Sandy desertification is one of the most severe ecological problems in the world. Essentially, it is land degradation caused by discordance in the Social-Ecological Systems (SES). The ability to coordinate SES is a principal characteristic of regional sustainable development and a key factor in desertification control. This paper directly and comprehensively evaluates the ability to coordinate SES in the desertification reversal process. Assessment indicators and standards for SES have been established using statistical data and materials from government agencies.

Unsustainable farming practices such as shifting cultivation and slash-and-burn agriculture in the humid tropics threaten the preservation of the rainforest and the health of the local and global environment. In weathered soils prone to cohesion in humid tropic due to low Fe and carbon content and the enormous amounts of P that can be adsorbed, sustainable soil use is heavily dependent on the availability and efficient use of nutrients.

The sustainability of society hinges on the future of agriculture. Though alternatives to unsustainable, high-input industrial agriculture are available, agricultural systems have been slow to transition to them. Much of the resistance to adopting alternative techniques stems from the perceived costs of alternative agriculture, mainly in terms of yields.

Food flow data provide unique insights into the debates surrounding the sustainability of land based production and consumption at multiple scales. Trade flows disguise the spatial correspondence of production and consumption and make their connection to land difficult. Two key components of this spatial disjuncture are land use displacement and economic regional decoupling. By displacing the environmental impact associated with food production from one region to another, environmental trajectories can falsely appear to be sustainable at a particular site or scale.

Facing widespread poverty and land degradation, Vietnam started a land reform in 1993 as part of its renovation policy package known as “Doi Moi”. This paper examines the impacts of improved land tenure security, via this land reform, on manure use by farm households. As manure potentially improves soil fertility by adding organic matter and nutrients to the soil surface, it might contribute to improving soil productive capacity and reversing land degradation.

Facing widespread poverty and land degradation, Vietnam started a land reform in 1993 as part of its renovation policy package known as “Doi Moi”. This paper examines the impacts of improved land tenure security, via this land reform, on manure use by farm households. As manure potentially improves soil fertility by adding organic matter and nutrients to the soil surface, it might contribute to improving soil productive capacity and reversing land degradation.

A large amount of cultivated lands in China is occupied by vacant residential areas, thereby wasting land resources and placing local food security at risk. Therefore, transforming vacant rural residential land back to its previous form is urgently required to maintain the amount of cultivated land and guarantee food security.

In Ethiopia, exclosures in landscapes have become increasingly important to improving ecosystem services and reversing biodiversity losses. The present study was conducted in Gomit watershed, northern Ethiopia, to: (i) investigate the changes in vegetation composition, diversity and aboveground biomass and carbon following the establishment of exclosures; and (ii) analyse the economic returns of aboveground carbon sequestration and assess the perception of local communities on land degradation and exclosures.

Most of China's 24–28 primate species are threatened with extinction. Habitat reduction and fragmentation are perhaps the greatest threats. We used published data from a conservation genetics study of 5 endangered primates in China (Rhinopithecus roxellana, R. bieti, R. brelichi, Trachypithecus francoisi, and T. leucocephalus); distribution data on these species; and the distribution, area, and location of protected areas to inform conservation strategies for these primates. All 5 species were separated into subpopulations with unique genetic components.

Yak farming is the main livelihood source for the high altitude communities in the eastern Himalaya. With increasing access to modern facilities, market opportunities and changes in the legal framework, pastoral systems in the Himalaya are undergoing an unprecedented change. Questionnaire-based qualitative surveys were conducted in five villages of northern Bhutan, to understand how the recent changes in the legal framework for Cordyceps (known as caterpillar fungus) collection have caused specific changes in yak farming practices.