Global Assessment of Grassland Carrying Capacities and Relative Stocking Densities of Livestock

Although many suggest that future diets should include more plant-based proteins, animal-sourced foods are unlikely to completely disappear from our diet. Grasslands yield a notable part of the world’s animal protein production, but thus far, there is no global insight into the relationship between current livestock stocking densities and the availability of grassland forage resources. This inhibits acting upon concerns over the negative effects of overgrazing in some areas and utilising the potential for increasing production in others. Previous research has examined the potential of sustainable grazing but lacks generic and observation-based methods needed to fully understand the opportunities and threats of grazing. Here we provide a novel framework and method to estimate global livestock carrying capacity and relative stocking density, i.e. the reported livestock distribution relative to the estimated carrying capacity. We first estimate the aboveground biomass that is available for grazers on grasslands and savannas based on the MODIS Net Primary Production (NPP) approach on a global scale. This information is then used to calculate reasonable livestock carrying capacities, using slopes, forest cover and animal forage requirements as restrictions. With this approach, we found that stocking rates exceed the forage provided by grasslands in northwestern Europe, midwestern United States, southern China and the African Sahel. In this study, we provide the highest resolution global datasets to date. Our results have implications for prospective global food system modelling as well as national agricultural and environmental policies. These maps and findings can assist with conservation efforts to reduce land degradation associated with overgrazing and help identify undergrazed areas for targeted sustainable intensification efforts

Circumstances excluding criminal liability under the criminal law of the Muslim countries

In Islamic criminal law there are no institutions the general part, in that connection, it shared the list of circumstances that exclude the criminality of an Act, not developed. In Islamic criminal law, such circumstances, according to the analysis of some of his sources are not reaching the age of responsibility, a State of insanity, mislead, commit a crime under duress, self-defense, urgency, as well as remorse. The article is devoted to the characterization of the circumstances excluding criminal liability under the criminal law of the Muslim countries professing the Anglo-Saxon system of law. Main purpose is to form an idea of the role the circumstances excluding criminal liability under the criminal law of the Muslim countries professing the Anglo-Saxon legal system in modern conditions based on foreign legal literature, and an analysis of the criminal law. The hallmark of Muslim law is a priority of the religious laws of Islam, which govern all aspects of the life of Muslims. The question of the role of the circumstances excluding criminal liability under the criminal law of the Muslim countries professing the Anglo-Saxon legal system in modern conditions is covered in Islamic law with the aim of precise qualification of perfect a criminal offence, with a view to establishing the legality of the Act. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2019

Application of the MODIS MOD 17 Net Primary Production Product in Grassland Carrying Capacity Assessment

Remote sensing based grassland carrying capacity assessments are not commonly applied in rangeland management. Possible reasons for this include non-equilibrium thinking in rangeland management, and the costliness of existing remotely sensed biomass estimation that carrying capacity assessments require. Here, we present a less demanding approach for grassland biomass estimation using the MODIS Net Primary Production (NPP) product and demonstrate its use in carrying capacity assessment over the mountain grasslands of Azerbaijan.Based on publicly available estimates of the fraction of total NPP partitioned to above ground NPP (fANPP) we calculate the above ground biomass produced from 2005 to 2014. Validation of the predicted above ground biomass with independent field biomass data collected in 2007 and 2008 confirmed the accuracy of theaboveground biomass product and hence we considered it appropriate for further use in the carrying capacity assessment. A first assessment approach, which allowed for consumption of 65% of above ground biomass, resulted in an average carrying capacity of 12.6 sheep per ha. A second more realistic approach, which further restricted grazing on slopes steeper than 10%, resulted in a stocking density of 6.20 sheep per ha and a carrying capacity of 3.93 million sheep. Our analysis reveals overgrazing of the mountain grasslands because the current livestock population which consists of at least 8 million sheep, 0.5 million goats and an unknown number of cattle exceeds the predicted carrying capacity of 3.93 million sheep. We consider that the geographically explicit advice on sustainable stocking densities is particularly attractive to regulate grazing intensity in geographically varied terrain such as the mountain grasslands of Azerbaijan. We further conclude that the approach, given its generic nature and the free availability of most input data, could be replicated elsewhere. Hence, we advise considering its use where traditional carrying capacity assessments are difficult to implement

Economics of conservation law enforcement by rangers across Asia

Abstract Biodiversity targets, under the Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, prioritize both conservation area and their effectiveness. The effective management of protected areas (PAs) depends greatly on law enforcement resources, which is often tasked to rangers. We addressed economic aspects of law enforcement by rangers working in terrestrial landscapes across Asia. Accordingly, we used ranger numbers and payment rates to derive continental‐scale estimates. Ranger density has decreased by 2.4‐fold since the 1990s, increasing the median from 10.9 to 26.4 km2 of PAs per ranger. Rangers were generally paid more than the minimum wage (median ratio = 1.9) and the typical salaries in agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector (median ratio = 1.2). Annual spending on ranger salaries varied widely among countries, with a median of annual US71 km−2 of PA. Nearly 208,000 rangers patrolling Asian PAs provide an invaluable opportunity to develop ranger‐based monitoring plans for evaluating the conservation performance. As decision‐makers frequently seek an optimum number of law enforcement staff, our study provides a continental baseline median of 46.3 km2 PA per ranger. Our findings also provide a baseline for countries to improve their ranger‐based law enforcement which is critical for their Kunming‐Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework targets