This edition of the journal has set out to explore the theme " Forests and People: Investing in Africa’s Sustainable Future”. The academia, research, development community, civil society and individuals working in the forestry sector and related fields are contributing short articles to this edition of the journal. Authors explore the topic from varying perspectives and share their experiences, challenges and dreams on the future of Africa’s forests as they relate to African people and their sustainable future.

Ce numéro du journal Nature & Faune aborde le thème central suivant : « Les Forêts et les populations : Investir dans un avenir durable pour l’Afrique ». Il s’agit d’un numéro spécial pour célébrer la toute première édition du Congrès forestier mondial (CFM) en Afrique. Cet évènement offre aux pays, scientifiques, forestiers, décideurs et professionnels africains du secteur forestier et des domaines afférents, une opportunité de présenter leurs activités en cours dans le cadre du développement de la foresterie en Afrique.

The north-eastern escarpment of Madagascar harbours the island’s last remaining large-scale humid forest massifs surrounded by a small-scale agricultural mosaic. There is high deforestation, commonly thought to be caused by shifting cultivation practiced by local land users to produce upland rice. However, little is known about the dynamics between forest and shifting cultivation systems at a regional level.

Land abandonment and the subsequent re-forestation are important drivers behind the loss of ecosystem services in mountain regions. Agent-based models can help to identify global change impacts on farmland abandonment and can test policy and management options to counteract this development. Realigning the representation of human decision making with time scales of ecological processes such as reforestation presents a major challenge in this context.

This study assessed the change in some environmental parameters in the Plateau region of North-Central Nigeria (Barakinladi, Jos, and Kafachan environs) using the nexus of landcover change, land surface temperature, surface albedo, and topography. The study employed both remote sensing and statistical techniques for the period between 1986 and 2014 to analyze the dynamics between and within these environmental variables.

Interacting land use demands and competing interests originating from fields such as agriculture, housing, mobility and nature conservation call for integrated governance approaches that incorporate disciplinary perspectives and arbitrate between them. The German research program “Sustainable Land Management” targets this challenge and provides an umbrella for a number of regional projects involving transdisciplinary system-oriented approaches to sustainable land use, connecting researchers and practitioners.

In Pakistan, rangelands are the major source of feed for about 167.5 million heads of livestock. At present rangelands are being grazed by all kinds of livestock. About 40 percent of feed requirements for horses, donkeys and camels, 60 percent of the goats and sheep are met from rangelands whereas only 5-10 percent of the population of cattle and buffaloes graze in the rangelands despite they are heavily overgrazed, and has reduced the carrying capacity by 30 to 50 percent of their potential.

Land degradation resulting from improper land use and management is a major cause of declined productivity
in the arid environment. The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of a sequence of land use changes,
soil conservation measures, and the time since their implementation on the degradation of selected soil properties.
The climate for the selected 105 km2 watershed varies from semi-arid sub-tropical to Mediterranean sub-humid. Land

Agriculture in many industrialized countries is subject to a wide range of policy interventions that seek to achieve ambitious climate, energy and environment-related objectives. Increasing support for the generation of climate-friendly, renewable energy in agriculture, however, may lead to potential conflicts with agri-environmental policies aimed at land use extensification and landscape preservation.

Arguing organic vs. conventional land use is broadly discussed in research papers, political discourse, and even more practical issues at farm level. In macroeconomic approach, the dilemma is that intensive agriculture that utilizes large quantities of inputs made it possible to grow enough food to meet the current global needs, but this way of land use leads to environmental damage and degradation of ecosystem services. In microeconomic approach, the dilemma is whether is more profitable for a farm to convert conventional crops to organic ones.

Community-based wind energy projects, with their small-scale, yet sizeable presence, provide a valuable opportunity to understand how individuals make sense of changes to their communities and to the surrounding landscape. Here, we examine the results of a 2013 mail survey of individuals residing in the vicinity of a 2MW wind turbine that is located on the edge of the historic coastal town of Lewes, Delaware in the United States, and adjacent to Delaware Bay and the Great Marsh Preserve.

Within the debate about rural development policy (RDP), there has been increasing call for a stronger territorial focus emphasising the potentials, resources and demands of regions. Investments in territorial capital and regional capacity building have been considered as the two main cornerstones of a place-based approach to rural development (OECD, 2006). On the basis of an analytical literature review, we developed a framework to operationalise a place-based approach of RDP.