This remarkable volume addresses the sustainable management of tropical forests with unstinting sophistication, moving the analysis beyond clichés to the true complexities of the challenge. The world’s tropical forests, in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, are being cut down, at enormous costs to local and global biodiversity and ecosystem services. The carbon released by tropical deforestation is a significant factor in the overall increase in atmospheric green-house gases. Yet the “best bets” to deal with the challenge of tropical deforestation remain far from obvious. The studies collected here offer new conceptual tools and a rich compendium of empirical analyses that will be needed to formulate a set of viable responses to this major global challenge. The traditional interpretation of tropical deforestation has usually proceeded in something like the following way. A rising population of smallholder farmers at the forest margin—the boundary between farm and forest—leads to deforestation as forests are cut to make room for new farms. At the same time, existing farmland is abandoned because of land degradation, soil erosion, and soil nutrient depletion. The loss of existing farmland is exacerbated by the pressure of shortened fallows, caused by the rise of population densities. In this traditional view, the best way to slow or stop deforestation would be to raise productivity on existing farms in a sustainable manner—for example, through the systematic replenishment of soil nutrients, so that pressures to expand into new lands can be eased. There are of course important aspects of truth in this conventional view, but as the studies in this volume make clear, the situation is far more complex. Natural population growth on the forest margin is not the only, or even the key, driver of deforestation. Population growth often results from in-migration of settlers, rather than from the natural population increase among existing residents. Ironically, in such circumstances, intensification of agricultural techniques, even in a sustainable manner, can increase rather than decrease the rate of deforestation, by raising the profitability of farming and thereby inducing the in-migration of settlers to the forest margin. There may be a strong case for improving the productivity of agricultural practices, but that step alone may not solve the problem of deforestation
Tag: environmental management
Alternatives to Slash-and-Burn agriculture, symposium ID-6: 15th International Soil Science Congress, Acapulco, Mexico 1994
Sustainable woodfuel (charcoal and firewood) systems in coastal region in Tanzania. Stakeholder engagement in context analysis and planning using SHARED methodology
Contribution of grazing to soil atmosphere CH4 exchange during the growing season in a continental steppe
Degradation of steppes induced by overgrazing may affect the uptake of atmospheric methane (CH4) by soil sinks. However, uncertainty is associated with the very limited knowledge of gas fluxes in rapidly degrading steppe. In this study, we investigated the effects of grazing on CH4 uptake during the growing season in three types of steppe (meadow steppe, typical steppe and desert steppe and) in Inner Mongolia, China, to quantify and compare CH4 uptake in steppe ecosystems under different grazing management conditions. The CH4 fluxes were measured using an automatic cavity ring-down spectrophotometer at three steppe locations that differed primarily in grazing intensity. The results indicated that steppe soils were CH4 sinks throughout the growing season. CH4 uptake at all sites averaged 7.98 kg CH4-C ha-1 yr-1 (ranging from 1.53 to 18.74 kg CH4-C ha-1 yr-1), of which approximately 43.8% occurred in the desert steppe. CH4 uptake in the desert steppe increased 20.4% and 51.2% compared with the typical steppe and meadow steppe, respectively. Light grazing (LG) of steppe did not significantly change CH4 uptake compared with un-grazed (UG) steppe, but moderate and heavy grazing (MG, HG) reduced CH4 uptake significantly (by 6.8-37.9%, P < 0.05). These findings imply that reducing the grazing pressure on steppe would help increase the atmospheric CH4 sinks in steppe soils. Our results suggest that HG exerts a considerable negative impact on CH4 uptake in a continental steppe. Further studies involving year-round, intensive measurements of CH4 uptake are needed.
Agroforestry in transformation
During the one hour drive from Jakarta to Bogor you can observe a remarkable diversity in land use: rice paddies, cassava cultivated under highway tree plantations, mixed home garden and fruit and timber trees-all grown by small-scale farmers. But there are also golf courses and massive real estate development, Living for a while in West Java brings perspectives, on forestry, agriculture the environment and the people who manage natural resources. This island is one of the most populated places anywhere, some 120people in an area one-third of Sweeden. Yet Java is full of trees. This has not always been the case: fifty years ago Java had large areas of unproductive Imperata grasslands after generation of shifting cultivation which became unstable due to human population growth. Today small-scale farmers have converted most of the grasslands to rich agroforestry home gardens. Farmers are changing the landscape.
Integrating food security and Agri-environmental quality Southern Africa: implications for policy
In many sub-Saharan African countries that experience seasonal food deficits, one of the greatest challenges is how best to integrate environmental quality into food security initiatives. However, a number of agricultural production technologies exist that offer opportunities for achieving the two seemingly divergent goals because they simultaneously contribute to food production and generate environmental services. The field level uptake of such technologies is generally low due to policy and institutional constraints, among other reasons. This chapter draws upon natural resource economics and externality theories to conceptualize an environmental economic logic for enhancing the adoption of multi-output technologies through conditional incentive systems that reward farmers for the environmental services generated by their investments in such technologies. Using agroforestry-based soil fertility technology (“improved tree fallows”) as a case study of multi-output technologies, this chapter synthesizes studies that were carried out in southern Africa for over a decade. It then discusses how the potential impacts of technological advances attained in multi-output technologies are affected by policy and institutional constraints. The chapter concludes by identifying different options to address these constraints and facilitate uptake by farmers with a view to unlock their potential in order to satisfy both food production and global environmental services. These policy options at both national and regional levels are required to align smallholder farmers’ incentives with those of the society and encourage them to pay cognizance to environmental quality when making agricultural production decisions.
Review of methodologies for land degradation neutrality baselines: Sub-national case studies from Costa Rica and Namibia
Land degradation is a consistent loss of ecosystem functionality due to human and natural processes (Lal et al. 2012), or as defined by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) a “reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of rain fed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest and woodlands resulting from land uses or from a process or combination of processes arising from human activities” (UNCCD 2015c). Historically, it is a well-documented issue (Grove 1996, Beach et al. 2006, Ellis et al. 2013) and the degree of degradation has forced civilisations to adapt land management practises to the state of the environment, or abandon the landscape altogether (Costanza et al. 2007). Over the last four decades there has been an increase in human-induced land degradation and it is estimated to affect one third of global arable land (UNCCD 2015a, Vlek 2005) and to cost between USD 6.3-10.6 trillion annually or 10-17% of the world’s gross domestic product (ELD 2015).
An assessment of RWH potential for Zanzibar
This study was requested by HE Amani Adied Karume, President of Zanzibar. The terms of reference were prepared and commissioned by the MDG centre based in Nairobi in collaboration with UNDP Tanzania to explore the prospective of improving water availability and management in Zanzibar through application of rainwater harvesting and management technologies. Zanzibar is comprised of two island; Unguja of 1658 km2 and Pemba of 985 km2. The islands are located 40 kilometres off the mainland Tanzania coast, 5 degrees and 6 degrees south of the Equator. The 1999 census estimated the population of Zanzibar at 916,000. According to the Household Budget Survey report release in September 2006, 49% of the population lives below the basic needs poverty line. The report further found that the incidence of poverty was higher in rural compared to urban areas. Agriculture is the main occupational activity, employing more than a quarter of the total labour force in Zanzibar. In the year 2000, agriculture contributed 36% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about 90% of the total foreign exchange earnings. However, agriculture is propelled by poor smallholder farmers producing under rain fed conditions using traditional methods. According to Johnson 1994, both islands are fertile due to the rich soils derived from weathering of main sedimentary rock sequence. Zanzibar is also endowed with high mean annual rainfall of up to 1900mm.Water balance studies conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural resources, Environment and Cooperatives (MANREC) and JICA suggest that Zanzibar looses on average 50% of the total rainfall received through runoff via rivers to the sea. Only 24% in Unguja and 7% in Pemba ends up in groundwater. Given that Zanzibar’s main water sources is groundwater, there is great need to introduce rainwater harvesting technologies in order to improve water availability, especially for agriculture which takes up the largest proportion of the island’s water.
An ecosystem service perspective on benefits provided by trees
This chapter gives a synopsis of the benefits and resilience that people derive from trees and forests in Eastern African drylands. The synopsis is structured according to the four categories of ecosystem services used by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment [40]; provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services. Provisioning services such as the supply of charcoal, for example, and cultural services are generally well recognized and appreciated because they provide direct benefits to people, and some are traded in markets and regulated by policies. Regulating and supporting services pro – vide indirect benefits, which in spite of their critical significance to human well-being tend to be under-appreciated, go unnoticed and are typically ignored and not consid – ered in decision-making [41]. Among the regulating services it describes the regulation of the micro- and macro-climate, the water cycle and soil conservation and erosion prevention. The cultural services treated in this synopsis include aesthetic, landscape, inspiration, tourism and other benefits. The supporting services include the cycling of nutrients and soil moisture and biodiversity, which support the primary production of trees that underpins the delivery of provisioning, cultural and regulating services. The chapter further reviews seven categories of provisioning services which trees provide including food, fodder, medicine and pesticide materials, oil, construction materials, wood fuel and gums and resins. Each section gives a general description of the service, its demand, markets and value chains, supply including production system, management and harvesting practices and social aspects including benefits to households. The sections also address gender and equity, sustainability, partnerships, supporting policies and institutions and regional variations across countries and tenure of land and trees and how these issues influence benefits and management of trees. Some of these issues are more explicit in the provi – sioning services than other services. The chapter begins with a summary, which reviews how the benefits derived from trees influence the five types of livelihood capitals that are important for the provisioning of resilience
An ecosystem approach to restoring west African drylands and improving rural livelihoods through agroforestry-based land management interventions: project description
This new project will contribute to the implementation of DPDL-UNEP’s 2004-2005 Biennial Programme (UNEP GC.22/6) Programme Element 2.4: Policy Review, Analysis and Development, in particular Programme Component 2.4.2: to provide technical assistance and capacity building to countries to implement appropriate policies, strategies and action plans for advancing sustainable development objectives. The project aims to promote an ecosystems approach for sustainable management of the Parkland ecosystems (integrated crop-tree-livestock systems) of the semi-arid lowlands of West Africa. The project will build regional and local capacity in environmental policy development for restoring the WAfrican Parklands with the ultimate aim of improving human well-being and alleviating poverty. More specifically, the project will (a) build capacity of village communities in sustainable land use planning and conservation agroforestry practices; (b) train national teams in five countries in quantitative characterization of land degradation, and targeting, evaluation and monitoring of policy and conservation agroforestry interventions; (c) locate land degradation hot spots in the region and spatially target recommendations on appropriate policy and agroforestry-based land conservation practices; (d) produce guidelines and case studies for characterization of dryland degradation, targeting interventions and monitoring impact; and (e) provide guidelines and case studies for improved national and regional policy based on adaptive ecosystem management. Activities will be principally undertaken through partnership with the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), the University of Florida Center for Environmental Policy (UF/CEP), national institutions in the five participating countries (Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal), and regional policy networks such as UNCCD-RAPs, AMCEN, NEPAD, CILSS, and INSAH. The project will complement UNEP’s support for the implementation of the UNCCD, by aiming to restore degraded drylands in Africa, prevent further desertification and promote sustainable land management as an integral part of national development policies, strategies and plans. est