The creation of local institutions with a mandate over land access and control is seen as a prerequisite for successful decentralisation of land tenure and effective local resource management in sub-Saharan Africa.
The rapid population growth and ongoing development activities has resulted in natural resources demolition. However, the dynamics of the natural resources in relation to different biophysical and socio-economic factors are still remains poorly understood. The present study investigates the basic natural resources i.e.
Grazing is known to affect the spatial patterning of soil resources through biologically-mediated processes such as the removal of plant biomass and deposition of dung. In dense shrublands, grazing is thought to reinforce the concentration of resources around shrubs (fertile island effect) by enhancing the movement of resources from the interspace to the shrub hummocks.
The present study assessed the effects of deferred grazing management on rangeland condition using aboveground biomass, vegetation cover and species composition as indicators of range condition. The experiment was based on traditionally conserved exclosures (ngitili). Data were collected in Shinyanga rural and Meatu districts, Tanzania, from October to November 2011.
The trace metal (TM) content in arable soils has been monitored across a region of France characterised by a large proportion of calcareous soils. Within this particular geological context, the objectives were to first determine the natural levels of trace metals in the soils and secondly, to assess which sites were significantly contaminated.
Adaptive management of road networks depends on timely data that accurately reflect the impacts of network impacts on ecosystem processes and associated services. In the absence of reliable data, land managers are left with little more than observations and perceptions to support adaptive management of road-associated disturbances.
The livestock sector contributes considerably to global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Here, for the year 2007 we examined GHG emissions in the EU27 livestock sector and estimated GHG emissions from production and consumption of livestock products; including imports, exports and wastage. We also reviewed available mitigation options and estimated their potential.
In Australian semiarid rangelands, there have been suggestions that kangaroo harvesting should be given much more serious consideration as a supplement or even replacement to income from domestic stock like cattle and sheep.
The threat of climate change is a great challenge to sustainable land management (USDA-NRCS, 2010a). Several publications have reported that over the last few decades, rainfall intensities have increased in many parts of the world, including in the United States. Without good, productive soils and the ecosystem services provided by them, the survival of our species will be in jeopardy.
Grazing intensification and abandonment are increasing the risk of degradation of Mediterranean grasslands. The development of techniques for monitoring grazing effects on herbaceous vegetation is an essential need for the management of these rangelands. However, the high variability of these systems make physiographical and management effects hard to disentangle and quantify.
Eastern Mediterranean ecosystems are prone to desertification when under grazing pressure. Therefore, management of grazing intensity plays a crucial role to avoid or to diminish land degradation and to sustain both livelihoods and ecosystem functioning. The dynamic land-use model LandSHIFT was applied to a case study on the country level for Jordan.
Inappropriate agricultural practices and conversion of marginal land to cultivation and grazing have led to severe land degradation in the Ethiopian highlands. Consequently, the government has invested substantial resources in soil and water conservation (SWC). One of such interventions was exclosure, which was aimed restoring biodiversity, biomass and soil fertility.