Coastal Water Bodies Nature and Culture Conflicts in the Mediterranean

About this book

There is a need of books addressing the links between science and the real world with a sound scientific baseline. Coastal Water Bodies targets researchers of various disciplines, for an integrated sustainable management of water bodies. The main topic of Coastal Water Bodies is not the ecology according to its common acceptation but rather the 'places and people' involved – the former, being coastal zones of the Mediterranean rich in ecological value; the latter, being different social subjects.

Local people survive thanks to these environmental resources, whereas others make use of them, but are alien to the place. Integration, the joint consideration of different aspects of water uses and values, even conflictive, is useful to enhance people benefits, but this requires new ways of understanding and managing conflicts around water use. Sustainability of the ecological and socioeconomic environments does not require a no-conflict, consensual quiet scenario (or even is incompatible with it), but rather a scenario in which conflicts exist but are properly managed in a non-destructive manner. This reasonable principle is – inevitably – abstract, whereas reality is manifold and concrete.

Contents

1. Mediterranean Coastal Areas at Risk Between Conservation and Development
1.1 Issues of the Mediterranean Coastal Zone and the Challenge of Integration
1.2 The WADI Project Approach
1.3 Nature and Culture Conflicts at Study-site Level
1.4 Shared Expertise and Policy Making
1.5 Lessons Learnt from the WADI Experience
1.6 References

2. Wetland Socioeconomy: The Case of Lake Maryut (Egypt)
2.1 Conceptual Framework
2.2 The WADI Experience on Maryut Study Site
2.3 What Should Be Done?
2.4 References

3. Integration of the Gender Dimension Into Socio-economic Analysis
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Results: From the Case Studies to an Overall Perspective
3.3 Common Issues
3.4 Common Driving Forces
3.5 Lessons Learnt in a Wider Perspective
3.6 References

4. Environmental Conflicts and Conflict Management: Some Lessons from the WADI Experience at El Hondo Nature Park (Southeastern Spain)
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Background on Conflict and Conflict Analysis
4.3 The Importance of Defining 'Conflict'
4.4 The Central Role of Conflicts in the Rationale of WADI
4.5 Narratives as Necessary Results of WADI
4.6 El Hondo as a Conflictive Site: Science and Integrated Science and the Reframing of Conflicts: Two Illustrative Cases
4.7 WADI in the Boxing Ring of El Hondo: Testing the Role of Integrated Research in Re-framing of Conflicts
4.8 References

5. Soil Salinisation in the Grosseto Plain (Maremma, Italy): An Environmental and Socio-economic Analysis of the Impact on the Agro-ecosystem
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The Grosseto Plain: A Recent Landscape with an Age-old History
5.3 The Agricultural Structure of the Grosseto Plain
5.4 Salinity Hazard in the Grosseto Plain
5.5 Soil Salinisation and Agronomic Management of the Irrigated Land of Maremma
5.6 References

6. Evolution, Impacts and Management of the Wetlands of the Grosseto Plain, Italy
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Origins and Evolution of the Grosseto Plain
6.3 Diaccia Botrona Provincial Nature Reserve
6.4 The Maremma Regional Park
6.5 The Other Coastal Wetlands of the 'Maremma Wetland Complex'
6.6 General Considerations on Management Strategies and Conclusions
6.7 References

7. The Ombrone Delta and the Two Chief Systems of the World Today: Environmentalist and Economicist
7.1 The Occasion: How Geographers Have Studied the Ombrone Delta
7.2 The Construction: How the 'Park' Has Formed
7.3 The Alienation: How Society Has Forgotten Nature
7.4 The Infatuation: How the Sentimental Animalism Has Asserted Itself
7.5 The Discrimination: How the Antithesis Between Protected and Not Protected Areas Has Been Imposed
7.6 The Mystification: How Scientific Data on Climate Change Have Become a Trendy Bias
7.7 The Subornation: How Scientific Data on the Environment Have Become a Political Passkey
7.8 The Falsification: How Scientific Data on the Environment Have Become an Economical Deceit
7.9 The Suggestion: How To Appreciate the Historical and Literary Antecedents of Environmentalism
7.10 The Conversion: How Suggestive the Philosophical Roots of Environmentalism Are
7.11 The Confusion: How Environmentalism and Economicism Eventually Merge
7.12 The Camouflage: How To Go Back to the Story of the Delta and the Park
7.13 The Revelation: How Environmentalism Can Exploit Religion Too
7.14 The Resignation: How Not To Deceive Oneself
7.15 References

Index

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