Determining grazing capacity in Namibia with the aid of remote sensing

The Namibian rangelands consist of a mixture of herbaceous and woody components. The main source of income is from farming systems with grass production the predominant source of forage. For rangeland managers to utilise this source sustainably, the accurate determination of grazing capacity is vital since it allows for adapting the animal load, and therefore the grazing pressure, to the actual capacity of the land.  Various practical approaches and methodologies were investigated to update the existing Namibian grazing capacity map that was compiled more than three decades ago from the expert, but nonetheless subjective, opinion of farmers, extension officers and pasture scientists. The methodologies studied in this paper include the estimation of seasonal herbaceous biomass production using satellite imagery, land cover mapping and the quantitative yield method of determining available forage. It is expected that combining all these methods (information from remote sensing, adjusted with scientifically established coefficients for woody cover, accessibility and palatability and the incorporation of the clipping technique [quantitative yield method] as a ground truthing mechanism) will provide a tool to objectively establish rangeland productivity and thus grazing capacity in Namibia.Keywords: agriculture; biomass; land cover; livestock; productivity; rangelandsAfrican Journal of Range & Forage Science 2009, 26(3): 133–13

Northern Ireland General Election Attitudes Survey, 2010

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The 2010 General Election represented the first opportunity for Northern Ireland's (NI) voters to express their political preferences in a non-European election since the formation of a power-sharing devolved government in 2007, headed by the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein. The Northern Ireland General Election Attitudes Survey, 2010 examines the NI electorate's views of the 2010 election and explores different possible scenarios, such as:thawing of the sectarian divide between Protestant-British Unionists and Catholic-Irish nationalistsmovement away from the main ethnic blocs by voters who may support cross-community parties such as Alliance or the Greensthe utility of the joint 'Ulster Unionist-Conservative Party' label of Unionism's second largest partythe impact of Sinn Fein's new political approach, with the party supporting the Police Service of Northern Ireland since 2007The survey provides vital evidence on the demographics of party support, the perceptions of parties and the views of the performance of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive. The survey also tests the electorate’s perception of the threat posed by 'dissident' republicans. Further information can be found on the 2010 Northern Ireland General Election ESRC award web page. Users are advised that the UK Data Archive holds the British Election Study series (available under GN 33066) which explores electoral behaviour in Great Britain.Main Topics:The main areas of study are: level of interest in the General Electionperceived key issue on which they votedparties perceived as best able to address these issuesNI party perceived as closest to respondents views on this issuevoting patterns and reasons for choice of party/candidate in this election and in previous electionsreasons for not votingattitudes to parties and leadersattitudes to the economy and the parties best able to address economic issuesattitudes to Europeattitudes to the status of NIimportance of selected issues to the NI electoratesatisfaction with the performance of the Governmentlevel of contact with parties prior to the election</ul

Challenges to Legitimacy at the Forest Stewardship Council

corporate responsibility, sustainability, forestry, legitimacy, global governance, Certification Systems, ecolabel,