This Toolkit has been prepared to support the design and implementation of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) programs. The specific purpose of the Toolkit is: to inform the user of the approaches that can be followed to analyze and value the economic costs of land degradation and the benefits of sustainable land management. ‘Land’ is interpreted broadly in the Toolkit, also including wetlands and coastal zones. The Toolkit contains five Tools that together present a detailed description of the various relevant ecological and economic assessment methodologies.

A tragedy of the commons is unfolding in the rangelands of West Asia and North Africa (WANA), where land is either public or collectively owned. Overgrazing under this land tenure has led to severe land degradation and soil erosion. Poverty and environmental degradation are intertwined in this low-rainfall region, where more than 38 million people live in rural areas and depend mainly on agriculture. Traditional rangeland grazing provides fodder in winter and spring, while in summer and autumn the animals browse cereal stubble and other crop residues.

The objective of this research was to assess the multiple effects of land-use change in a high populated steepland environment on land degradation processes and farmers' coping strategies. A case study was conducted at Pakha Sukcay village (located in Thailand's northern most Chiang Rai province). Erosion processes were monitored during a period of 3 years, and informal interviews were conducted to elucidate farmers' opinions.

This report presents descriptive statistics derived from the survey data. It simply describes the situation in the
Badia in spring 2005. Further ecological and economical analyses and conclusions will be reported in
another document.

The aim of this paper is to contribute to a more holistic understanding of farmers’ decision making process for innovations in soil conservation. In this study, farmers’ decision making has been explored in the context of a mountainous olive growing area in northwest Syria, where evidences of land degradation are widespread.

In the Mediterranean mountain areas of NW Syria, land degradation is a serious problem (Masri et al, 2005). Olive orchards dominate the landscape in Afrin area, and olive oil represents the most important cash income source for rural communities in this area. However, olive yields in many orchards have been decreasing steadily over the last 20 years. Low return to labour has resulted in livelihood insecurity, increased reliance on off-farm labour, and out-migration.

This volume contains the presentations made at the Eighth International Conference on Dryland
Development. It is hoped that it will serve as a repository of information on the problems and prospects of
sustainable management of dry areas and preventing desertification, and will thus be of interest to those
involved in research, extension, development and policy formulation for the benefit of the people of the dry areas. It is our belief it would serve as an important contribution to the objectives of the IYDD.

This report highlights the major biological factors that contribute to ecosystem resilience under the projected impacts of global climate change. It assesses the potential consequences for biodiversity of particular adaptation activities under the thematic areas of the Convention on Biological Diversity, provides methodological considerations when implementing these activities, and highlights research and knowledge gaps.

Policy Analysis for Sustainable Land Management and Food Security in Ethiopia presents a bioeconomic model of this less- favored area in the Ethiopian highlands. The main reason for selecting this case study area is the unique availability of both biophysical and socioeconomic data covering a period of 15 to 20 years.The data provides a valuable opportunity to analyze the relationships between population pressure, poverty, and land degradation and to test policies for reducing vulnerability and improving sustainable management of the resource base....

Community-based Natural Resource Management (NRM) is increasingly becoming an important approach for addressing natural resource degradation in low income countries. This study analyzes the determinants of enactment, awareness of and compliance with by-laws related to Natural Resource Management (NRM) in order to draw policy implications that could be used to increase the effectiveness of by-laws in managing natural resources sustainably. We found a strong association between awareness and compliance with NRM bylaws.

This study was conducted with the main objective of determining the linkages between poverty and land management practices in Uganda. The study used the 2002/03 Uganda National Household Survey (UNHS) and more focused data collected from a sub-sample of 851 households of the 2002/03 UNHS sample households. We found that farmers in Uganda deplete about 1.2 percent of the nutrient stock stored in the topsoil per year, which leads to a predicted 0.31 percent reduction in crop productivity.