Recent studies show that carbon

sequestered by trees on agricultural

land is not well accounted for. If it was,

researchers argue in a new study: “Global

Tree Cover and Biomass Carbon on

Agricultural Land: The contribution

of agroforestry to global and national

carbon budgets,” total carbon estimates

from agricultural land could be more

than four times higher.

Decisions on land use in Vietnam are often only based on biophysical and economical assessments, with little consideration for the local people’s opinions or perspectives. This can lead to conflicts over natural resources management, unsustainable land use and decisions that are unfair to local people. In the landscape surrounding Khe Tran, a village in Central Vietnam lives a Pahy minority group. The driving force in this area has been different land use policies, resulting mainly from a government ‘top down’ approach, and the consequent changes in local forest status.

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa covering about 274,000 square kilometers. It is bordered by the Republic of Mali on the north and west; by Cote d’Ivoire on the Southwest; by Ghana, Togo, and Benin on the South; and by Niger on the east. The country has a dry tropi¬cal climate with two contrasting seasons. The rainy season generally lasts from May to October, but its duration decreases progressively from the southwest, amounting to only three months in the northern part of the country.

Soil organic matter quality is usually seen as a major attribute of soil quality. In this study, we extracted organic carbon with water (WEOC) or with potassium permanganate (PEOC). We assessed these extractions for their potential as sensitive indicators of the effect of land use on two important soil functions: biological activity and nutrient availability.