This study is part of the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), a project designed to expand the world's knowledge of physical infrastructure in Africa. The AICD will provide a baseline ...against which future improvements in infrastructure services can be measured, making it possible to monitor the results achieved from donor support. It should also provide a more solid empirical foundation for prioritizing investments and designing policy reforms in the infrastructure sectors in Africa. The AICD is based on an unprecedented effort to collect detailed economic and technical data on the infrastructure sectors in Africa. The project has produced a series of original reports on public expenditure, spending needs, and sector performance in each of the main infrastructure sectors, including energy, information and communication technologies, irrigation, transport, and water and sanitation. The first phase of the AICD focused on 24 countries that together account for 85 percent of the gross domestic product, population, and infrastructure aid flows of Sub- Saharan Africa. Under a second phase of the project, coverage is expanding to include as many of the additional African countries as possible.
The article based on legislative acts of Soviet Russia and unpublished sources of the State Archive of the Arkhangelsk Oblast, describes the features of incorporation of Russangloles, Russhollandoles ...and Russnorvegoles joint-stock companies, operating in the North of Russia in the 1920s. The article analyzes the Standard Agreement on Timber Concessions (1922), which was used by the Soviet state and foreign entrepreneurs in the process of drafting concession agreements in the timber industry and the Scheme for Constructing a Standard Agreement on Timber Concession. The study of these sources allows reconstructing the principle of forming contracts contributing to Russangloles, Russhollandoles and Russnorvegoles functioning.
The exceptional endemic species richness found in the Tropical Andes is being subjected to high rates of environmental degradation and natural resources exploitation. While many forms of land-cover ...change and other impacts on species are difficult to control through environmental regulations, governments usually determine how and where extractive industries can take place. This study examines potential conflict between the location of extractive industry activities and biodiversity conservation in the Peruvian Andes. Using geographic information systems, we carry out overlay analyses to determine the spatial congruence between mineral mining, hydrocarbon and logging concessions, on the one hand, and the distribution of protected areas and endemic vertebrate species on the other. The results show that regional protected areas extensively overlap with resource concessions. Furthermore, 16% of endemic species hotspots concur with current concessions, while the geographical distribution of 21 endemic vertebrate species overlap by more than 90% with concession areas. To reconcile conservation and economic development objectives in the future, the geographical distribution of biodiversity, and in particular of endemic species, needs to be considered in natural resources planning and land-use/management activities.
•Land-use conflicts between extractive industries and biodiversity are examined.•Conservation areas overlap with logging, mining and hydrocarbon concessions.•Several endemic species almost exclusively occur within resource concession areas.•Better natural resources planning is needed for enhanced biodiversity conservation.
The distinctive feature of nautical tourism ports is that the shore and associated sea area, seabed and subsoil are economically exploited for the construction and use of a port to provide services ...in nautical tourism. This paper presents and analyses legal regimes for nautical tourism ports in four Mediterranean countries, members of the European Union: Croatia, Spain, Italy and Malta. The common characteristic of these legal regimes is that their shores and ports are under the legal regime of a common or public maritime domain, i.e. either extra commertium or property owned by the state, but inalienable and incapable of being the subject matter of private ownership or other real rights. Consequently, the economic exploitation of the maritime domain is possible exclusively by means of concession. It is in this context that the authors analyse the applicable national legal rules, their interpretation and enforcement having in mind in particular the specific impact of the European Union rules and the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
El rasgo distintivo de los puertos deportivos es que la costa y las aguas marítimas asociadas, los fondos marinos y el subsuelo se explotan económicamente para la construcción y uso de un puerto que proporciona servicios de turismo náutico. El presente trabajo analiza el régimen jurídico de los puertos deportivos en cuatro Estados mediterráneos miembros de la Unión Europea: Croacia, España, Italia y Malta. La característica común de todos ellos es que sus costas y puertos son bienes de dominio público marítimo, es decir, bienes extra commertium o de propiedad del Estado inalienables, sin que puedan ser de propiedad privada o de otros derechos reales. En consecuencia, la explotación económica del dominio marítimo solo es posible mediante concesión. Es en este contexto en el que los autores analizan las legislaciones de dichos Estados, su interpretación y aplicación, teniendo en cuenta, en particular, la influencia del derecho europeo y las sentencias del Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea.
The article analyzes the experience of the concession policy implementation by the RSFSR and the USSR during the 20s of the twentieth century and the approaches used in its framework, which allowed ...solving simultaneously a wide range of tasks related to the rise of the domestic economy and overcoming foreign policy isolation. This experience of the Soviet state can be used to solve the challenges the Russian Federation is facing today. The authors substantiate that the concession policy of the Soviet state was a rationally constructed mechanism able to solve a number of tasks. 1) Creation of foreign concessions in the Soviet country contributed to withdrawal from the diplomatic blockade declared by Western countries. 2) Through the concession policy the obligations of the Russian Empire to foreign investors were renewed in the conditions of a socialist economy. 3) By creating concessions the Soviet government headed by V.I. Lenin attracted the material and technological resources of the European countries and the USA for the development of the economy of the Soviet country. 4) At concession enterprises models of industrial relations with a high level of labor organization and living conditions of workers were formed at the expense of foreign investors, which then had to be introduced everywhere. 5) The concession policy covered the national suburbs and contributed to unification of the economic potential of the republics as part of the USSR. The analysis of the legal regulation of concession relationships carried out in this article gives reason to suppose that the concession policy of the Soviet state should not be reduced to the NEP because its implementation started earlier. In fact, it was launched with the adoption of the Decree of the Council of People’s Commissars of November 23, 1920 On General Economic and Legal Conditions for Concessions and within its framework a range of tasks that went far beyond the economic recovery envisaged by the NEP through private law principles was solved. Attention should also be paid to the constitutional nature of the regulation of concession legal relations, which was determined by the “Treaty on the USSR Foundation of 1922” and the Constitution of 1924.
A multifunctional landscape approach to forest protection has been advocated for tropical countries. Designing such landscapes necessitates that the role of different land uses in protecting forest ...be evaluated, along with the spatial interactions between land uses. However, such evaluations have been hindered by a lack of suitable analysis methodologies and data with fine spatial resolution over long time periods. We demonstrate the utility of a matching method with multiple categories to evaluate the role of alternative land uses in protecting forest. We also assessed the impact of land use change trajectories on the rate of deforestation. We employed data from Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) at three different time periods during 2000-2012 to illustrate our approach. Four single land uses (protected areas (PA), natural forest logging concessions (LC), timber plantation concessions (TC) and oil-palm plantation concessions (OC)) and two mixed land uses (mixed concessions and the overlap between concessions and PA) were assessed. The rate of deforestation was found to be lowest for PA, followed by LC. Deforestation rates for all land uses tended to be highest for locations that share the characteristics of areas in which TC or OC are located (e.g. degraded areas), suggesting that these areas are inherently more susceptible to deforestation due to foregone opportunities. Our approach provides important insights into how multifunctional landscapes can be designed to enhance the protection of biodiversity.
•The potential concession area in the Brazilian Amazon is 35 Mha.•In the Brazilian Amazon timber production can be maintained for only one harvest cycle.•The most sustainable logging regime involves ...extraction of 10 m3 ha−1 every 60 years.•Sustainable timber production cannot not ensure the present annual production of 11 Mm3.•Additional sources of timber should be sought.
In 2006, the Brazilian Forest Service (SFB) started an ambitious program to establish forest concessions so as to provide a legal framework for long-term sustainable timber production in Amazonian forests. Forest concessions in the Brazilian Amazon currently cover only 1.6 million ha (Mha) but we estimate the area of all potential concessions as 35 Mha. This paper assessed the conditions under which the present and potential concession system can ensure an annual production of 11 Mm3. yr−1 to meet the estimated present timber demand. For this we used the volume dynamics with differential equations model (VDDE) calibrated for the Amazon Basin with a Bayesian framework with data from 3500 ha of forest plots monitored for as long as 30 years after selective logging. Predictions of commercial volume recovery rates vary with location.
We tested 27 different scenarios by using combinations of initial proportion of commercial volume, logging intensity and cutting cycle length. These scenarios were then applied to the current area of concessions and to the area of all potential concessions (35 Mha). Under current logging regulations and the current concession area (mean logging intensity of 15–20 m3.ha−1, a harvest cycle of 35 years and an initial commercial timber volume proportion of 20%), timber production can be maintained only for a single cutting cycle (35 years). Only the scenario with a logging intensity of 10 m3ha−1 every 60 years with a 90% initial proportion of commercial timber species can be considered as sustainable. Under this scenario, the maximum annual production with the present concession areas is 159,000 m3 (157–159), or less than 2% of the present annual production of 11 Mm3. When considering all potential concession areas (35 Mha), under current rules, the total annual production is 10 Mm3yr−1 (2–17 Mm3yr−1, 95% credibility interval) but is not maintained after the first logging cycle. Under the most sustainable scenario (see above) and a concession area of 35 Mha, the long-term sustainable annual production of timber reaches only 3.4 Mm3yr−1. Based on these results we argue that the concession system will not be able to supply the timber demand without substantial reforms in natural forest management practices and in the wood industry sector. We argue that alternative sources of timber, including plantations linked with forest restoration initiatives, must be promoted.
A terminal concession agreement represents the final outcome of a negotiation (that may take different legal forms) among a port authority and one or more terminal operators. In most cases, it ...defines the duties and responsibilities of the two parties for a very long period of time. Once the concession is awarded, its legal obligations remain (or ought to remain) fixed irrespective of changes that may happen in the port industry. In this sense, authors have often raised the question whether modifications to the current concession fee structure are possible in order to align public and private goals, and increase terminal performance. The importance of this issue lies in the fact that, in several port governance models, concessions are static agreements in which fees and other conditions in general do not change over time. The current paper addresses this issue, discussing the possibility—and the advantages—of introducing a dynamic approach, able to guarantee benefits to both the terminal operator and the Port Authority. To achieve this goal, the paper develops a methodology based on dynamic incentives, based on the relative performance of a port terminal operator in respect of its competitors.
This study explores the integration of legal timber harvesting and conservation efforts in the Amazon, repurposing wood processing waste into biofuel through pelletization to meet environmental ...standards and reduce diesel dependence in isolated systems. The research focuses on pellets derived from six Amazonian species managed sustainably: Peltogyne lecointei (S1), Erisma uncinatum (S2), Martiodendron elatum (S3), Handroanthus incanus (S4), Dipteryx odorata (S5), and Allantoma decandra (S6). Four blends (B1: S5 and S6; B2: all species; B3: S1, S3, S4 and S5; B4: S2 and S6) with different species combinations are pelleted at 8 % and 10 % moisture content. Pellet characteristics are compared with ISO 17225-2 standards 1, including calorific value, bulk density, water content, dimensions, ash content, mechanical durability, and fines. Although blends B1, B2, and B3 meet A1-criteria, none achieve the required 96.5 % mechanical durability. B3, pelleted with 10 % moisture content, exhibits the highest durability (90.4 %). Pelletization enhanced the bioenergy density by 255 % and showed a bioenergy index up to 12.50 GJ m−3. The produced pellets reported a potential CO2 emissions mitigation of up to 1259.38 kgCO2eq by replacing diesel fuel. However, the blends do not meet the sulfur (>0.05 %) content requirement for industrial and domestic applications, deserving further investigation into pre-treatment.
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Created as a centerpiece for the Columbian Exposition of 1893, the Midway Plaisance was for one summer the world's most wondrous thoroughfare. A journey along its length immersed millions of ...spellbound visitors in a spectacle that merged exoticism with enlightenment and artistic crafts with dizzying technical achievement. Norman Bolotin, with Christine Laing, draws on his vast knowledge of the 1893 exposition to escort readers down the Midway. Step by step he takes you past forbidding Dahomeyans and dozens of belly dancers until, at last, you reach the colossal Ferris Wheel with cabins the size of street cars. The tour reveals the immense scale and variety of the experience in sensual detail--the thirsty crowds and the pungent aromas of exotic foods, the Libbey Glass Factory and the screams from the Ice Railway, the snake charmers and the hawkers selling a thousand souvenirs. Throughout, Bolotin details how the organizers--encouraging patrons to spend a little here and a little there--brought off an extravaganza that paid its costs and achieved every one of its goals, including profitability for the fair and immortality.
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