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1.
Managing karst in Coastal British Columbia, Canada : systems and implementation results
Paul Andre Griffiths, 2020, doctoral dissertation

Abstract: This thesis provides a detailed description and analysis of the system used for managing karst in the forests of coastal British Columbia (BC), where the major land- use activity is industrial forestry. In 2004, BC shifted from a more prescriptive forest management model (the Forest Practices Code) to a less regulated, results-based approach based primarily on the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA). The dissertation examines how this results-based management approach for forest resources has worked – or not worked – with respect to karst. The research focused on the five key realms of an environmental management system as defined by the International Standards Organization (ISO 14001 standard): 1) Legislation and Policy, 2) Planning, 3) Implementation, 4) Checking/Corrective Action, and 5) Management Review. The research also examined the roles of professional reliance (another major foundational element of the FRPA model), karst research, and organizational capacity as external factors which influence on the functioning of the karst management system. A combination of interviews, surveys, document reviews and field observations were used to collect qualitative information relevant to all aspects of the karst management system. This research reveals inadequacies in all five realms of BC’s current karst management framework, including gaps in legislation, a lack of implementation of existing standards and guidelines, and non-existent effectiveness and compliance monitoring. The results suggest that BC’s shift to ‘self-regulation’ has yielded unsatisfactory results so far for karst resources and has hindered progress toward implementing a fully integrated science-based ecosystem approach to karst management in the study area. Professional reliance failures are identified as one of the key factors contributing to a breakdown of the management system for karst. This is the first comprehensive study that examines the systems and processes used for managing karst in coastal BC, and consolidates knowledge for government, industry, and others that wish to study or better understand BC’s approach and methods for managing karst. The findings will be useful for private and public forest sector organizations endeavoring to implement fully-functional and effective systems for managing karst in a forestry context. This information may also have more specific applications for managing karst.
Keywords: karst ecosystems, protection and management, legislation, policies, standards and guidelines, environmental degradation, forestry impacts, professional reliance, British Columbia, Canada
Published in RUNG: 02.03.2020; Views: 4559; Downloads: 71
.pdf Full text (136,27 MB)

2.
Evaluation of policy and technical factors for the protection of karst aquifers
Katarina Kosič Ficco, 2019, doctoral dissertation

Abstract: Karst aquifer protection remains inchoate. National and international legally-binding mechanisms rarely consider implementation of karst-specific measures for their evaluation and protection. Although developing suitable protection measures for karst aquifers is challenging because their variable character hampers implementation of generalized methods, it is not impossible. As presented in this dissertation, consideration of scientific aspects and inclusion of karst-specific evaluation methods is of great importance. However, the additional inclusion of socio-political aspects is also crucial for advances in karst aquifer protection. Analyses of current European Union and United States of America policies performed in this study have shown that they can provide valuable input regarding the topic. It is also clear that accounting for the interests of affected entities, such as policy-makers, stakeholders and the public, is critical. Satisfying their needs, and assuring their understanding of karst aquifers, can ease and improve implementations of adopted measures. By recognizing these aspects, an interdisciplinary framework for karst aquifer protection was developed, and is presented in this study. The so-called K-framework, developed as a checklist, assures implementation of necessary steps for comprehensive karst aquifer evaluation and management. It further defines how each entity can contribute to the process by providing their knowledge, and allocates responsibilities of each sphere. An important attribute of the proposed framework is that it can be used on varying karst terrains and for various impacts that might threaten karst aquifers. Additionally, it is cost- and time-efficient, while still considering important aspects of karst and insuring the inclusion of important affected parties.
Keywords: aquifer, groundwater, karst, protection, environmental legislation, confined animal feeding operation, vulnerability mapping
Published in RUNG: 17.06.2019; Views: 4704; Downloads: 147
.pdf Full text (11,63 MB)

3.
REVITALISATION OF RUINS AND THE IMPACT ON CONSERVATION POLICIES IN SLOVENIA. CASE STUDY OF THE CARTHUSIAN MONASTERY AT ŽIČE, SLOVENIA
Mateja Golež, 2019, doctoral dissertation

Abstract: The doctoral dissertation in question presents in detail the issue of protecting architectural heritage as ruins on the example of the Žiče Charterhouse complex in Slovenia. The author based her work on the history of conservation, internationally applicable charters related to architectural heritage protection and on examples taken from international conservation practice. Although the Slovenian conservation profession, as an independent technical and scientific discipline, received its formal legal status through the emergence of independent Slovenia merely a couple of decades ago, it is possible to claim that Slovenia, with its first academically qualified conservation specialists Avguštin Stegenšek and France Stele, was in contact with active policy on heritage protection as early as before World War I, when the Slovenian territory was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and also after the War, when the territory was annexed to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Despite long-standing efforts, Slovenians did not achieve the legal protection of architectural heritage until early 1980s, when an independent act on the protection of natural and cultural heritage was adopted in former Yugoslavia. Because of this, the tasks carried out by conservation specialists until that time primarily focused on documenting heritage and carrying out the most pressing maintenance works. Since all major international charters related to cultural heritage protection were signed when Slovenia was part of former Yugoslavia and after it became independent, it is not possible to claim that the profession did not follow the international legal order in this field. This is why it is sometimes difficult to understand the large gap between international technical criteria and the conservation decisions made by Slovenian conservation experts when performing intervention works on structures or sites of cultural value in Slovenia. To improve this condition, it is therefore vital that buildings be treated comprehensively prior to interventions, including in terms of carrying out natural science and technical research studies that provide an insight into the materials, structural frame and building physics of a building, as shown in the doctoral dissertation on the example of the ruin of the Church of St. John the Baptist at Žiče Charterhouse. Only by carefully analysing historic materials, it is possible to make the right decision on the use of adequate substitute materials for the needs of maintaining a ruin and, only on the basis of preliminary research made into structural frames, it will be possible to monitor the vitality of ruins in future, whereby using state-of-the-art research methods from conservation science. Since the Church of St. John the Baptist has lost its original intended use and also the possibility to get it back, the author of the dissertation proposes that the structure not be reconstructed, since this would imply a major deviation from original architecture, with a shortage of adequate documentation that would provide a basis for credible reconstruction. For this reason, the author of the doctoral dissertation defends the position that the Church be protected as a ruin. The operator of the monastery complex and the entire valley of St. John, where the remains of the lower and upper monastic houses of the Žiče Charterhouse are located, now faces quite a challenging task. It will have to prepare a management plan that will foresee expert bases for sustainable use of natural and cultural values of this site and a suitable development policy, whereby giving the key role to the local community.
Keywords: ruins, architectural history, legislation, international charters, revitalization, natural science research, Žiče monastery
Published in RUNG: 22.01.2019; Views: 5055; Downloads: 158
.pdf Full text (12,67 MB)

4.
Proposals for integrating karst aquifer evaluation methodologies into national environmental legislations
Katarina Kosič Ficco, 2015

Abstract: Characterization of karst aquifers in order to reduce the impacts of human activities on these vital groundwater resources poses a significant challenge for scientists, land managers and policy makers. Methods and criteria for improvement of karst management have been suggested by the scientific community in order to assure the preservation of karst groundwater resources. However, these methods are rarely integrated into national groundwater protection policies. A case-based study of a swine confined animal feeding operation sited on mantled karst terrain in the southern Ozark Highlands in the State of Arkansas, United States of America helped illustrate why karst-specific evaluation methods should be implemented in national legislation. Through the review of the area’s geomorphology and hydrogeology, dye tracer test results, and existing state and federal legislation and permitting processes for confined animal feeding operations, proposed improvements to existing legislation for confined animal feeding operations were developed. The study provides an example of how integrating science into policy-making can enhance protection of valuable groundwater resources. The original publication is published in Sustainable Water Resources Management, Springer, ISSN 2363-5037 Volume 1 Number 4, in 2015. The final publication is available at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40899-015-0032-5.
Keywords: Karst aquifers, Vulnerability, Groundwater protection, Legislation, CAFO
Published in RUNG: 05.07.2017; Views: 5055; Downloads: 0
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