters have tended to assert that responsibility lies elsewhere, and have dismissed the problem as contributing little to loss of wood production ... at the same time agriculturalists and others have lacked the expertise to deal with the problem in a comprehensive fashion. This is unfortunate because it has diverted attention from what has undoubtedly become a major national loss, through reduction in livestock productivity, soil salinity and erosion, loss of wildlife habitat and other impacts." Given the growing concern with agro-forestry, Mr Day's comments, and this book, deserve wide attention.
The 1980 conference whose proceedings constitute the book grew out of a 1978 conference on Physophthora, a fungal pathogen which was recognized as a major cause of eucalypt dieback. The 1980 conference sought to explore other causes, both entomological and non-entomological.
Section one includes nine papers on "Eucalypt diebacks in Australia." This is followed by a section on "Surveys of eucalypt dieback and associated changes in flora and fauna," which contains seven papers. Section three, "Aetiology of eucalypt diebacks," includes eight papers under the sub-heading "Pests and pathogens" and four under the subheading "Drought and salinity." The concluding section, "Management of dieback-affected areas," has seven papers. Each paper has a bibliography. Finally, there is a section on conclusions and recommendations in question-and-answer format, followed by a list of delegates at the conference.
Making sense of the alphabet
Abbreviations used by FAO for international organizations, congresses, commissions, committees, etc. Terminology Bulletin No. 27, Rev. 2, in English, French, Spanish and Arabic in a single edition, softcover, 144 pages. Distribution and Sales Section, FAO, Rome. 1979.
This volume defines the meaning of 803 abbreviations, or acronyms, in English, Spanish, Arabic and French. ICSSD, for example, is the International Committee for Social Science
Documentation in Paris. The book represents the second revised and enlarged edition of the terminology bulletin on abbreviations.
Entries are given in English alphabetical order followed by their full titles in Spanish, Arabic and French except where the official abbreviations are in Spanish or French. Here the original language acronyms are given first. This reference work is an attempt to list as many international organizations, congresses, commissions and committees as possible. It is a useful reference book for all those who are confronted with the proliferating alphabetization of bureaucracies and the habit that many people have of using strange abbreviations with no reference to full titles.
Making forest decision
Forest resource management: decision making principles and cases, edited by William Duerr, Dennis E. Teeguarden , Neils B. Christiansen and Sam Gutteberg. W.B. Saunders & Co., Philadelphia. 1979. 612 p. Price: US$22.50.
In its review of this book, Forest Science (Vol. 26, No. 2, 1980, p. 178) says, "The book is not as pretentious as one might expect given the almost legendary reputation of many of the authors. The senior authors list their biases in the preface and then use them as guides throughout the book. Essentially, the authors view forestry as a set of interacting resource systems which are part of the larger social system. Decisions generally involve conflict resolution between various resource systems. Lastly, quantitative methods fortify judgments in choosing among alternatives."
The four senior authors, who wrote about 40 percent of the book, are buttressed by contributions from 35 others. There are five sections, dealing with an historical overview, a discussion of the decision-making process, a discussion of the use of models in decision-making, the traditional multiple forest uses in the United States, and the relationship with the larger society. Added to these are selected cases of decision-making in particular areas.
The book emphasizes public rather than private forest management and leans heavily upon quantitative techniques, in particular linear programming. Its value is for classroom use.
Search and rescue
Wilderness search and rescue. 1981. Tim I. Setnicka. Appalachian Mountain Club, 5 Joy Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 USA. 640 p., paperback, US $12.95. (Add $3 for orders from outside the USA; bulk rates are available.)
This book is full of details of search and rescue: locating, reaching, treating and evacuating people who have been hurt or endangered in a wild environment. The text is lucid, the drawings and diagrams clear and the photos interesting and illustrative.
The author is a search-and-rescue specialist who practiced his skills in US parks where tourism is heavy and accidents to climbers, skiers and other active visitors - and ordinary people who simply wander into trouble - occur frequently. He has augmented his own expertise with data from many countries.
The book is sensibly organized to cover the history and philosophy of search-and-rescue work, search management, the tools and equipment used, and rescue systems.
Much of the book deals with mountain rescue. The author, indeed, spent nine years in Yosemite National Park where some spectacular and difficult rock-wall rescues have been made. But he deals as well with snow and ice situations, white-water rescues, cave rescues, avalanches, helicopter techniques and, finally, with field medical considerations. Vivid case studies illuminate and emphasize the lessons being offered.
It is hard to imagine a more complete book on the broad subject of search and rescue, or a more valuable one.
ROBERT I. STANDISH Parks Magazine
Washington, D.C.
Tropical leaves to eat
Edible leaves of the tropics, by Franklin W. Martin and Ruth M. Ruberté. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C. Mayagüez Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southern Region, US Dept of Agriculture. Printed by Antillian College Press, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, 1979. Charts, photographs, bibliography. 234 p.
Although green leaves are a regular part of the diet in many developing areas and while they are often used and eaten in emergency situations, their considerable potential as a food source is generally neglected or underutilized. Often they are simply depreciated or destroyed. Long-term ignorance and prejudice, compounded by urbanization, stand in the way of full development of this important food source.
Edible leaves of the tropics aims to remedy this situation by providing a comprehensive, detailed introduction which should be of use to everyone from the scientist and government planner to the village consumer. Following an introductory chapter, there are chapters on the principal green leaf herbs; on fruit, vegetable and ornamental plants with edible green leaves; on common weeds; on tropical trees; on tropical leaves as spices and teas; on temperate-zone green leaves in the tropics; on tropical lettuce; on poisonous leaves; and on the culture and care of green-leafed vegetables.
Fifty-six clear, useful blak-and-white illustrations are scattered throughout the text. There is a 44-page list of tropical plants with edible green leaves and an eight-page alphabetical list of species mentioned in the text.
Grass-roots environmentalism in India
Forests and people: efforts in the western Himalayas to re-establish a long-lost relationship, by Bharat Dogra. Shivanad Ashram, Rishikesh, India. Himalaya Darshan Prakasham Samiti, 1980. Printed by Calley Printers, Devnager, India. Photographs. 97 p.
It is often said, with justification, that conservation is the privilege of middle-and upper-class people in developed countries and that ecological concern develops only after such basic needs as food, shelter and clothing are taken care of. This is not to say, however, that there have not been some dramatic efforts made by poor people in developing countries toward ecological protection. Forests and people tells the story of one such effort, the popular resistance movement in Garhwal, Uttar Pradesh, in the western Himalayas. The people of this "chipko" movement actually put their bodies between the loggers and the trees to protect the trees they felt were vital to their community.
"Starting initially as a popular protest by local villagers against the indiscriminate felling of forest trees by chipko-ing, or hugging, them," writes Salim Ali in an introduction to the book, "the movement has gradually expanded into one for improving the general ecological conditions in the hilly regions of the Garhwal Himalayas, side by side with the economic amelioration of the inhabitants who depend for their livelihood directly or indirectly on the 'sagacious management of the forests."
Written by journalist Bharat Dogra, Forests and people begins, in part one, by describing "the Himalayan tragedy," that is, the extensive ecological damage caused by thoughtless tree felling. Part two, entitled "A ray of hope," describes the efforts of the chipko movement to achieve a total ban on green tree felling. Besides giving a vivid account of people and politics, the book also provides insights into forest management policy in India.
Caring pulp and paper plants
Maintenance methods for the pulp and paper industry, edited by Matthew Coleman. Miller Freeman, San Francisco. 1980. Softcover. 192 p. 100 photos, 94 figures, 40 tables. Price: US$29.50.
This book contains 56 chapters from recent issues of Pulp & Paper magazine, whose engineering editor, Matthew Coleman, selected them. Coleman also wrote an introductory chapter discussing design of maintenance free machinery.
There are eight different sections: process equipment maintenance, hydraulics, mechanical equipment maintenance, lubrication, corrosion control, steam systems maintenance, tools and techniques, and maintenance management and safety. Copies may be ordered from the Pulp & Paper Book Order Department, 500 Howard St.. San Francisco, California 94105. USA.
Bibliography of Dipterocarps
Dipterocarps: part 1 and Dipterocarps: part 2. Annotated bibliographies compiled by Everild Haynes. Oxford, UK Common-wealth Agricultural Bureaux, 1980. Author indexes. Part 1: 121 p., Part. 2: 121 p. Price: Part 1, £11.00: Part 2, £8.80.
These companion volumes contain more than 1500 annotated and classified articles on the species Dipterocarpus in the scientific literature. Part 1, which covers literature abstracted between 1939 and 1972, was compiled manually from the indexes of Forestry abstracts. Part 2, covering 1973-79, was compiled by using the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux (CAB) data base. In both cases the terms researched were: Anisoptera (Schapula), Balanocarpus, Cotylelobium, Dipterocarp/areae/oideae/s, Dipterocarpus, Doona, Dryobalanops, Hopea, Isoptera, Marquesia, Monoporandra Monotes, Monotoideae, Parashorea, Pentacme, Shorea, Upuna, Vateria and Vatica.
Annotations are about one paragraph each and highly detailed. They are divided into 21 different categories including chemistry, mensuration, plywood, miscellaneous uses and products and biology. The two volumes are Nos F18(1) and F18(2) of the CAB annotated bibliography series and can be ordered from: Central Sales Branch. CAB. Farnham Royal, Slough SL2 3BN. United Kingdom.
Sri Lankan forestry
The Sri Lanka Forester (The Ceylon For ester): Journal of the Sri Lanka Forest Department, edited by K. Vivekanadan. Vol. XIV, Nos 1 and 2, Jan.-Dec. 1979. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Forest Department. 98 p. Price: US $2.50.
This volume is a soft-cover edition of the two editions of the journal, The Sri Lanka Forester, issued during 1979. The journal, which began publication in 1953, appears in June and December and it, or this volume, can be ordered from the Editorial Office, Forest Department, P.O. Box 509, Colombo 2. Sri Lanka.
Contained here are two pages of news briefs, ten articles, and a valuable 29 page section on Sri Lankan timbers. This latter section describes 87 different species or species groups; for each one there is a succinct entry on weight, description, uses and distribution. The subject matter of the articles is varied: forestry and environment, man and environment, the values of tropical moist forest eco-systems, man and biosphere reserves in Sri Lanka, natural regeneration in a forest reserve, a report on a mangrove seminar, eucalyptus provenances, teak seeds, ecological guidelines in logging, and timber scaling and grading. Also included is the text of V.R. Nanayakkara's introductory speech at the Sri Lanka Conference on Land and Water Resources Development.
How paper is made
The story of paper, by Roy P. Whitney. Tappi Press, Atlanta, Georgia, USA 1980. 28 p. 20 illustrations and 12 flow charts and graphs. Price: US$6.66 for nonmembers and US$9.99 for members.
Dr Roy P. Whitney of the Institute of Paper Chemistry has written a readable introduction to pulping and paper making technology. Among the subjects covered in The story of paper are cellulose, pulping, recovery of pulping chemicals, sheet forming, the paper machine, energy requirements and the US paper and board consumption and production. Copies can be ordered through Tappi Press, One Dunwoody Park, Atlanta, Georgia 30338, USA.
UNEP publications
Bibliography of publications on the environment issued by UNEP or under its auspices (1973-78). United Nations Environmental Programme/Pergamon Press, Oxford, England, 1980.
This valuable reference will provide a comprehensive list of publications and periodicals published by UNEP, by cooperating agencies or by supporting agencies. It will serve not only as an important reference tool but also as a record of UNEP's publishing efforts.
Unasylva apolologizes
On p. 38 of Unasylva, Vol. 34, No. 135, the "World of Forestry" article entitled "Honey trees in the tropics" identifies a plantation of Prosopis juliflora as being located in Piura, Chile. This is incorrect: it should have read "Piura, in northern Peru."
Bibliography of moth pests
Selected bibliography of the clearwing borers (Sesiidae) of the United States and Canada, by J.D. Solomon and M.E. Dix. Technical Report S0-22. us Dept of Agriculture, Forest service, Washington, D.C. 1979. 18 p.
Some moths of the Sesiidae family can destroy entire fruit orchards while others can cause serious crop losses. They do their damage by boring in trunks, bark, stems or roots of trees, vines, shrubs and other plants. Given the obvious economic importance of these borer moths, some 700 papers have been written about them from the mid- 19th century to the present. These papers are arranged alphabetically here by author and indexed by species.
US timber situation analysed
An analysis of she timber situation in the United Stares 1952-2030 (review draft), by us Dept of Agriculture, Forest service. USA, Washington, D.C. 1980. Softcover. 541 pages. 5 Appendixes with 248 p.
About 4 percent of the total United States gross national product originates from some type of timber-based economic activity. Whereas early in this century it was feared that US timber supplies were being exhausted, timber is now viewed as a renewable and, in fact, expanding resource. Total public and private investments aimed at increasing the growth and utilization of timber now amount to $2 billion annually.
As required by the 1974 Renewable Resources Planning Act, the Forest Service must make and keep current an assessment of the timber situation in the United States, including all public and private ownerships. This voluminous document is the Forest Service's latest assessment.
The first section of the document outlines some basic assumptions, particularly as related to growth in population, energy, housing and the economy in general. Section two, more than 100 pages, discusses in detail the demand for timber in all its components: everything from pulp and pallets to fence posts and silvi-chemicals.
The third section treats international trade in timber products. There follows a short section on primary processing industries such as lumber and plywood and then a detailed discussion of domestic timber resources. The last four sections treat trends in domestic timber resources, projected timber demand-supply relationships, opportunities for increasing timber supplies, and opportunities for increased utilization.
The book contains an abundance of charts, graphs and tables and should serve as a valuable reference work on US timber for years to come.
What acid rain does
Effects of acid precipitation on terrestrial ecosystems, edited by T.C. Hutchinson and M. Haras. NATO Conference Series: I Ecology: Volume 4. Plenum Press, New York. Price: US$49.50.
The previous book in the NATO conference series on ecological topics was entitled The Breakdown and Restoration of Ecosystems, so the present volume on acid rain is a logical follower:
Presenting papers and summaries from the conference, the book starts from underlying concerts of precipitation in vegetation and then treats the effects of acidity on vegetation, soil chemistry and soil biology. The final section, entitled "Identification of Sensitive Sites and Soils," demonstrates the unpredictability of the effects of acid rain.
Dryland tree genetics
Genetic resources of tree species in arid and semi-arid areas: a survey for the improvement of rural living in Latin America, Africa, India and Southwest Asia, based on the work of F.B. Armitage, P.A. Joustra and B. Ben Salem. FAO, Rome, 1980. Charts, bibliographies. 118 p.
In 1979, the FAO Forestry Department, in conjunction with the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR), began the first phase of a project for the conservation and better utilization of genetic resources of arboreal species. This volume reports on phase one, which was an on-the-ground survey of needs and possibilities. Operational phase two, which this report recommends starting, was, in fact, initiated in January 1981.
Following an introductory chapter describing the nature of the project, the book then devotes one chapter to each of the countries surveyed: Senegal, Sudan, India. Israel, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. Chile, Mexico and Peru. The final chapter, comprising two thirds of the book, is devoted to summary findings and recommendations as well as to "annexes," or appendixes, for each of the countries. Each country is surveyed and evaluated under seven distinct headings: participation, species, exploration and collection, evaluation, conservation, utilization and seed storage and handling.
Chemicals in the environment
Chemical concepts in pollutant behavior, by Tan J. Tinsley. John Wiley and Sons, New York. 1980. 265 p. Price: US$21.50.
Developed from material in a course Jan J. Tinsley taught at Oregon State University, this book is intended as a text for students having about two years of college chemistry. It shows that the behaviour of chemicals in the environment is the result of complex interactions which are determined by the chemical, physical and biological properties of both the chemicals and the environment itself.
Chapter one, on chemodynamics, shows how chemicals are distributed in the environment based on various properties such as solubility, vapour pressure, partition coefficient and pH. The second chapter treats the modification of chemicals in the environment through such means as photochemical processes, redox systems, hydrolysis and metabolic transformations. Chapter three discusses bioaccumulation and the distribution of chemicals through the food chain. In the fourth chapter there is a brief explanation of the chief analytical systems used in identifying and measuring chemical pollutants in environmental samples. Chapter five treats five fairly well-known problems: DDT, disposal of waste chemicals in sanitary landfills, freon and ozone, DDVP resin strips, and 2,4,5-T esters in surface water.
Logan Norris, who reviewed the book in Forest Science (Vol. 26, No. 2. 1980, p. 2l5-6). says that it is too elementary for experienced scientists, too technical for technicians and professionals only peripherally concerned with environmental chemistry, and just right for students or professionals with a recent background in modern chemistry who plan to study or research the topic.
Biosphere banking
Banking on the biosphere, by Robert Stein and Brian Johnson. D.C. Heath & Co. Lexington, Massachusetts, USA, 1980. 203 p. Price: 519.50.
One of the suggestions made in this new book by Robert Stein and Brian Johnson is that the World Bank take the lead in organizing environmentally sound afforestation and reforestation projects that are suited to regional environmental and energy needs. Another is that the UN Development Programme is well positioned to foster environmental change because, the book finds, that organization is consciously and continuously reconsidering its purposes in response to political change. By contrast, Stein and Johnson charge that the very stability of a body such as the Organization of American States has entrenched the idea that nations should be self-sufficient in fossil fuels - an idea which has led to the neglect of funding for alternative energy projects.
Banking on the biosphere, as these examples show, is specific, critical and not afraid to make blunt recommendations. Barbara Ward, who wrote an introduction to the book, notes that it would be "repetitious" merely to cite past environmental disasters resulting from misapplied funding from international banks. "What has been too little considered," she writes, " ... are viable solutions and necessary changes of tactics." This book, she believes, offers both.
The book argues that banks, if they reform, can have a catalytic effect on national development even with the constraints imposed by considerations of national sovereignty. While noting with approval that the World Bank has now launched a programme of small-scale rural development, the authors are critical of the continuing bias of banks toward "large urban infrastructure construction" such as roads, communication, power grids and water projects.
In its conclusion, the book, which was funded by the International Institute for Environment and Development, says that banks need to reform operating procedures for assessing and adjusting to all phases of a project cycle. They should also become "expert practitioners" of alternative forms of assessment and accountancy which integrate the long-term social and environmental effects of development projects into their forecasting.
Educational materials
A publication and price booklet, updated as of April, 1980, is available through the British Paper and Board Industry Federation. Educational materials include books, papers, leaflets, charts, video-cassettes, tape/slide presentations and reference and text books.
Some of these might have particular value for developing countries. For example, there is a series of 28 self instruction packages for education and training entitled The paper-and board-making process. This is available, together with a tape/slide presentation for schools entitled Paper.
Other relevant items include a Paper booklet suitable for children, a handbook of paper projects, a large chart (free) describing how paper is made, energy and water saving checklists, a calculations booklet, as well as such specific, technical materials as An operator's guide to aqueous coating.
All inquiries should be directed to: Information Department, British Paper and Board Industry Federation, 3 Plough Place, Fetter Lane' London EC4A 1AL, England.
Monitoring forests by satellite and computer
Monitoring forest canopy alteration around the world with digital analysis of Landsat imagery. Edited by D.L. Williams and L.D. Miller. Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center. 1979. Softcover pamphlet with colour and black-and-white photographs. 45 p.
Satellite remote sensing of forest ecosystems has moved from detection and identification to monitoring. The result, this pamphlet's editors conclude, will be to improve the forest management process by closely following alterations in the forest canopy caused by shifting cultivation, tropical forest exploitation, insect infestations and natural canopy closure.
Seven different case studies are included, all of which were at least partially conducted and written by one or both of the editors, D.L. Williams and L.D. Miller. Included are: (1) alterations of forested watersheds in the Republic of China; (2) exploitation in the central Nigerian forest reserves; (3) exploitation on the Haiti-Dominican Republic border; (4) canopy closure in the pine forests of North Carolina; (5) insect defoliation in Pennsylvania; (6) forest site-index mapping in Colorado; and (7) shifting cultivation in northern Thailand.
A slower-growing world
Facing the future: mastering the probable and managing the unpredictable. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: Washington, D.C., USA, 1980. 426 p. Price: $20.00.
Economic growth can no longer occur at the historical 1945-73 trends, according to this survey by a study group of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Scenarios for possible futures are developed in terms of trade, monetary, and income infrastructures. The overall assessment of future economic growth is optimistic, but social and environmental problems are clearly spelled out and the book warns of the lack of political will to address crises.
A good survey is given of trends that endanger the economies of both industrialized and developing nations. With regard to Third World development strategies, attention is given to the need for strong agricultural sectors combined with good soil conservation programmers; to the transfer of technology; and to creative initiatives industrialized nations might make toward developing ones.
African future
Environment and development in Africa. United Nations Environment Programme and the Environment Training Programme (ENDA)/Pergamon Press, Oxford, England, 1980. c.100 p. Price: c. $14.00.
This is a UNEP study of the future prospects for African development within an environmental framework. The book analyses specific components of this topic such as population increase, food supply, health, urbanization, industrialization, economics, technology, agricultural production, deforestation and desertification.
MAB in Indonesia
East Kalimantan - Proceedings of a workshop on the Indonesia MAB Project No. I in East Kalimantan. Samarinda, 23-27 March 1978. Indonesian Institute of Sciences, LIPI, Jakarta, Indonesia. 71 p.
These proceedings report on an Indonesia field project carried out under the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Project 1, on man's interaction with tropical forest ecosystems. The objectives of the workshop were to review existing research plans, to identify new problem areas for research and to obtain information and comments from private and governmental institutions in Indonesia and abroad.
Technical papers presented to the workshop are included in this volume. They address such subjects as the relations between conservation and development of biological resources, patterns and problems of human ecology and settlements in Kalimantan and Sumatra, the effects of timber camps on the economy of villages in the Berau area of Kalimantan, and implementation of MAB activities in East Kalimantan.
The workshop's conclusions and recommendations are included, as are suggestions for research topics and for research and implementation mechanisms.
Guidelines for Mediterranean action plan
Mediterranean Action Plan: Principles and guidelines for the discharge of waste into the marine environment. Prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Sanitary Engineering Polytechnic of Milan, Italy. World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1979. 506 p.
The present volume, sponsored jointly by WHO and UNEP, is designed to assist those authorities responsible for negotiating and implementing a protocol for the protection of the Mediterranean against pollution from land-based sources. It provides, for example, principles and guidelines for the issuance of permits for the discharge of waste and other matter into the marine environment. Other material contained in this volume can be used for either ongoing or planned activities of the Mediterranean Action Plan.
What is appropriate technology?
Technology, development and the environment: a reappraisal, by A.K.N. Reddy. United Nations Environment Programme/Pergamon Press, Oxford, England, 1979, 60 p.
A.K.N. Reddy of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore looks at the problem of technology and the environment, and attempts to provide a methodology for the selection of environmentally sound and appropriate technologies. After beginning with criticism of modern technology, Reddy then looks at examples of good technologies. There are also sections on conceptual clarification, criteria and constraints.
Conservation in Zaïre
Aspects de la conservation de la nature au Zaïre by Dr Kabala Matuka. Editions Lokole, Kinshasa, Zaire, 1976. 312 p.
With special attention to Zaire, Dr Kabala Matuka's book addresses itself to three fundamental principles of conservation: the need for rational utilization of resources; the development of the concept of conservation; and the degradation of the environment, emphasizing the laws which govern nature's delicate balance.
Update on SCOPE Report
Environmental impact assessment: principles and procedures, ed. R.E. Munn. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, United Kingdom, 2nd ed. 1979. 190 p. Price: £7.50.
In 1975 SCOPE issued a book on environmental impact assessment which attempted to synthesize environmental information from diverse scientific fields, identify gaps in knowledge and disseminate results. Its aim was to improve the scientific quality of procedures for preparing alternative environmental management strategies.
Since then many countries have adopted some form of environmental impact assessment. Significant advances have occurred and various lessons have been learned. It was thus decided to prepare a second edition of the SCOPE study which would emphasize these recent experiences in many different countries.
This book does more than that, however. It also tries to synthesize ongoing knowledge in scientific areas that have recently received more emphasis. These include biogeochemical cycles, dynamic changes and evolution of ecosystems, environmental impacts of human settlements, ecotoxicology, simulation modelling of environmental systems, environmental monitoring, and communication of environmental information.
The child's world in sub -Saharan Africa
The child in the African environment edited by R.O. Ohuche and B. Otaala. United Nations Environment Programme/Pergamon Press, Oxford, England, 1980. c. 100 p.
Based on a study commissioned jointly by UNEP and the Science Education Programme for Africa (SEPA), this book attempts to present a true picture of the child's environment in sub-Saharan Africa. Topics covered include: physical and health environments, the social environment, educational and other services, and the intellectual, psychomotor and affective components of child development.
The conclusion includes "prospects," "observations." and "recommendations." Finally, there are three appendixes, one giving country-by-country statistics, a second estimating the population of children in the area and a third treating intellectual development.
Mediterranean pollution
The state of pollution of the Mediterranean Sea. United Nations Environment Programme/Pergamon Press, Oxford, England, 980.
This newly released book is part of UNEP's technical series of publications. The agency has been coordinating the ongoing activities of the Mediterranean Action Plan, and this is a report on the pilot phase of the various projects launched as part of the Plan's environmental assessment component.
Surveying Saudi Arabia
Natural history of Saudi Arabia: A bibliography, by K.H. Batanouny. King Abdul- university, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 1978. 121 p.
Oil has changed the face of Saudi Arabia, but the Government is moving ahead with efforts to develop other resources as well. K.H. Batanouny's bibliography focuses on agriculture, water and mineral resources, all of which are areas with promise according to surveys already made. The bibliography surveys the literature available in a number of particular fields, including water resources, land use, grazing, irrigation, salinity, sand movements, fauna, vegetation, soils and climate. Concluding the book is a description of explorations and expeditions on the Arabian peninsula.
Saving threatened deer
Threatened Deer: Proceedings of a Working Meeting of the Deer Specialist Group of the Survival Service Commission. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), Morges Switzerland, 1979. 434 p.
This book, prepared by IUCN with the assistance of UNEP, presents the documents from a meeting on threatened deer populations held between September 1 and October 26, 1977 in Longview, Washington, USA. Species both close to extinction or under pressure were considered and dossiers were compiled for appropriate restoration, study or management programmes.
The IUCN's Survival Service Commission, which since 1949 has had responsibility for the collection and dissemination of data on threatened species and subspecies, has initiated eight major projects in the past four years under the Threatened Deer Programme. In addition, three national projects and about a dozen smaller survey projects have been added.
In addition to presenting documents from the Longview meeting, the book offers a progress review and a discussion of the future direction of the Threatened Deer Programme.
All about lignin
Lignin biodegradation and transformation, by Ronald L. Crawford. New York, John Wiley and sons. 1981. 117 p. Graphs, charts, 21 p. of references. Price: US$19.05.
Ronald L. Crawford, a former industry consultant and currently Associate Professor of Microbiology at the Gray Freshwater Biological Institute, University of Minnesota, has attempted in this book to collect and summarize the essential literature on lignin-related biodegradation over the last 100 years. His book is intended as a working reference for microbiologists, biochemists, biological engineers, plant pathologists and industrial bio conversion specialists.
The book is divided into seven major sections: (1) the ecological and industrial importance of lignin; (2) the chemical structure of lignin; (3) methods for studying lignin biodegradation; (4) lignin-degrading microorganisms; (5) lignin biodegradation within natural environments; (6) the biochemistry and microbial physiology of lignin biodegradation; and (7) the future for lignin biodegradation research.
Appropriate technology directory
Directory of institutions and individuals active in en environmentally sound anti appropriate technologies, Vol. 1. United Nations Environment Programme/Pergamon Press, Oxford, England, 1979. 120 p. Price: $20.00.
Two thousand worldwide institutions which can supply information to inquirers on aspects of environmentally sound technology are included in this directory.
Find the Unasylva article, author, editorial, book review you are looking for quickly and easily in the INDEX 1974-80 (Unasylva, Vol. 33, No. 132, 1981). Ask for a copy when you send in your order for a new subscription (see p. 39).
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