In Central Brazil, over one million square kilometers of native savanna vegetation known as Cerrado have been cleared and converted to farmland over the past forty years. A factorial experiment was designed to assess the effects of land use, litter type, soil organisms and season on litter decay in the prevailing natural and agricultural systems (i.e. Cerrado remnants, grasslands and soybean croplands) in Mato Grosso. Decay rates were estimated by using the litterbag method.

We assessed bird diversity and nesting activity in 54 urban parks in the core of a highly populated East-Asian tropical city to investigate the effects of area, isolation, habitat heterogeneity, and human disturbances on avifauna. Tree density and heterogeneity were lower while isolation was greater in small than in large or medium-sized parks.

Ecosystem services are a powerful tool for land-use and environmental planning, which can help decision makers better understand the tradeoffs between different development scenarios. However, there is limited guidance about how ecosystem services should be used in the land-use and environmental planning context.

Understanding changes in soil quality resulting from land use and land management changes is important to design sustainable land management plans or interventions. This study evaluated the influence of land use and land cover (LULC) on key soil quality indicators (SQIs) within a small watershed (Jedeb) in the Blue Nile Basin of Ethiopia. Factor analysis based on principal component analysis (PCA) was used to determine different SQIs.

Complex changes in carbon sources and sinks caused by rapid urbanization have been observed with extensive changes in the quantity, structure, and spatial pattern of land use types. Based on the modified Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach model and on gray relational analysis, we analyzed the influence of land use changes on carbon sinks and emissions in Guangzhou from 2000 to 2012. The aim was to identify suitable options for built-up land expansion that would allow for minimal carbon losses.

The work of the Mekong Partnership for the Environment, and the work of
PACT, has been devoted to the role of EIA in achieving sustainable
development. Through the work of PACT and many other practitioners and
communities, the profile of EIA has been raised. Many discussions are occurring
to improve the standard and value of EIA. In particular, the development of
Regional Guidelines on Public Participation and the drafting of national
guidelines on Public Participation in EIA for both Cambodia and Myanmar are all

An analysis paper by Dustin Hoasa on the World Bank Group's lending practices, part 2 in Inclusive Development International (IDI)'s 'Outsourcing Development' series. Published by IDI in collaboration with the Bank Information Center, 11.11.11, Urgewald and Accountability Counsel in the United States, December 2016.

Finding solutions for complex societal problems requires cross-boundary collaboration between multiple stakeholders who represent various practices, disciplines and perspectives. The authentic, multi-stakeholder Regional Learning Environment (RLE) is expected to develop higher education students’ capabilities for working in multi-stakeholder settings. However, the effectiveness of the RLE, including its typical cross-boundary learning environment characteristics, has not been investigated.

In trying to influence spatial development, people engage in discussions about distinctions between places or areas, and the roles of government and society, while they need to relate to other groups of stakeholders. In other words, boundaries (between meanings of places, between government and society, and between different groups of people) are omnipresent in spatial governance. Does the peri-urban area belong to the city or to the countryside? Can nature be integrated into farming? What should be the role of governments in relation to bottom-up initiatives?

Este documento es el resultado final de ese proceso. Dirigido a una audiencia mundial – que comprende las instancias decisorias urbanas, funcionarios públicos, asesores políticos y demás partes interesadas – contribuirá al desarrollo de bosques urbanos y periurbanos que ayuden a las ciudades a resolver sus exigencias actuales y futuras de productos forestales y servicios del ecosistema.

Electronic advisory system is an interactive learning environment that provides access to the best, most accurate knowledge of the most competent professionals across the country. Eelectronic advisory system connects consumers’ knowledge with those who provide them experts who know their subject inside out. The paper concentrates on experience of creation electronic advisory system at the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine and its using for the developing of land use planning community electronically.