This report presents the key findings on forest land use and land-use change between 1990 and 2005 from FAO’s 2010 Global Forest Resources Assessment Remote Sensing Survey. It is the first report of its kind to present systematic estimates of global forest land use and change. The ambitious goal of the Remote Sensing Survey was to use remote sensing data to obtain globally consistent estimates of forest area and changes in tree cover and forest land use between 1990 and 2005.

The report deals with land tenure issues in Lebanon and analyzes major problems facing sustainable agriculture in view of natural setting, prevailing practices and existing legislation. Lebanon consists mainly of rugged mountainous regions with slopping and steep lands. The population of Lebanon in 2007 was 4 million with 407,362 residing in Beirut, the administrative capital of Lebanon. One of the main problems in land tenure and land management issues is the cadastre where a significant part of Lebanon is still outside the cadastre (North Bekaa, East Mountains).

The Kagera Transboundary Agro ‐ ecosystem management project is a regional project comprising four East African countries ‐ Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda ‐ that share the Kagera river basin. The agro‐ecosystems in the Kagera basin are facing increasing pressure as a result of rapid population growth and agricultural and livestock intensification characterized by progressive reduction in farm sizes and unsustainable land use and management practices.

In the June issue of the Natural Resources and Environment newsletter, we examine the importance of the newly established Global Soil Partnership. Soil specialists, international organization staff, the donor community and academics discuss what such collaboration can achieve. We note the events of World Water Day, highlighting water and food security. Moreover, a new web site, Sustainability Pathways, focuses on greening the economy with agriculture and related ecosystem services.

Agriculture can play an important role in climate change mitigation while contributing to increased food security and reductions in rural poverty. The Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT) can estimate the mitigation potential of rural development projects generated from changes in farming systems and land use. The study presents and discusses the EX-ACT analysis performed on the World Bankfinanced Land Husbandry, Water Harvesting and Hillside Irrigation Project of the Government of Rwanda.

Meeting symbol/code: FO:NEFRC/2012/REP
Session: Sess.20

One of the legacies of saffron farming practice for centuries in and around the Pampore Karewas of Kashmir in India is that this ancient farming system continues to inspire family farmers and local communities through their livelihood security that it provides for more than 17,000 farm families. Kashmiri village women contribute to this agriculture heritage site through traditional tilling to flower picking over 3,200 hectares dedicated to the legendary saffron crop cultivation at Pampore.

This publication presents the analysis of the global status of forest policy documents and national forest programme documents as of May 2011, with a view to map their existence and age as well as main characteristics of contents of these documents. The objectives were to: - Compile national forest policy documents and NFP documents world-wide, to create a forest policy database and make the documents available online. - Analyse the existence and content of national forest policy and NFP documents.

The share of agriculture in the GDP declined from 16 percent in the 1990s to almost 14 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, those employed in agriculture as a percent of total labor force is declining since 1960 to 2006. Despite losing labor and share of the GDP, agriculture is, and will continue to be, among the major economic activities in Egypt, and a generator for economic growth. The balance between agriculture and other productive sectors of the economy require proper spatial and land use planning. Land tenure is central to this planning exercise.

The share of agriculture in the GDP declined from 16 percent in the 1990s to almost 14 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, those employed in agriculture as a percent of total labor force is declining since 1960 to 2006. Despite losing labor and share of the GDP, agriculture is, and will continue to be, among the major economic activities in Egypt, and a generator for economic growth. The balance between agriculture and other productive sectors of the economy require proper spatial and land use planning. Land tenure is central to this planning exercise.