Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
time it clearly highlights the insights that environmental managers might
derive by using discourse analysis to better understand the hidden assump-
tions that lie behind dif erent management options.
Dif ering discourses are not only found in approaches to the manage-
ment of specii c resources or areas of land, but also in much higher-level
policy. Soi a Frantzi (Chapter 7) reviews dif erent perspectives on interna-
tional environmental regime ef ectiveness using the Mediterranean Action
Plan (MAP) as an example. Originally conceived by an 'epistemic commu-
nity' of scientists as a means of combating pollution in the Mediterranean
Sea, the MAP can also be regarded as a tool that enables Mediterranean
countries to come together for negotiation, with the technical manage-
ment goal of pollution reduction being subsidiary to the objective of more
general political cooperation. This insight is fundamental to understand-
ing why scientists often become frustrated with policy-makers when the
science i ndings they are trying to promote take a back seat to consid-
erations of trade and security, which are the main drivers of national
interests.
Staying in the marine environment, but with a local rather than inter-
national focus, Fiona Gell (Chapter 8) provides a detailed demonstration
of how understanding the economics behind natural resource use can lead
to a better understanding of how to ensure that resource use is sustain-
able. Gell looks at the economics of a seagrass i shery in the Quirimba
Archipelago, northern Mozambique. Through an in-depth analysis of the
socioeconomic dynamics of the people who rely on the i shery for their
livelihoods, Gell makes an informed set of management recommendations
for the long-term sustainable management of the i shery.
Claire Quinn and David Ockwell (Chapter 9) highlight an issue
common to many of the chapters in this handbook - that environmental
management for sustainable development needs to protect the environ-
ment at the same time as protecting and developing the livelihoods of
those people who depend on it. This is particularly important for some
of the world's poorest people whose livelihoods are often most dependent
on natural resources. Using the case study of semi-arid Tanzania, Quinn
and Ockwell highlight the reciprocal relationship that exists between the
environment and society. They then demonstrate how the paradigms that
dei ne environmental managers' and policy-makers' conceptions of eco-
logical and social problems are integral to dei ning the policy discourses
that shape the choice of management solutions. The authors provide a
clear example of how the traditional emphasis on the ecologically centred
'equilibrium theory' led to a view of pastoralism as responsible for envi-
ronmental degradation in semi-arid regions of sub-Saharan Africa. In
contrast, the alternative, more recently emerging ecological paradigm
