Carrying capacity in agriculture: Environmental significance and some related patents

Agriculture is one of the most important and possibly the oldest economic activity developed by humans. This activity was developed extensively and is becoming more and more dependent on development of technologies. The goal of this manuscript was examining some patents related to technologies developed for improving crop yields. Such patents are mainly related to more efficient formulations of agrochemicals and management techniques of plants, cattle and natural resources. A brief comment is carried out about bioprospection and related problems, relating, for example the case of Cupuaçu. The article is concluded mentioning that the development of policies and management strategies that increase agricultural yield and simultaneously preserve or conserve natural resources should also be prioritized, because certainly this is the only way we have to get the real sustainability and to improve life quality abroad the world.

Environmental impacts of urban sprawl in Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

Public policies encouraging the insertion of large industrial and commercial developments near highways, associated to exclusionary housing policies, have shaped over the past decades a new urbanization phenomenon; the sprawl. This is largely characterized by discontinuous and fragmented occupation, with random population densities. This phenomenon brings environmental and social impacts to the urban and rural population, in addition to a great burden for the Government. In line with this and considering the lack of discussion about the topic, this paper discusses some of those impacts observed in Londrina - PR, Brazil. The influence of urban sprawl in this city has shown to impact traffic, waterproofing rates and green areas, in addition to underutilizing the infrastructure due to large urban voids and vacant lots. With the data presented here, it is hoped that debates emerge on the importance of rethinking the plan, so that everyone can have legal access to the city (endowed with infrastructure), as well as the importance of developing strategies to contain urban sprawl. © 2011 Journal of Urban and Environmental Engineering (JUEE). All rights reserved.

Green teams: Understanding their roles in the environmental management of companies located in Brazil

Green teams are frequently considered in the state-of-the-art literature as an essential factor for companies aiming to implement and improve environmental management approaches and practices. However, most of the available literature on green teams is conceptual and theoretical by nature. Therefore, the main purpose of this article is to evaluate the main characteristics of green teams in Brazilian companies and to analyse the relationships between green teams and the maturity level of environmental management in those companies. Based on a conceptual background on corporate environmental management and green teams, a research was done in two complementary phases: a survey of 94 companies with ISO 14001 certification; and a multiple case study of four industrial companies. Survey results suggest that 82% of the studied companies have cross-functional green teams, i.e. involving various companies' departments; and 65% have functional green teams, i.e. individual department teams. The results of the case study suggest that the use of green teams is an instrument to the greening of companies with ISO 14001 in Brazil. The company with the most proactive and advanced environmental management is the same company which uses green teams more intensely. Green teams are especially necessary for implementing more technical environmental management practices, e.g. Life Cycle Assessment. Since this is one of the first studies analysing green teams, the results presented can be useful for companies and public policies aiming to implementation of environmental initiatives. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reconstruction of the Environmental Quality Fuzzy Index

In the world stage, the environmental condition has been a big public policies issue. A clear understanding of the parameters that determine the state of the environment is essential for estimation of the quality of life of the population, not least since ecosystems are highly complex. Consequently, definition of public policies demands the use of evaluation tools that can combine and quantify information in a clear way. The use of indicators and indices that are able to translate the complexity of environmental conditions in cities into simpler terms has been increasingly effective in decision-making, since they assist in general evaluation of the situation in question, identification of priority actions and anticipation of future trends. In an attempt to evaluate the environmental conditions of the Brazilian city, Sorocaba, an Environmental Quality Fuzzy Index (IFQAmb) was proposed. In this work this methodology is improved. After reviewing the IFQAmb methodology, a number of changes in the index are proposed. Additional variables are suggested, derived from a State Environment Department program whose objective is to grant municipalities the title of Municipio Verde e Azul (Green and Blue City). In addition, a new rule base is being drafted to enable consideration of all possibilities, since in the existing version the use of specific criteria eliminates a significant number of rules. The changes seek to define with clarity and precision the conceptual aspects and structure of the IFQAmb, so that it can provide an even more effective evaluation of environmental performance, guiding future actions in order to improve the living conditions of the population of Sorocaba.

The first Brazilian municipal initiative of payments for environmental services and its potential for soil conservation

It has become evident that policies aimed at mitigating the growing water resources and water use conflicts in Brazil are crucial. The municipality of Extrema in Minas Gerais state in Brazil pioneered the first Brazilian municipal PES initiative (Conservador das Aguas program), based on the relationship between forests and the benefits they provide. This study aimed to assess soil loss in the Posses sub-basin, where the Conservador das Aguas program began. Additionally, we aimed to determine the potential that this PES initiative has for soil conservation, as well as to minimize the soil losses as a function of forest area size and location in order to propose a technical approach for implementing PES. In this sense, considering the prescribed conservation practices, land use situation, and soil cover in the Posses sub-basin, we analyzed the effectiveness of the Conservador das Aguas program before and after implementation in relation to reduced soil loss under 36 different land use and soil cover scenarios. We used a geographic information system (GIS) for spatializing and producing different information plans and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) for estimating soil loss. As a result, we found that minimization of soil loss may be obtained by adopting pasture conservation practices. Additionally the expected average soil loss in the Posses sub-basin under conditions of land use and soil cover, before and after implementing the water conservation program was 30.63 and 7.06 Mg ha(-1) year(-1), respectively. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.