Assessing land condition as a first step to achieving land degradation neutrality: A case study of the Republic of Srpska

Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) is a key voluntary and aspirational target of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 which urges countries to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss. A first and critical important step in the implementation of LDN is assessing the current land condition using not only active restoration of degraded land, but also targeting land degradation drivers behind the land degradation process. In a first step to achieve these goals, countries were provided a global dataset for three sub-indicators of land degradation: land cover (LC), land productivity dynamics (LPD) and soil organic carbon (SOC). Here, we report on trends in these sub-indicators for the Entity Republic of Srpska (RS) as a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is a key analysis to inform the frame of reference or baseline conditions for the region to evaluate LDN across this region. Global data for LC for the RS indicates a 0.5% loss of forests (6400 ha) over the time period from 2000 to 2010. Of this area, 5000 ha were converted to cropland and an additional 1400 ha was converted to shrubs, grasslands and sparsely vegetated areas. LPD declined over 2.5% (63,500 ha) of the region. SOC declined on land use changed areas by 15.6% (74,609 Mg ha−1) over the same time period. Based on global data, we estimated that 3% of the country is in a degraded state. Based on interviews with local stakeholders in 31 local communities, the primary land degradation drivers were identified and validated by team experts. Depopulation and migration to urban centers were identified as the important underlying drivers of land degradation that most municipalities are facing. The most frequent direct drivers of land degradation across this region were land abandonment, floods, drought, erosion and urbanization. Land abandonment, more specifically, has resulted in conversion of agriculturally productive lands to lands dominated by a wide range of invasive species over the last 25 years. Continued land degradation is underpinned by the lack of understanding by stakeholders of the importance of land as a resource. In evaluating the status, trends and drivers of land degradation for this region, we have identified key areas or 'hot spots' that may be targeted for restoration options and may be used to achieve LDN targets by 2030

The Perception of Stakeholders to Implement Nature-Based Solution for Flood Protection in the Balkans and in Iceland

Recent climate change observations and projections reveal an intensification of weather patterns, leading to severe floods and droughts in most parts of the world. The intensification of weather patterns could mitigate the effectiveness of flood protection infrastructures such as dams, levees and flood channels. Numerous studies have highlighted the superior effect of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in order to manage and mitigate the hydro-meteorological risk generated by an intensified water cycle. In particular, Natural Water Retention Measures (NWRM) can prove to be efficient, sustainable and flexible solutions. NWRMs reduce flood events, mitigate flood damage and provide biological habitats for the conservation of local flora and fauna. Accordingly, NWRM should be implemented on a large scale throughout the river basins with the close involvement of local stakeholders and landowners. For this purpose, we assessed the perception of stakeholders and landowners of applying NWRM on private properties in four European countries (Iceland, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Slovenia). Country-specific semi-quantitative questionnaires were created for representative watersheds in all four countries. The questionnaires took into account that floods are characterized by the country-specific precipitation, topography of the terrain and the nature of the watercourse. Therefore different NWRMs were recommended between the countries. Based on the preliminary analysis, we have concluded similar outcomes for all four states: Landowners want to cooperate with local communities and governments in order to adopt flood protection measures. They pointed to NWRM as equally important as an engineering-based solution, but they are not particularly willing to implement NWRM on their private lands. Landowners indicate that the government should have at least a 75% share in financing flood protection measures. The similarities of the results in the four countries reveal that a Pan-European perception might be generated by conducting similar surveys in other European countries

Quality testing of industrially produced essential oil of white pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) from the Republic of Srpska

The quality of the essential oil obtained from white pine wood greenery from the territory of the Republic of Srpska was analyzed by examining the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of samples produced by the hydro-distillation process in industrial production conditions. The chemical composition of the essential oil was analyzed by GC/MS and GC/FID analysis. The antimicrobial activity of the obtained white pine oil was investigated for its possible use as an antimicrobial agent. The obtained results prove the presence of 37 components in the analyzed sample, which represents 98.5% of the total components present. The most common are monoterpene hydrocarbons, followed by sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, much less represented are monoterpenes containing oxygen and aromatic compounds, while aliphatic esters are found only in traces. Antimicrobial activity was examined using the disk diffusion method. The results showed large zones of inhibition, both for the tested oil sample and for all eight analyzed bacterial strains (from 12.00 ± 0.00 to 17.33 ± 1.15mm), as well as for the fungal strain. The chemical composition and antimicrobial action of essential white pine oiled from plant material originating from the territory of the Republic of Srpska indicates its significant phytomedical potential

Wetlands as nature-based solutions for water management in different environments

Wetlands are multifunctional systems performing as nature-based solutions (NBS) for water management. This paper provides an overview of natural and constructed wetlands and their potential to support the regulation of hydrological fluxes and water quality. Wetlands can modulate peak flows by storing runoff and slowly releasing it over time, with positive impacts on soil moisture. They can also change the overall water balance by influencing evapotranspiration, infiltration, and groundwater recharge. They can enhance resilience of a catchment to floods and torrents, especially with relative low return periods (<50 years), and safeguard water availability during droughts. Wetlands may remove or reduce a number of organic and inorganic pollutants (e.g., nutrients, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, pesticides) by different physical, chemical, and biological processes developed between vegetation, microorganisms, soil/growth substrate, and water. They have proven to be efficient and effective in improving the quality of water from different sources, such as runoff from agriculture and urban areas, and domestic and industrial wastewater. The overall performance of wetlands is determined by their characteristics (e.g., size, design, type of vegetation), within-catchment position, type and amount of water and pollutants, and local conditions (e.g., climate). A focus on wetlandscape, rather than individual wetlands, is required for optimal water management and maximization of other ecosystem services

PRODUCTIVITY OF EUROPEAN BEECH COPPICE STANDS IN THE FOREST MANAGEMENT AREA “DONJEVRBASKO”, BOSNIAHERZEGOVINA

The object of this study were three coppice beech stands located in the forest management area“Donjevrbasko” close to Banja Luka in the Republic of Srpska, north-western part of Bosnia andHerzegovina. These coppice stands grow in different conditions. According to available eco-vegetationmaps, first beech coppice stand develops in favorable site conditions with high wood productionpotential for beech. Thereby, we chose such stand which on the first look had fairly goodquality of stools. The second coppice stand also grows in good site conditions where high productionpotential can be expected for beech, but in this case we selected for measurement such standwhich has poor technical quality of trees and poor health state. On the contrary, the third coppicestand grows in very poor site conditions where low production potential can be expected forbeech. The major goal of the study was to examine the effects of lengthening the rotation periodson wood production, quality and health status of trees in studied coppices

Litterfall Carbon and Nitrogen Content of Beech Forests in Serbia

This study aimed to analyze the N storage capacity of litterfall and its impact on C mineralization in beech forests. The research was conducted at 15 sample plots under European beech stands located in different ecological conditions on the territory of Serbia. More than half (53%) of the sample plots are characterized by low and very low litterfall N content (<8 g·kg−1; 9–12 g·kg−1), and a wide C/N ratio, which indicates a slow decomposition of the organic soil layer. These results could be useful indicators of the capacity and dynamics of litterfall N storage and its impact on C mineralization in the context of preserving biodiversity, stability, and longevity of beech forests in Serbia

Edaphic characteristics of Austrian pine (Pinus nigra Arn.) forests in the Višegrad area

This paper presents the results of soil research in Austrian pine (Pinus nigra Arn.) forest communities in the Višegrad area, carried out to determine the basic soil characteristics and eco-production potential of forest habitats as an important basis and framework for the successful management of these forests on the principles of sustainable development. Austrian pine forests in this region are an important and ecologically valuable community. The complexity of the geological structure and relief dynamics are dominant environmental factors that condition the expressed variability of soils in the study area. Forest communities of Austrian pine are formed on the peridotites and serpentinites, eutric ranker (haplic leptosol), eutric cambisol (haplic cambisols) and pseudogley (haplic planosol), dense granular and marl limestones calcomelanosol (mollic leptosol), rendzina (rendzic leptosol) and calcocambisol (leptic cambisol). The productivity of these soils is highly correlated with depth and texture composition, and the impact of these factors is linked with soil type, climate and other site conditions. In the research area, soil types with low production potential such as rankers, rendzinas, limestone and dolomite calcomelanosol are dominant. Deeper variants of eutric cambisol, pseudogley and calcocambisol can be classified as soils with moderate to high production potential

Grassland Management Impact on Soil Degradation and Herbage Nutritional Value in a Temperate Humid Environment

Understanding the importance of grassland management is crucial for predicting the effects on forage production, pasture and ecosystem stability. Studies about the impact of grassland management in temperate humid environments on soil, erosion and aboveground biomass properties are lacking. This study investigates the effect of different grassland managements&mdash;no grazing, moderate grazing and heavy grazing&mdash;on soil properties, hydrological responses and herbage quality in an organic farm located in Croatia. The results showed that heavy grazing significantly increased soil compaction, structural deterioration, erosion and nutrient transport compared with no grazing. Heavily grazed plots had significantly higher soil organic matter and nutrient concentrations compared with no-grazing plots. Moderately grazed plots had the highest biomass production and the herbage with higher quality compared with other treatments. Significantly higher ash contents on heavily and moderately grazed plots were due to cow trampling. Cow grazing behaviour was a more important factor for plant regrowth and herbage quality than soil properties. Moderate grazing did not induce serious soil erosion problems or reduce soil productivity. Soil conservation measures should focus only on the heavily grazed areas and include the introduction of rotational grazing in combination with various strategies: excluding grazing, reseeding and increasing the diversity of resting areas

The Importance of International Collaboration to Enhance Education for Environmental Citizenship

Environmental Education is essential to promote awareness and facilitate the development of environmental citizens. To contribute to the enhancement of environmental awareness, Iceland, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Romania have collaborated in joint educational projects which aim at building capacities on sustainable development, delivering environmental teaching lectures, and developing open educational resources. This article presents past and ongoing collaborations between the mentioned countries, assesses the status of environmental education, and highlights the benefits of international collaboration. For this purpose, information on environmental courses in representative universities from each country was collected, SWOT analyses were performed in each country, and a survey among potential students was carried out. The presented analysis reveals that international collaboration raises environmental awareness and increases the likelihood of becoming environmental citizens

Contribution of physical and anthropogenic factors to gully erosion initiation

Losses of large volumes of soil through gully formation lead to serious environmental, societal, and economic problems for human societies. This study establishes a framework based on an artificial intelligence approach to investigate the impact of geo-environmental and topo-hydrological factors on gully occurrences in the Biram region, Iran. The maximum entropy, random forest, and boosted regression trees machine-learning models were applied. The relative importance of variables (RIV) was then determined and gully erosion susceptibility maps were generated. Model results were evaluated using cutoff–dependent and –independent metrics. All models identified road construction as the main cause of gully formation in the study region (RVI ranged between 27% and 34%), and a medium contribution of distance from stream (RVI = 15–18%), lithology (RVI = 12–15%) and land use (RVI = 8–12%). Other factors such as drainage density, topographic wetness index, aspect, slope, profile curvature, elevation and plan curvature showed lower relative importance (RIV &lt; 10%). Planners should pay attention to minimizing gully erosion along roads, so that river systems and downstream communities are adequately protected.QC 20220207</p