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Background The control and prevention of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases is often based on the reduction of host or vector populations, involving but not limited to preventative culling and use of insecticides. Yet, destructive interventions such as these have shown several limitations including ineffectiveness on arthropods and negative impacts on ecosystems. An alternative strategy would be to rely on the natural ecosystem functions and their careful management to regulate such diseases. The goal of our work was to evaluate existing scientific evidence on potential links between ecosystem components/functions and 14 vector-borne and zoonotic diseases impacting human health and answer the question: “What evidence exists on the impact of specific ecosystem components and functions on infectious diseases?”. Methods We searched for scientific articles published in English and French and screened them in a 3-round process (title, abstract and full-text). Articles were retained, without any geographical limitation, if they matched the following eligibility criteria: an exposure/intervention linked to changes in biological communities, habitats, or landscapes; an outcome consisting of any measure of infection in vector, animal or human hosts; and the presence of a comparator, in time and/or in space. The results are presented as a systematic map, followed by a narrative review where the amount of papers allowed for synthesis. Results Searches in 5 scientific publication databases allowed to retrieve 9723 unique articles, among which 207 were retained after the screening process. The amount of relevant literature was highly variable depending on diseases, and the types of exposures also varied greatly among studies focusing on the same disease. A hundred articles presented in the map were unique in their “disease x exposure” combination and thus not eligible for further narrative description. The remaining 107 articles were organized in 34 “disease x exposure” groups, encompassing 9 out of the 14 initial diseases. The groups were composed of 2 to 16 articles and were examined to provide a description of the current state of knowledge for those diseases. Conclusion Studies investigating the interaction between infectious diseases and ecosystems components and functions are still very scarce, and certain diseases are much more studied than others. Out of 14 diseases, 8 generated less than 10 relevant articles, while 2 diseases (Lyme disease and West Nile disease) represented 44% of all relevant studies. Although several vector-borne diseases included in the review represent a major health issue in the world, such as malaria or dengue, they have been exclusively studied under the prism of land-use, and we were unable to find relevant studies that tested the regulatory role of animal biodiversity-related functions. The role of predation in the regulation of vector and host populations has rarely been studied, with the exception of schistosomiasis. The dilution and amplification effects were addressed in several studies focusing on the composition of ecological communities. This map is a first step and could be upgraded in order to guide future research projects with the aim to conduct meta-analysis and build a robust evidence base to inform decision-making.

Few longitudinal studies link agricultural biodiversity, land use and food access in rural landscapes. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that, in a context of economic change, cash crop expansion is associated with deforestation, reduced agrobiodiversity and changes in food access. For this purpose, we analysed data collected from the same 53 upland and floodplain mestizo households in Ucayali, Peru, in 2000 and 2015. We found an emerging transition towards less diversified food access coupled with loss of forest cover and reduced agricultural biodiversity. In 2015, diets appeared to rely on fewer food groups, fewer food items, and on products increasingly purchased in the market compared to 2000. Wild fruits and plants were mentioned, but rarely consumed. Agricultural production systems became more specialised with a shift towards commercial crops. Peak deforestation years in the 15-year period appeared linked with incentives for agricultural expansion. Our results suggest an overall trend from diversified productive and “extractive” systems and more diverse food access, towards specialized productive systems, with less diverse food access and stronger market orientation (both in production and consumption). The assumption in the food and agricultural sciences that increased income and market-orientation is linked to improved food security, is challenged by our integrated analyses of food access, agrobiodiversity, land use and forest cover. Our results highlight the importance of longitudinal, multidimensional, systemic analyses, with major implications for land use, food and health policies. The potential risks of parallel homogenisation of diets and agricultural production systems require interdisciplinary research and policies that promote integrated landscape approaches for sustainable and inclusive food systems.

International audience; Potential time lags between human-mediated disturbances and the subsequent responses of ecosystems are critical for planning and implementing conservation and restoration actions. In this context, decoupling between the temporal trajectories of ecosystems structure and functions is particularly critical. Here, we stand out the need to differentiate the temporal trajectories of ecosystem structure and functions to be considered in ecological restoration programs. In cases when ecosystem functions persist after the degradation of the ecosystem structure, and when functions do not recover at the same rate as structure, some kind of ecosystem functioning credits or debts can occur. In other situations, an ongoing loss of the ecosystem function can occur even in the absence of further disturbance. Ecosystem restoration outcomes could be optimized in regions with ecosystem functioning credit, since mitigating the decline in functioning will be more efficient than recovering functions in highly degraded conditions. Ecological restoration programs should not only focus on structurederived indicators but they should also consider the dynamics of ecosystem functions to guide land-planning decisionmaking.

Environmental exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) from mobile telephony has rapidly increased in the last two decades and this trend is expected to continue. The effects of this exposure at plant community level are unknown and difficult to assess in a scientifically appropriate manner. Such an assessment can be scientifically adequate if a studied plant community is completely new and control-impact radiation treatment is used. In this review we aimed to predict ecological effects and identify indicators of the impact of bioactive RF-EMFs at the mobile telephony frequency range on plant communities. We considered the scenario where a plant community was exposed to radiation generated by a base transmitting station antenna mounted on a nearby mast. This plant community can be represented by mesic meadow, ruderal or arable weed community, or other herbaceous, moderately productive vegetation type. We concentrated primarily on radiation effects that can be recorded for a year since the exposure started. To predict them we used physical theories of radiowave propagation in vegetation and the knowledge on plants physiological responses to RF-EMF. Our indicators can be used for the detection of the impact of RF-EMFs on vegetation in a control-impact experiment. The identified indicators can be classified into the following groups: (1) canopy parameters; (2) plant characteristics to be measured in the field or laboratory in a number of individuals that represent the populations of selected species; (3) community weighted means/medians (CWMs) of plant traits and strategies; (4) the abundance of other organisms that interact with plants and can influence their fitness or population size. The group of canopy parameters includes mean height, vertical vegetation structure and dry weight of above-ground standing phytomass. Plant characteristics requiring biometric sampling in the field are plant height, the number of fruits and seeds, as well as seed viability. The group of plant traits that are calculated as CWMs covers seed releasing height, seed dispersal mode, SLA, leaf orientation, month of germination and flowering, Ellenberg’s light indicator value, and the proportion of individuals in the classes of competitors and stress tolerators according to Grime's CSR strategy scheme. The group of “non-plant” indicators includes primarily the frequency of flower visits by beetles, wasps, hoverflies, and bees that have their nests over ground. To detect ecological responses that occur for the first year since a herbaceous community has been exposed to potentially bioactive RF-EMF, the first two indicators groups should be used., Amparo Lázaro was supported by a Ramón y Cajal contract (RYC-2015-19034) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

Concerns about ecological degradation and social inequalities have prompted increasing calls for stewardship in the social–ecological systems and sustainability science literature. However, how can the ideals of stewardship be realised in practice? The links between the theory and practice of stewardship are under-developed, and research to support place-based stewardship practice is limited. We therefore bring together complementary perspectives to guide research on place-based stewardship practice in the context of multifunctional landscapes. We unpack and synthesise literature on stewardship, landscapes, and collaboration for natural resource management, and highlight the ways in which the pathways approach can deepen research on collaboration and stewardship practice. We propose landscapes as a suitable level of analysis and action for stewardship. Since all landscapes are multifunctional, we argue that collaboration among multiple stakeholders is a necessary focus of such research. Our analysis reveals that existing theory on collaboration could be deepened by further research into the agency of individual human actors, the complex social–relational dynamics among actors, and the situatedness of actors within the social–ecological context. These factors mediate collaborative processes, and a better understanding of them is needed to support place-based stewardship practice. To this end, the pathways approach offers a waymark to advance research on collaboration, particularly in the complex, contested social–ecological systems that tend to characterize multifunctional landscapes.

© 2018 Camp, Schoepf, Mumby, Hardtke, Rodolfo-Metalpa, Smith and Suggett. Global climate change and localized anthropogenic stressors are driving rapid declines in coral reef health. In vitro experiments have been fundamental in providing insight into how reef organisms will potentially respond to future climates. However, such experiments are inevitably limited in their ability to reproduce the complex interactions that govern reef systems. Studies examining coral communities that already persist under naturally-occurring extreme and marginal physicochemical conditions have therefore become increasingly popular to advance ecosystem scale predictions of future reef form and function, although no single site provides a perfect analog to future reefs. Here we review the current state of knowledge that exists on the distribution of corals in marginal and extreme environments, and geographic sites at the latitudinal extremes of reef growth, as well as a variety of shallow reef systems and reef-neighboring environments (including upwelling and CO2 vent sites). We also conduct a synthesis of the abiotic data that have been collected at these systems, to provide the first collective assessment on the range of extreme conditions under which corals currently persist. We use the review and data synthesis to increase our understanding of the biological and ecological mechanisms that facilitate survival and success under sub-optimal physicochemical conditions. This comprehensive assessment can begin to: (i) highlight the extent of extreme abiotic scenarios under which corals can persist, (ii) explore whether there are commonalities in coral taxa able to persist in such extremes, (iii) provide evidence for key mechanisms required to support survival and/or persistence under sub-optimal environmental conditions, and (iv) evaluate the potential of current sub-optimal coral environments to act as potential refugia under changing environmental conditions. Such a collective approach is critical to better understand the future survival of corals in our changing environment. We finally outline priority areas for future research on extreme and marginal coral environments, and discuss the additional management options they may provide for corals through refuge or by providing genetic stocks of stress tolerant corals to support proactive management strategies.

How is location of REDD+ projects chosen, and how do those location choices influence project additionality? This paper assesses these questions, presenting a simple theoretical model and using an original database of REDD+ projects in Brazil. We show that project location is strongly influenced by the type of project proponent, which appears to be a good proxy for its objectives, whether oriented toward environmental impacts, development impacts, or external funding. Our results suggest that the incentives behind REDD+ certification mechanisms can lead to low environmental effort or an investment in areas that are not additional.

The Grauer's gorilla is one of two subspecies of the Eastern gorilla. The whole population of Grauer's gorilla lives in the forests of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in Central Africa. In 1996 a civil war started in the DRC, which killed 5 million people. We wanted to find out what effect the civil war had on the population of Grauer's gorillas. We carried out field surveys and used data from local communities and park rangers and found that the global population had decreased by 77% since 1994. There are now only 3,800 individuals left. This makes this ape Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and now makes both gorilla species (Eastern and Western) and all four subspecies Critically Endangered. This is the highest category of threat before extinction.

People in several countries are overwhelmed with green tips in order to encourage them protecting the environment. The effectiveness of these tips, however, highly depends on the context and the person targeted by the tips. In particular, we contend that some green tips may do more harm than good when individuals have cognitive and behavioral biases. Without purporting to be exhaustive, we explain some of these biases and mechanisms by which green tips may lead to a net environmental degradation. We also emphasize that it is possible to complement green tips with debiasing strategies to guarantee their performance. We present some of these strategies, notably the foot-in-the-door technique, commitment strategies, the strategic use of small changes and individuals' pursuit of identity. Finally, several policy implications are developed.

International audience; Highlights • We emphasize the end of the boom-and-bust development pattern in the Brazilian Amazon. • Deforestation and socioeconomic development follow an inverted U-shape relationship. • Household incomes are greater in stabilized areas than in areas undergoing deforestation. • Environmental governance efforts fostered the emergence of EKC. Abstract Socioeconomic development in the Brazilian Amazon is currently reaching national averages although deforestation activity has been declining for a decade. As a consequence, recent studies rejected the widely agreed boom-and-bust development hypothesis that deforestation first generates an economic boom, which is then followed by a collapse as forest resources are depleted. Here, we confirm these studies that there is no boom-bust cycle and suggest that a new pattern of relationship between deforestation and socioeconomic development has emerged following an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). In this scenario, environmental degradation increases in the early stages of economic development and decreases in later stages as the economy develops and wellbeing increases. To validate this assumption, we conducted the first sub-municipal analysis of socioeconomic development and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon for the 2000–2010 period. Our results confirm the emergence of an EKC relationship with a turning point beyond which socioeconomic growth does not appear anymore to be a driver of deforestation. We also emphasize that areas subjected to active deforestation in 2010 present lower socio-Author manuscript version economic indicators than stabilized areas, pointing to the precarious socioeconomic situation of areas still undergoing active deforestation. We put these results in perspective by considering Brazilian efforts to ensure a transition in environmental governance with the objective of promoting land use sustainability through control of deforestation at the same time as supporting socioeconomic development.

This edited volume summarizes information about the situational context, threats, problems, challenges and solutions for sustainable pastoralism at a global scale. The book has four goals. The first goal is to summarize the information about the history, distribution and patterns of pastoralism and to identify the importance of pastoralism from social, economic and environmental perspectives. The results of an empirical investigation of the environmental and socio-economic implications of pastoralism in representative pastoral regions in the world are also incorporated. The second goal is to argue that breaking coupled human-natural systems of pastoralism leads to degradation of pastoral ecosystems and to create an analysis framework to assess the vulnerability of worldwide pastoralism. Our analysis framework provides approaches to help comprehensively understand the transitions and the impacts of human-natural systems in the pastoral regions in the world. The third goal is to identify the successful models in promoting coupled human-natural systems of pastoralism, and to learn lessons of breaking coupled human-cultural pastoralism systems through examining the representative cases in regions including Central Asia, Southern and Eastern Asia, Northern and Eastern Africa, the European Alps and South America. The fourth goal is to identify the strategies to build the resilience of the coupled human-natural systems of pastoralism worldwide. We hope that our book can facilitate the further examination of sustainable development of coupled human-natural systems of pastoralism by providing the summaries of existing data and information related to the pastoralism development, and by offering a framework for better understanding and analysis of their social, economic and environmental implications.

Chapter 1; International audience; The development of agriculture and rural areas in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries (SEMCs) faces very serious challenges. This is well understood; In this introduction, we will come back to four of these main challenges: namely, import dependency, rural poverty, degradation of natural resources, and erosion of the Mediterranean diet, trying to be specific on the nature and magnitude of the challenges. Secondly, since the main purpose of this book is to report the results of a large research project on the sustainability of agriculture in SEMCs (the SustainMED project), we will briefly describe the project and then introduce the chapters of the book as contributions from the SustainMed project.

Background During the past decade there has been a growing interest in bioenergy, driven by concerns about global climate change, growing energy demand, and depleting fossil fuel reserves. The predicted rise in biofuel demand makes it important to understand the potential consequences of expanding biofuel cultivation. A systematic review was conducted on the biodiversity impacts of three first-generation biofuel crops (oil palm, soybean, and jatropha) in the tropics. The study focused on the impacts on species richness, abundance (total number of individuals or occurrences), community composition, and ecosystem functions related to species richness and community composition. Methods Literature was searched using an a priori protocol. Owing to a lack of available studies of biodiversity impacts from soybean and jatropha that met the inclusion criteria set out in the systematic review protocol, all analyses focused on oil palm. The impacts of oil palm cultivation on species richness, abundance, and community similarity were summarized quantitatively; other results were summarized narratively. Results The searches returned 9143 articles after duplicate removal of which 25 met the published inclusion criteria and were therefore accepted for the final review. Twenty of them had been conducted in Malaysia and two thirds were on arthropods. Overall, oil palm plantations had reduced species richness compared with primary and secondary forests, and the composition of species assemblages changed significantly after forest conversion to oil palm plantation. Abundance showed species-specific responses and hence, the overall abundance was not significantly different between plantations and forest areas. Only one study reported how different production systems (smallholdings vs. industrial estates) affect biodiversity. No studies that examined the effects on ecosystem functions of reduced species richness or changes in community composition met the inclusion criteria. Neither were there studies that reported how areas managed under different standards (e.g. different certification systems) affect biodiversity and ecosystem function. Conclusions Our review suggests that oil palm plantations have reduced species richness compared with primary and secondary forests, and the composition of species assemblage changes significantly after forest conversion to oil palm plantation. Effects of different production systems on biodiversity and ecosystem function are clear knowledge gaps that should be addressed in future research. Trial registration CEE10-013

Background A large proportion of the tropical rain forests of central Africa undergo periodic selective logging for timber harvesting. The REDD+ mechanism could promote less intensive logging if revenue from the additional carbon stored in the forest compensates financially for the reduced timber yield. Results Carbon stocks, and timber yields, and their associated values, were predicted at the scale of a forest concession in Gabon over a project scenario of 40 yr with reduced logging intensity. Considering that the timber contribution margin (i.e. the selling price of timber minus its production costs) varies between 10 and US$40 m −3, the minimum price of carbon that enables carbon revenues to compensate forgone timber benefits ranges between US$4.4 and US$25.9/tCO 2 depending on the management scenario implemented. Conclusions Where multiple suppliers of emission reductions compete in a REDD+ carbon market, tropical timber companies are likely to change their management practices only if very favourable conditions are met, namely if the timber contribution margin remains low enough and if alternative management practices and associated incentives are appropriately chosen.

International audience; The economic internal rate of return (EIRR) is considered as a useful tool for advocating investments in the field of land rehabilitation and poverty alleviation and it is also presented as an economic evaluation tool. This communication reviews main literature referring to EIRR and discusses its relevance, in particular for short-term and small size projects. It emphasizes the many constraints for EIRR calculation and insists also on its usefulness and limits from local point of view, local societies and their natural environment.

Communication orale : diaporama; International audience

In this commentary we critically discuss the suitability of payments for ecosystem services and the most important challenges they face. While such instruments can play a role in improving environmental governance, we argue that over-reliance on payments as win-win solutions might lead to ineffective outcomes, similar to earlier experience with integrated conservation and development projects. Our objective is to raise awareness, particularly among policy makers and practitioners, about the limitations of such instruments and to encourage a dialogue about the policy contexts in which they might be appropriate.

International audience; We explore the impact of forest policy reforms implemented in the early 1990s in Niger in the wake of the severe droughts that affected the Sahel in the 1970s and 1980s. We focus on Sahelian multiple-use forest ecosystems and set out to analyze policy-induced changes in the patterns of interactions between various uses, users, and dry-forest ecosystems, interactions that influence the effective management of rural forests. We put forward the hypothesis that the new forest policy reforms were designed according to a vulnerability diagnosis, highlighting two stressors: droughts and increased demand for firewood. This led to a single-issue policy focused on firewood provision and was implemented through the Household Energy Strategy (HES). The HES established new local management schemes for "rural forests" through "rural firewood markets" (RMs) to regulate firewood harvesting and trade. We studied one of the first rural forests to become an RM in Niger in 1993. We used the concept of social-ecological functions as processes emerging from the interactions between social and ecological systems (SES). We identified sixteen SES functions and specifically analyzed the changes in three of them, whether they were targeted by the policy reform (firewood provision) or not (gum provision and livestock production). The changes generated by the creation of the RM have had different impacts on SES functions, as well as on the social and ecological components that contribute to these functions, because of their interaction with firewood provision. Mutual benefits and competitions between SES functions have been identified. The analysis of mutual benefits and competitions reflects the ambiguous role of the policy reform on rural forest ecosystems in Niger. Our results show that the patterns of interactions between key SES functions have played a more important role in the SES trajectory than any single resource such as timber or firewood. This provides insight into strengthening potential feedback between rural forest functions for improved resilience and livelihoods

International audience; Forest successional processes following disturbance take decades to play out, even in tropical forests. Nonetheless, records of vegetation change in this ecosystem are scarce, increasing the importance of the chronosequence approach to study forest recovery. However, this approach requires accurate dating of secondary forests, which until now was a difficult and/or expensive task. Cecropia is a widespread and abundant pioneer tree genus of the Neotropics. Here we propose and validate a rapid and straightforward method to estimate the age of secondary forest patches based on morphological observations of Cecropia trees. We found that Cecropia-inferred ages were highly correlated with known ages of the forest. We also demonstrate that Cecropia can be used to accurately date disturbances and propose twenty-one species distributed all over the geographical range of the genus as potential secondary forest chronometer species. Our method is limited in applicability by the maximal longevity of Cecropia individuals. Although the oldest chronosequence used in this study was 20 years old, we argue that at least for the first four decades after disturbance, the method described in this study provides very accurate estimations of secondary forest ages. The age of pioneer trees provides not only information needed to calculate the recovery of carbon stocks that would help to improve forest management, but also provides information needed to characterize the initial floristic composition and the rates of species remigration into secondary forest. Our contribution shows how successional studies can be reliably and inexpensively extended without the need to obtain forest ages based on expensive or potentially inaccurate data across the Neotropics.

fax: +970-491-3862; Adaptive evolution is currently accepted as playing a significant role in biological invasions. Adaptations relevant to invasions are typically thought to occur either recently within the introduced range, as an evolutionary response to novel selection regimes, or within the native range, because of long-term adaptation to the local environment. We propose that recent adaptation within the native range, in particular adaptations to human-altered habitat, could also contribute to the evolution of invasive populations. Populations adapted to human-altered habitats in the native range are likely to increase in abundance within areas frequented by humans and associated with human transport mechanisms, thus enhancing the likelihood of transport to a novel range. Given that habitats are altered by humans in similar ways worldwide, as evidenced by global environmental homogenization, propagules from populations adapted to human-altered habitats in the native range should perform well within similarly human-altered habitats in the novel range. We label this scenario ‘Anthropogenically Induced Adaptation to Invade’. We illustrate how it differs from other evolutionary processes that may occur during invasions, and how it can help explain accelerating rates of invasions.

La demande en métaux provenant des vestiges de la guerre du Vietnam a un impact sur les villageois et sur leur environnement forestier. Notre recherche s'est déroulée dans le village de Khe Tran, en marge des montagnes Annamites, abritant une riche biodiversité. Nous avons enquêté auprès de villageois, de collecteurs venant d'autres communes, de commerçants et des autorités locales sur l'importance de la collecte de métal, une activité considérée illégale seulement pendant la saison sèche, en raison du risque d'incendies. Malgré la menace que représente la mise à jour, durant la collecte, d'obus et mines non explosés, les villageois ne considèrent pas cette activité comme particulièrement dangereuse. Bien que le métal se raréfie, sa collecte représente encore la principale raison pour eux de pénétrer dans la forêt. Cependant, si de nombreux villageois de Khe Tran ont collecté du métal dans le passé, la plupart préfère désormais cultiver la terre et gérer leurs plantations. En revanche, bon nombre de collecteurs extérieurs n'ont pas ce choix et sont contraints de poursuivre cette activité. Lorsqu'ils cherchent du métal, les ramasseurs sont souvent en quête d'autres produits forestiers non ligneux (bambou, rotin). Le commerce de ces produits est facilité par la collecte de métal. Parce que cette ressource est en déclin, il est nécessaire de trouver d'autres moyens de subsistance pour les collecteurs dont l'économie en est encore dépendante.

International audience; The pan-African Great Green Wall (GGW) is an initiative that was initially meant to involve the planting of a 15 km wide transcontinental forest belt running from Dakar to Djibouti. This major project is designed to combat desertification. The band of vegetation is to be as continuous as possible, but it may be rerouted if necessary to skirt around obstacles (streams, rocky areas, mountains) or to link inhabited areas

Governments in tropical countries are still responding to increasing forest degradation by implementing different types of protected areas. In general, due to their negative image as causes of deforestation, local communities are being excluded from any management role in these conservation areas. However, in Vietnam, since 1986 various incentives have been proposed for alternative conservation models. Our surveys used a multidisciplinary combination of methods to work with one Pahy ethnic minority around the degraded forests of the proposed Phong Dien Nature Reserve in Central Vietnam. From the results of these surveys we obtained clear indication that conservation can be enhanced if local priorities, perspectives and wishes are better identified and taken into account. The local communities identified the need for, at least, limited extractive activities in the protected area. They also frequently stressed their willingness to participate in the monitoring and control of the area, and in the selection of local species for reforestation programmes. Communities can and should be actively involved in building a shared understanding of what the forest provides, how it can be conserved and the benefits to be obtained. Conservation in Vietnam has much to gain from local participation. However, suitable safeguards and incentives need to be in place to insure sustainable use of the forest resources.

Inadequate access to data and its harmonisation and dissemination, institutional constraints, and insufficient public finances all limit local and national capacities to monitor and assess desertification and land degradation. Furthermore, monitoring and assessment is often hindered by a lack of inter-departmental and sectoral communication and insufficient information on the costs associated with prevention and reversal of land degradation. This White Paper identifies the challenges and bottlenecks in the monitoring and assessment of desertification and land degradation in the context of knowledge management, institutions and economics. It discusses the challenges of integrating knowledge management and its practices into monitoring and assessment at various levels, and the need for doing so. It also outlines some success stories on knowledge management at the local level. This White Paper further looks at the economic and social drivers of desertification and land degradation, and how policy mechanisms are needed in order to address these issues and produce more sustainable outcomes. The findings of this Paper were presented at the First UNCCD Scientific Conference held during the COP-9 in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 22-24 September, 2009.

More than a firth of the world's farmers live in India, which has over a billion inhabitants to support and feed. From Independence in 1947 to the lifting of trade barriers in 2001, this book explains how the Indian Union has succeeded in becoming one of the world's leading food producers, but also why it is still a land of poverty. The various aspects of the question are addressed, from the environment (cultural and natural, local and international) to institutions and food products. The ins and outs of the green revolution are obviously discussed, but so are those of other less familiar coloured revolutions (white for dairy, yellow for vegetable oils, blue for aquaculture), not forgetting horticultural and poultry dynamics, as well as products that give India its flavour (spices, tea and other plantation crops). Three core issues are debated at the end: the unsolved problem of poverty and under-nutrition, the worrying deterioration of natural resources, and the recent economic liberalization. This half-century review, which takes the form of a handbook fora broad readership, enlightens us on both the past and future paths of the world's biggest democracy. Table of contents: Introduction. 1. The natural and cultural heritage: Nature: from sandy desert to evergreen forest; Population: a melting pot; Government: between centralism and decentralization; Land: a focus for reform and conflict. Food: a cultural issue. 2. The tropical plantation: Spices and nuts: a taste of ancient India; Tea, coffee, tobacco: colonial plantations under state boards; Cotton: between agriculture and industry; Sugar cane: a green revolution flavour. 3. The green (cereals) revolution: The motive: to assert the independence of a young nation: - hunger in British India, - agriculture or industry? - the decisive crisis; The technical solution: a 'package' of three ingredients: - high-yielding seeds (hyv), - chemical fertilizers, - irrigation; The economic solution: procurement and redistribution: - procuring goods with attractive farm prices, - redistributing stocks to consumers at low prices, - collecting and distributing savings more efficiently; The reward: cereal self-sufficiency. 4. The Anand white and yellow floods: The white revolution of milk: recycling food aid: - getting up steam, - the liberalization circuit breakers; The yellow revolution of oilseeds: an impossible mission?: - the workings of the scandal, - Sam's oilcan, - business as usual. 5. The resurgence of vitamins and proteins: horticulture: a growing nursery: - a garden for middlemen, - a slow process, - a political ground; Animal protein: hatcheries and hindrances: - cattle meat: a world apart, - aviculture: soaring over cities, - fish and shellfish: fishing for currency. 6. The failure to eradicate poverty: A multitude of poverty alleviation programmes; Centralization, bureaucracy and corruption; Chronic poverty and under-nutrition. 7. The sacking of natural resources: The water war; Environmental damages; Endangered biodiversity. 8. Market liberalization: The jump into free-market economy (1991). The GATT agreements on agriculture (1994) and after: - domestic support: a missed opportunity for domestic reform, - export support: on the offensive, - market access: a comfortable reform; A huge market to satisfy (up to 2030). 9. Conclusion. Appendices

Notre objectif est d'évaluer la végétation et de suivre la dégradation ou la restauration d'une large étendue (110 x 90 km) du Désert du Karakoum utilisée pour le développement des parcours et l'élevage. L'évaluation qualitative et quantitative de la couverture végétale de la Ferme de Ravnina (Association paysanne "Nyazov") dans le Sud-Est du Karakum est testée en utilisant une combinaison de 3 saisons (2001-2003), divers traitements des images satellites (LANDSAT et SPOT), le tout couplé à des techniques de SIG (Système d'Information Géographique) qui ont servi à élaborer la carte phyto-écologique et la carte des biomasses des annuelles et des éphéméroïdes. Nous avons utilisé deux approches, en étudiant d'abord les types de végétation à l'aide des classifications des images et des relevés de terrain, et ensuite, la détection des sols nus en liaison avec l'évolution de la végétation de la ferme de Ravnina. Nous avons produit la mise à jour de la carte de végétation et des biomasses en testant divers indices de végétation (NDVI, TSAVI, PVI), et des mesures de terrain sur la végétation annuelle et pérenne (biomasse des plantes annuelles et des éphéméroïdes, transects linéaires (LIM) sur les pérennes) qui ont été effectuées pendant les printemps 2001, 2002, 2003, en relation avec les valeurs radiométriques des images SPOT de la fin du mois de mai 2002, et les images LANDSAT de mai 2003. Le NDVI ne peut en aucun cas être utilisé comme indice de végétation pour l'évaluation de faible couverture végétale (

Context, objective and methods . In the north of India, in the Himalayas, the high-altitude slopes [(between 1800 and 3300) m] are covered by forests where Pinus gerardiana dominates. This pine is known for its edible seeds (Chilgoza). The recent evolution of nut harvest methods means that there is danger of the disappearance of natural seedlings and the ageing of the forests. Therefore, a survey was carried out from 1998 with a hundred farmers, which was supplemented with field visits and discussions with resource people involved in the commercial chain. Results . In the 1950s, traditional harvesting rules made it possible to respect trees and to allow a small portion of seeds to reach the ground. So, in spite of particularly difficult ecological conditions, the forest was able to regenerate. During the five last decades, the roads opening have allowed an irrigated cash-arboriculture development in the valleys. The village communities have become less dependent on the Chilgoza trade and sell the nut harvest contracts to private contractors who employ foreign workers, cut many branches and practically collect all the seeds. So, regeneration has become practically non-existent. The poorest inhabitants cannot have access to this resource anymore. In town, the retail sale of Chilgoza represents a market of (100 to 300) t·year–1 , at a price from (15 to 20) €·kg, i.e. , a market chain from (1.5 to 6) M€·year–1 . Discussion and conclusion . The authors put forward a proposal to substitute for the two private platforms (purchase and drying) of New Delhi an organization with a non-lucrative purpose, concerned with a more respectful socio-economic development of the environment. This unit would centralize Chilgoza buying, drying and storage in the production place. Then, it would ensure sales to urban sellers, at the time of the peak of market demand. This would allow for a more significant part of the market chain added value to remain in the valley; this money at the same time would make it possible to fight against poverty and to regenerate natural resources. The authors are campaigning to see that research and development projects, financed with national or international funds, come to support these proposals.

Governments in tropical countries are still responding to increasing forest degradation by implementing different types of protected areas. In general, due to their negative image as causes of deforestation, local communities are being excluded from any management role in these conservation areas. However, in Vietnam, since 1986 various incentives have been proposed for alternative conservation models. Our surveys used a multidisciplinary combination of methods to work with one Pahy ethnic minority around the degraded forests of the proposed Phong Dien Nature Reserve in Central Vietnam. From the results of these surveys we obtained clear indication that conservation can be enhanced if local priorities, perspectives and wishes are better identified and taken into account. The local communities identified the need for, at least, limited extractive activities in the protected area. They also frequently stressed their willingness to participate in the monitoring and control of the area, and in the selection of local species for reforestation programmes. Communities can and should be actively involved in building a shared understanding of what the forest provides, how it can be conserved and the benefits to be obtained. Conservation in Vietnam has much to gain from local participation. However, suitable safeguards and incentives need to be in place to insure sustainable use of the forest resources.

La règlementation gérant la REDD (Réduction de émissions provenant de la déforestation et de la dégradation) a encore besoin d'être établie. Plusieurs intérêts nationaux font concurrence dans le débat sur les lignes de base, désirant maximiser les gains espérés. Le projet pourrait avoir un impact désastreux sur le marché du carbone de par une création énorme d'air chaud (fausse réduction d'émissions), et ensuite sur le régime international du changement climatique actuel dérivé de l'architecture cap-and-trade adoptée par le protocole de Kyoto. L'économie politique de la déforestation évitée est fréquemment ignorée, ainsi que la question de l'additionalité, bien qu'elles soient toutes deux plus critiques pour la déforestation au niveau national qu'elles ne pourraient l'être pour des CDM basés sur des projets. Une l'architecture alternative de REDD dépendant d'un fond spécial pourrait non seulement permettre la protection du marché du carbone contre une avalanche de crédits non-additionnels, mais aussi aider à financer des mesures et des politiques potentiellement efficaces. Le soutien d'un financement adéquat à long terme demeure une question qui doit être adressée sur une base multilatérale.

International audience; Deteriorating ecosystems generate economic, social and societal costs that are often very high, even though quantification of these costs has been a major challenge. The decision-making processes require sound valuation of potential development projects and economic investments in terms of ecosystem services quantity and quality. Several studies have focused on how to value ecosystem services and the different aspects to be considered and calculated, relying on previous works in the field of economics of environment and natural resources. These previous attempts are often limited by a rather poor comprehension of the ecosystems’ complexity. Whereas production services and their economic valuation in terms of methods and results are available, regulatory services remain to be enlightened through an improved knowledge of ecosystems’ functioning by including human activities as part of the ecosystem, both as a service user and provider. To better understand this, the focus will first be on the valuation of decreased ecosystem services for arid areas through a reflection of the earlier methods and results obtained.

International audience; We consider an OLG model with emissions arising from production and potential irreversible pollution. Pollution control goes through a system of permits and private agents can also maintain the environment. In this setting, we prove that there exist multiple equilibria. Due to the possible irreversibility, the economy can be dragged into both stationary and asymptotic poverty traps. First, we show that choosing a global quota on emissions at the lowest level beyond a critical threshold is a mean to avoid the two types of traps. Next, we analyze the impact of a political reform on the other equilibria. When the agents do not engage in maintenance, a fall in the quota implies a reduction of pollution but is detrimental to capital accumulation while, in the other case, it procures a double dividend.

Mangrove forests, though essentially common and wide-spread, are highly threatened. Local societies along with their knowledge about the mangrove also are endangered, while they are still underrepresented as scientific research topics. With the present study we document local utilization patterns, and perception of ecosystem change. We illustrate how information generated by ethnobiological research can be used to strengthen the management of the ecosystem. This study was conducted in the Godavari mangrove forest located in the East-Godavari District of the state Andhra Pradesh in India, where mangroves have been degrading due to over-exploitation, extensive development of aquaculture, and pollution from rural and urbanized areas (Kakinada).One hundred interviews were carried out among the fisherfolk population present in two mangrove zones in the study area, a wildlife sanctuary with strong conservation status and an adjacent zone. Results from the interviews indicated that Avicennia marina (Forsk.) Vierh., a dominant species in the Godavari mangroves, is used most frequently as firewood and for construction. Multiple products of the mangrove included the bark of Ceriops decandra (Griff.) Ding Hou to dye the fishing nets and improve their durability, the bark of Aegiceras corniculatum (L.) Blanco to poison and catch fish, and the leaves of Avicennia spp. and Excoecaria agallocha L. as fodder for cattle. No medicinal uses of true mangrove species were reported, but there were a few traditional uses for mangrove associates. Utilization patterns varied in the two zones that we investigated, most likely due to differences in their ecology and legal status. The findings are discussed in relation with the demographic and socio-economic traits of the fisherfolk communities of the Godavari mangroves and indicate a clear dependency of their livelihood on the mangrove forest.Reported changes in the Godavari mangrove cover also differed in the two zones, with significantly less perceptions of a decrease in the protected area, as compared to the adjacent non-protected area. A posteriori comparisons between sequential satellite imagery (retrospective till 1977) and respondents that were at least 15 years back then, revealed a mangrove decrease which was however perceived to different extents depending on the area with which the fishermen were familiar. While local needs had not been incorporated in the existing policy, we created a framework on how data on ethnobotanical traditions, fishery-related activities and local people's perceptions of change can be incorporated into management strategies.

Remote sensing is a technique that enables to observe the radiation scattered or emitted by the Earth surface. Satellite-based remote sensing allows regular, repetitive, accurate observations of nearly the whole planet, at various spatial and temporal scales, in several wavelength fields. Such observations render the nature, state, temporal and spatial variations of the properties of the objects at the Earth surface. By way of example, water-covered areas, roughness, soil moisture, changes in the nature of land, density and phenological evolution of the vegetation cover, sand winds, are information included in these observations. Nevertheless, these observations usually combine together, making them more or less difficult to extract from the raw data transmitted by satellites. The science of remote sensing consists in interpreting and processing the series of spatial and temporal images in order to extract such parameters, qualitatively or quantitatively. Desertification is a phenomenon of irreversible land degradation. It results from complex processes linked to the coupled and joint evolution of natural and human-induced factors. The beginning, development and results of such processes are materialised by land surface states and their evolution

Notre objectif est d'évaluer la végétation et de suivre la dégradation ou la restauration d'une large étendue (110 x 90 km) du Désert du Karakoum utilisée pour le développement des parcours et l'élevage. L'évaluation qualitative et quantitative de la couverture végétale de la Ferme de Ravnina (Association paysanne "Nyazov") dans le Sud-Est du Karakum est testée en utilisant une combinaison de 3 saisons (2001-2003), divers traitements des images satellites (LANDSAT et SPOT), le tout couplé à des techniques de SIG (Système d'Information Géographique) qui ont servi à élaborer la carte phyto-écologique et la carte des biomasses des annuelles et des éphéméroïdes. Nous avons utilisé deux approches, en étudiant d'abord les types de végétation à l'aide des classifications des images et des relevés de terrain, et ensuite, la détection des sols nus en liaison avec l'évolution de la végétation de la ferme de Ravnina. Nous avons produit la mise à jour de la carte de végétation et des biomasses en testant divers indices de végétation (NDVI, TSAVI, PVI), et des mesures de terrain sur la végétation annuelle et pérenne (biomasse des plantes annuelles et des éphéméroïdes, transects linéaires (LIM) sur les pérennes) qui ont été effectuées pendant les printemps 2001, 2002, 2003, en relation avec les valeurs radiométriques des images SPOT de la fin du mois de mai 2002, et les images LANDSAT de mai 2003. Le NDVI ne peut en aucun cas être utilisé comme indice de végétation pour l'évaluation de faible couverture végétale (

Summary The increasing anthropogenic pressure on natural environments results in impacts that affect tropical forest areas and their biodiversity [1, 2]. Adverse impacts on terrestrial and oceanic environments often compound in the intertidal area, where mangrove forest ecosystems thrive. In tropical coastal areas of many developing countries where people depend on wood and other mangrove forest products and services, forest degradation leads to socioeconomic problems. At the same time, increasing freshwater needs in these areas are expected to cause additional problems [3–5]. On the basis of remote sensing and ground truthing complemented by colonial archival material from the Dutch East India Company (1602–1800), we report that changes to the historic system of inland freshwater management have increased dramatically in recent times. Hydrological changes, such as interbasin transfers, have resulted in a qualitative ecological and socioeconomic degradation in three coastal lagoons in southern Sri Lanka. Variations in river hydrology have caused changes in the areas suitable as mangrove habitat and, thus, have resulted in an altered distribution. However, increases in mangrove area can mask the degradation of the site in terms of floristic composition, significance of the species, and biodiversity (this effect is termed "cryptic ecological degradation"). It is important that such changes be carefully monitored to ensure biological and socioeconomic sustainability.

Une étude internationale pilotée par la Banque mondiale, la FAO et l'USAID et impliquant la Commission de l'Union européenne et les agences de développement de plusieurs nations européennes et américaines a porté sur les interactions entre l'élevage et l'environnement au niveau mondial. Les principaux impacts directs de dégradation ou "points chauds" ayant pour origine l'élevage ont été mis en lumière. Mais c'est aussi beaucoup sur les causes indirectes -principalement économiques et sociales- que l'attention a été portée, afin d'éclairer les liaisons entre les politiques de développement de l'élevage et l'utilisation des ressources naturelles, et finalement d'améliorer les mécanismes de prise de décision. L'étape actuelle consiste à mettre au point des outils pratiques pour évaluer et suivre les impacts environnementaux utilisables dans les futurs projets de développement et dans le choix de nouvelles politiques.

Deux conceptions opposées dominent le débat sur le rôle de la démographie dans l'évolution des écosystèmes : les Malthusiens, pour qui toute croissance démographique est accompagnée d'une dégradation de l'environnement et les Boserupiens qui pensent qu'un accroissement de la pression démographique est nécessaire à tout progrès technique et donc ne constitue pas une menace en soi pour l'environnement. Nous nous proposons d'opérer une réconciliation entre ces deux théories au travers de l'hypothèse d'une courbe en U dans la relation entre population et environnement. En appliquant cette hypothèse à la relation population-couvert boisé, nous la confrontons à une étude de terrain menée à Madagascar et la testons à l'aide d'une simulation par Systèmes Multi-agents. Enfin, nous examinons les implications d'une telle hypothèse pour le développement durable.

Over the last two decades, an impressive amount of erosion research work has been carried out in northern Thailand, but farmers' adoption of recommended erosion control measures is still very limited. A multiscale and interdisciplinary on-farm approach to erosion research was designed and tested in the context of an Akha village in Chiang Rai Province, upper northern Thailand. The selected methodology articulates complementary diagnostic analyses of erosion processes at field, farm and catchment levels. At field level, causal relationships between physiographic, climatic and agronomic practices across diverse on-farm situations are presented and generate a series of key thresholds for decision making purposes. Results of on-farm assessment of introduced and indigenous soil and water conservation practices are also shown. At catchment level, the emphasis is on understanding the spatial distribution of major erosion damage. The key role played by contour convexities and rural infrastructure is underlined. At farm level, different farmers' strategies and related erosion risks are first identified, and the way to use the farmer typology tool to target better and to improve the efficiency of soil and water conservation efforts is discussed. Finally, a critical evaluation of such an integrated erosion survey is made.

Des solutions acides dont les pH sont compris entre 2,3 et 3,5 ont été prélevées dans la frange saturée de sols tropicaux se développant sur des lutites pyriteuses. Les terres rares (REE) présentent une distribution convexe asymétrique après normalisation avec le standard NASC ou la roche mère. Les terres rares intermédiaires sont relativement plus abondantes que les REE lourdes; les REE légères sont les moins abondantes. L'attaque sélective conduite avec HCI et avec l'hydroxylamine montre que c'est la distribution des REE fixées sur certains minéraux, probablement des oxydes métalliques, qui sont responsables de la convexité asymétrique observée dans les solutions.