SUMMARYThis study identifies causes of forest-related conflicts in the Equatorial rainforest of South-East Cameroon, based on field studies in three villages where industrial logging concessions have been granted. Local access to forests has been severely reduced and customary rights restricted as an effect of the national forest zoning plan. Hence, local livelihoods have been negatively affected. Corruption is moreover rampant. This has resulted in a solid majority among local people expressing negative attitudes toward logging companies and the state.

A methodological protocol of strategic environmental assessment was developed to incorporate the valuation of ecosystem services in land use plans. The protocol was applied in rural land planning at Balcarce, a department representative of the Southeast Pampas Region (Argentina). The ecosystem services approach was used as valuation criteria of the 14 principal ecosystems classified in the studied area, where agricultural is the predominant economic activity.

In the province of Québec, approximately 12 000 ha of fast-growing poplar plantations are managed by industrials, while small private landowners have planted only 1000 ha. Most of these poplar plantations are established on clearcut forest sites (approx. 11 000 ha). What are the yields of these hybrid poplar plantations? In this article, available yield data are presented and discussed in the context of a sustainable forest zoning management system.

In human‐dominated regions, protected areas are complemented by other conservation strategies (e.g., restrictive zoning, incentive payments) to maintain biodiversity and other ecosystem services. These strategies are often not mutually exclusive, with many areas covered by multiple (tiered) management strategies. However, it is not known whether tiering increases (or decreases) representation of ecosystem services.

Increased conflicts between timber production and environmental protection led some analysts to advocate land-use segregation, often referred to as forest management zoning. The objective of zoning is to create ecologically desirable non-fragmented forest reserves and group timber production areas. We formulate an integer programming model of forest zoning that explicitly addresses clustering of spatial units allocated to timber production and reserve zones while also promoting separation of these zones. A tabu search algorithm is developed, implemented and tested using a case study.

The Kalahari ecosystem is characterized by natural resource conflicts and land-use pressure resulting from intensification of human activities. This paper addresses three issues of concern associated with the Kalahari ecosystem resource management: (i) the major land-use/land cover shifts in the Kalahari ecosystem since 1970 and the resulting pattern in vegetation species composition, cover and density; (ii) the possible explanations for the observed shifts; and (iii) the possible resource conflicts likely to arise.

Dehloran is located on the southeastern Ilam Province. It has a great potential for tourism development due to natural, cultural and historical attractions including national natural monuments as well as three rare phenomena of hot springs, bat cave and bitumen springs. In the current study, TOPSIS and AHP methods were applied to conduct the land capability evaluation study. A total number of 16 criteria and 10 constraints were initially determined and then; each map-layer was standardized using fuzzy and Boolean logics.

Minimizing the ecological impact of land development is a fundamental principle of sustainable development. Ecological suitability assessment is the key to realizing sustainability and is also significant for optimizing spatial patterns of territorial development. Especially in mountainous areas where the ecosystem is both vulnerable and important, quantitative evaluation of ecological suitability for land development is particularly important and urgent given current development strategy of urban construction in mountainous areas in China.

Wetlands provide vital ecosystem services such as water purification, flood control, and climate moderation among others, which enhance environmental quality, promote public health, and contribute to risk reduction. The biggest threat to wetlands is posed by human activities which transform wetlands, often for short-term consumptive benefits. This paper aimed to classify and map recent land cover and provide a multi-temporal analysis of changes from 2002 to 2014 in the Nakivubo wetland through which wastewater from Kampala city drains to Lake Victoria in Uganda.

In 2007, an epizootic of equine influenza (EI) occurred in Australia, involving parts of the states of Queensland and New South Wales. Following an extensive control program, the disease was eradicated within 4 months, after infecting more than 75 000 horses on over 10 000 properties. In Queensland, examination of land use patterns revealed that the majority of infected premises (89.5%) were located in one of three land use classes viz. rural residential, residential-unspecified or grazing natural vegetation.

Extensive economic growth, tourism activities and over-exploitation of resources have become the common causes of environmental degradation in Langkawi. The sudden development leap resulting from UNESCO's recognition of Langkawi Archipelago as a Global Geopark in 2007, leads to continuous conflicts between enhancing environmental protection and meeting tourism and development needs.

Adoption of effects-based management, environmental effects-based management (EEM) or ‘learn as we go, is essential to open up access to all of New Zealand’s Maritime Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) resource base into the future. Utilising knowledge gained from ‘learn as we go’ and combining it with the integration of sectarian agendas and establishment of a central government EEZ agency empowered by an Act of Parliament will ensure future food and energy security is met. To achieve this integration of environmental effects management with security of access and stakeholder buy in is needed.