The carbon sequestration potential of trees grown on farmlands of Punjab has been estimated on the basis of data collected from 60 villages. A project based methodological approach was used to estimate the sequestration potential between 2005 and 2035. The results show that there is mitigation potential of 1.63 x 106 tC during the period of analysis and whole of this potential could be achieved at a negative cost where non-carbon revenue is sufficient to offset direct costs. Agroforestry seems to provide attractive options for Punjab state, as large number of farmer’s land area is dedicated to agriculture supported by irrigation facilities and high productivity of land.
The paper presents the evaluation of classrooms for young children in India, to assess their acoustical environments. The schools under consideration are located in an educationally advanced locality in India-a district in the southern part of India, namely Kanyakumari. Situated in a tropical climate, the classrooms have open windows and doors with the possibility of noise intrusion from outside. Schools are located in different regions to suit the conditions of education administrators and other factors, and not necessarily the best location for a learning environment. In this study, depending on the location of the schools and their external surroundings, the schools are classified into three categories: a) schools located near roads with heavy traffic (Noisy-sites), b) schools located within Housing sites, c) schools located in zones far from public roads and away from residences (Quiet sites). External and internal noise surveys have been conducted to evaluate the background noise within the classrooms. About 120 classrooms in 25 schools were selected for the study of the acoustic quality within the classrooms, based on measurements. The external noise has a very great influence on the background noise in empty classrooms with open windows. It may not be practicable for schools in tropical climates, where rooms with open windows and doors are realities, to conform to the guidelines of standards such as ANSI S12.60 or BB 93.
Forests are key element of terrestrial ecosystem that helps in maintaining ecological balance, biodiversity conservation, protection of watersheds, and control of soil erosion and provide various other ecosystem services. However, of late, forests have been adversely affected by tremendous pressure on account of numerous developmental and social needs such as diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes, timber, fuelwood, NTFP and other goods and services. Insufficient allocation of resources and infrastructure has further aggravated the problems being faced by the forest sector. Lack of public awareness about multiple functions of forests, undervaluation of goods and services provided by forest ecosystems has led to allocation of grossly insufficient funds and facilities to forest departments. With this background the present study was undertaken to demonstrate the valuation of tangible and intangible benefits that the society derives from FRI estate. The results have shown that the selected use and non-use values, viz., forestry research, education and extension, contribution of research in biodiversity conservation, existence & bequest values contributed the maximum i.e., 57.34% followed by values on account of environment attributes such as aesthetic view, climate amelioration and unpolluted environment contributed 32.08% towards the total economic value, which was calculated as Rs.5.89 crore on annual basis. Other goods and services such as direct consumptive and productive benefits, recreational benefits and carbon sequestration accounted for 7.31, 2.76 and 0.50%, respectively. The study has successfully highlighted the importance of intangible benefits from forests and demonstrated the need for proper economic valuation of country’s forests for informed decision making on their management.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.