CONTEXT: In addition to biodiversity conservation, California rangelands generate multiple ecosystem services including livestock production, drinking and irrigation water, and carbon sequestration. California rangeland ecosystems have experienced substantial conversion to residential land use and more intensive agriculture.

Mountainous rural communities have traditionally managed their land extensively, resulting in land uses that provide important ecosystem services for both rural and urban areas. Over recent decades, these communities have undergone drastic changes in economic structure, population size and land use. Our understanding of the exact mechanisms that drive these changes is limited, and there is also a lack of integrative approaches to enable decision makers to steer rural development towards a more sustainable path.

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.

A way of negotiation for decisions about land use planning and environmental management."Gond thinking" in matters of environmental management and land use planning requires an appropriate mix of the integrative approach of decision makers and of the analytical approach of scientiste. This gond thinking should also meet the challenges of negotiation between institutions, enterprises and pressure groupe which all claim the statue of peers.

Key trends in water legislation include: attraction of water resources into the public domain; limitations on governmental authority to allocate water resources; controlled trading of water rights; the “greening” of water laws; capturing the land–water connection; and ensuring user participation in decision making and implementation.

Reservoir management faces a wide range of new challenges resulting from the impact of climate change. One set of challenges arises from the non-stationary nature of hydrological conditions. Another crucial issue is watershed sedimentation, which can significantly influence the sustainability and safety of reservoirs. To address these concerns, this study developed a framework for the management of reservoir risk. An analytical conceptual model coupling physical governing relationships and economic tools was proposed, which was then applied to the Shihmen Reservoir in Taiwan.

Historically, visitors’ motives for visiting protected areas included ‘rest, relaxation and reinvigoration’. Ecological impacts were typically low. Recent trends have increased use of protected areas for extreme sports, with greater numbers undertaking more active recreation, such as extreme sports. The effect of this trend is considered, together with potential management options. We propose that the development of appropriately targeted and delivered educational programmes could minimise environmental degradation.