Hanspeter Liniger

Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Practices in Drylands: How Do They Address Desertification Threats?

Managing land sustainably is a huge challenge, especially under harsh climatic conditions such as those found in drylands. The socio-economic situation can also pose challenges, as dryland regions are often characterized by remoteness, marginality, low-productive farming, weak institutions, and even conflict. With threats from climate change, disputes over water, competing claims on land, and migration increasing worldwide, the demands for sustainable land management (SLM) measures will only increase in the future. Within the EU-funded DESIRE project, researchers and stakeholders jointly identified existing SLM technologies and approaches in 17 dryland study sites located in the Mediterranean and around the world. In order to evaluate and share this valuable SLM experience, local researchers documented the SLM technologies and approaches in collaboration with land users, utilizing the internationally recognized WOCAT questionnaires. This article provides an analysis of 30 technologies and 8 approaches, enabling an initial evaluation of how SLM addresses prevalent dryland threats, such as water scarcity, soil degradation, vegetation degradation and low production, climate change, resource use conflicts, and migration. Among the impacts attributed to the documented technologies, those mentioned most were diversified and enhanced production and better management of water and soil degradation, whether through water harvesting, improving soil moisture, or reducing runoff. Favorable local-scale cost–benefit relationships were mainly found when considered over the long term. Nevertheless, SLM was found to improve people’s livelihoods and prevent further outmigration. More field research is needed to reinforce expert assessments of SLM impacts and provide the necessary evidence-based rationale for investing in SLM.

Assessing the sustainability of water governance systems: the sustainability wheel

We present and test a conceptual and methodological approach for interdisciplinary sustainability assessments of water governance systems based on what we call the sustainability wheel. The approach combines transparent identification of sustainability principles, their regional contextualization through sub-principles (indicators), and the scoring of these indicators through deliberative dialogue within an interdisciplinary team of researchers, taking into account their various qualitative and quantitative research results. The approach was applied to a sustainability assessment of a complex water governance system in the Swiss Alps. We conclude that the applied approach is advantageous for structuring complex and heterogeneous knowledge, gaining a holistic and comprehensive perspective on water sustainability, and communicating this perspective to stakeholders.

Enhanced Decision-Making Based on Local Knowledge The WOCAT Method of Sustainable Soil and Water Management

Abstract Many types of problems caused by land degradation can be documented worldwide. The main natural resources affected are soils, water, natural vegetation, and wildlife; but cultivated plants are exposed to even greater damage, which poses a threat to food security as well. Soil degradation is one of the most crucial processes of land degradation and environmental change. Over a quarter of the worlds agricultural land has been damaged by long-term soil degradation, corresponding to one-tenth of the earths land surface. As is well known, mountain areas are especially vulnerable to land degradation (Figure 1). Because mountains are also water towers, providing water not only for highland areas but also for the surrounding lowlands, land degradation in the mountains has serious impacts on the global supply of freshwater and on growing water-related conflicts. At the same time, there have been many achievements in sustainable land use and in avoiding and combating degradation (Figure 2). Every day land users and soil and water conservation (SWC) specialists evaluate experience and generate know-how related to land management, improvement of soil fertility, and protection of soil resources. Most of this valuable knowledge, however, is not well documented or easily accessible, and comparison of different types of experience is difficult. The World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) has the mission of providing tools that allow SWC specialists to share their valuable knowledge in soil and water management, assist them in their search for appropriate SWC technologies and approaches, and support them in making decisions in the field and at the planning level.

Soil erosion and conservation in global agriculture

About one-sixth of the world’s land area, that is, about one-third of the land used for agriculture, has been affected by soil degradation in the historic past. While most of this damage was caused by water and wind erosion, other forms of soil degradation are induced by biological, chemical, and physical processes. Since the 1950s, pressure on agricultural land has increased considerably owing to population growth and agricultural modernization. Small-scale farming is the largest occupation in the world, involving over 2.5 billion people, over 70% of whom live below the poverty line. Soil erosion, along with other environmental threats, particularly affects these farmers by diminishing yields that are primarily used for subsistence. Soil and water conservation measures have been developed and applied on many farms. Local and science-based innovations are available for most agroecological conditions and land management and farming types. Principles and measures developed for small-scale as well as modern agricultural systems have begun to show positive impacts in most regions of the world, particularly in wealthier states and modern systems. Much more emphasis still needs to be given to small-scale farming, which requires external support for investment in sustainable land management technologies as an indispensable and integral component of farm activities.

Geographic information system-based decision support for soil conservation planning in Tajikistan

Soil erosion on sloping agricultural land poses a serious problem for the environment, as well as for production. In areas with highly erodible soils, such as those in loess zones, application of soil and water conservation measures is crucial to sustain agricultural yields and to prevent or reduce land degradation. The present study, carried out in Faizabad, Tajikistan, was designed to evaluate the potential of local conservation measures on cropland using a spatial modeling approach to provide decision-making support for the planning of spatially explicit sustainable land use. A sampling design to support comparative analysis between well-conserved units and other field units was established in order to estimate factors that determine water erosion, according to the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Such factor-based approaches allow ready application using a geographic information system and facilitate straightforward scenario modeling in areas with limited data resources. The study showed first that assessment of erosion and conservation in an area with inhomogeneous vegetation cover requires the integration of plot-based cover. Plot-based vegetation cover can be effectively derived from high-resolution satellite imagery, providing a useful basis for plot-wise conservation planning. Furthermore, thorough field assessments showed that 25.7% of current total cropland is covered by conservation measures (terracing, agroforestry, and perennial herbaceous fodder). Assessment of the effectiveness of these local measures, combined with the RUSLE calculations, revealed that current average soil loss could be reduced through low-cost measures such as contouring (by 11%), fodder plants (by 16%), and drainage ditches (by 53%). More expensive measures, such as terracing and agroforestry, can reduce erosion by as much as 63% (for agroforestry) and 93% (for agroforestry combined with terracing). Indeed, scenario runs for different levels of tolerable erosion rates showed that more cost-intensive and technologically advanced measures would lead to greater reduction of soil loss. However, given economic conditions in Tajikistan, it seems advisable to support the spread of low-cost and labour-extensive measures.

The Land‐Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS): mobile apps and collaboration for optimizing climate change investments

Abstract Massive investments in climate change mitigation and adaptation are projected during coming decades. Many of these investments will seek to modify how land is managed. The return on both types of investments can be increased through an understanding of land potential: the potential of the land to support primary production and ecosystem services, and its resilience. A Land‐Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS) is being developed and implemented to provide individual users with point‐based estimates of land potential based on the integration of simple, geo‐tagged user inputs with cloud‐based information and knowledge. This system will rely on mobile phones for knowledge and information exchange, and use cloud computing to integrate, interpret, and access relevant knowledge and information, including local knowledge about land with similar potential. The system will initially provide management options based on long‐term land potential, which depends on climate, topography, and relatively static soil properties, such as soil texture, depth, and mineralogy. Future modules will provide more specific management information based on the status of relatively dynamic soil properties such as organic matter and nutrient content, and of weather. The paper includes a discussion of how this system can be used to help distinguish between meteorological and edaphic drought.

Monitoring and Modelling for the Sustainable Management of Water Resources in Tropical Mountain Basins: The Mount Kenya Example

The Upper Ewaso Ng’iro North river basin, which drains the north-western slopes of Mount Kenya in central Kenya, epitomises the African highland-lowland system. Extending over a vast region (15,200 km2), it encompasses an extreme eco-climatological gradient that ranges from the glaciated peaks and indigenous forests of Mount Kenya to the semi-arid and arid land of the lowland plains (Fig. 1). The mountain forms a great natural asset in terms of water resources with plentiful rainfall (1500 mm/yr) supplying perennial rivers that radiate lifelines to the dry lowlands below. Thus, Mount Kenya is one of the major “water towers” (Liniger et al. 1998b; Liniger and Weingartner 2000) in Eastern Africa. Increasing pressures on the mountain from population increase and agricultural development have the potential to endanger this asset and cause conflict between upstream and downstream water users (Hurni et al., this volume). Rapid population growth has attained levels as high as 7–8% per annum (Kiteme et al. 1998). Migrants initially moved to the lower mountain slopes, attracted by good soils, high rainfall and proximity to rivers and transport, but latterly, forced by the pressure for land, they have settled on the dry plains, extending the migration zone into marginal areas for production (Kiteme et al. 1998; Liniger et al. 1998a).

Effectiveness of jatropha barriers as a soil and water conservation technology to rehabilitate gullies in northern Ethiopia

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.), a perennial oil-producing shrub, has been promoted in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, with the aim of producing biofuels, developing rural areas, and providing alternative income opportunities (Francis et al. 2005). Researchers largely agree that jatropha is suited for rehabilitating degraded land, as it improves microbial activity, available nutrients, and water holding in soils (Wani et al. 2012). The basic pattern of its root structure is believed to control soil erosion (Achten et al. 2007), although in drylands limited water availability has negative effects on jatropha root growth and overall performance (Krishnamurthy et al. 2012). Nonetheless, only few studies investigate vegetative soil and water conservation technologies based on jatropha. Rare individual studies, such as the ones by Openshaw (2000) on hedges or by Kagamebga et al. (2011) on the half-moon technique in Burkina Faso, demonstrate that jatropha can, in different ways, successfully be used for soil and water conservation. In the Ethiopian Highlands, land degradation is a major concern, and the control and rehabilitation of gullies pose a particular challenge. Efforts to conserve soil and water have been made for a long time and at a large scale (Dale 2010). However, farmers often…

Impacts of Outmigration on Land Management in a Nepali Mountain Area

This study examines the impacts of migration on land management in a mountain area of Nepal, complemented by insights from a smaller case study in Bolivia. Migration to cities and abroad increasingly leaves behind fragmented families and the elderly. Livelihoods as well as the management of land are affected by a changing labor force, traditional knowledge, remittances, and other consequences of migration. In this study, we explore how these issues affect land and its management, and what measures and strategies are being taken by the people left behind. Mapping methodology from the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) was used to assess land management practices in a subwatershed in Western Nepal. In combination with other research methods, the mapping enabled a better understanding of the impacts of migration on land degradation and conservation. Preliminary findings reveal negative as well as positive impacts. The main degradation problem found was the growth of invasive alien plant species, while overall vegetation and forest cover had increased, and some types of degradation, such as soil erosion or landslides, were even reduced. A feminization of agriculture has also been observed in the Nepali case study, in contrast to the Bolivian case which revealed that whole families were migrating, with mostly men temporarily returning to manage the land. The findings of this study suggest that a more differentiated and context-specific view is required when looking at the impact of migration on land management.

Safeguarding water resources by making the land greener: knowledge management through WOCAT

This chapter looks at the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT), which has a number of similarities with the ‘bright spots’ exercise. WOCAT’s purpose and methodologies are briefly explained, its position in relation to other case study initiatives explored and its successes and limitations discussed. One summarized example from the WOCAT database is presented. An analysis of conservation approaches and technologies – from the WOCAT book Where the Land is Greener (WOCAT, 2007) – is presented. Finally, the bright spots’ ‘drivers’ are reflected in terms of WOCAT’s experience, and knowledge gaps are identified that still need to be addressed by research.