Unsustainable Land Use Research Articles

Mapping Cashew Orchards in Cantanhez National Park (Guinea-Bissau)

The forests and woodlands of Guinea-Bissau are a biodiversity hotspot under threat, which are progressively being replaced by cashew tree orchards. While the exports of cashew nuts significantly contribute to the gross domestic product and support local livelihoods, the country's natural capital is under significant pressure due to unsustainable land use. In this context, official entities strive to counter deforestation, but the problem persists, and there are currently no systematic or automated means for objectively monitoring and reporting the situation. Furthermore, previous remote sensing approaches failed to distinguish cashew orchards from forests and woodlands due to the significant spectral overlap between the land cover types and the highly intertwined structure of the cashew tree patches. This work contributes to overcoming such difficulty. It develops an affordable, reliable, and easy-to-use procedure based on machine learning models and Sentinel-2 images, automatically detecting cashew orchards with a dice coefficient of 82.54%. The results of this case study designed for the Cantanhez National Park are proof of concept and demonstrate the viability of mapping cashew orchards. Therefore, the work is a stepping stone towards wall-to-wall operational monitoring in the region.

Ethnobotanical knowledge against the combined biodiversity, poverty and climate crisis: A case study from a Karen community in Northern Thailand

Societal Impact StatementGlobal biodiversity is eroding at alarming rates due to anthropogenic factors, such as climate change and unsustainable land use management. These interrelated challenges often push forest ecosystems to their limits, leading many species to disappear before their characteristics and potential are explored. As a result, indigenous rural communities inhabiting the world's biodiversity hotspots are losing a vital resource that supports their subsistence and livelihoods against persistent poverty. This research documents traditional ecological knowledge of a Karen community inside the Doi Inthanon National Park, Northern Thailand, reporting ethnobotanical uses of 125 plant taxa. It provides a ranking of culturally important trees that can inform the selection of framework species for ecosystem restoration and sustainable development in the region's montane forests.Summary Climate change, population growth and persistent poverty are applying pressure to the world's most fragile ecosystems and biodiversity hotspots in unprecedented ways. There is an urgent need to document species that provide important ecological services and contribute to overall human quality of life. Participatory rural appraisal tools and collection of herbarium specimens were used to elicit ethnobotanical knowledge of an ethnic community inside the mountain forest of Northern Thailand. Statistical analysis was performed on the basis of quantitative indices to rank the cultural significance of the reported species in a Karen community inside Doi Inthanon National Park, Northern Thailand. This article presents an ethnobotanical inventory of 125 plants, including data on important botanical families, use categories and useful plant parts. A prioritisation of 30 culturally important tree species is attempted on the basis of four quantitative indices. Most of the reported plants are neglected and underutilised in need of further research and development for the diversification of agriculture, diets, livelihoods and landscapes. The integration of cultural criteria in the selection of framework species for ecosystem restoration embeds local community needs in conservation efforts, increasing their potential for success and fostering an integrated approach to sustainable development.

Browsing herbivores improve the state and functioning of savannas: A model assessment of alternative land-use strategies.

Changing climatic conditions and unsustainable land use are major threats to savannas worldwide. Historically, many African savannas were used intensively for livestock grazing, which contributed to widespread patterns of bush encroachment across savanna systems. To reverse bush encroachment, it has been proposed to change the cattle‐dominated land use to one dominated by comparatively specialized browsers and usually native herbivores. However, the consequences for ecosystem properties and processes remain largely unclear. We used the ecohydrological, spatially explicit model EcoHyD to assess the impacts of two contrasting, herbivore land‐use strategies on a Namibian savanna: grazer‐ versus browser‐dominated herbivore communities. We varied the densities of grazers and browsers and determined the resulting composition and diversity of the plant community, total vegetation cover, soil moisture, and water use by plants. Our results showed that plant types that are less palatable to herbivores were best adapted to grazing or browsing animals in all simulated densities. Also, plant types that had a competitive advantage under limited water availability were among the dominant ones irrespective of land‐use scenario. Overall, the results were in line with our expectations: under high grazer densities, we found heavy bush encroachment and the loss of the perennial grass matrix. Importantly, regardless of the density of browsers, grass cover and plant functional diversity were significantly higher in browsing scenarios. Browsing herbivores increased grass cover, and the higher total cover in turn improved water uptake by plants overall. We concluded that, in contrast to grazing‐dominated land‐use strategies, land‐use strategies dominated by browsing herbivores, even at high herbivore densities, sustain diverse vegetation communities with high cover of perennial grasses, resulting in lower erosion risk and bolstering ecosystem services.

Climate-related disasters and agricultural land conversion: towards prevention policies

ABSTRACT Climate-related disasters (CRDs) and hazards such as droughts, floods, and storms are the main patterns of natural events in long-term weather cycles which are potentially affected by climate change. Unsustainable use of land has contributed to the increase of vulnerability to disasters. Disasters and land use change have become major concerns all over the world. Agricultural land conversion (ALC) has been identified as one of the most significant drivers that influences ecosystems, and poses numerous challenges to agricultural development and human life. This systematic review study aimed to review the drivers and effects of ALC and CRDs on the one hand and their relations on the other. The paper further proposes a prevention policy framework towards the management of ALC and CRDs including three dimensions, i.e. monitoring-based policies, driver-based policies, and effect-based policies. All three types of these policies are important and essential because ALC and CRDs and their effects and drivers are interdependent. The study concludes that managing these phenomena not only needs to control and monitor their drivers but also requires preventing the effects. Avoiding the drivers and effects also involves monitoring the past, present, and future of ALC and CRD trends.

Land Use Capability and the Sustainable Scale: An Overview of Agriculture in São Paulo State, Brazil

Establishing a sustainable scale in natural resources management enables effective economic and ecological policies and guarantees the long-term sustainability of economic production. In agriculture, land evaluations determine the land use sustainable scales, that is, those that avoid land degradation and allow the provision of food, wood, energy, and ecosystem services over time. The paper assessed São Paulo State’s agricultural sustainability by analyzing the current land use adequacy to the land use capability map that follows FAO 1976 “guide for land evaluation” and was applied to São Paulo by the State Agricultural Secretariat. Results indicate inefficiencies in land use at the state level, where more than one-third of agricultural lands do not satisfy technical land capability indications. According to technical land use capability, more than 4.5 million hectares are being underused (economic inefficiency) and another 2.2 million hectares are being overused (environmental inefficiency). Pasturelands represent the most unsustainable land use, where 3.7 million hectares are allocated in high quality lands with high agricultural production potential, and another 0.7 million hectares are allocated in lands with very low quality for agriculture, most of than area degraded. To achieve sustainability, lands with high agricultural production potential should be used to improve agriculture and food production and, on the other hand, lands with very low agricultural production potential should be used for wood production, agroforestry, ecotourism and natural ecosystems conservation. Our results provide a framework for improving land use policies in São Paulo State and highlight an opportunity to achieve land use sustainability.

Distribution of heavy metals (Ag, Hg, Cd) concentration and the pollution status in the western part of Segara Anakan Lagoon, Indonesia

Segara Anakan lagoon has continuously gained pressures as a result of human activities. Unsustainable land use and forest destruction in the upper river areas have brought about erosion bringing also heavy metals into the lagoon. This study investigated the distribution of heavy metals (Ag, Hg, and Cd) concentration and determined the pollution status in the western part of Segara Anakan Lagoon, Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia. The study was conducted for six months, from June to November 2016, with a sampling interval of once a month. The study was located in six stations spread over from the rivers to the estuary area. The distribution of Ag content tended to be stable at every station (except in August). Low Ag content was found in June, July, September, and October, while the highest was in November. The higher Ag content was found in the estuary area. The distribution of Hg varied and mostly increased toward the estuary area. Low Hg content was found in November, while the highest was in October. The distribution of Cd tended to be stable at every station (except in July). Low Cd content was found in June, while the highest was found in August-October. A higher concentration of Cd was obtained in the channel area up to the confluence area of several rivers. According to the pollution index, the western part of Segara Anakan Lagoon was moderately polluted.

Is the Formalization of Collective Tenure Rights Supporting Sustainable Indigenous Livelihoods? Insights from Comunidades Nativas in the Peruvian Amazon

After decades of activism by Indigenous Peoples and their allies, the need to formalize Indigenous land rights has received increasing global attention as a strategy to address climate change. Research has highlighted the compatibility between community forest management regimes and carbon sequestration, reiterating the essential role that securing Indigenous land tenure must play in forest-based climate change mitigation strategies. Based on research conducted in six Indigenous Comunidades Nativas with formal collective titles in Peruvian Amazonia, this article argues that titling alone is not enough to ensure that Indigenous Peoples are supported and enabled to access their recognized rights and play a central role in addressing the climate crisis. Indigenous Awajun and Ashaninka informants discussed challenges with accessing suitable livelihoods, excessive restrictions on timber harvest, land conflicts with smallholder migrant farmers and extractive concessions, unclear conflict resolution mechanisms, and policies that assume a communal governance model that differs from actual Indigenous leadership roles and institutions. All of these challenges put pressure on community members, creating incentives for unsustainable land and resource use, and undermining their abilities to protect their forests. Although Peru has included Comunidades Nativas and other co-managed areas in the mitigation actions toward its Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement, it must re-examine its titling reforms, and the way that Comunidades’ land and resource access is regulated and weakened. This will allow for titling in practice to live up to its promise in theory as a strategy for promoting equity and mitigating climate change.

Abundance and effects of climate change on geographical distribution of Mondia whitei (Hook.f.) Skeels (Apocynaceae) in the Dahomey Gap (West Africa)

AbstractAfrican healthcare system depends upon indigenous medicinal plants, harvested wild and traded for significant income generation. Mondia whitei, one of these plants, is threatened by over‐exploitation, climate change and unsustainable land use management. Detailed knowledge is lacking regarding the species' conservation—driving forces and preservation of its ecological niche within fragile ecological regions. This study assessed the influence of the land use types on the abundance of M. whitei and the spatio‐temporal evolution of its ecological niche in the Dahomey Gap. The abundance of the species was evaluated in different land use systems. Available bioclimatic and soil layers were used for the distribution modelling. Results showed that M. whitei was mainly found in three land use systems: cropland, fallow and forests. Density of adults averaged 281.5 ± 99.1, 323.2 ± 93.9 and 305.9 ± 154 individuals/ha in fallow, forest and cropland, respectively. For juveniles, density was on average of 222.2 ± 205.7 individuals/ha in cropland vs 59.3 ± 71.8 and 57.4 ± 94.1 individuals/ha in forest and fallow, respectively. The majority of the species distribution will possibly remain stable with some expansion under future climates. Persistence of the species' niche in the Dahomey Gap under climate change indicates its potential as a contributor to future livelihood improvement, via local health care and the strengthening of local economy.

Comparative assessment of macroinvertebrate communities within three Afromontane headwater streams influenced by different land use patterns

Headwater streams in Afromontane ecoregions harbour locally adapted aquatic communities. However, across many regions in Africa, these ecosystems and their unique aquatic biodiversity have been severely impacted by unsustainable land use practices. We tested the hypothesis that land use disturbances were the primary drivers of community dynamics by comparing spatial and temporal dynamics together with trait-environment relationships of macroinvertebrate communities in three headwater streams influenced by different land use practices. The three headwater streams were distinguished based on high conductivity, total dissolved solids and alkaline pH in the agriculture-disturbed stream, and low temperature in a stream whose riparian zone was invaded by non-native vegetation compared to a near-natural stream. Macroinvertebrate taxonomic diversity was, nevertheless, comparable among these three streams. Constrained canonical ordination revealed that seasonality was a major driver of macroinvertebrate dynamics that was reflected mostly by the abundances of six macroinvertebrate taxa (Baetis, Dicentroptelum, Afronurus, Tricorythus, Simulium and Cheumatopsyche), whereas land use contributed a small but significant difference. Trait-environment relationships reflected seasonal changes that included the importance of benthic substratum in winter, the occurrence of collector-gatherer invertebrates in spring and aerial breathing traits in summer. Land use-related traits were, nevertheless, reflected by gill respiration and grazer feeding traits represented by Afronurus in the near-natural stream, predator traits represented by Aeshna and Lestes in the invaded stream, and aerial respiration represented by Enithares, Orectogyrus and Rhagovelia in the agriculture-disturbed stream. Our results suggest that environmental variability associated with seasonality probably played a deterministic role within which land use disturbances operated. Overall, our study suggest that importance of using multiple metrics to unpack the patterns associated with land use disturbances in headwater streams.

Cropping patterns along an altitudinal gradient and their implications to wildlife conservation in Rombo, Tanzania

Ecosystem and livelihood sustainability of small-scale farmers in Eastern Africa are often challenged by climate change and unsustainable land use practices. Little is known on the small-scale temporal processes of cropping systems in relation to long-term climatic conditions. To understand the climatic influence on the cropping patterns, and its implications to wildlife/elephant conservation, our study used a combination of time-series datasets on crop and climate as well as geo-spatial layers spanning more than three decades. To validate the information analyzed from secondary data, we carried out participatory observation and interviews, whereby about 5% of village households were selected along an altitudinal gradient of Rombo area, Tanzania. We generated land use change maps using Geographical Information System (ArcGIS 10.4) and used Spearman’s correlation analysis to assess the influence of rainfall, temperature, and crop yield on the observed longitudinal changes in the crop types and other land use patterns both within and across altitudinal gradients. We found that perennial crops like coffee and banana concentrated in upper agro-ecological zones, with a clear division line above 1230masl while seasonal crops like maize and beans were mostly cultivated in lowlands (below 1230masl). The results further showed that coffee yields significantly declined with higher average annual minimum temperatures over the last 16 years. Within the same time period, there was a disproportionate shift from coffee to seasonal crop cultivation such as maize and beans. Elephant numbers declined by about 38%, while human settlement area increased by 28% over the last 30 years. We conclude that changes in land use and shifts in climate and cropping patterns have important implications for elephant conservation and sustainability of the ecosystem in Rombo area, Tanzania.

Identification of environmental conditions based on the carrying capacity and holding capacity analysis (case study: Kecamatan Barat, Magetan)

A rapid increase in population and unsustainable land use changes that are not following its capability are likely to lead to severe urban problems. An analysis of the carrying capacity and holding capacity of the environment is needed to determine whether lands can sustain the increasing population. The present research aims to identify the environmental conditions of the Kecamatan Barat based on the carrying capacity and holding capacity of land, water, and demography. Further, an overlay analysis is used to understand the overall carrying capacity level of the sub-district. Qualitative descriptive analysis is used to elaborate the study results. Two villages have deficits in the carrying capacity and capacity of land in West District in 2020, including Purwodadi and Tebon. Six villages are experiencing a water deficit in 2020, including Purwodadi, Karangsono, Bogorejo, Tebon, Manjung, and Mangge. All villages in Kecamatan Barat are still able to accommodate the projected population increase until 2042. The overlay of land, water, and demographic carrying capacity and water holding capacity shows 8, 4, and 2 villages with very high, high, and low overall carrying capacity values.

Rural Roads Are Paving the Way for Land-Use Intensification in the Uplands of Laos

Road expansion has played a prominent role in the agrarian transition that marked the integration of swidden-based farming systems into the market economy in Southeast Asia. Rural roads deeply altered the landscape and livelihood structures by allowing the penetration of boom crops such as hybrid maize in remote territories. In this article, we investigate the impact of rural road developments on livelihoods in northern Laos through a longitudinal study conducted over a period of 15 years in a forest frontier. We studied adaptive management strategies of local stakeholders through the combination of individual surveys, focus group discussions, participatory mapping and remote-sensing approaches. The study revealed the short-term benefits of the maize feeder roads on poverty alleviation and rural development, but also the negative long-term effects on agroecosystem health and agricultural productivity related to unsustainable land use. Lessons learnt about the mechanisms of agricultural intensification helped understanding the constraints faced by external interventions promoting sustainable land management practices. When negotiated by local communities for their own interest, roads may provide livelihood-enhancing opportunities through access to external resources, rather than undermining them.

Aromatic plants based environmental sustainability with special reference to degraded land management

Land resources are under severe threat to meet its present demand due to unsustainable land use practices worldwide, industrialization, urbanization and pollution. In the present era of limited fertile land, degraded land including polluted and marginal lands are focal to meet the global needs of population. Degraded land restoration and marginal land utilization are vital for economical, environmental and social point of view including all aspects of ecosystem services of present and future. The present technologies for degraded land restoration include costly and unsustainable physical, chemical and biological methods which cannot be imposed without proper technological input. Aromatic crops are in high demand for industries like aroma, food, cosmetic, perfumery, toiletary etc. Certain perennial and annual aromatic crops are adaptable to the harsh environmental conditions of degraded lands. In the present literature, we recommend the adoption of aromatic plants for sustainable management of degraded and marginal lands to achieve the objectives of sustainable development goals (SDGs), boost circular economy and in situ restoration of degraded and marginal lands to achieve various tangible and intangible benefits including ecosystem services.

Business alignment for the “Decade of Action”

The SDGs and Paris Climate Agreement, taken together, constitute the best hope for charting a new course for the world’s politics and economics, to produce “the future we want.” This paper briefly explores the central environmental, social, and economic challenges; the pathways to sustainability; and the central role of companies in achieving our global goals. We are facing four very deep and interconnected global environmental crises: human-induced climate change, unsustainable land use, mega-pollution, and increased frequency and intensity of pandemic zoonotic diseases. At the same time, we face massive social crises, including increasing inequality. There are six necessary SDG Transformations that each requires a major change in the organization of societal, political, and economic activities – which delineates also the critical role of business. The paper specifies four key questions that companies and their stakeholders can ask to effectively align with the "Decade of Action" needed to achieve the SDG ambitions.

Assessment of the Ecological Health of Afrotropical Rivers Using Fish Assemblages: A Case Study of Selected Rivers in the Lake Victoria Basin, Kenya

Streams and rivers are globally threatened ecosystems because of increasing levels of exploitation, habitat degradation and other anthropogenic pressures. In the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) in East Africa, these threats are mostly caused by unsustainable land use; however, the monitoring of ecological integrity of river systems has been hampered by a lack of locally developed indices. This study assessed the health of four rivers (Nzoia, Nyando, Sondu–Miriu and Mara) on the Kenyan side of the LVB using physicochemical water quality parameters and a fish-based index of biotic integrity (IBI). Fish tolerance ranking was derived from principal component analysis of water quality parameters, and the concept of niche breadth (NB). The relationship between fish species and water quality parameters was examined with canonical correspondence analysis, whereas community metrics and stressors were evaluated through Pearson network correlation analysis. Fish species richness, trophic structures, taxonomic composition and species tolerance were used to generate the metrics for fish-based IBI. NB showed that most of the fish species were moderately tolerant to poor water. Moderately tolerant and intolerant fish species were negatively correlated with a high level of organic loading in the Mara River. Fish-based IBI scores for the rivers ranged from 26 to 34, with Sondu–Miriu scoring the lowest. Our results show that the cumulative effect of stressors can adequately rank fish species tolerance according to the disturbance gradients and further develop regional metrics to assess river health. Despite the fact that fish communities are declining, continual management and enforcement of environmental regulations are important, with conservation and management of headwaters and low-order streams being essential while they are still species rich.

Prediction modelling of riverine landscape dynamics in the context of sustainable management of floodplain: a Geospatial approach

ABSTRACT Presently, sustainability of floodplain, a diverse element of the riverine landscape, provides an ideal research setting for investigating complex interaction between anthropogenic disturbance and eco-environmental degradation. Nowadays, these floodplains are continually degraded and fragmented on account of unsustainable land use. To analyse the spatial and temporal changes of landuse/landcover, a supervised classification (maximum likelihood algorithm) method has been made for the period 1998 to 2018. Present research simulates and predicts landuse/landcover dynamics of lower stretch of the Ganges river up to 2038 to analyse future riverine landscape dynamics stressed by various natural and socio-economic factors based on Cellular Automata-Artificial Neuron Network (CA-ANN) model clubbed with Modules for Land Use Change Evaluation (MOLUSCE) plugin of QGIS software. Outcome of research reveals that the trend of agriculture land, sand, and inland waterbody areas is reduced by 15.75, 5.71, and 1.95%, whereas, for orchard, agricultural fallow and bare land areas increased by 7.94, 7.92, and 5.69% for the period from 1998 to 2018. The simulation model predicted a continuation of the similar trend till 2038. The significant reduction of agricultural land and sand areas is largely an attribute to floodplain degradation in an altered hydrological regime. Ultimately, hydro-morphological changes, increasing population pressure, and agriculture intensification in floodplain landscape were identified as main driving forces in temporal landuse/landcover changes. The prediction of future forecast indicates that if the present rate of landuse/landcover trend persists in the study stretch of Ganges river without appropriate sustainable development practice, severe floodplain degradation will ensue. This study provides a holistic measure for understanding long-term environmental degradation related to anthropogenic activities and impact of climate changes in floodplain landscape at local and regional scale.

Устойчивое землепользование в северном регионе: проблемы и инструменты

The study of sustainable land use in agriculture is a growing direction of research worldwide. The relevance of this topic is related to the large-scale degradation and increasing multifun-ctionality of agricultural land. According to scientists, unsustainable land use is largely due to the shortcomings in land management. In the Russian Federation, this scientific direction is less developed, especially in terms of policy instruments at the regional level. The aim of the work is to pro-pose instruments for sustainable land use in the northern region based on the study of the works of foreign and Russian scientists and the assessment of the effectiveness of agricultural land management mechanisms in the Komi Republic. The object of the study is the agricultural land use of the Komi Republic. The methodological basis of the research is as follows: monographic method, analysis and synthesis, systematization and generalization, quantitative methods of statistical information processing. The paper examines the current agrarian land policy in Russia and its mechanisms, and reveals its weak focus on achieving sustainable land use. The classification of the instruments of the policy of sustainable land use is clarified and supplemented with the following elements of social sustainability: protection of cultural and social values of society, preservation of traditional land use and ancient settlements, use of local knowledge about land use activities, and environmental justice. Based on the analysis of the agricultural land use of the Komi Republic and its regulatory instruments, the use of elements of sustainable land use aimed at supporting soil fertility through agroforestry, agroforestry reclamation, and the development of agrobiology is proposed. The introduction of ʺgreen public procurementʺ, the expansion of measures to inform and train best practices of land use are recommended.

Detecting the Dynamics of Urban Growth in Africa Using DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Data

Africa has been experiencing a rapid urbanization process, which may lead to an increase in unsustainable land use and urban poverty. Assessing the spatiotemporal characteristics of urbanization dynamics is especially important and needed for the sustainable development of Africa. Satellite-based nighttime light (NTL) data are widely used to monitor the dynamics of urban growth from global to local scales. In this study, urban growth patterns across Africa were analyzed and discussed using stable nighttime light datasets obtained from DMSP/OLS (the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Line-scan System) spanning from 1992 to 2013. We partitioned the nighttime lighting areas into three types (low, medium, and high) using thresholds derived from the Brightness Gradient (BG) method. Our results indicated that built-up areas in Africa have increased rapidly, particularly those areas with low nighttime lighting types. Countries with higher urbanization levels in Africa, like South Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, and Libya, were leading the brightening trend. The distribution of nighttime lighting types was consistent with the characteristics of urban development, with high nighttime lighting types showed up at the urban center, whereas medium and low nighttime lighting types appeared in the urban-rural transition zone and rural areas respectively. The impacts of these findings on the future of African cities will be further proposed.

Using sediment fingerprinting to identify erosion hotspots in a sub-catchment of Lake Kivu, Rwanda.

Sedimentation of water bodies affects water quality and biotic communities of aquatic ecosystems. Understanding the causes and origin of sediments is crucial for planning watershed management activities and safeguarding aquatic biodiversity and critical ecosystem services. Rwanda, as a hilly country, experiences increased sedimentation due to unsustainable land use practices in upstream catchment areas which negatively affects irrigation, fishing and hydropower generation. We used a sediment fingerprinting technique to determine sources of sedimentation and identifying hotspots of soil erosion in Sebeya River Catchment (area of 357km2), a sub-catchment of Lake Kivu located in Northwest Rwanda. Five soil samples were collected from each of the six geological classes, and 34 suspended sediment samples were taken within key locations of the hydrological network in the catchment. X-Ray Spectrometry was used to determine the geochemical composition of suspended sediments and soil. A multi-step statistical procedure with a Bayesian mixing model was used to determine the contribution of each geologic group and sub-catchment to the suspended sediments in the river. Erosion hotspots were classified based on the underlying land use and their contribution to the suspended sediments. The resulting erosion hotspot map shows that about 70.9% of the Sebeya Catchment area contributes at least 50% of sediment load in the river and currently experiences unsustainable land use and land cover. The erosion hotspots identified and culpable factors should be used to guide best land use practices, prioritizing the areas with high contribution to the river sedimentation in Sebeya Catchment.

Study to Determine Levels of Cadmium in Cocoa Crops Applied to Inland Areas of Peru: “The Case of the Campo Verde-Honoria Tournavista Corridor”

The presence of cadmium (Cd) in cocoa crops is currently a serious problem for farmers and producers in various regions of South America. Because its exports of cocoa and derivatives to European markets are threatened by possible signs of contamination in cocoa beans for export. Territories with a low organic component predated and exploited by illegal logging, burning and the intensity of unsustainable land use is common in large Amazonian areas in countries of the region. These factors were incorporated in statistical analysis in order to relate them to the contents of Cd in soil, leaves and beans in the study areas located in Peru. Such as the Campo Verde-Honoria-Tournavista corridor (Ucayali Region and Huanuco Region). Cadmium concentrations were determined using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. As a consequence of this study, we determined and concluded that the observed difference in distribution of Cd contents by sectors can be explained by previous land use and age of cocoa crop. Indeed, the average content of Cd in soil in all cocoa growing areas is higher than the standard established by the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment (MINAM). However, when the measurements obtained in previously predated and exploited sectors are not considered, the Hotelling’s T2 simultaneous 90% confidence interval contains the value of the Peruvian standard 1.4 mg/kg. Therefore, with this information we prepare a geochemical Cd map in soils for the study area, which will help cocoa producers to identify areas that exceed the allowed Cd values. In this way, we can carry out in the future a mitigation plan for areas with Cd problems, which allows to reduce their content with major challenges to sustainable agriculture and rural development.