Traditional Land Management Systems Research Articles

Assessing impact of agroecological interventions in Niger through remotely sensed changes in vegetation

Water scarcity is a major challenge in the Sahel region of West Africa. Water scarcity in combination with prevalent soil degradation has severely reduced the land productivity in the region. The decrease in resiliency of food security systems of marginalized population has huge societal implications which often leads to mass migrations and conflicts. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and development organizations have made major investments in the Sahel to improve resilience through land rehabilitation activities in recent years. To help restore degraded lands at the farm level, the World Food Programme (WFP) with assistance from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance supported the construction of water and soil retention structures called half-moons. The vegetation growing in the half-moons is vitally important to increase agricultural productivity and feed animals, a critical element of sustainable food security in the region. This paper investigates the effectiveness of interventions at 18 WFP sites in southern Niger using vegetative greenness observations from the Landsat 7 satellite. The pre - and post-intervention analysis shows that vegetation greenness after the half-moon intervention was nearly 50% higher than in the pre-intervention years. The vegetation in the intervened area was more than 25% greener than the nearby control area. Together, the results indicate that the half-moons are effective adaptations to the traditional land management systems to increase agricultural production in arid ecosystems, which is evident through improved vegetation conditions in southern Niger. The analysis shows that the improvement brought by the interventions continue to provide the benefits. Continued application of these adaptation techniques on a larger scale will increase agricultural production and build resilience to drought for subsistence farmers in West Africa. Quantifiable increase in efficacy of local-scale land and water management techniques, and the resulting jump in large-scale investments to scale similar efforts will help farmers enhance their resiliency in a sustainable manner will lead to a reduction in food security shortages.

Land Records Digitization and Service Delivery in the Ministry of Lands in Kenya

The Kenya Ministry of Lands has been plagued with rampant delays in accessing land records, registry services and numerous clerical errors that have affected service delivery. It is evident that service delivery problems within the department have been problem for most policymakers which resulted in the launch of the National Lands Management Information System geared towards improving service delivery. There have however been minimal research efforts to determine how the systems has affected the ministry hence this study sought to examine the effect of digitization of land records management system on service delivery. The records continuum theory and the technology acceptance model formed the basis of this study. A descriptive approach was employed, and the population targeted of staff at the Ministry of Lands main registry at Ardhi House. The study sampled 154 officials within the headquarters at the Ministry of Lands who are involved in the lands records management system. Primary data was sourced using structured questionnaires developed under the guidance of the study objectives. Google forms supplemented the physical data to enhance the response rate. A pretesting was caried out on 10% of the sample participants to determine the research instruments’ validity and reliability. Data analysis focused both descriptive and inferential analysis. Findings were presented using charts and tables. The findings of the correlation tests established there is a strong positive and significant relation between digitization of land records (r = .806**, sig = .000<.05) and the service delivery at the Ministry of Lands in Kenya. This implies that a unit change in these variables will result in a unit change in the service delivery. The implementation of land records management system provides a technique and method for land planning, management quantification and rationalization together with quick inquiry, analysis and innovation of land information, provides supplementary support for decision making and improves the traditional land management system through computer technologies and communications network. The study recommended that the Ministry should put up appropriate training programs to keep its employees updated with the current job requirements and training should be geared to all employees regardless of their gender and job category. The study recommended that during the implementation of the land records management system, security should be of the paramount consideration while developing software and processing data and the need of security policies has to be clearly told to all the employees working in the Ministry and they should be directed to adhere to these policies. The study also recommended that an Integrated Land Information Management System should be properly implemented. This will ensure that the Ministry delivers services to the expectations of the clients.

Agroforestry Suitability for Planning Site-Specific Interventions Using Machine Learning Approaches

Agroforestry in the form of intercropping, boundary plantation, and home garden are parts of traditional land management systems in India. Systematic implementation of agroforestry may help achieve various ecosystem benefits, such as reducing soil erosion, maintaining biodiversity and microclimates, mitigating climate change, and providing food fodder and livelihood. The current study collected ground data for agroforestry patches in the Belpada block, Bolangir district, Odisha state, India. The agroforestry site-suitability analysis employed 15 variables on climate, soil, topography, and proximity, wherein the land use land cover (LULC) map was referred to prescribe the appropriate interventions. The random forest (RF) machine learning model was applied to estimate the relative weight of the determinant variables. The results indicated high accuracy (average suitability >0.87 as indicated by the validation data) and highlighted the dominant influence of the socioeconomic variables compared to soil and climate variables. The results show that >90% of the agricultural land in the study area is suitable for various agroforestry interventions, such as bund plantation and intercropping, based on the cropping intensity. The settlement and wastelands were found to be ideal for home gardens and bamboo block plantations, respectively. The spatially explicit data on agroforestry suitability may provide a baseline map and help the managers and planners. Moreover, the adopted approach can be hosted in cloud-based platforms and applied in the different agro-ecological zones of India, employing the local ground data on various agroforestry interventions. The regional and national scale agroforestry suitability and appropriate interventions map would help the agriculture managers to implement and develop policies.

Assessing the potential of tembawang, a traditional forest management in Sanggau, West Kalimantan, Indonesia for ecotourism

Abstract. Roslinda E, Siswoyo A, Nantah N. 2022. Assessing the potential of tembawang, a traditional forest management in Sanggau, West Kalimantan, Indonesia for ecotourism. Biodiversitas 23: 2184-2192. Tembawang is a traditional land management system practiced by the Dayak community in Kalimantan, Indonesia. It resembles a miniature tropical forest that can be developed as an ecotourism alternative. This study aimed to assess the potential of Tembawang Kampung Lama in Sanggau District, West Kalimantan, as a natural tourist attraction. The research used a survey method and data collection was carried out by distributing questionnaires to respondents, in-depth interviews, Focus Group Discussions, direct observation, and document analysis. Assessment and analysis of data followed guidelines from the government. The results showed that Tembawang Kampung Lama has a moderate potential to be developed as an ecotourism destination. The elements of tourist attractions, supporting infrastructure and availability of clean water were in a good category, while the accessibility was in the moderate category, and the socio-economic conditions and accommodation were in the bad category. The development of tembawang as a tourist attraction must be supported by improving accessibility and accommodation facilities. In addition, tour packages can be developed by integrating landscape tours consisting of rice fields, tembawang, secondary forests in the hills and cascades around the tembawang to attract more tourists to visit.

Forests, Farms, and Fallows: The Dynamics of Tree Cover Transition in the Southern Part of the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania

Forests and woodlands remain under threat in tropical Africa due to excessive exploitation and inadequate management interventions, and the isolated success stories of tree retention and tree cover transition on African agricultural land are less well documented. In this study, we characterize the status of tree cover in a landscape that contains forest patches, fallows, and farms in the southern part of Uluguru Mountains. We aimed to unveil the practices of traditional tree fallow system which is socially acceptable in local settings and how it provides a buffering effects to minimize forest disturbances and thus represents an important step towards tree cover transition. We assessed land cover dynamics for the period of 1995 to 2020 and compared tree stocking for forest patches, fallows, and farms. We found that tree biomass carbon stocks were 56 ± 5 t/ha in forest patches, 33 ± 7 t/ha in fallows, and 9 ± 2 t/ha on farms. In terms of land cover, farms shrank at intensifying rates over time for the entire assessment period of 1995–2020. Forest cover decreased from 1995–2014, with the reduction rate slowing from 2007–2014 and the trend reversing from 2014–2020, such that forest cover showed a net increase across the entire study period. Fallow consistently and progressively increased from 1995–2020. We conclude that traditional tree fallows in the study site remain a significant element of land management practice among communities, and there appears to be a trend towards intensified tree-based farming. The gains in fallowed land represent an embracing of a traditional land management system that supports rotational and alternate uses of cropping space as well as providing a buffering effect to limit over-exploitation of forests. In order to maximize tree cover and carbon stocks in the farm landscape, this well-known traditional tree fallow system can be further optimized through the incorporation of additional innovations.

Agroforestry for healthy ecosystems: constraints, improvement strategies and extension in Pakistan

Globally, forest ecosystems are shrinking and their health is declining due to a range of biotic and abiotic factors. Forest ecosystems in Pakistan are no exception and the country faces a crisis as its growing population (> 208 million) places increasing pressure on the country’s food production systems and forest resources. Effective food systems that enhance productivity, increase economic outputs, improve ecological outcomes and maintain social acceptance are needed. Agroforestry, a traditional land management system in Pakistan, offers the opportunity to meet these goals. Planting trees on private farmland provides clear ownership of any timber resource and well managed systems have great potential both to boost agriculture and reduce wood shortages. Concerted extension efforts have been made to introduce and promote innovative agroforestry practices in Pakistan, but the success of these efforts depends on many factors. This paper reviews some of the current constraints to agroforestry promotion in Pakistan, including attitudes of the extension staff, poor or weak research-extension coordination, lack of trained personnel, lack of farmer response to advice, tree species limitations, and market mechanism as well as wood price challenges. Establishing model agroforestry farms at the village level can be a productive extension approach, but successful extension programming requires partners to share both an appreciation of the problem and a vision of successful outcomes. Successful promotion also requires appropriate choice of message, messenger, target audience and effective use of appropriate communication tools. Remedial measures to streamline the existing systems and devise future sustainable strategies and approaches are suggested to promote agroforestry in Pakistan.

Reforestation and land use change as drivers for a decrease of avalanche damage in mid-latitude mountains (NW Spain)

Natural conditions that explain the triggering of snow avalanches are becoming better-known, but our understanding of how socio-environmental changes can influence the occurrence of damaging avalanches is still limited. This study analyses the evolution of snow avalanche damage in the Asturian Massif (NW Spain) between 1800 and 2015, paying special attention to changes in land-use and land-cover patterns. A damage index has been performed using historical sources, photointerpretation and fieldwork-based data, which were introduced in a GIS and processed by means of statistical analysis. Mapping allowed connecting spatiotemporal variations of damage and changes in human-environment interactions. The total number of victims was 342 (192 dead and 150 injured). Results show stability in the number of avalanches during the study period, but a progressive decrease in the damage per avalanche. Changes in land use explain the evolution of damage and its spatial/temporal behaviour. The role played by vegetation cover is at the root of this process: damage was the highest during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when a massive deforestation process affected the protective forest. This deforestation was the result of demographic growth and intensive grazing, disentailment laws and emerging coal mining. Since the mid-20th century, the transformation of a traditional land-management system based on overexploitation into a system based on land marginalization and reforestation, together with the decline of deforestation due to industrial and legal causes, resulted in the decrease of avalanches that affected settlements (mostly those released below the potential timberline). The decrease of damage has been sharper in the western sector of the Asturian Massif, where oak deforestation was very intense in the past and where lithology allows for a more successful ecological succession at present. Taking into account that reforestation can be observed in mountain environments of developed countries worldwide, and considering present initiatives conducted to counteract its negative cultural effects by means of grazing and clearing operations, planning is imperative, and this research provides useful information for environmental management policies and risk mitigation in avalanche prone areas.

Farmers' Perception of Land Degradation and Traditional Knowledge in Southern Ethiopia—Resilience and Stability

AbstractLand degradation is the major economic and environmental threat in Ethiopia. Since the 1960s, the various traditional land management systems have undergone unprecedented changes. Within the context of farmers' awareness of land degradation and local responses to the problems, the objective of this study is to examine the resilience and stability of traditional land management knowledge in Southern Ethiopia. Data were collected using interviews, group discussions and field observations. Results of the study demonstrate that farmers have a wealth of experience in identifying the severity, dynamics and causes of soil erosion and soil fertility decline and grazing land deterioration. In response to these problems, farmers have developed a wide range of traditional land management practices, supported across the generations by the traditional law (benee woga) and norms. However, recent changes include reduction and abandonment of fallowing, modification of crop rotation and large‐scale reduction of manuring. The current practices used to fulfil livelihood requirements are the main driving forces that affect the resilience of the system. Thus, environmental and land use management planning should consider rehabilitating land not only based on traditional land management knowledge but also with regards to raising its agricultural productivity. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Natural conservationists? Evaluating the impact of pastoralist land use practices on Tanzania's wildlife economy

The land management practices of pastoralist Maasai communities have a major bearing on landscapes and wildlife habitats in northern Tanzania and play a key role in maintaining habitat for one of the world's most spectacular assemblages of terrestrial large mammals. Pastoralists manage lands according to locally devised rules designed to manage and conserve key resources such as pastures and water sources. Dry season grazing reserves are an important part of traditional land management systems in many pastoralist communities, providing a ‘grass bank’ for livestock to consume during the long dry season when forage invariably becomes scarce and domestic animals are stressed for water and nutrients. Because of the scale and importance of northern Tanzania's wildlife-based tourism industry, and its indirect dependence on communal lands under the authority of pastoralists, these land use practices have an important economic dimension. By conserving large proportions of northern Tanzania's wildlife ecosystems, local pastoralist communities collectively make an important contribution to the national and regional economy. Using data regarding the degree to which wildlife depends on pastoralist lands in different ecosystems, and the relative importance of different areas in terms of generating revenue for the northern safari circuit, the annual value of pastoralist land uses to the wildlife-based tourism industry in northern Tanzania is estimated at approximately US $83.5 million. The economic value of pastoralists' contribution to wildlife conservation highlights the importance of Tanzanian policies in land, livestock, tourism, and wildlife sectors prioritizing measures that promote communal rangeland management and support traditional land use practices.

Foraging ecology of a local wild bee community in an abandoned Satoyama system in Kanazawa, Central Japan

AbstractSatoyama is a traditional land management system in Japan that emphasizes the importance of a harmonious relationship between humans and their environment. It has been in a state of abandonment and destruction since the late 1960s. In 2000, the Japanese government initiated a new environment policy encouraging the use of Satoyama in biodiversity reservation areas. Before the initiation of active restoration works, an assessment of the potential of the Satoyama system is needed. To assess this potential, a study that focused on the foraging ecology of wild bees in a small abandoned Satoyama terraced paddy was carried out from June to October 2003. A total of 372 foraging bees belonging to 35 species in nine families was collected: two species of social bee (Apis cerana and Bombus diversus) and two of solitary bee (Lasioglossum japonicum and Lasioglossum ohei) dominated. The foraging activities of wild bees were highly influenced by the requirement of food for the colony and the active time of solitary bees. In the study, most wild bees showed a strong preference for abundant flowering plant species that produced a large number of flowers (Achyranthes japonica and Polygonum thunbergii). The results showed that an abandoned Satoyama system was an agricultural system that benefited pollinating bees. Careful and planned restoration practices to increase the diversity of foraging resources, microenvironment diversity and potential nesting areas for wild bees are needed to improve the ability of the Satoyama system to support more diverse and abundant wild bee populations.

Changes in land-use and their impact on erosion rates and overland flow generation in the Maghreb region

The ongoing intensification of grazing as well as the replacement of traditional land management systems in the Maghreb has brought to the forefront the fundamental role of land-use in determining soil erosion hazard. This paper reports on erosion rates and soil hydrological characteristics of a variety of land uses in Morocco and Tunisia. The results were obtained through rainfall simulation experiments carried out in the field using a portable simulator, following the design of CERDÀ et al. (1997). Traditional land management systems - typically involving a combination of agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry - produced the least amounts of overland flow and the lowest soil erosion rates. Over-exploitation of these systems apparently has only minor hydrological and erosional impacts. Heavily grazed, degraded "maquis" shrublands, on the other hand, produced considerable amounts of overland flow. At the plot scale of the rainfall simulation experiments (0.24 m2), the corresponding sediment loads are rather insignificant. Nevertheless, slopes where "maquis" shrublands (which generally have very compacted soils) occur upslope from more erodible soils may present a major erosion hazard.

Sediment sources during the traditional land-use system in the Spanish Pyrenees

During the traditional land management system intense erosion processes affected the Spanish Pyrenees up to 2200 m a.s.l. The destruction of the upper forest levels and the expansion of the cultivated fields on the sunny, steep slopes greatly increased sediment yield to the river channels. Soil erosion reached its highest values under shifting agriculture, fallow land and, in the shrubland areas, immediately after a wildfire. Both in the subalpine and in the submediterranean areas, deforestation explains not only the main features of the landscape functioning but also the fluvial dynamics.

Gender Relations in the Democratization Process: An Analysis of Agrarian Policies in Africa

This paper is an attempt to link women’s empowerment in the democratization process and the sexual division of labour and resources in land management. Following the introduction, section two will assess the scope of women producers’ participation in the agrarian sector. Section three will analyze traditional land management systems. The impact of land reforms on women’s access to land is examined in section four. Finally, the conclusion will stress the need to create the legal and political climate that will allow the emergence of a more balanced land policy as a first step towards sustainable democratization.Women’s potential contributions in rural development, particularly in food production, have been extensively documented.

Gender Relations in the Democratization Process: An Analysis of Agrarian Policies in Africa

This paper is an attempt to link women’s empowerment in the democratization process and the sexual division of labour and resources in land management. Following the introduction, section two will assess the scope of women producers’ participation in the agrarian sector. Section three will analyze traditional land management systems. The impact of land reforms on women’s access to land is examined in section four. Finally, the conclusion will stress the need to create the legal and political climate that will allow the emergence of a more balanced land policy as a first step towards sustainable democratization.Women’s potential contributions in rural development, particularly in food production, have been extensively documented.

Patterns and management of agroforestry systems in Yunnan: An approach to upland rural development

Characterized by great cultural and environmental diversity, China's South-Western Yunnan Province supports an exceptionally rich and dynamic agrodiversity. Since 1990 the Traditional Land Management Systems (TLM) Research Programme has researched change, variation, and adaptability of Yunnan's little studied agroforestry systems In four different areas. Research efforts focus on the interplay between these agroforestry systems, shifting land and resource rights, rural government policies, Indigenous management, demographic change, and market conditions. The authors review agrodiversity in Yunnan by briefly highlighting specific forms of agrodiversity and by examining in-depth the transition of Zhuoxi Village farmers, a TLM research area, from swidden agriculture to a predominantly agroforestry based economy.