Forests, trees and woodlands cover almost one-third of the Earth’s land area. They are a crucial source of food and income for more than a billion people around the globe. They provide a variety of wood and non-wood products and vital ecosystem services – preventing erosion from wind and water, preserving water quality, shading crops and livestock, absorbing carbon which contributes to countering climate change, and providing habitat for many species of plants and animals, thus helping to conserve the planet’s biological diversity.

The biomass of forest vegetation expands in all EU countries. This review analyses the long-term development of forest vegetation and, thereby, the sequestration of carbon in forest biomass in the EU, country by country. The sequestration estimates and their uncertainties are assessed focusing on the period 1990-2006. The most recent estimates are compared with those for earlier times. A case study from Finland is presented, which helps understand the causal mechanisms affecting long-term sequestration of carbon in forest vegetation on a centennial scale.

A combined agronomic and geographic approach has helped to explain forest agrosystem spatio-temporal dynamics in the forest regions of Guinea. The important expansion of cropping systems associating various perennial crops (coffee, kola, cocoa, fruit trees) and native spontaneous forest species – called “agroforests”- has been observed in 3 villages of the Kobela area. This spatial dynamic can be considered as the renewing of an ecosystem dominated in the past by forest.

A combined agronomic and geographic approach has helped to explain forest agrosystem spatio-temporal dynamics in the forest regions of Guinea. The important expansion of cropping systems associating various perennial crops (coffee, kola, cocoa, fruit trees) and native spontaneous forest species – called “agroforests”- has been observed in 3 villages of the Kobela area. This spatial dynamic can be considered as the renewing of an ecosystem dominated in the past by forest.

Replaced with revised version of paper 06/26/09.

This study aims to document various community efforts in land rehabilitation and assess their potential. Data were captured using interviews and focus group with 150 community members. A public participation index was used to establish the extent of community efforts in land rehabilitation. The study revealed that in the absence of proper management and dune stabilisation, large areas covered with mobile sand dunes continue to be a threat to grazing lands in northern Kenya. In recognition of this threat, the people of North Horr have launched several initiatives to contain the problem.

ICARDA has long-standing outreach programs in North Africa, the Nile Valley, and the Red Sea region (Fig 2). In its current strategic plan, the Center will extend its work to the drylands of Sub-Saharan Africa.

This newsletter issue provides details of the IDRC implementation of a project in Ethiopia and Uganda in scaling sustainable land management (SLM) innovations, for positive and timely outcomes for livelihoods, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. Research evidence has shown that farmers in the region can increase their farm productivity by up to 5 times upon adoption of SLM innovations. In scaling-up, the project will pay particular attention to policy and institutional processes.

The core of this successful climate change adaptation project is the quarterly climate change preparedness workshops conducted every 3 months. These provide a platform for reporting back to the larger community, to share new ideas with fellow farmers and scientists, and to plan next steps. Through a case study of Rooibos tea growers, this paper documents a community-based climate change adaptation project in the Suid Bokkeveld district of South Africa.

This report provides a state-of-the-art overview of governance literature on adaptation strategies. What has recent research taught us on adaptation from the perspective of governance and to what research agenda does this lead? This report is structured as followed. Firstly, it will be argued why adaptation is a matter of governance. Secondly, the research methods for the literature study will be outlined.

Voor de periode rond 1990 is een gedetailleerd landelijk GIS-bestand ontwikkeld met historisch grondgebruik. De gegevens hier-voor zijn ontleend aan landsdekkende topografische kaarten die rond 1990 zijn verschenen. Deze kaartbladen van de topografische kaart 1:25.000 zijn gescand en geometrisch gecorrigeerd naar het RD-stelsel. Met een semi-automatische classificatie zijn van de gescande kaarten de kleuren omgezet naar tien klassen met grondgebruik.

Een studie naar indicatoren voor een integrale, systematische, overzichtelijke en inzichtelijke beschrijving van de kwaliteit van het landelijk gebied. Deze kwaliteit is daarbij opgevat als een combinatie van natuurkwaliteit, landbouwkwaliteit, landschapskwaliteit, recreatiekwaliteit, veiligheid en gezondheid en leefbaarheid. Deze uitwerking is beschreven in Oenema et al., 2009 (WOt-werkdocument 130).