During its existence the Department „Iand improvements and Phisica” carried out activities not only teaching, but alco scientific, contributing to the development of land improvement works in Moldova.

Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) could enable some of the poorest forest communities to be paid to conserve and protect their forest resources by companies seeking to offset carbon emissions. This project examines the REDD mechanism from a pro-poor perspective, particularly from the standpoint of local communities, and assesses knowledge gaps among community residents and leaders about carbon trading to avoid deforestation – do they understand and appreciate the rules as they have been developed through a distant global discourse?

This report discusses improvements of MAGNET in order to improve the analysis of land use change and forestry dynamics. In the standard approach only a difference is made between agricultural land, non-used land that can be potentially used for agriculture, and land that never can be used for agriculture. In the new approach different other land cover types like built - up area and forestry are distinguished.

A dry and dusty savannah, Emaciated cattle plodding dejectedly past the last remaining scraps of grass that have survived the merciless heat and sandstorms. Such images are all too familiar. Across the globe, soil degradation and desertification cost about 490 billion euros per year, according to expert estimates. "About 12 million hectares of land are lost to this every year" says Wageningen soil physicist Coen Ritsema of Alterra Wageningen UR. ‘That is equivalent to half the land surface of the UK.’

Decisions about resource tenure – or who can use what resources of the land for how long, and under what conditions – are among the most critical for forests and livelihoods in many contexts.

community development, forestry, human capital, labor productivity, property rights, risk, vertical integration

The project covers two pilot sites encompassing 41,000 ha of forest land: Vinh Tu Commune in Quang Tri Province and Huong Son District in Ha Tinh Province. Both sites are commercially used forest and have potential for a certification mechanism. The certification project presumes that ecosystem services can be provided alongside sustainable forest management. Innovatively, the pilot test will help develop national standards and indicators for ecosystem certification.