January 23, 2015
“Shallow” private-sector engagement a major concern for integrated landscape initiatives
Daisy Ouya
World Agroforestry Centre
Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on the World Agroforestry Centre’s Agroforestry World Blog. It discusses one key emerging finding of the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative’s Continental Review series of studies regarding how involved, or not involved, businesses are in integrated landscape initiatives. The Initiative has also worke ...
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January 16, 2015
Reaching Across the Metaphorical Divide: Understanding Sustainable Diets and Food Systems
Bruce Cogill
Bioversity International
Jeffrey Sachs did it. In his address to the International Conference on Nutrition 2 (ICN2) in Rome on the 20th November 2014, Sachs challenged the nutrition community to develop better metrics around what is meant by hunger, adequate nutrition and sustainable food systems. He is not alone. Recommending diverse diets The ICN2 Framework for Action continues […] ...
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January 2, 2015
Understanding the relationship between Forests and Agriculture: the need for a landscape approach
Richard McNally
SNV, the Netherlands Development Organisation
The agriculture sector sustains the livelihoods of millions of smallholder families and is at the center of national policies to alleviate rural poverty. However, this need for land for agriculture is also the main driver of deforestation and land degradation. A major challenge is how to encourage pro-poor agricultural development while mitigating deforestation and associated [ ...
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December 29, 2014
Key to climate adaptation in the Greater Mekong: Practical and participatory vulnerability assessments
Ornsaran Pomme Manuamorn
The Greater Mekong Subregion Core Environment Program
How to make science inform policy and actions? This is probably one of the most common questions development organizations are grappling with. This question is particularly relevant for those of us working on climate change adaptation. To make a difference, global and regional climate projections must complement local knowledge to transform local actions. Promoting climate [&he ...
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December 23, 2014
Advancing the role of natural regeneration in large-scale forest restoration
Robin Chazdon
PARTNERS
The global restoration movement is rapidly galvanizing widespread support from multiple sectors of society. As discussed in a recent blog by Peter Besseau, the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration is leading the way forward with national and subnational assessments of cost-effective restoration opportunities. Agricultural productivity, rural livelihoods, bio ...
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December 19, 2014
Getting everyone to invest in integrated landscape initiatives
Gabrielle Kissinger
Lexeme Consulting
In the Lake Naivasha, Kenya region, lake water levels reached an all-time low in 2009, stirring a crisis and motivating a range of stakeholders to take action. The stress on local ecosystem services was nothing new—water scarcity, deforestation, degraded pastures, and pollution from poor agricultural practices was increasingly apparent, due in part to the population [… ...
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December 16, 2014
Bottom up! Linking local plans to the big picture demands
Nadia Bergamini
Bioversity International
Camilla Zanzanaini
When we talk about large-scale landscape initiatives, one of the biggest risks is losing out on the detail. How do we continue to take into account the intricate dynamics between people and nature as we go bigger and bigger? Many large-scale initiatives can be quite top-down, while most people living in a landscape see things […] ...
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December 15, 2014
Building Resilience Among the Most Vulnerable Populations
Eva Fillion
EcoAgriculture Partners
Whether we like it or not, communities around the world are now in the position of being forced to adapt to the inevitable effects of a changing climate. Sure, reducing emissions and taking similar measures to slow human-driven sources of climate change are still at the forefront of research, but we must also face the […] ...
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December 11, 2014
What is the Socio-Cultural and Economic Value of Mediterranean Mountain Agriculture?
Alberto Bernues
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Traditional agricultural activities have suffered a notorious recession in recent decades in many Euro-Mediterranean regions. This recession originated in changes in the type and intensity of land utilization, such as intensification of the management system, reduction of grazing and abandonment of remote rangeland areas. Consequently, a general process of vegetation encroachme ...
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December 10, 2014
We Cannot Learn from Habitat Restoration without Funding Monitoring
Sacha Jellinek
Center of Excellence for Environmental Decisions
Large-scale land interventions such as habitat restoration and revegetation of previously cleared landscapes are becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. In many cases these initiatives seek to protect and where possible increase biodiversity while maintaining agricultural productivity. There are many positives to these projects, such as engaging landholders in habit ...
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