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VII > Indicators
D. Developing sustainable development indicators
Composite Environmental Indicators
An environment basically represents an integration of living and non
living ecological components in a composite way. This can be exemplified
by combination of air, water, soil solar radiation under non living (abiotic)
component and an aggregation of plants, animals, micro-organism, human
under living (biotic) component. The human factor also feature several
dimension; socio-cultural-economic and
legal-political-administrative-institutional aspects, which are important
to ensure implementation of a development plan, program or a project in a
sustainable way. This corresponds fundamental need of an integration of
multidisciplinary information on different basic environmental factors as
indicated above from ecosystemic and holistic perspective for
environmentally sound and sustainable decision making. In turn, composite
environmental indicators help to ensure planning, implementation and
monitoring of a development program/ project in an environmentally and
economically sustainable way.
Composite environmental indicators such as Geographical Information system
(GIS) include factual information on interrelated environmental
components. For example, impacts of a project on public health and land
degradation from an ecosystem perspective. Some of the relevant composite
environmental indicators can be exemplified as follows:
Water balance:
Freshwater represents a most useful
but increasingly scarce resource. One of the parameter of living standard is
based upon per capita consumption rate of freshwater. The developing country
including ESCAP region, which feature
high population growth rate and high population density but inadequate supply
of freshwater even for domestic use hold high importance in sustainable use and
management of water resource. For composite indicator data on water balance
requires integration of different database such as watershed area,
deforestation, landslide, human density, soil type, water supply/ demand
situation, and ground water extraction status from watershed approach.
Information on conservation status such as flood protection, bioengineering,
plantation, water user group formation, wetland conservation, rain water
harvesting are also required. Besides, gaps in formulation and implementation
of regulations relevant to sustainable use of water also important for proper
implementation perspective. For regional level environmental management,
composite indicator of regional level is required.
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Carrying capacity:
It is a most popular but generally
less understood concept with respect to goal of sustainable development, which
stress on inter-generational equity on
resource use. Exploitation of any resource exceeding its carrying capacity or
ecological capacity lead to extinction or degradation beyond restoration. Hence
for sustainable utilization of a resource it is essential to estimate its
carrying capacity. To formulate database on carrying capacity requires
information on biomass, primary production, natural stock regeneration potential,
resource flow dynamics and human pressure. It emphasize on consumption rate not
exceeding production rate. By appropriate technology and conservation practice
, carrying capacity can also be increased.
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Pollution composite indicator:
Due to growing industrialization,
urbanization and consumerism across the globe, environmental pollution is on
increase in absence of adequate waste recycling mechanism. This has posed a
grave threat on human health, carrying capacity of natural resource base and even
human civilization in national to regional level. Lesson can be learnt from
collapse of some river basin based ancient civilization due to gaps in resource
management. The pollution composite
indicator requires database on pollution status of air, water, land, solid
waste, noise and even thermal and radioactive waste pollution along with their
impact on human health, wild animals and plants. The type and magnitude of
pollution varies spatially between developed and developing countries, urban
and rural area, and temporally between different seasons.
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Land use composite indicator:
Agriculture is a major land use
type having high socio-economic impacts as it related with supply of food a
basic need item of human population. Environmentally unsustainable agricultural
practices such as farming in steep slopes, haphazard application of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides have led to degradation of agro-ecosystem and led to
vicious cycle of poverty at developing countries including that of Asia
and Pacific region, where still majority of population are agriculture
dependent. Sustenance of farming system relates with forest cover and
integrated pest and manure management with an emphasis on application of
organic matures and bio pesticides. For land use planning of an area, database
is required on habitat types, ratio of land use types such as forest,
grassland, farmland, barren area, water bodies, wetlands and settlements. For
environmentally sustainable land use planning of an area requires zonation of
settlement area, industrial area, waste management area, institutional/market
area and park/open spaces and conservation zone for any environmentally
sensitive area and rare, endangered species. Information on soil types,
permeability, forest: agriculture land ratio and growth pattern of urban area,
loss of forest cover, wetlands, loss of open spaces and increase in pollution
load in land use maps indicate trend and area of high level of human
disturbance. Land use composite indicator will help to provide a basis for
intervention to check further environmental degradation and sustenance of environmental quality of life.
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Amenity composite indicator:
There is growing trend of
urbanization and consumerism in world wide scale in search of better facility
in urban area. This has posed environmental stress particularly in urban area
in terms of high generation of wastes, such as plastics and urban pollution
load. From sustainable development and future perspective, it is necessary to
control high consumerism and promote environment friendly practices/products
such as clean technologies, biodegradable plastics. To monitor amenity level
there is a need of maintaining information on facilities such as safe drinking
water, nourished food, health, sanitation, education and job facility in urban
centers. In addition, data on availability of parks, open spaces, recreation
centers, hotels, business enterprise and facility of drainage, waste treatment,
waste recycling plants are also necessary. This will help to meet demand of
burgeoning population in an environmentally sound way. Indicators will help to
monitor environmental quality of life and to check deterioration of public
health and productivity which directly correlates with environmental
deterioration.
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Sustainability indicator:
Composite database on overall
environmental status and environmental planning of a country or a region
comprises stock and flow of natural resources. This also involves the practices
of sustainable harvesting of non–renewable resources and level of public
environmental awareness for sustainable resource utilization. Focused composite
indicator should cover basic environmental factors such as conservation of
soil, water, air, biodiversity, habitats, and social welfare. At regional
level, there exists some uniformity such as national priority on sustainable
development; however, there also exist some variations with respect to
environmental, political and legal conditions. Consistency in study
methodology, field techniques and monitoring standards should be maintained at
regional level. Monitoring may be carried out by private sector institution
related to environmental research/monitoring and environmental management and
sustainable development projects. This will ensure better quality unbiased result
with high professional standard. This
can be exemplified by conducting air quality monitoring at country level by
Bovar International, a private sector consortium at Malaysia
and monitoring of air quality at capital city by Clean Energy Nepal (CEN) a NGO
in Nepal.
Monitoring of arsenic level in deep tubewells across tropical low land
eco-region of Nepal
was carried out by another NGO called Environment and Public Health
organization (ENPHO).
Indicators on environmental quality
such as air quality, provides information status on level of pollution as
compared to permissible international standard such as of World Health
organization. It may also provide hidden cost of pollution such as increase in
number of medical expense, corresponding to cases having respiratory disease.
Environmental economics will provide useful information on natural resource
accounting. Such information on database/indicators may also indicate direction
of future trend of pollution problem, valuable to future planning from
sustainable development perspective.
Monitoring indicators do not
provide direct information on policy intervention, pollution mitigation
measures, and reaction of local community. Correlation of time series data will
provide indirect information on trend of improvement or decline in pollution
status. This indication will help to provide positive action toward
implementation of corrective measure. There has been less country level
initiative on linking and comparing environmental quality index at regional
level in south Asian context. In this line, International organization such as
Earth Watch, World Bank may provide some relevant information.
There exist no limitation of
environmental pollution at national border and environmental pollution problem
having regional to global level significance such as global warming is on
increase. In this context, it is high
time to forge regional linkage so as to facilitate mutual exchange of
informational conducive to amend environmental policy/plan and design of cost
effective and collaborative plan, program. This will help to tackle the problem
at regional level in more environmentally and economically sustainable
way. Rapport between relevant
institutions, research centers, expertise, and business/ industrial enterprises
is necessary at regional level. Compilation of environmental management related case studies and best
practices under joint venture of regional institutions will provide useful
input for policy makers and planners. It will strengthen regional cooperation
on issues of sustainable environmental management.
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