This study presents an integrated examination of both the ecosystem services (ES) and ecosystem disservices (EDS) associated with smallholder animal husbandry in rural livelihoods in three villages in southeast South Africa. It recognises the contribution of ES supporting and resulting from smallholder livestock and poultry production, but also details the limiting factors or EDS, such as tick-borne disease, birds of prey or unpalatable rangeland, produced by the same system.

The design of efficient Green Infrastructure —GI— systems is a key issue to achieve sustainable development city planning goals in the twenty-first century. This study’s main contribution is the identification of potential GI elements to better align the environmental, social and economic perspectives in the GI design by including information about the use, activities, preferences and presence of people. To achieve this, user generated content from Location Based Social Network —LBSN— Foursquare is used as a complementary data source.

Informal settlements in areas that are already disaster prone are an increasing problem. Climate adaptation is also often used as an excuse fo evictions to redevelop sites in a more climate-proof manner in what is often referred to as ‘climate gentrification. Nature-based solutions to climate change, such as increasing green spaces, may increase home values, but the question of who benefits from these initiatives arises. How can the side effects of climate interventions that can lead to inequality, such as increase in value, be avoided?

This virtual side event was proposed as part of the 2020 SDG High Level Political Forum which was held from 7th to 16th July 2020. It was organised by the SDG Land Momentum Group, an informal group of civil society organizations and multilateral agencies which advocate the implementation of the land targets of the SDGs and support their monitoring.  

A framework was developed to elucidate (1) the drivers of land degradation, (2) pressures, (3) local impacts and vulnerabilities and (4) adaptation strategies. The combination of participatory approaches, statistical data analysis, time series Landsat imagery and spatial data mining was tested in southeast Vietnam where the impacts of land degradation on the environment and economy are considerable. The major drivers of land degradation are climate, notably drought, and population density. The pressures include natural resource management and land use/cover change.

In 2015 we celebrated world leaders’ recognition of the foundational and strategic role that secure land rights for all –women and men, regardless of ethnicity, religion, place of residence, or civil, economic, social, or political status—must play to achieve a world free of poverty, hunger and systemic gender discrimination.

This webinar took stock of the emerging insights on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on land rights and discussed concerns about the expected mid-to-long term impacts on equitable and sustainable land governance.

The discussion built upon previous efforts of the broader land governance community, including the Quick-scan Survey on the COVID-19 crisis by LANDac and the LANDdialogue, insights from the LANDac Professional Learning Programme and the webinar and discussion series ‘Land Rights Implications of COVID-19’ by the Land Portal Foundation and its partners.

Effective protection of biodiversity in areas of high conservation value requires trade-offs between local use of natural resources and conservation restrictions. The compromise is often difficult to reach, which causes conflicts over the management priorities of existing and potential protected areas. Ecosystem services (ES) perspective offers a promising avenue for diagnosing and reconciling contrasting interests concerning the use of benefits from ecosystems.

This research develops the novel concept of an economic ecosystem service sustainability index from the perspective of total income theory, and presents its empirical application at the spatial unit scale of the agroforestry farm. This paper compares the results accrued from applying the refined standard System of National Accounts (rSNA) and the authors’ Agroforestry Accounting System (AAS).

Mobile phone use is increasing in Sub-Saharan Africa, spurring a growing focus on mobile phones as tools to increase agricultural yields and incomes on smallholder farms. However, the research to date on this topic is mixed, with studies finding both positive and neutral associations between phones and yields. In this paper we examine perceptions about the impacts of mobile phones on agricultural productivity, and the relationships between mobile phone use and agricultural yield.

The Maghreb's oases systems provide a major contribution to the region's food security, economy and natural resources. Despite this potential, oasis ecosystems are threatened by a range of complex factors related to the expansion of agricultural land and increasing scarcity of water resources. The project, implemented by FAO in Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania from May 2016 to December 2019, brought together key stakeholders to address the lack of available information on the status of oases and to advocate on factual bases shared by all stakeholders and verifiable in the field.

Landscape heterogeneity generates significant influences on economic activity. Present-day publications in landscape planning focus more and more on a participatory approach and a communication process. By contrast, we focus on nature-based criteria aimed at proper adaptation of planning decisions to natural landscape patterns. The paper proposes the framework aimed at considering geographical context, matter flows, and dynamic processes in projecting ecological network and perfect sites for various land use types as well as for choosing appropriate technologies.