Kogila Vani Annammala, Anand Nainar, Abdul Rahim Mohd Yusoff, Zulkifli Yusop, Kawi Bidin, Rory Peter Dominic Walsh, William H. Blake, Faizuan Abdullah, Dhinesh Sugumaran and Khuneswari Gopal Pillay
Although there have been extensive studies on the hydrological and erosional impacts of logging, relatively little is known about the impacts of conversion into agricultural…
Abstract
Although there have been extensive studies on the hydrological and erosional impacts of logging, relatively little is known about the impacts of conversion into agricultural plantation (namely rubber and oil palm). Furthermore, studies on morphological impacts, sediment-bound chemistry and forensic attribution of deposited sediment to their respective sources are scarcer. This chapter introduces the potential for using the multi-proxy sediment fingerprinting technique in this context. Featuring pilot projects in two major flood-prone river systems in Malaysia, the studies explore application of geochemistry-based sediment source ascription. The geochemical signatures of sediment mixtures on floodplains were compared to sediments from upstream source tributaries. The tributaries were hypothesised to have different geochemical signatures in response to dominant land management. The first case study took place in the Segama River system (4,023 km2) of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo where a mixture of primary forest, logged-forests and oil palm plantations were predominant. The second case study was in the Kelantan River Basin (13,100 km2) with two major tributaries (Galas River and Lebir River) where logged-forests and rubber and oil palm plantations are dominant land-uses. Both case studies demonstrated the applicability of this method in ascribing floodplain deposited sediment to their respective upstream sources. Preliminary results showed that trace elements associated with fertilisers (e.g. copper and vanadium) contribute to agricultural catchment signatures. Alkaline and alkaline-earth elements were linked to recently established oil palm plantations due to soil turnover. Mixing model outputs showed that contributions from smaller, more severely disturbed catchment are higher than those from larger but milder disturbed catchments. This method capitalises on flood events to counter its adverse impacts by identifying high-priority sediment source areas for efficient and effective management.
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It is to be regretted that Local Authorities are the subject of some criticism regarding their attitude to Clean Food Weeks. Indeed, an eminent speaker in a recent B.B.C…
Abstract
It is to be regretted that Local Authorities are the subject of some criticism regarding their attitude to Clean Food Weeks. Indeed, an eminent speaker in a recent B.B.C. discussion programme confessed to having never heard of the project. That, in some instances, this criticism is justified there can be no doubt. During the past twelve months approximately one hundred of these weeks have been held throughout the country. Their value cannot be underestimated. Propaganda and guidance are the weapons of this campaign, and these, where possible, are surely preferable to legal action. The local Press shows an admirable willingness to co‐operate in these projects, and this assistance can be of immeasurable value. Irrespective of what the Ministries of Food and Health do, or do not do, to promote food hygiene, it is the responsibility of every Local Authority to ensure that its traders and public realise the prime importance of a fuller understanding of the necessity for clean food. Since their conception, the Model Byelaws have been favourably received. Of the 1,444 Local Authorities in England and Wales, 1,200 have taken steps for their partial adoption, whilst in over 800 of these cases their full usage has been confirmed. Although the gaining of the co‐operation of the trader is the first step, the education of the general public can play a major part in the suppression of the sale of contaminated, and even in some cases adulterated, food. The public is sometimes termed “food conscious”—we are not quite sure what this expression means, but a public fully conscious of the dangers of unclean food can do a great deal to ease the work of the already overburdened Food and Drugs Officer. In a recent article in this Journal, Mr. R. A. Robinson mentions the “careless admission of foreign bodies in loaves and the rest”. Whether or not the purchaser of such an article should report the matter to the Local Health Department, or remonstrate with the retailer, is not our concern at the moment, but the increase in the number of these complaints is due to a greater alertness in the purchaser, and not, we trust, to an increasing carelessness on the part of the manufacturer. The aim of all Public Health Departments should be to encourage the public to insist upon a clean restaurant or café, where the food is hygienically prepared; once this is established, the undesirable premises will be forced either to improve their standards or to put up their shutters through lack of business. An excellently written booklet, eminently suitable for public distribution in connection with Clean Food Weeks, is reviewed elsewhere in this issue. An intensive drive now for a general education in the dangers of contaminated food will repay a full dividend in the not too far distant future.
Accident prevention and the avoidance of occupational ill health are important from the legal, humanitarian, social and business efficiency aspects. If genuine concern for people…
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Accident prevention and the avoidance of occupational ill health are important from the legal, humanitarian, social and business efficiency aspects. If genuine concern for people is the prime motivator then, armed with the knowledge contained in this article, any company can establish a good safety record.
It has been said that about 90 per cent of new management techniques are old ideas put into new words and given contemporary names like Management by Objectives, Value…
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It has been said that about 90 per cent of new management techniques are old ideas put into new words and given contemporary names like Management by Objectives, Value Engineering, Operational Research, and so on. So too with the growing pressure on firms to tell their workers (or some of their workers who are called shop stewards) the facts of business life. Today we call it ‘disclosure of information’; at one time it was called ‘putting them in the picture’.
Ask young executives what they think management is, and one is given a vague and somewhat confused answer: linking together the work of a lot of people by such techniques as…
The continuation of legislative developments affecting the employment and welfare of people at work is creating a need for a thorough re‐assessment of personnel sections, and…
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The continuation of legislative developments affecting the employment and welfare of people at work is creating a need for a thorough re‐assessment of personnel sections, and maybe an audit to see how the latter are coping with new needs. At any one time so much is in the pipe‐line (as I write, there are proposed codes of practice in three areas by ACAS, and proposed regulations by the Health and Safety at Work Commission) that it almost needs a separate crystal ball section forecasting future needs for advice and assistance to line management in keeping in touch with changing requirements. It is not just that proposals are difficult to keep in touch with, but that what happens to them becomes confused.
Despite being involved in the roughest economic climate since 1945 and despite the growing recession in trade, one of the growth points of business in Europe is the study of the…
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Despite being involved in the roughest economic climate since 1945 and despite the growing recession in trade, one of the growth points of business in Europe is the study of the social performance of firms.
The Royal Assent to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 received a sixteen line paragraph in Topics for September. In dozens of journals it did not even rate a mention. But if…
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The Royal Assent to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 received a sixteen line paragraph in Topics for September. In dozens of journals it did not even rate a mention. But if what Lord Robens in his 1972 Report saw as necessary for securing better standards of health and safety at work is to be realised, the education and training programme necessary is wide and deep.
As more firms become interested in the idea of work restructuring to provide satisfying (or maybe just more satisfying) jobs, so the seminar construction industry is faced with a…
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As more firms become interested in the idea of work restructuring to provide satisfying (or maybe just more satisfying) jobs, so the seminar construction industry is faced with a new challenge — how do we meet the need for practical training?