Terminal Evaluation Of The Project Participatory Assessment Of Land Degradation And Sustainable Land Management In Grassland And Pastoral Systems PDF Download

Sustainable management of the natural resource base is a fundamental issue to support global environmental benefits provided by ecosystem services, and to ensure agricultural production and ultimately food security and livelihoods. Assessing land degradation is a major component of effective sustainable land management particularly in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). SIDS are generally characterized by high levels of chronic poverty, largely rural based populations and dependence on traditional agriculture. At the same time, SIDS possess unique characteristics, that further exacerbates the problems associated with land degradation, given the small size of the countries and their economies, limited infrastructure, distance from large international markets, high vulnerability to natural disasters, low level of human resource development, and increasing urbanization. Small size, combined with, diverse soil types, topography, climatic variation, lack or in some cases archaic and poor land use policies limits the area available for urban settlement, agriculture, mining, commercial forestry, tourism and other infrastructure, and creates intense competition between land use options. This manual adapts the assessment methodologies which were developed under the LADA project to the particular situation of SIDS. It is built on country experiences and is expected to enhance the capacity of the user to conduct more integrated and participatory assessments of land degradation, and to monitor impacts of interventions or changes in land management more effectively. The manual reflects a substantial shift in attention from the conventional focus on assessing degradation, to a balanced assessment that looks at both the negative and positive effects and trends of land use/ management on the natural resources and ecosystem services.