Climate variability, changing land use and management, and dynamic policy environments are the main reasons why long-term research is needed to understand and predict possible water quality outcomes to alternative future scenarios. Long-term water quality data sets are needed to address these water issues. Such data sets were acquired by the USDA–ARS in three watersheds in Oklahoma: the Southern Great Plains Research Watershed (SGPRW), the Little Washita River Experimental Watershed (LWREW), and the Fort Cobb Reservoir Experimental Watershed (FCREW).

Knowledge of the factors determining species distributions is essential for developing conservation strategies. Sandgrouse Pterocles alchata and P. orientalis are threatened in Spain, the stronghold of European populations. Spatial modelling was used to: (1) assess the relative importance of abiotic, anthropogenic and geographical factors in the distribution of both sandgrouse species, (2) determine the most important anthropogenic predictors for each species occurrence, and (3) identify areas where conservation efforts should be prioritized.

The methods and approaches selected in a restoration project depend on the degree of ecosystem degradation and on future land use plans. Programs of monitoring and evaluation must therefore compare restoration progress and effectiveness relative to untreated conditions and to target conditions, particularly with respect to the attributes and functions essential to land use objectives. It is usually not feasible to directly monitor all important forest attributes and functions, so a few indicators must be selected.

Property rights, the agricultural price index, forest area, population, income and timber price are important factors in the deforestation process. The aim of this study was to test the impact of these factors on deforestation in Iran using an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). The autoregressive distributed lag approach was also used to estimate the deforestation function. The existence of an inverted U-shaped EKC for deforestation in Iran was confirmed.

Soil erosion due to accelerating runoff in various land cover types pose a serious threat to the long term sustainability of the fragile Himalayan landscape characterized by subsistence farming. Delimitation of high runoff zones, fostering soil erosion in the agricultural dominated watersheds is thus a necessity for watershed managers, NGO’s, urban planners, policy makers, and municipal administrations. The approach is practical, SWAT is a straightforward modeling system using GIS information. The BMP is also a very practical approach to mitigation of runoff accumulation on sub basin.

There is renewed interest in the use of native tree species in ecosystem restoration for their biodiversity benefits. Growing native tree species in production systems (e.g. plantation forests and subsistence agriculture) can also ensure landscape functionality and support for human livelihoods. Achieving these full benefits requires consideration of genetic aspects that are often neglected, such as suitability of germplasm to the site, quality and quantity of the genetic pool used and regeneration potential.

By increased rural-urban migration in many African countries, the assessment of changes in catchment hydrologic responses due to urbanization is critical for water resource planning and management. This paper assesses hydrological impacts of urbanization on two medium-sized Zimbabwean catchments (Mukuvisi and Marimba) for which changes in land cover by urbanization were determined through Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images for the years 1986, 1994 and 2008. Impact assessments were done through hydrological modeling by a topographically driven rainfall-runoff model (TOPMODEL).

Assessing forest changes is the baseline requirement for successful forest management. Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) are three essential components for achieving such assessments. Community participation in resource monitoring and management is increasingly seen as a scientifically efficient, cost-effective, and equitable way to employ such practices, particularly in the context of REDD+. We developed a multidisciplinary approach to study the feasibility of Participatory MRV (PMRV) across three sites along a forest degradation gradient in Indonesia.

This manual has been developed to help build the capacities of farmers, farmers groups, extension staff and project managers who are implementing agricultural carbon projects in Eastern Africa. The manual describes the steps for implementing an afforestation/reforestation voluntary carbon project based on the Plan Vivo Standard.

Land degradation through extensification of agriculture and overgrazing is an increasing problem across large expanses of the Ethiopian highlands that give rise to a loss in a range of ecosystem services. Ecological restoration through exclosure establishment has become increasingly important approach to reversing degraded ecosystems in Ethiopia and particularly in the Amhara regional state, northern Ethiopia.

Includes gender and land in a changing world, in the international policy discourse and addressing the issue at national and local levels; complex governance, growing pressure on land, effects of climate change, fight for water, increasing conflicts, migration and social changes, land tenure reform and access to justice, changing gender roles.

Sobre la base de la problemática del fenómeno de cambio climático y potencial de los bosques para contribuir a la mitigación del mismo, el objetivo de este estudio es analizar si el mecanismo REDD+, puede constituir una alternativa viable en el Ecuador para la reducción de la tasa de deforestación, la mitigación del cambio climático y el desarrollo local. Para el efecto, se analizará el contexto internacional del mecanismo REDD+ y el proceso que Ecuador lleva adelante para implementar dicho mecanismo.