De EU-Bodemstrategie en het voorstel voor een Kaderrichtlijn Bodem (KRB) dat daaraan gekoppeld is, betekenen een nieuwe visie op het Europese beleid op het gebied van de bodem. Nagegaan wordt wat de mogelijke betekenis van een bodemstrategie en/of ¬richtlijn is voor het huidige landbouwbeleid. Uit de analyse blijkt dat de directe impact van het huidige voorstel voor een KRB beperkt is voor de Nederlandse landbouw.

Keywords: biofuels; land degradation; technology adoption; fuel-savings efficiency; stove R&D; household and community tree investments; fuelwood availability; animal dung; biogas; urban fuel demand; rural hinterlands; northern Ethiopia. Fuel scarcity and land degradation are intertwined problems of global concern. Land degradation affects some 2 billion hectares of land world-wide. In Africa some 500 million hectares of land have been affected by land or soil degradation, including about 65 percent of the continent’s agricultural land.

Agricultural activities and their complex effects on nature conservation, and the services that ecosystems deliver to humans are controversial. We present an overview of land abandonment, its driving forces and its consequences for landscape, biodiversity and humans. A descriptive metaanalysis of independently published studies highlighted the fact that the abandonment of agricultural land is a phenomenon mostly driven by socio-economic factors such as immigration into areas where new economic opportunities are offered to rural people.

The purpose of this review is to outline the status quo regarding multifunctional and social demands on grasslands. The products and services that grassland ecosystems can provide society are detailed. Existing agro-policies are reviewed as to how they reflect social demands on grasslands. A farm level analysis considers many factors that may influence the fulfilment of social demands. Conclusions are drawn on the future of grassland use under different socioeconomic conditions.

Much is reported about the destruction of natural forests and the consequences for global warming, while on the other hand, exotic plantations in some regions struggle to gain public acceptance. The earth's population is projected to rise to around 9 billion by 2050, with a concomitant increase in demand for forest products. Inevitably, forests in general, and managed forest in particular, will be called on to provide an ever-increasing proportion of local supplies and the international wood trade.

In Europe, grassland is one of the dominant forms of land use. Within 20 years, the area of permanent grasslands and pastures in Western Europe has declined by 12%. Semi-natural grasslands are often hot spots of biodiversity and are threatened both by intensive farming and by the abandonment of farmland in marginal areas. In this review, we show that biodiversity, climate change, C sequestration and farming systems issues are highly interconnected in grassland ecosystems.

Most early alley cropping studies in semi-arid Kenya were on fairly flat land while there is an increase in cultivated sloping land. The effectiveness of aging contour hedgerows and grass strips for erosion control on an about 15% slope of an Alfisol was compared. The five treatments were Senna siamea hedgerows with tree prunings applied as mulch to crops (H + M), hedgerows with crops with prunings removed (H), mulch only applied to crops (M), crops with Panicum maximum grass strips (G), and a sole crop control of a rotation of maize (Zea mays) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata).

De Nota Ruimte wijst de grondgebonden landbouw aan als drager van het cultuurlanschap in de Nationale Landschappen. Dit veronderstelt: 1. dat er voor landbouw toekomst is; 2. dat deze niet op gespannen voet staat met landschapskwaliteit. Of, en in welke mate deze veronderstelling opgaat, is het onderwerp van deze bijdrage vanuit WOT Natuur & Milieu. Conclusie van het betoog: per nationaal landschap is een gerichte aanpak nodig om de landbouw haar rol als drager van het cultuurlandschap te laten vervullenl

De presentatie van posters van WOT zijn ingedeeld naar de volgende onderdelen: 1. Bestuurlijke organisatie; 2. Implementatie van beleid; 3. Landschapskwaliteit; 4. Natuur, welzijn en draagvlak; 5. betekenis van de EHS; 6. Ontwikkeling in de landbouw; 7. Waterbeleid; 8. Internationale aspecten van natuurbeleid; 9. Kosten en baten van natuur; 10. Infrastructuur; 11. Milieu

Designers, architects and planners must begin to anticipate the far reaching changes we are facing in connection with climate change. What if we take action and actively participate in the transition from fossil-fuel driven society towards a more sustainable society? This Wageningen University paper intends to discuss some of the spatial opportunities and consequences of a sustainable energy transition in relation to climate change and depletion of fossil-fuels.