Blog for People, Food and Nature

'Local' plays a critical role in long-term sustainable management of land and resources. On Wednesday, we explored the devolution of smallholder carbon project ownership to local institutions. Issues of land tenure and secure land rights also hold serious implications for local people and can shape best management and …

Getting the details of agricultural carbon projects right requires paying close attention to local institutions. These entities—including community groups, local NGOs and local governments—are  pivotal in encouraging the participation in carbon projects and adoption of carbon-sequestering farm-based activities. Th…

By Robin Chazdon, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut In the final days of 2013, the Landscapes Blog reported on new efforts underway to enhance forest landscape restoration, including agroforestry and reforestation activities. Today, Professor Robin Chazdon introduces a collaborat…

Happy New Year! With 2014 upon us, it's a good time to review some of the big emerging or debated issues related to integrated landscape approaches the Landscapes Blog covered last year. Climate change was a pervasive theme on the Landscape Blog, and in conversations on agriculture, environment, and development. Issue…

As another year is coming to a close, the Landscapes Blog is taking a moment to reflect on the events and accomplishments that captured our attention in 2013. The Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative filled its second year with new engagement with landscapes, stakeholders, and policy processes. ‘Landsc…

Trees do it all – from slowing climate change and improving water quality to producing food and enhancing human health. Unfortunately, the number of trees available to perform these services has dramatically decreased over the last several centuries, as twenty percent of global forest cover has been degraded and thir…