Fragile Lands Research Articles

Assessment of Landscape Changes caused by Highway Construction: Case Study of Ruta del Canal Pargua Highway in Chile

The constructed infrastructure that has made cities more livable to their human inhabitants not always has benefited the overall ecosystems, which has leading to some fragile land covers being the most affected (i.e., grasslands, wetlands, etc.). In this article, it is analyzed the relationship between the natural landscape and the highway “Ruta del Canal Pargua” in Puerto Montt, Chile. A comparison was performed/implemented based on a Land Use Land Cover Change (LULCC) analysis from a year before the construction of the highway (2012) to the most updated available image (2021). Three field spots were selected to observe the wetland’s landscape visual qualities, landscape natural features, and road management (2022). The results showed that anthropic interventions have been continuing to transform the natural features of wetland’s landscape, especially the native roadside vegetation, and noise pollution.This change was promoted by the lack of management of the highway inits surroundings, and, by the intrusive LULCC. This paper also discussesthe persistent lack of ecological management for highways in southernChile and sparks the conversation about the necessity to include anecological perspective in road infrastructure design in Chile that couldbe replicated in Latin America.

Poverty – A Direct Threat to Global Environmental Degradation

The paper highlights that poverty has been a source of a severe threat to global environment. The earth is one but the world is not. For sustainable livelihood of human being, man is destroying the nature, without replacing it any more. Further, high mass of consumption had added fuel to fire. Certainly, majority of the populations in developing economies living within them, depend directly on natural resources. For many of these economies, primary product exports account for the vast majority of their export earnings, and one or two primary commodities make up the bulk of exports. Agricultural value added accounts for an average of 40 per cent GDP, and nearly 80 per cent of the labor force is engaged in agricultural or resources-based activities.For a sample of 76 developing economies from Africa, Asia and Latin America, the incidence of rural poverty rises as developing countries have more of their populations concentrated on fragile lands. Although the average poverty rate across all economies is 45.8 per cent, the rate falls 36.8 per cent for those countries with less than 20 per cent of their population in fragile environments. Much of developing economies are depending on natural resources. The incidence of poverty rises in these economies has been formed with population, whose livelihoods are concentrated on fragile lands. Generally, poor people are forced to overuse environmental resources. In India also all major rivers turned into polluted, one-third forest degraded into one-sixth. Too much logging, turned into loss of flora and fauna. Global countries realised that natural resources are limited, so that we have revive it by reducing population size, rejuvenation of land, reducing pollutions and support for regeneration of natural resources. Protection and promotion of environment is found as a need of the hour. Sustainable development is not as easy as we said. Renewal, recycle, reuse, reduce of resources are to be used regularly for ever green globe. Natural resources accounting, budgeting, management are to be made popular. So that poor can be elevated. Encouragement of political party on environment is badly needed.

Temperate fruit farming in fragile lands of the Northwestern Himalayan region: Implications for subsoil nutrient availability, nutrient stock and soil quality

AbstractIn recent years, soil fertility in the Northwestern Himalayan (NWH) region has deteriorated partly due to accelerated soil erosion but mainly due to ineffective nutrient management for field crops. However, it is largely unknown whether long‐term temperate fruit farming has adverse effects on the soil fertility in NWH or not. Therefore, we conducted a study with the purpose of evaluating the impact of different land uses in the NWH ecosystem, namely: peach orchard (PO), apple orchard (AO), fertile‐fallow land (FL), and barren land (BL) on soil physico‐chemical characters, nutrient storage capacity, and soil quality index (SQI), along a soil‐depth gradient. A total of 116 composite soil samples [four treatments (i.e., land uses), 4‐ soil depths (0–0.2, 0.2–0.4, 0.4–0.6, and 0.6–0.8 m) and 5, 9, 9, and 6 replications for PO, AO, FL, and BL systems, respectively] were collected for laboratory analyses. Across depths, the soils under temperate fruit plantations had better soil physical conditions (i.e., lower bulk density and higher porosity) over FL and BL lands. The soils in this study can be categorized as slightly acidic to near neutral in soil reaction. Soils under temperate fruit plantations (PO and AO), averaged over depths, had significantly (p < 0.05) less quantity of soil organic C, available nutrients (i.e., primary‐, secondary‐, and micro‐nutrients), nutrient storage capacity, and indices of soil quality, as compared to FL lands. These unfavourable effects were augmented in subsoils (0.2–0.8 m) than topsoils (0.0–0.2 m) affecting secondary‐ and micro‐nutrients more than primary‐nutrients. Results further revealed that these lands display a less favourable (i.e., very high) C:N ratio that could easily be degraded if brought under intensive farming. Restoration of depleted soil fertility in temperate fruit‐tree‐based ecosystems of NWH could be achieved through incentive‐based building‐up of soil organic matter and adoption of a soil‐test‐based nutrient management regime.

Superabsorbent Polyacrylamide Effects on Hydrophysical Soil Properties and Plant Biomass in a Sandy Loam soil

ABSTRACT There is a complicated relationship between land degradation, water efficiency, and crop yield in arid and semiarid regions. In the Semiarid Pampa region, Argentina, land use changes that affected fragile lands (high content of fine sands plus silt and low organic carbon) have decreased soil quality, thus endangering agricultural activities. The use of polyacrylamide (PAM) is an option for increasing productivity and protecting soil resources. However, there is scarce information about superabsorbent PAM on water storage linked to aggregate stability mechanisms in this fragile land. Hydrophysical variables and plant biomass were evaluated in a greenhouse pot experiment. Three factors were analyzed: 1) PAM rates (doses): D0 = 0%, D1 = 0.04%, and D2 = 0.08%; 2) vegetation presence (Festuca arundinacea ssp.): vegetation (+) and vegetation (–) and; 3) water regime: field capacity (FC) and half field capacity (FC/2). After 5 months, the incorporation of superabsorbent PAM had a strong effect on most hydrophysical variables. Storage variables (available water content and easily available water content) were improved mainly by increasing water retention at lower suctions (i.e. large pores). Dose increments regardless of the water regime led to higher plant biomass (P < .05). PAM incorporation enhanced abiotic mechanisms (swelling–shrinkage, cracks formation) and biotic mechanisms (root activity – direct, increment water retention – indirect) acting synergically to increase aggregate stability and water storage. Aggregate stability tests (fast wetting test – FW, slow wetting test – SW, and stirring aggregates after ethanol submersion – Stir) proved to be useful in discriminating stabilization mechanisms of soils, highlighting the effect of PAM incorporation on soil cohesion (Stir). Finally, superabsorbent PAM may contribute to maintain crop yields, leading to soil quality amelioration.

Sustainable Land Use and Livelihood Dynamics in Henan County on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau—A Transdisciplinary Systems Perspective

Since the 1950s, Henan County on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (the Plateau) has experienced notable changes in its ecological and socio-economic environments, posing challenges to livelihood sustainability. Adopting a mixed method of qualitative interviews, field observations, and statistical data analysis, these changing livelihoods were investigated from a transdisciplinary systems perspective. The aim of this research was to develop an understanding of the relationships between changing land use and the livelihood dynamics on an ecologically fragile land. Results indicate that increasing human and animal populations, together with increasing connectivity between the Plateau and the lowlands, have led to increasing flows of nutrients to the lowlands. The increasing product flows, including the use of dung which is used for heating both on the Plateau and as a Plateau export, together with a lack of nutrients returning to the grasslands, have contributed to the present sustainability challenges. In this study, the transdisciplinary systems perspective provides an overarching integrative framework that transcends the individual socio-economic and biophysical system components, thereby providing key insights not available from within individual disciplines. More detailed analyses are now required, still within a transdisciplinary framework, to quantify specific relationships.

Eco-sensitive Zones and Ecologically Fragile Lands in Kerala: Known and Unknown

Eco-Sensitive Zones or ecologically fragile lands are areas within 10 km around protected areas, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. ESA are notified by The Ministry Of Environment, Forest And Climate Change (MoEFCC) under the environment protection act 1986. In the case of places with sensitive corridors, connectively and ecologically necessary patches, crucial for landscape linkage, even areas beyond 10 km can also be included in the eco-sensitive zone. The Western Ghats are a mountain range that covers an area of 140,000 sq km spread across six states, including Kerala and runs parallel to India’s western coast. Two consecutive years of unprecedented floods and landslides have killed hundreds of people in Kerala. However, the state government is still undecided on whether to notify areas falling under the Western Ghats as ecosensitive zones (ESZs) to avert further disasters. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), headed by noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil had in 2011 submitted a report recommending measures for the region’s protection. The primary aim is to regulate certain activities around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries to minimize the negative impacts of such actions on the fragile ecosystem encompassing the protected areas.

Shedding Light on Peri-Urban Ecosystem Services Using Automated Content Analysis

The objective of this paper is to provide an overall perspective on peri-urban ecosystem services in European Countries. The phenomenon of urbanization affecting our era has seen the shift of the city from compact and well-defined structures to agglomerations with a seamless expansion. This has led to several environmental consequences that have affected the urbanized areas and the surroundings. The peri-urban areas may be the main urban design and planning challenge of the 21st century. These hybrid landscapes, characterized by high fragmentation, can be turned into opportunities to improve the sustainability and quality of urban areas, generating multiple economic, social and environmental benefits. Areas beyond the immediate urban core can be considered a zone of influence, which represent a critical resource in terms of provisioning, regulating, supporting services and cultural ecosystem services. Our study has been developed in the framework of the project “Fertile Lands, Fragile Lands” funded by the University of Catania. A multi-phased method has been applied, showing strong, heterogeneous ties between landscape and ecosystem services. While the importance of literature studies on this topic is well recognized, the same attention has not been placed on the tools and methods of conducting systematic and incremental literature reviews. Using Leximancer software, we propose a text mining approach to extract relevant themes and concepts as well as related topics of interest from identified literature on peri-urban ecosystems. We first introduce the overall methodology and then discuss each phase in detail. The outputs can be used as starting point for broad exploratory reviews and allow further exploration in this issue. The results show how the peri-urban space can be seen as a mosaic in which the settlement, the agricultural and the environmental systems interact and coexist, placing at the centre the relationship of reciprocity between the built environment and the open territory.

Seed Priming: A Potential Supplement in Integrated Resource Management Under Fragile Intensive Ecosystems

A majority of agricultural activities are conducted under fragile lands or set-up. The growth and development of crops are negatively affected due to several biotic and abiotic stresses. In the current situation, research efforts have been diverted toward the short-term approaches that can improve crop performance under changing environments. Seed treatment or priming technology is in a transition phase of its popularity among resource-poor farmers. Suitable policy intervention can boost low-cost techniques to implement them on a larger scale in developing countries and to harness the maximum benefits of sustainable food production systems. Primed seeds have high vigor and germination rate that help in seedling growth and successful crop stand establishment under stress conditions. This review is attempted to assess different seed priming techniques in terms of resource use efficiency, crop productivity, cost–benefit balance, and environmental impacts. Moreover, a comprehensive study of the mechanisms (physiological and biochemical) of seed priming is also elaborated. A detailed examination of the applications of priming technology under diverse agroecosystems can improve our understanding of the adaptive management of natural resources.

Environmental impacts of land management on the sustainability of natural resources in Oriental Erg Tunisia, North Africa

In southwestern Tunisia, the intense exploitation of the natural resources (soil, water, hydrocarbons, etc.) bears unrecoverable consequences on the local environment. In fact, the harsh climate conditions, the expansion of irrigated areas (date plantation and greenhouses) and the overexploitation of water resources in these ecologically fragile lands increase understandably desertification in the Kebili field. The field observations in the study indicate that the sustainability of natural resources is threatened, besides increasing soil salinization and water degradation. The used water quality indexes (BCWQI, OWQI and WAWQI) indicate that more than 55% of the samples are unsuitable for domestic consumption and irrigation purposes. The contamination of the CI water and the agricultural lands by crude mature organic matter is confirmed by the elevated concentrations of organic compounds that range between 1.8 and 16 mg/L in the sampled waters, while they reach the 80 mg/L in the surface horizon in the oases in Mazraa Neji and Oum El Fareth areas. The sensitivity of the study area to different processes of land degradation is evaluated by two multi-criteria models (MEDALUS and IMDPA), which indicate high to very high risks of environmental degradation in the study area with an average geometric mean of 1.67 and 2.8, respectively. Given the potential relevance of the contamination and its long-term impacts on the healthy environmental functioning, this paper outlines the main baselines aspects, the rehabilitation measures and the decontamination actions that should be taken in account in the planning of the most adopted management projects.

Contribution of analysis and detection the risks appearing in roads using GPR method: A case study in Morocco

This work aims to analysis and detects the reasons of the collapse of a road in northern Morocco using simulation based on the Finite-Difference Time-Domain method (FDTD) and a real survey by ground-penetrating radar (GPR) method. In the simulation, we test several targets buried in dry soil at the same depth. Depending on the simulation results GPR survey is done in two zones. The first zone shows multiple strong reflections, it indicates the presence of cavities. In the second zone, the profiles show the presence of the cavities and fragile lands saturated. Based on the results of the analysis and investigation experimental results, it is found that the causes of collapses on the road are due to the presence of the cavities and fragile lands saturated with water. This contribution can be effective and successful in studying areas when establishing infrastructure projects to avoid any risks that in the future.

Soil erosion vulnerability and adaptation strategies in maize field of Sindhukhola sub-watershed region, Nepal

Erosion is a major concern of hill maize farming system. Watersheds with steep slope and fragile land are more prone to erosion. A perception based semi structured questionnaire survey was carried out in Thakani and Sindhukot of Melamchi municipality in Sindhupalchowk district to study relationships of erosion in maize field along with assessment of vulnerability and factors affecting adoption of prevention measures. Index ranking method and descriptive statistics were used to rank the perception of farmers pertaining to occurrence, causes and available control measures of erosion. Logit regression further assessed the determinants of adoption of erosion prevention measures where as vulnerability was assessed using integrated vulnerability assessment approach following Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guideline. Most of the surveyed farmers responded heavy rainfall as major cause of the erosion followed by weak geography whereas the intensity of erosion was moderately increasing. Majority of the respondents (72.5%) have not adopted any erosion prevention measures mainly due to no support from government and low income. Among various adaptation measures, most of the farmers have shifted cultivation time, improved drainage system and decreased weeding frequency. The logit regression showed that among the independent variables, income, education, gender, access to extension services and involvement in organizations are positively significant to the adoption decision. This implies farmers in prone area need support from government to adopt prevention measures. Low income household dependent on agriculture and marginal farmers were more vulnerable to erosion as they have low adaptive capacity and resilience power.

Soil Monitor: an internet platform to challenge soil sealing in Italy

AbstractThis work proposes a new type of web‐based geospatial decision support system—called Soil Monitor—which provides a multidisciplinary operational tool useful for a multi‐stakeholder community to challenge soil sealing. Various technological and technical features of Soil Monitor are presented and discussed with particular reference to the combination of WebGIS with on‐the‐fly geospatial processing based on GPU computing, specifically designed to allow real‐time requests. In addition, we present three quantitative analysis of soil sealing at three different scales. The study at national level illustrated that the type of land use strongly affected soil‐sealing dynamics. Indeed, the class complex cultivation pattern resulted the most fragile land use while forests resulted the most resilient one. The study at province level illustrated the key importance of having on‐the‐fly the map of rural fragmentation for any Italian province. This map—quantifying the landscape integrity of the rural and natural areas—enables to better locate both new green corridors or new urban developments minimizing the environmental impact of human activities. The study at municipality level demonstrated the importance of quantifying a pool of spatial planning indicators and illustrated that (a) the largest urban dispersion occurs in hilly touristic municipalities close to the sea, (b) the increase in soil sealing in rural sites is not related to population growth. As a result, Soil Monitor is deemed useful both to support decision making at different spatial scales and to raise awareness in people, professionals, and experts of other fields. Keywords soil sealing, geospatial decision support system, compute unified device architecture, graphical processing unit computing, urban planning.

Evaluation of City Ecological Vulnerability in Shanxi Province

Ecological vulnerability assessment is an important basis for comprehensive regional ecological sustainable assessment. Evaluating ecological vulnerability of Shanxi Province, a large coal mine province in China, is helpful for the restoration and construction of the ecological environment and sustainable cities. This paper establishes an ecological vulnerability evaluation index system based on ecological vulnerability research methods, calculates the weight of each indicator through the entropy weight method using the quantitative analysis to obtain the ecological vulnerability of each prefecture-level city, and evaluates the ecological vulnerability of Shanxi Province. The results show that Shanxi Province has a moderately fragile, fragile and extremely fragile land area of 77.39% of the total areas. Cities of Yangquan, Jincheng, and Luliang are in a mildly vulnerable grade. Cities of Taiyuan, Changzhi, Shuozhou and Linfen are at a moderate fragile level. Cities of Datong, Jinzhong, and Yuncheng are at a fragile level of strength. Xinzhou is at a very high level of fragility. Our results imply the status quo of the ecological environment in Shanxi Province is not optimistic.

Determinants of Smallholder Commercialization of Tomato Crop in Siltie Zone, Southern Ethiopia

The productivity of agricultural resources was very low; especially in the developing world where production is common on fragile lands and characterized by small-scale subsistence farming. Commercialization of agriculture provides farm households with a means to alleviate poverty and food insecurity by generating incomes in the rural areas. This paper aims to identify factors affecting commercialization of tomato crop by smallholder farmers in Siltie Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Both structured and unstructured questionnaires and Focus Group Discussion were used to collect data from 175 respondents randomly selected from designated locations in the study area. Descriptive statistics and heckman two stage models were used to analyze the collected data. According to first stage Heckman selection estimation (probit regression) model result, Education, frequency of extension contact, distance to market, market agreement and lagged price played a significant role in smallholder commercialization decision. In the second-stage of Heckman selection estimation family size, education, land allocated for tomato production, frequency of agricultural extension contact, distance to nearest market, productivity, lagged price and inverse mill’s ratio were significantly affect level of tomato commercialization. Thus, the study recommends the need for designing appropriate intervention mechanisms focusing on the abovementioned factors so as to improve the performance of tomato crop commercialization.

Forest Laws, for Whom, by Whom?A Concept Mapping Study of the Ecologically Fragile Lands Act, 2003 in Wayanad, Kerala, India

Forest Laws, for Whom, by Whom?A Concept Mapping Study of the Ecologically Fragile Lands Act, 2003 in Wayanad, Kerala, India

Impact of Rural Land Transfer on Land Use Functions in Western China’s Guyuan Based on a Multi-Level Stakeholder Assessment Framework

To achieve sustainable rural development, it is necessary to simultaneously protect ecologically important land and efficiently use existing agricultural land. Land use functions (LUFs) are widely used to assess regional sustainable development. Guyuan is located in a typical hilly and gully region of western China, with ecologically fragile land. Rural land transfer (RLT) has been advocated to prevent abandonment of agricultural land and promote rational, effective utilization of the land. In this study, we used LUFs in a multi-level stakeholder assessment framework to integrate the opinions of all stakeholders in an evaluation of the impact of RLT on regional sustainable development. We employed the framework for participatory impact assessment, key informant interviews, and questionnaires to obtain data to support the development of scenarios to compare the impacts on LUFs. We found that RLT had positive impacts on each LUF in Guyuan, especially for the land-based production and food security LUFs. Importantly, the measures required to support RLT must vary among landforms and location conditions to successfully develop the LUFs and ensure sustainable development. We found that the integrated multi-level stakeholder assessment framework can comprehensively assess the impacts of land use measures on sustainable development and support regional land-use decision-making.

Performance, Economics and Potential Impact of Perennial Rice PR23 Relative to Annual Rice Cultivars at Multiple Locations in Yunnan Province of China

Perennial grain crops hold the promise of stabilizing fragile lands, while contributing grain and grazing in mixed farming systems. Recently, perennial rice was reported to successfully survive, regrow, and yield across a diverse range of environments in Southern China and Laos, with perennial rice PR23 being identified as a prime candidate for release to farmers. This paper reports the evaluation of PR23 for release, by (1) comparing its survival, regrowth, performance, and adaptation with preferred annual rices across nine ecological regions in southern Yunnan Province of China; (2) examining the economic costs and benefits of perennial versus annual rice there; and (3) discussing the evidence for the release of PR23 as a broadly adapted and acceptable cultivar for farmers. Overall, the grain yield of PR23 was similar to those of the preferred annual rice cultivars RD23 and HXR7, but the economic analysis indicated substantial labour savings for farmers by growing the perennial instead of the annual. PR23 was comparable to the annuals in phenology, plant height, grain yield, and grain size, and was acceptable in grain and cooking quality. Farmers were keen to grow it because of reduced costs and especially savings in labour. PR23 is proposed for release to farmers because of its comparable grain yields to annual rices, its acceptable grain and milling quality, its cost and labour savings, and the likely benefits to soil stability and ecological sustainability, along with more flexible farming systems.

SPATIO-TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGES IN ARID REGION OF SAUDI ARABIA

Changes in land use/land cover (LU/LC) are a major factor driving global environmental change,especially in arid and semi-arid regions. As a result, expansion of agriculture and urbanization is occurring inecologically fragile lands. This paper analyzed and assessed land use/land cover changes in an agriculturalcenter Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, object-based classification technique (OBC) using Landsat images for sevenyears (1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2009, and 2015) were used for LU/LC analysis. The urban growth typefor Tabuk was measured using Urban Growth Analysis Tool (UGAT) within a GIS. The study found anincrease in urban areas from 48 km2 in 1985 to 315 km2 in 2015. A significant increase of 61% in agriculturalland, from 1985 (112 km2) to (577 km2) in 2015. This expansion is occurring at the expense of the barren landwith a loss of 768 km2. An overall classification accuracy ranged from 94% to 97% across all images. Theurban growth type for Tabuk was determined as 72% to be of the extension-type over the study period, withurban areas expanding in a direction towards the northwest and west area. Assessing spatial and temporalLU/LC change has aided to understand the impacts of expanding agriculture and urban areas. The LU/LC mapscould aid government planners and decision-makers to analyze and manage agricultural and urban growth.

Resources Use Efficiency of Irrigated Tomato Production of Small-scale Farmers

ABSTRACTThe efficiency of agricultural resources use is a concern especially in the developing world where production is common on fragile lands and characterized by low productivity, small-scale subsistence farming, and acute susceptibility to changes in weather. There is a need for a better understanding of factors influencing variations in efficiency among smallholder farmers. This study was conducted with the aim of estimating technical and economic efficiencies of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L) producing farmers and to identify factors affecting resources use efficiency. A sample of 179 tomato producers who can irrigate their crop were used. To estimate technical and economic efficiencies a Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier model was used; a Tobit model was used to analyze factors affecting tomato production under irrigation. Farmers producing tomato under irrigation were technically inefficient in using inputs of labor and seed and they were not cost efficient in using inputs of land, labor, seed, and fertilizer. Average levels of technical and economic efficiency of tomato farmers were 0.75 and 0.67, respectively. Degree of education, experience in tomato production, and application of pesticides were variables affecting technical and economic efficiencies positively. There are opportunities to optimize utilization of resources by tomato farmers.

Developing a Forest Management Plan (DFMP) for Gatsibo District in the Eastern Province of Rwanda

In support of conservation of its fragile land resource, the government of Rwanda has proposed the management of all forests in the country under a specific management plan. This assignment sought to develop a management plan for the public productive forests of Gatsibo District in Eastern province of Rwanda. Data was collected from 1468 plots, proportionally allocated by size to the 375 forest stands. Information about the forest (qualitative data) was recorded and then forest measurements (inventory) done in a concentric cycle of 9.77 m and 3.99 m radius and all data recorded in a digital format using the survey CTO platform. The data was summarized and analyzed in a harmonized forest management tool for Rwanda comprising of six interlinked excel files based on Rwanda’s silvicultural regimes and treatments. This analysis resulted to planning for silvicultural activities in each forest up to the year 2070. Results show that the public plantation forests of Gatsibo are poorly stocked mainly due to poor management and the best stocked forest had a basal area of only 13.3 m2/ha. This implied low forest volumes for each of the wood requirements; timber wood, service wood and energy wood. Eucalyptus forests are the most common but are poorly stocked compared to the Pinus patula forests which are even aged by plantation. A projection of stocks shows that the forests can be sustained with an average wood volume of 73 m3/ha, to provide harvests yearly and reduce the wood supply and demand gap in the district. A viability analysis indicates that some forests are viable for leasing with good profits in the short term (10 years) and full term planning (40 years). However, some forests may not be commercially viable due to their current stocks and agro bioclimatic conditions, and these would be rehabilitated for ecosystem services. This plan supports the restoration of the forests of Gatsibo district through provision of specific guidelines for the management of the forests.