Land Use
Our land, our life: A participatory assessment of the land tenure situation of the Indigenous peoples in Guyana. Report for Region 8BackgroundFrom 1995 onwards, the government of Guyana began to address undecided Amerindian claims by demarcating land in villages where titles had already been granted, granting title extensions, and grant new titles. This report outlines the findings and recommendations of a participatory assessment of land tenure security among indigenous people in present-day northwestern Guyana. Open access copy available |
Context in land matters: The effects of history on land formalizationsBackgroundLand formalization is the process by which governments grant legal rights to land, along with responsibilities and conditions of access through land titles and other official documents. This process typically establishes or re-establishes the authority of the state over the governance of land. This paper draws on examples from Africa and Asia to illustrate how land formalization has differing impacts on a diverse set of claimants, and largely increases inequity. Open access copy available |
Improving land and water managementBACKGROUNDThis working paper from World Resources Institute (WRI) gives a glimpse of the challenges experienced by smallholder farmers across developing countries. Issues on land – from insecure tenure to degradation, exacerbated by pressures from climate change, has resulted into a significant drop in crop yield. This led to more poverty and food insecurity. However, linkages between scientists and farmers provide some hope in terms of possible solutions to increase agricultural production. Improved land and water management is at the center of all this. Open access copy available |
Can short-term payments for ecosystem services deliver long-term tree cover change?BackgroundWhile payment for ecosystem services (PES) has been lauded has been an effective strategy, particularly to increase tree cover in agricultural areas. Yet, there has been limited evaluation of long-term success, such as that after the payment period. Goals & MethodsTo determine the the long-term effectiveness of PES, the author compares tree cover before and after 13 years of a PES project that promoted silvopastoral systems in Colombia, which was quantified via satellite images. Available with subscription or purchase |
Vulnerability of smallholder farmers to climate change in Central America and Mexico: current knowledge and research gapsBackgroundThis article recognizes that smallholder farmers are both critical to the global agricultural sector yet are one of the most vulnerable populations to climate change. Specifically, farmers in Central America and Mexico are experiences particularly high threats, thus the authors focus on this subgroup. Open access copy available |
A tree-based approach to biomass estimation from remote sensing data in a tropical agricultural landscapeIntroductionDue to increasing agricultural landcover throughout the world, it is critical to develop methods that estimate above ground biomass and carbon in order to accurately monitor terrestrial carbon stocks and predicting carbo dynamics. This paper claims that while active remote sensing data may be a means to achieve these estimates, the plot-based methods may not be suitable for these agricultural areas. Thus, the authors seek an alternative. Available with subscription or purchase |
The State of the World’s Forest Genetic ResourcesIntroductionProduced by FAO, this document reviews the state of the world forests as of 2020. The authors cite that forest provide valuable goods and services that benefit human well-being, particularly forest genetic resources (FGR). Yet these are threatened by an exponentially increasing human population, overexploitation, and landscape conversion. Open access copy available |
Multiple successional pathways in human-modified tropical landscapes: new insights from forest succession, forest fragmentation and landscape ecology researchIntroductionWith the rise of deforestation, secondary forests and human-modified tropical landscapes (HMTL) have become an important source of ecosystem services yet there is limited knowledge concerning the successional process of these ecosystems. Goals & MethodsThe goal of this study is to identify the main drivers of successional pathways In HTML and secondary forests at multiple scales. The authors draw on tropical forest succesion, forest fragmentation, and landscape ecology research to achieve this. Available with subscription or purchase |
Módulo 5: El enfoque de paisaje en la planificación a mesoescala de la restauraciónEspañolAntecedentesOpen access copy available |
Nucleation in tropical ecological restorationbackgroundDue to centuraries of human development, there is a need to restore degraded areas and reconcile productive uses of land with conservation goals. One means of ecological restoration is facilitation, which aims to accrue positive interactions between species. Nucleation has been shown as a effective stategy for facilitation. Open access copy available |
