January 28, 2015
Sacred village forests: a kind of natural reserve and support to traditional eco-agriculture
Yinxian Shi
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Sacred natural forests are common in many inhabited areas in China, and have historically been protected and worshipped by several groups of people. There are two major kinds of sacred natural forests: those belonging to regional areas and those belonging to local areas. The first kind of sacred natural forest is held by people from […] ...
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January 13, 2015
Learning the Diversity of Landscapes and People’s Land Use in Tropical Island Society
Takuro Furusawa
Kyoto University
On a cultivation site located on a small barrier island, I encountered and interviewed an older man who was making mounds for new tuber crops: Q: “When did you start using this land as a crop garden?” A: “Oh, a very long time ago. I can’t say exactly when.” Q: “What was here when you […] ...
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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 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 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 9, 2014
A Gabion Named Marcelino: A Story of Cross-Border Land Restoration
Tom Barry
Center for International Policy
Several kilometers south of the U.S.-Mexico border is a gabion dam commemorating Marcelino Alfaro. A decade ago Alfaro didn’t know what a gabion was. But on the January morning in 2014 that Alfaro suffered a fatal heart attack, the seventy-something leader of the Ejido 18 de Agosto was inspecting the gabions (rock-filled baskets formed by […] ...
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December 8, 2014
How can we manage ecosystem services for development outcomes? The case of the Cañete River Basin
Marcela Quintero
International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
Sarah Jones
Earlier this month, the CGIAR research program on Water, Land and Ecosystems published an Ecosystem Service and Resilience (ESR) Framework presenting an approach for using ecosystem service and resilience concepts to create multi-functional landscapes that sustain production, livelihoods, and human well-being. What does this mean for communities living in rural landscapes? The ...
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December 1, 2014
Transforming Lands, Transforming Lives: Hope for Millions Living on the Edge of Mighty Rivers in Bangladesh
AZM Nazmul Islam Chowdhury
Practical Action Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, the mighty rivers of the Ganges and Brahmaputra are both vital and threatening to nearby inhabitants. Monsoon rains cause the rivers to swell, often flooding villages and fields. However, during the other months, drought leaves crops, livestock and communities praying for water. Land is scarce, population density is high and poverty and food […] ...
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November 25, 2014
Making Large Land Initiatives in Africa Work: Policy Reforms that Support Ecosystem-Based Approaches
Robert Mgendi
UN Environment
Richard Munang
This post is part of an online discussion on large-scale land interventions that runs through December 14th. Can these initiatives fulfill their promises? Comment below or send a max 800 word response to a.waldorf@cgiar.org. Nearly 240 million people, or 1 in every 4 persons, in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) lack adequate food. Record food prices an ...
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November 24, 2014
Global Landscape Restoration: The Art of the “Do-able”
Peter Besseau
The Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration
This post is part of an online discussion on large-scale land interventions that runs through December 24th. Can these initiatives fulfill their promises? Comment below or send a max 800 word response to a.waldorf@cgiar.org. It is easy to be intimidated by the Bonn Challenge to restore 150 million hectares of degraded forest landsca ...
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