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Showing items 1 through 9 of 228.

Library Resource

Forests to the Foreigners

Large-Scale Land Acquisitions in Gabon

Peer-reviewed publication
April, 2021
Gabon
Forest Tenure
Land & Investments
land-use planning
forestry
agriculture
mining
land acquisitions
For the past decade, the land rush discourse has analyzed foreign investment in land and agriculture around the world, with Africa being a continent of particular focus due to the scale of acquisitions that have taken place. Gabon, a largely forested state in Central Africa, has been neglected in the land rush conversations, despite having over half of its land allocated to forestry, agriculture, and mining concessions. This paper draws on existing evidence and contributes new empirical data through expert interviews to fill this critical knowledge gap.
Library Resource

The Community Land Act in Kenya

Opportunities and Challenges for Communities

Journal Articles & Books
Peer-reviewed publication
January, 2018
Kenya
Indigenous & Community Land Rights
Land & Gender
Rangelands, Drylands & Pastoralism
community land rights
customary land rights
customary law
customary tenure
indigenous peoples' land rights
land law
land registration
pastoralists
women
Kenya is the most recent African state to acknowledge customary tenure as producing lawful property rights, not merely rights of occupation and use on government or public lands. This paper researches this new legal environment. This promises land security for 6 to 10 million Kenyans, most of who are members of pastoral or other poorer rural communities. Analysis is prefaced with substantial background on legal trends continentally, but the focus is on Kenya’s Community Land Act, 2016, as the framework through which customary holdings are to be identified and registered.
Library Resource

Fuelwood Savings and Carbon Emission Reductions by the Use of Improved Cooking Stoves in an Afromontane Forest, Ethiopia

Peer-reviewed publication
October, 2014
Ethiopia
Land, Climate Change & Environment
Forest Tenure
forest management plans
research
sustainable land management
In many Sub-Saharan African countries, fuelwood collection is among the most important drivers of deforestation and particularly forest degradation. In a detailed field study in the Kafa region of southern Ethiopia, we assessed the potential of efficient cooking stoves to mitigate the negative impacts of fuelwood harvesting on forests. Eleven thousand improved cooking stoves (ICS), specifically designed for baking Ethiopia’s staple food injera, referred to locally as “Mirt” stoves, have been distributed here. We found a high acceptance rate of the stove.
Library Resource

“Bring Back the Land”—A Call to Refocus on the Spatial Dimension of Zimbabwe’s Land Reform

Peer-reviewed publication
July, 2015
Zimbabwe
land reform
land ownership
land area
land cover
In this article, we argue that research on land reform in the nation of Zimbabwe has overlooked possibilities of integrating geospatial methods into analyses and, at the same time, geographers have not adequately developed techniques for this application. Scholars have generally been captured within the debate focused on the success or failure of the Zimbabwean land reform program, and have neglected to analyze what has occurred where during the process of “fast-track land reform”.
Library Resource

Patterns of Tree Distribution within Small Communities of the Sudanian Savanna-Sahel

Peer-reviewed publication
December, 2014
Algeria, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Mauritania, Chad, Mali, Cameroon, Senegal, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Niger, Eritrea, Africa
Urban Tenure
Forest Tenure
local communities
research
urban forestry
Crown diameter and tree density were measured in 52 communities in the Sudan-Sahel using satellite imagery to determine the relationships between rainfall and distance from community center to crown size diameter and tree density. As distance from the community center increased, tree density and crown diameter decreased. As rainfall increased, tree density decreased while crown diameter increased. Distance from the community center is a proxy for age since urbanization and our results indicate that older parts of communities show longer and more consistent tree management.
Library Resource

An Approach for Simulating Soil Loss from an Agro-Ecosystem Using Multi-Agent Simulation: A Case Study for Semi-Arid Ghana

Peer-reviewed publication
October, 2015
Ghana
Rangelands, Drylands & Pastoralism
agropastoral systems
land cover
land use
Soil loss is not limited to change from forest or woodland to other land uses/covers. It may occur when there is agricultural land-use/cover modification or conversion. Soil loss may influence loss of carbon from the soil, hence implication on greenhouse gas emission. Changing land use could be considered actually or potentially successful in adapting to climate change, or may be considered maladaptation if it creates environmental degradation.
Library Resource

Mapping Woodland Cover in the Miombo Ecosystem: A Comparison of Machine Learning Classifiers

Peer-reviewed publication
July, 2014
Zimbabwe
Forest Tenure
land use mapping
forest land
research
Miombo woodlands in Southern Africa are experiencing accelerated changes due to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. In order to formulate sustainable woodland management strategies in the Miombo ecosystem, timely and up-to-date land cover information is required. Recent advances in remote sensing technology have improved land cover mapping in tropical evergreen ecosystems. However, woodland cover mapping remains a challenge in the Miombo ecosystem.
Library Resource

Anthropogenic Landscapes, Human Action and the Process of Co-Construction with other Species: Making Anthromes in the Anthropocene

Peer-reviewed publication
March, 2017
Ethiopia
land management
research
We are in the Anthropocene. For millennia, human actions have been shaping the world to the degree that they are inscribed in the geological and ecological record. Recently, this has been occurring with increasing speed and influence. This means we need to be asking integrative and effective questions about the world and how we relate to and in it. Human niche construction has broad and deep effects not just on landscapes and environments, but on the myriad of other beings sharing space with us.
Library Resource

Transitions in Land Use Architecture under Multiple Human Driving Forces in a Semi-Arid Zone

Peer-reviewed publication
October, 2015
Burkina Faso
Land, Climate Change & Environment
Forest Tenure
deforestation
land use
The present study aimed to detect the main shifts in land-use architecture and assess the factors behind the changes in typical tropical semi-arid land in Burkina Faso. Three sets of time-series LANDSAT data over a 23-year period were used to detect land use changes and their underpinning drivers in multifunctional but vulnerable ecologies. Group discussions in selected villages were organized for mapping output interpretation and collection of essential drivers of change as perceived by local populations. Results revealed profound changes and transitions during the study period.
Library Resource

Soil and Water Conservation Strategies in Cape Verde (Cabo Verde in Portuguese) and Their Impacts on Livelihoods: An Overview from the Ribeira Seca Watershed

Peer-reviewed publication
March, 2015
Cape Verde
Land, Climate Change & Environment
land degradation
desertification
poverty
Severe land degradation has strongly affected both people’s livelihood and the environment in Cape Verde (Cabo Verde in Portuguese), a natural resource poor country. Despite the enormous investment in soil and water conservation measures (SWC or SLM), which are visible throughout the landscape, and the recognition of their benefits, their biophysical and socioeconomic impacts have been poorly assessed and scientifically documented.