Environmental decisions must satisfy a multitude of objectives and the matching of a plan, policy or project to such objectives is a matter of both facts and value judgements. Value Functions for Environmental Management provides a systematic approach to the structuring and measurement of value judgements, showing how they drive the decision process and how to make them transparent and effective in support of complex decisions. The value functions that the book describes provide a scheme for the exploration of human values and a tool for transforming them into an analytical model. A clear statement can then be made of the degree to which a decision has achieved its objectives, and how conflicting objectives may be addressed. This does not mean that there is no role for human judgement in the process. Complexity, often coupled with large information gaps, necessitates expert judgement, but the values adopted by the experts are themselves capable of being structured and measured according to the value function methodology presented here, even if the judgements themselves are qualitative and tentative. Value models for expert panels are also presented. The use of the methodology in practice is illustrated by examples. The book contains an extensive subject index.

Multiple criteria decision making is a major and rapidly growing field of research. Methods resulting from this field of research are used in this book to develop a Multiobjective Decision Support Systems (MODSS) for environmental management. The primary focus of the book is therefore on the issues and practicalities that arise when these methods are applied to support decisions on environmental problems. Most methods included in this book are derived from the literature on multicriteria decision making, decision anlysis and operations research. Concepts developed in management science are used to describe environmental decision processes and to define the functions of decision support. The author's work on MODSS has resulted in the development of a decision support package, called DEFINITE (DEcisions on a FINITE set of alternatives). A demonstration version of this programme is included with the book. This Demo Disk can be run on a MS-DOS compatible personal computer (version 2.0 or higher) having a 3,5 inch, 720 Kb disk drive and 640 Kb available RAM.

Although there is a growing awareness about the many benefits of protected areas, concrete information about their full economic value is still scarce. This book provides a comprehensive method whereby all functions and values of natural and semi-natural ecosystems can be assessed and evaluated in a systematic manner. A checklist of 37 environmental functions is given with examples of the functions and socio-economic value of three major types of ecosystems: tropical moist forests, wetlands and an oceanic island ecosystem: the Galapagos National Park. In order to achieve the conservation and sustainable utilization of nature and natural resources, better information on the (economic) value of natural areas alone, however, is not enough. Unless ecological information is structurally integrated in the planning and decision-making process solving the environmental problems of today will prove difficult, if not impossible. In the last chapter of the book examples are therefore given of how the environmental function-concept can be used as a tool in environmental planning, management and decision-making, and stresses the need for "ecologizing" economic theory and practice.

J. CIimaco and C. H. Antunes After the pleasure which has been to host the community of researchers and practitioners in the area of multicriteria analysis (MA) in Coimbra in August 1994, this volume of proceedings based on the papers presented at the conference is the last step of that venture. Even though this may not be the appropriate place we cannot resist, however, the temptation to express herein some brief feelings about the conference. Almost everything concerning the conference organisation has been "handcrafted" by a small number of people, with the advantages and disadvantages that this approach generates. Our first word of acknowledgement is of course due to those who have had a permanent and active role in the multiple aspects which make the success of a conference: Maria Joao Alves, Carlos Henggeler Antunes (who is a co author of this introduction since he has closely collaborated with me in the scientific programme), Joao Paulo Costa, Luis Dias (who greatly contributed to the organisation of this volume) and Paulo Melo, as well as Leonor Dias, from the Faculty of Economics, who has shown an outstanding dedication. To those who collaborated with the organisers in the framework of their professional activity, special thanks due to Adelina whose dedication greatly exceeded her duties. As you probably know from your own experience every small detail of the conference organisation required a lot of "sweating", but the atmosphere of joy and friendship then generated has been a generous "pay-off".

This Mining Environment Management Manual is developed for the benefit of the entire mining industry in the Country. The Manual has been designed in such a manner that it can be easily used by the engineers and environmentalists in the mining complexes in their efforts for the management of mining environment. The Manual presents the existing status and comprehensive overview of all the aspects of mining environment. Since environment is a developing subject the user of the Manual is suggested to, wherever necessary, consult the web-sites of MOEF and other concerned organizations for the latest status. The manual in nineteen chapters outlines the following for the benefit of the users. 1. Broad details of the mineral mining industry in the country. 2. Policies, legislation, standards and procedures for establishing and operating the mines covering an environmental overview of the national policies and the policies of the mining companies, mining and environmental legislations and standards, site selection, environmental clearance, forestry clearance, and the various formats to be filled or establishing and operating the mines. 3. Preparation of the environmental management plans (EMPs) of the mining projects. 4. Environmental monitoring. 5. Mining methods commonly used in the Indian coal and non-coal mineral industry. 6. Environmental impacts of mining on society, ecology, land, water regime and atmosphere. 7. Environmental impact assessment (EIA). 8. Environmental management measures required in mineral mining including the assessment of quality of life, development of R&R packages, development of surface and underground water bodies, replantation of trees, formation and management of soil and overburden dumps, environmental aspects of blasting, land reclamation and rehabilitation planning, mine fires, acid mine drainage, inundation, noise modeling, etc. 9. Mine closure comprising of legislative and social necessity of mine closure in the Indian context, mine closure planning for underground and opencast mines, and format for mine closure planning in project report. 10. Procedure for environmental performance auditing and evaluation. 11. Land acquisition and optimization of land requirement for mining and associated activities, and rehabilitation and resettlement. 12. Land use planning in mining areas. 13. Risk assessment and disaster management. 14. Environmental aspects of tailing storage. 15. Use of geographical information system in environmental management in mining areas. 16. Utilization of fly ash in mines. 17. Environmental economics. 18. Roles of executives in environmental management in mining areas. 19. Do's and don'ts in environmental management planning and implementation. The manual in simple English aims at to attract attention of one and all concerned with the management of mining environment. The manual will be useful to the following categories of the people in the mining complexes in the Country and Abroad. · Mine planners in planning and designing of the mining activities and integration of environmental management measures in the mining methods. · Mine operators in implementing the environmental management measures, monitoring and compliance of legislation. · Regulatory agencies and their executives in developing a better understanding of the mining environment related aspects and implementing the legislation. · Research workers in planning, designing, and undertaking research and development activities. · Educationists in imparting the knowledge and know-how to the participants in various academic and human resource development programs. · The Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in developing a better understanding of the mining environment and assisting the mineral industry in effective implementation of the environmental management efforts. · The people in the mining complexes in developing the understanding of various aspects of the management of mining environment. In addition the Manual will be an important addition to the knowledge base in the libraries of all the institutions and organizations associated with mining and environmental management. The user is advised to read the Manual carefully and understand the various topics discussed and then use their own wisdom and the suggestions made in the Manual in design, planning, implementation and monitoring of the mining activities. The legislative aspect of mining environmental management is dynamic and time to time changes are made in the Acts. Rules and Regulations by the Central and State Governments. The user is therefore advised to get abreast with the latest developments through the web-sites of the MOEF and the Central and State Pollution Control Boards and other regulatory agencies, e.g., DGMS, IBM, etc.

The questionnaire-based Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) asks people what would they be willing to pay for an environmental good or attribute, or willing to accept for its loss. These papers consider the real value of such surveys.