In most developing countries, there has been a long-standing conflict of interest between using land for agriculture and the conservation of biodiversity. This paper reports on a study of factors influencing farmers’ decisions to integrate trees into their agricultural practice. We also discuss the possibility of protecting and managing planted and naturally regenerating trees on farmland in order to restore degraded land and improve biodiversity. Data were collected from interviews with farmers in the Center-West region of Burkina Faso and analyzed using Principal Component Analysis, multiple linear regression and binary logistic regression. The results show that farmers’ decisions to incorporate trees into their farmland were mainly influenced by silvicultural knowledge and skills, participation in farmers’ groups or other social organizations with an interest in tree conservation, the social value of biodiversity in the rural landscape, and the perceived economic benefits of trees on farmland. The most important factors associated with variation in levels of motivation to conserve trees on farms included household wealth, gender, age, education level, marital status, residence status, farmland size, household size and technical support. We conclude that an agroforestry project will be more successful if the local biophysical conditions and diversity of smallholder socio-economic characteristics and their perceptions, needs and preferences are considered in its design. There is also an immediate need for coordinated development of information and training to raise local community awareness of the potential of agroforestry as well as to disseminate information about adding value to tree products in order to encourage farmers to protect on-farm trees.
Tag: Communities
Farmer feedback and community of practice workshop guide for monitoring the performance of planned comparisons
The main objective of this farmer feedback and community of practice workshop guide is to provide community facilitators and enumerators with a check-list of questions that they can use to elicit farmers’ feedback on the performance of the various Planned Comparisons (PCs) in terms of what worked and what didn’t work (how’s and why’s); as well as to discuss the potential impacts of the land restoration options on their livelihoods and suggestions on how to improve the performance of the options.
Assessment of the biodiversity in terrestrial landscapes of the Witu protected area and surroundings in Lamu County, Kenya
This paper has examined the current state of terrestrial biodiversity in Witu area and its surroundings in Lamu County, Kenya. The report covers a synthesis of threats, and current management interventions in place. Overall, the survey has found that the cross-border area of north-eastern Kenya and southern Somalia are highly diverse and threatened biodiversity areas. This is illustrated by the high concentration of endemic species (approximately 550 plant, six mammal and nine bird species), not to mention more arthropod species. It is also relatively underdeveloped with high incidences of poverty and consequently significant pressure on ecosystem services from local communities. The most important single source of pressure on the ecosystem is from the extraction of wood from forests. There is a long-standing dependence on wood for construction of houses, boats, and manufacture of furniture and domestic fittings, which require harvesting of large old tree species. As a result of this, several forest specialist species, such as the wood owl, crowned eagle and straw-coloured fruit bat are threatened, despite not being directly targeted by any of the forest users. These threats to the ecosystem are exacerbated by its cross-border area of north-eastern Kenya and southern Somalia. The final key challenge is the rapid development of infrastructure under Kenya’s Vision 2030 initiative. In light of these challenges, the IGAD BMP project implemented a number of interventions to create and strengthen ecosystem co-management between statutory and civil society agencies in Kenya and Somalia, respectively. Under Kenya’s Vision 2030, this area is targeted for several development initiatives in the energy, mineral and transport sectors. It is therefore expected to be a crucial component that must precede the planning process. This study recommends upscaling of the current conservation, management and education efforts, as well as improvement of the local communities’ capacity to manage natural resources and development processes for sustainable implementation and management of the same.
Forest carbon budgets in Southeast Asia following harvesting and land cover change
Terrestrial ecosystems play an important role in the global carbon (C) cycle. Tropical
forests in Southeast Asia are constantly changing as a result of harvesting and conversion to other
land cover. As a result of these changes research on C budgets of forest ecosystems has intensi-
fied in the region over the last few years. This paper reviews and synthesizes the available infor-
mation. Natural forests in SE Asia typically contain a high C density (up to 500 Mg/ha). Logging
activities are responsible for at least 50% decline in forest C density. Complete deforestation
(conversion from forest to grassland or annual crops) results in C density of less than 40 Mg/ha.
Conversion to tree plantations and other woody perennial crops also reduces C density to less
than 50% of the original C forest stocks. While much information has been generated recently
there are still large gaps of information on C budgets of tropical forests and its conversion to other
land uses in SE Asia. There is therefore a need to intensify research in this area.
Finding the right institutional and legal framework for community-based natural forest management: the Tanzanian case
As community involvement in natural forest management expands and matures, the need to lodge the rights and obligations of both state and community in workable and legally binding institutional frameworks becomes more pressing. This is particularly so where power and authority are being redistributed. This publication looks specifically at Tanzania, where forest-local communities are beginning to be designated as the management authority of particular woodlands and, in some cases, even their owners. Positive results are giving considerable support to community-based management as the forest management strategy of choice. Implementation has of necessity also prompted a search for accessible mechanisms through which community authority may be embedded legally. The author argues that, in this respect, Tanzania has an advantage over many sub-Saharan African states in the unusual manner of legal identity granted to rural communities, and in supporting administrative and land laws which provide for village-based control over natural resource management. Specific elements explored include the fact that rural villages in Tanzania are recognised as a formal level of government, endowed thereby with certain rights and obligations; that the rural village may attain legal corporate status allowing it, inter alia, to own and manage property in ways accountable in a court of law; and that property law provides for a modern, statutory version of communal tenure, within the bounds and accountability of a private legal person. Wily provides a step-by-step guide to the ways in which a forest-adjacent community may secure custodianship over a local natural forest, whether it be an already gazetted Forest Reserve or public land forest, and be held accountable for sound conservationary management.
Scaling circular bio-economy solutions in refugee settings: a peer-to-peer capacity building approach
Africa hosts a significant portion of the global refugee population, notably in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Despite prolonged stays in host countries, refugees often struggle to establish self-reliant livelihoods due to legal restrictions on work permits and travel, hampering economic empowerment. Indeed, there is a need for livelihood models that do not undermine the economies of low-Participants are shown how to set up a vegetable nursery in Rhino Refugee Settlement, Uganda (photo: Danish Refugee Council). RRR in Refugee Settlements in Africa Project Brief Series – No. 4and middle-income countries where local populations are already struggling. As a result, food insecurity and cooking energy poverty are major challenges facing humanitarian work. Food rations, primarily cereals and pulses, require intensive cooking, while firewood provision is limited, leading to food-for-fuel exchanges or conflicts.
Soil macroinvertebrate communities: A world-wide assessment
AimMacroinvertebrates comprise a highly diverse set of taxa with great potential as indicators of soil quality. Communities were sampled at 3,694 sites distributed world-wide. We aimed to analyse the patterns of abundance, composition and network characteristics and their relationships to latitude, mean annual temperature and rainfall, land cover, soil texture and agricultural practices.LocationSites are distributed in 41 countries, ranging from 55° S to 57° N latitude, from 0 to 4,000 m in elevation, with annual rainfall ranging from 500 to >3,000 mm and mean temperatures of 5–32°C.Time period1980–2018.Major taxa studiedAll soil macroinvertebrates: Haplotaxida; Coleoptera; Formicidae; Arachnida; Chilopoda; Diplopoda; Diptera; Isoptera; Isopoda; Homoptera; Hemiptera; Gastropoda; Blattaria; Orthoptera; Lepidoptera; Dermaptera; and “others”.MethodsStandard ISO 23611-5 sampling protocol was applied at all sites. Data treatment used a set of multivariate analyses, principal components analysis (PCA) on macrofauna data transformed by Hellinger’s method, multiple correspondence analysis for environmental data (latitude, elevation, temperature and average annual rainfall, type of vegetation cover) transformed into discrete classes, coinertia analysis to compare these two data sets, and bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap tests to evaluate the part of the variance of the macrofauna data attributable to each of the environmental factors. Network analysis was performed. Each pairwise association of taxonomic units was tested against a null model considering local and regional scales, in order to avoid spurious correlations.ResultsCommunities were separated into five clusters reflecting their densities and taxonomic richness. They were significantly influenced by climatic conditions, soil texture and vegetation cover. Abundance and diversity, highest in tropical forests (1,895 ± 234 individuals/m2) and savannahs (1,796 ± 72 individuals/m2), progressively decreased in tropical cropping systems (tree-associated crops, 1,358 ± 120 individuals/m2; pastures, 1,178 ± 154 individuals/m2; and annual crops, 867 ± 62 individuals/m2), temperate grasslands (529 ± 60 individuals/m2), forests (232 ± 20 individuals/m2) and annual crops (231 ± 24 individuals/m2) and temperate dry forests and shrubs (195 ± 11 individuals/m2). Agricultural management decreased overall abundance by 54% in tropical areas and 64% in temperate areas. Connectivity varied with taxa, with dominant positive connections in litter transformers and negative connections with ecosystem engineers and Arachnida. Connectivity and modularity were higher in communities with low abundance and taxonomic richness.Main conclusionsSoil macroinvertebrate communities respond to climatic, soil and land-cover conditions. All taxa, except termites, are found everywhere, and communities from the five clusters cover a wide range of geographical and environmental conditions. Agricultural practices significantly decrease abundance, although the presence of tree components alleviates this effect.