China has long been experiencing intense land use/cover changes (LUCC). Undesirable land use/cover changes have resulted in widespread land degradation. This study examines the temporal and spatial dynamics of land use change and land degradation as evident from land use survey datasets (1991-2001). Six prominent land degradation processes were identified, namely: desertification, secondary salinisation, loss of agricultural use, deforestation, grassland degradation and loss of wetland. Rates of conversion were calculated and distribution patterns were mapped with the aid of GIS.

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) projects are being designed and implemented across tropical countries, intending to curb the contribution of deforestation to greenhouse gas emissions. An important aspect of REDD implementation is the baseline against which reductions are measured. The baseline estimates the business-as-usual emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. We solve a dynamic model of land conversion from forest to agriculture in the presence of REDD, and assess the performance of four baselines.

This paper focuses on the reconstruction of Holocene climatic and environmental changes in two archaeological sites of southwestern and north-central Calabria (southern Italy). It is based on a comparison of geoarchaeological, pedological and pedoanthracological data from soil profiles in the coastal hilly and inland mountainous surroundings of Palmi and Cecita Lake, respectively. At the Palmi site, the representative soil profile includes settlements and artefacts ranging from late Neolithic to late early Bronze Age and undifferentiated historical epochs.

Policies designed to reduce land-based carbon emissions require a good understanding of the complex connections between state-sanctioned concessions, forest conversion, informal land markets and migrants. Our case study in the peat forests of the Tanjung Jabung Barat (TanJaBar) regency of Jambi, Indonesia aimed to explore relations between four key stakeholder groups: the state, local communities, migrants, and state-sanctioned concessions.

This study combined uncertainty analysis of carbon emissions with local stakeholders' perspectives to develop an effective Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) scheme at the district level. Uncertainty of carbon emission estimates depends on scale while local stakeholders' views on plausible REDD+ schemes influence and limit transaction costs. The uncertainty analysis formed the basis for determining an appropriate scale for monitoring carbon emission estimates as performance measures for REDD+ incentives.

The remaining Atlantic Forest fragments are structurally isolated by a matrix of pastures, plantations, or urban areas, and most remnants are small (

Indonesia has turned its alleged role as global leader of land-based carbon emissions into a role as a global trailblazer exploring modalities for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). REDD+ readiness is largely about improving forest governance, but this itself is a multilayered concept. This article analyses how the processes and practices of REDD+ readiness are leading to various forest governance reforms in Indonesia.

Many of the large, donor-funded community-based conservation projects that seek to reduce biodiversity loss in the tropics have been unsuccessful. There is, therefore, a need for empirical evaluations to identify the driving factors and to provide evidence that supports the development of context-specific conservation projects.

Historic land‐cover/use change is important for studies on climate change, soil carbon, and biodiversity assessments. Available reconstructions focus on the net area difference between two time steps (net changes) instead of accounting for all area gains and losses (gross changes). This leads to a serious underestimation of land‐cover/use dynamics with impacts on the biogeochemical and environmental assessments based on these reconstructions.

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of deforestation on physical and chemical properties of soils under native forest in the Mediterranean region of northwestern Jordan. Land use/cover maps of 1953, 1978 and 2002 were interpreted and analysed within GIS to quantify the shift from forest to rainfed cultivation. Six sites were sampled in a non-changed forest and in cultivated fields, three for each. Different soil properties of texture, bulk density, organic matter, total nitrogen, pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), phosphorous and potassium were analysed.

Protected area downgrading, downsizing and degazettement (PADDD) is a global phenomenon that has not received formal attention in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) policies designed to reduce forest carbon emissions and conserve biodiversity. Here, we examine how PADDD affects deforestation and forest carbon emissions. We documented 174 enacted and 8 proposed PADDD events affecting more than 48,000 km² in three REDD+ priority countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malaysia, and Peru.

An econometric-process simulation model was constructed to investigate the effects of an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) on forest management and land use in New Zealand. Profit maximising agents which choose between forestry and agricultural land uses were simulated under carbon price scenarios of $20, $50 and $0 per tonne CO₂ equivalent. The model suggests that an ETS will lead to increased afforestation and rotation age, and decreased silviculture and deforestation.