Shortly after the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was founded in 1945, the organization had started to support member countries addressing structural problems in agriculture with land fragmentation and small holding and farm sizes through the development of land consolidation instruments (Binns, 1950). During the 1950s and 1960s, FAO provided technical assistance to the development of land consolidation in member countries in Europe such as Turkey, Greece, Spain and Cyprus, but also in the Near East and Asia (Meliczek, 1973).

This paper is work in progress and draws from previous research. The paper supports the lecture on

Problem Based Learning given at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) on 3 March 2016.

Bij veel onderzoeksvragen bij het Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving en Wageningen UR spelen ontbossing en bosbouw een belangrijke rol. Om de effecten te analyseren voor grondgebruik van het beleid voor biobrandstoffen, landbouw of handel wordt vaak het algemene evenwichtsmodel MAGNET van LEI Wageningen UR gebruikt. Een van de sterke kanten van dit model van de wereldeconomie is de aandacht voor grondaanbod. Recent is een nieuwe benadering voor de dynamiek van de grondmarkt en de rol van bosbouw ontwikkeld.

Like in any other part of the country, land degradation resulting from water erosion and nutrient depletion is one of the most challenging problems for farmers in the Central Rift Valley (CRV) of Ethiopia. Nevertheless, investments in land management to reduce land degradation and increase agricultural production by smallholder farmers have been limited. In addition, public and private sector organizations have never collaborated to stimulate (investments in) land improvement.

in these ecosystems can easily result in widespread and severe land degradation and thus desertification.
Combined with global issues such as climate change, economic disparities, migration, and competing claims
on land, this often leads to a vicious cycle of aridity, land degradation, and productivity loss. In addition to
the harsh environmental conditions limiting land productivity, the socio-economic situation in drylands can
pose challenges as well, given that these regions are often characterised by remoteness, marginality, lowproductivity

Desire for Greener Land compiles options for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in drylands. It is a result of the integrated research project DESIRE (Desertification Mitigation and Remediation of Land - A Global Approach for Local Solutions). Lasting five years (2007–2012) and funded within the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme, DESIRE brought together the expertise of 26 international research institutes and non-governmental organisations.

Dit proefschrift onderzoekt de effecten van landbeheer op ecosysteemdiensten. Landbeheer betreft de menselijke activiteiten die landgebruik ondersteunen. Het geheel werd toegepast in drie case studies, variërend van landschap- tot bioomniveau: in Nationaal Landschap 'Het Groene Woud' in Noord Brabant (Hoofdstuk 3), mangrovesystemen in Java, Indonesië (Hoofdstuk 4), en voor ‘rangelands’ op globale schaal (Hoofdstuk 5).

Herstel en duurzaam beheer van biodiversiteit en ecosysteemdiensten worden steeds meer geïntegreerd in nationaal en internationaal beleid. In dit proefschrift wordt een methodologie ontwikkeld voor de kwantificering van effecten van landmanagement op de ruimtelijke verspreiding van ecosysteemdiensten, zodat de door landmanagement veroorzaakte trade-offs tussen ecosysteemdiensten bepaald kunnen worden voor zowel lokale ecosystemen en landschappen als regionale en mondiale biomen. Een groot aantal ecosysteemdiensten zijn bestudeerd.

This study was motivated by the puzzlingly localised implementation of available Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices despite the urgent need to reduce both land degradation and general poverty levels in the western highlands of Kenya. This research aimed to not only unravel reasons for the restricted geographical diffusion of SLM practices but also make concrete contributions to foster the promotion of SLM practices.

The state of Mato Grosso in Brasil faces environmental challenges since agricultural developments threaten biodiversity and other environmental values. The mission of the state university of Mato Grosso (UNEMAT) is to contribute to the knowledge needed for the sustainable development of the state. However, there is a need for academic capacity building. Collaboration with Wageningen University intends to improve the quality of the education and science especially concerning landscape ecological research.

The study focused on the nature and scale of public goods and services which land managers (farmers and foresters) currently provide. Using the available evidence on the range of environmental and man-made landscape services which multi-functional land management can offer, the report presents a series of mechanisms which could be used to deliver services not provided for by the market.

This book is about sustainable land management, the development of water buffers and the business case underneath it. It is part of the discussion on the green economy: investment in natural resource management makes business sense. This also applies for investment in land, water and vegetative cover. Some of the parameters may be different – returns may not always be immediate – but essentially both the financial payback and the economic dividend of investing in integrated landscapes – if done properly – are rewarding.