Continuity and change: land and water use reforms in rural Uzbekistan. Socio-economic and legal analyses for the region Khorezm

Decades of Soviet rule have left a heritage of environmental and social problems in Central Asia. The demise of an entire ecosystem at unprecedented pace, the 'Aral Sea Syndrome', is the most prominent of the undesired outcomes of the focus on agricultural production that has dominated land and resource use and continues till today. The international outcry over this ecological crisis has delegated other - and maybe more urgent - problems to a second pane. Rural livelihoods are rapidly deteriorating, unemployment is high, and rural poverty widespread. Ecological aspects, although strongly affecting everyday life in rural areas - such as water and soil salinity and environmental pollution - are not the fore most concern to the local population, as the economic survival is the more pressing need. Nevertheless, it is exactly in this situation where the larger part of the population exploits the natural resources further rather than preserving the ecological basis as a natural means of the local land’s productivity. Table of contents: Preface and acknowledgements; Peter Wehrheim, Anja Schoeller-Schletter, Christopher Martius. Chapter 1: Farmers, cotton, water, and models - Introduction and overview; Peter Wehrheim, Christopher Martius. Chapter 2: Organizing agricultural production - Law and legal forms in transition; Anja Schoeller-Schletter. Chapter 3: A model-based analysis of land and water use reforms in Khorezm: Effects on different types of agricultural producers; Nodir Djanibekov. Chapter 4: Optimal crop allocation and consequent ecological benefits in large scale (shirkat) farms in Uzbekistan's transition process; Ihtiyor Bobojonov, Inna Rudenko, John P. A. Lamers. Chapter 5: Where has all the water gone? Marc Müller. Chapter 6: Analysis of water use and allocation for the Khorezm region in Uzbekistan using an integrated economic-hydrologic model; Tina Schieder, Ximing Cai. Chapter 7: Problems and perspectives of water user associations in Uzbekistan; Darya Hirsch (Zavgorodnyaya). Chapter 8: Barriers to technological change and agrarian reform in Khorezm, Uzbekistan; Caleb Wall. Chapter 9: Analysis of agricultural markets in Khorezm, Uzbekistan; Ihtiyor Bobojonov, John P. A. Lamers. Chapter 10: Cotton, agriculture, and the Uzbek government; Marc Müller --

Monitoring deforestation and forest degradation in the context of REDD+ Lessons from Tanzania

In this case study, we compared the Global Forest Maps produced by the University of Maryland and Google with data from the JRC and with the published FAO FRA country statistics derived from the Tanzania Forest Service. We compared both the forest baseline area for the year 2000 and the forest-cover change between 2000 and 2010 for Tanzania.JRC.H.3-Forest Resources and Climat

Tree biomass equations from terrestrial LiDAR : a case study in Guyana

Large uncertainties in tree and forest carbon estimates weaken national efforts to accurately estimate aboveground biomass (AGB) for their national monitoring, measurement, reporting and verification system. Allometric equations to estimate biomass have improved, but remain limited. They rely on destructive sampling; large trees are under-represented in the data used to create them; and they cannot always be applied to different regions. These factors lead to uncertainties and systematic errors in biomass estimations. We developed allometric models to estimate tree AGB in Guyana. These models were based on tree attributes (diameter, height, crown diameter) obtained from terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) point clouds from 72 tropical trees and wood density. We validated our methods and models with data from 26 additional destructively harvested trees. We found that our best TLS-derived allometric models included crown diameter, provided more accurate AGB estimates (R-2 = 0.92-0.93) than traditional pantropical models (R-2 = 0.85-0.89), and were especially accurate for large trees (diameter > 70 cm). The assessed pantropical models underestimated AGB by 4 to 13%. Nevertheless, one pantropical model (Chave et al. 2005 without height) consistently performed best among the pantropical models tested (R-2 = 0.89) and predicted AGB accurately across all size classes-which but for this could not be known without destructive or TLS-derived validation data. Our methods also demonstrate that tree height is difficult to measure in situ, and the inclusion of height in allometric models consistently worsened AGB estimates. We determined that TLS-derived AGB estimates were unbiased. Our approach advances methods to be able to develop, test, and choose allometric models without the need to harvest trees

How does replacing natural forests with rubber and oil palm plantations affect soil respiration and methane fluxes?

This research was conducted under the REDD-ALERT project (Grant Agreement # 226310) with financial support from the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013]. It was also generously funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) (Grant Agreement # 46167) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) (Grant Agreement #QZA-10/0468). This work is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) programs on Trees, Forests and Agroforestry (FTA) and Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Authors extend their gratitude to staff from Brawijaya University in Malang, the Indonesian Soil Research Institute (ISRI) in Bogor, and Balai Lingkungan Pertanian in Jakenan for laboratory support. We also thank Robbin Matthews and John Hillier, whose insights, feedbacks and recommendations contributed to improve the quality of the manuscript and to the modeling team of the School of Biological and Environmental Science from the University of Aberdeen for constructive discussions. Furthermore, we are very thankful to all assistants and to the REDD-ALERT Indonesia team who supported field work in Jambi. Finally, we are very grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments which contributed to improve this manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Adapting land restoration to a changing climate: Embracing the knowns and unknowns

CIFOR Infobrief 249, Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, doi:10.17528/cifor/007261Land restoration will happen under climate change and different knowledge systems are needed to navigate uncertainties and plan adaptation. • The emergence of novel ecosystems presents a challenge for land restoration; they harbor unknown unknowns. • This brief presents key research linking land restoration and societal adaptation and an example of a practical framework for transformative adaptation. • It also proposes questions that can guide stakeholders in exploring different change narratives for adaptation and restoration planning

Heightened fire probability in Indonesia in non-drought conditions: the effect of increasing temperatures

In Indonesia, drought driven fires occur typically during the warm phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation. This was the case of the events of 1997 and 2015 that resulted in months- long hazardous atmospheric pollution levels in Equatorial Asia and record greenhouse gas emissions. Nonetheless, anomalously active fire seasons have also been observed in non-drought years. In this work, we investigated the impact of temperature on fires and found that when the July–October (JASO) period is anomalously dry, the sensitivity of fires to temperature is modest. In contrast, under normal-to-wet conditions, fire probability increases sharply when JASO is anomalously warm. This describes a regime in which an active fire season is not limited to drought years. Greater susceptibility to fires in response to a warmer environment finds support in the high evapotranspiration rates observed in normal-to-wet and warm conditions in Indonesia. We also find that fire probability in wet JASOs would be considerably less sensitive to temperature were not for the added effect of recent positive trends. Near-term regional climate projections reveal that, despite negligible changes in precipitation, a continuing warming trend will heighten fire probability over the next few decades especially in non-drought years. Mild fire seasons currently observed in association with wet conditions and cool temperatures will become rare events in Indonesia

REDD+: Lessons from National and Subnational Implementation : Ending Tropical Deforestation: a stock-take of progress and challenges

REDD+—which stands for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries—debuted on the global stage more than a decade ago. The idea prompted high expectations that an approach that featured results-based incentives for reducing tropical deforestation and degradation could rapidly succeed where other approaches had failed. Since then, over 50 countries have initiated REDD+ strategies; subnational governments have experimented with jurisdictional REDD+ programs; and more than 350 REDD+ projects have been implemented globally. What are the lessons learned from REDD+ initiatives so far? How can these lessons support future forest-based climate change mitigation

Learning from REDD + : a response to Fletcher et al.

Learning from REDD plus : a response to Fletcher et al.Non peer reviewe