Previous studies have shown that collective property rights offer higher flexibility than individual property and improve sustainable community-based forest management. Our case study, carried out in the Beni department of Bolivia, does not contradict this assertion, but shows that collective rights have been granted in areas where ecological contexts and market facilities were less favourable to intensive land use. Previous experiences suggest investigating political processes in order to understand the criteria according to which access rights were distributed.

The population of the medicinal plant, Malabar nut (Justicia adhatoda L.) is shrinking in Dun valley due to habitat fragmentation, invasion by Lantana camara, over-exploitation, and an ever-increasing human population – the most important being the increasing demand on land for agriculture, industries and the urbanization. Predicting potential geographic distribution of the species is important from species and habitat restoration point of view.

The homegardens represent an important component of the trees outside forests (TOF) in the rural ecosystem which fulfill a range of subsistence and economic needs besides providing many environmental services. The present work was focused on the identification and mapping of rural homegardens as a component of the trees outside forests in the larger landscape of the three districts—Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj, of Barak Valley, Assam, northeast India.

Low-lying coastal areas are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as they are highly prone for inundation to SLR (Sea-Level Rise). This study presents an appraisal of the impacts of SLR on the coastal natural resources and its dependent social communities in the low-lying area of Vellar–Coleroon estuarine region of the Tamil Nadu coast, India. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived from SRTM 90M (Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission) data, along with GIS (Geographic Information System) techniques are used to identify an area of inundation in the study site.

Soybeans (Glycine max) serve as one of the most valuable crops in the world, not only as an oil seed crop and feed for livestock and aquaculture, but also as a good source of protein for the human diet and as a biofuel feedstock. The world soybean production increased by 4.6% annually from 1961 to 2007 and reached average annual production of 217.6 million tons in 2005-07. World production of soybeans is predicted to increase by 2.2% annually to 371.3 million tons by 2030 using an exponential smoothing model with a damped trend.

California ranchers in urban Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, and in rural Tehama County, were surveyed to examine effects of increasing development, land use change, and attrition of the ranching community on their commitment to ranching, and to assess land conservation program acceptability. Questions were about practices, reasons for ranching, and what influences ranching's future. Ranchers share much in common. Most enjoy ranching, "feeling close to the earth," living in a "good place for family life," and the camaraderie in the ranching community.

The rapid environmental changes occurring in the Brazilian Amazon due to widespread deforestation have attracted the attention of the scientific community for several decades. A topic of particular interest involves the assessment of the combined impacts of selective logging and forest fires. Forest disturbances by selective logging and forest fires may vary in scale, from local to global changes, mostly related to the increase of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

CONTEXT: The Natura 2000 network is the centerpiece of European nature conservation policy but its effectiveness is challenged by ongoing landscape change. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to assess landscape connectivity between Natura 2000 sites in the biodiversity-rich western Mediterranean region. METHODS: We used the wood mouse as a focal species with short-range dispersal and obtained genetic data for 393 individuals uniformly distributed between two Natura 2000 sites in SW Portugal.

In response to the needs of local fire managers, we developed a map of wildfire hazard for La Plata County in southwestern Colorado, USA. Our measure of fire hazard had two components: (i) the probability, should fire occur under dry weather conditions, that fire behavior will be extreme, and (ii) the human values that may be lost or damaged if extreme fire behavior occurs. Using a classification approach in a GIS environment, we developed quantitative indices of potential heat release, flame length, and rate of spread for each vegetation type in the County.

Landslides are very common natural problems in the Selangor area of Malaysia due to the improper use of landcover and tropical rainfall. There are many landslide susceptibility analyses such as statistical, bivariate and data mining approaches exist in the literature. This paper presents the use of fuzzy logic relations for landslide susceptibility mapping on part of Selangor area, Malaysia, using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing data.

Hendy and Kerr (2005b) find that an emissions charge on agricultural methane and nitrous oxide of $25 per tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent would be likely to reduce New Zealand‘s net land-use related emissions for commitment period one in the order of 3%, with full accounting. The costs per farmer and as a percentage of profit would be very high. This paper considers the regional impacts of such a policy in New Zealand by allocating the emission charge across space according to the location of animals.