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CONTEXT: Understanding research collaboration in diverse scientific communities is key to building global agricultural research systems that support the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Characterizing collaboration patterns can inform decisions to enhance the structure and dynamics of research programs. OBJECTIVE: We introduce a new analytic framework for evaluating collaborative research networks based on scientific publications, and an associated conceptual framework for the role of research networks in achieving societal goals. We analyzed two CGIAR Research Programs: Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals (GLDC) and Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB). The analysis provides a multi-dimensional perspective on a set of key questions related to research team composition, research management structures, and performance of scientific publications. METHODS: We quantified network structures of research collaborations at the level of authors, institutions, countries, and management structures, including use of temporal exponential random graph models. We used regression models to understand the associations between the characteristics of authors and publications, and the corresponding citation rates and Altmetric Attention Scores. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We identified key network hubs in the collaboration networks of both CGIAR programs. The proportion of women as authors in publications was less than a third, with a low likelihood of co-authorship between women. Institutional hubs were identified by institutional categories; these were often institutions that are considered CGIAR program “participants”, and a few were “planning partners”. For both GLDC and RTB, the countries that were the focus of most research coincided with the program's priority countries. Most international collaborations occurred between institutions headquartered in Global South countries, but most intercontinental collaborations occurred between Global South and Global North countries. Most institution

The co-production of Nature's Contributions to People (NCP) is a set of processes in which anthropogenic inputs (i.e. material or non-material actions and the assets supporting these actions) and natural inputs (i.e. ecological structures and processes) interact to produce NCP. An interdisciplinary understanding of NCP co-production can support decision-making on ecosystem management or NCP use, given natural constraints, limited human inputs, possible adverse effects and trade-offs arising from co-production. In this paper, we show that mechanisms of co-production at the ecosystem level and the NCP flow level are fundamentally different. At the level of ecosystems, people manage natural structures and processes to influence the production of potential NCP (e.g. via planting, restoring, fertilizing). At this level, anthropogenic inputs can partially substitute for natural inputs, but natural inputs are necessary whereas anthropogenic inputs are not. At the level of flows, co-production actions convert potential NCP into realized NCP and quality of life (e.g. via harvesting, transporting, transforming, consuming, and appreciating NCP). At this level, anthropogenic inputs are complementary to natural inputs, although some substitutability can occur at the margin. Analysing the substitutability and complementarity between natural and anthropogenic capitals, as well as the adverse effects or mutual enhancement between them, is crucial for informed decision-making on landscape and NCP management. This understanding enables the identification of strategies that can ensure NCP supply and increase human well-being in a sustainable manner.

This paper presents the results of a study using participatory mapping to collectively understand deforestation dynamics in Murehwa, a communal area approximately 90 km northeast of Harare, Zimbabwe's capital city. The study engaged smallholder farmers in a deliberative process through participatory mapping exercises in 15 villages. For each exercise, participants collaboratively drew two maps of their village, one for 1990 and another for 2021. They depict village boundaries, land uses and the magnitude of change between the two dates. Participatory mapping served as a platform for collective thinking, with the resulting maps used to facilitate discussions. They involved comparing land use between the two maps and identifying the drivers of the observed changes. Thematic approach was used to analyse the discussions in order to come up with collectively identified drivers of land use changes. The findings show that deforestation and resulting land use changes are primarily rooted in economic depression, selling of wood, tobacco farming, veld fires, unauthorised wood exploitation, illegal selling of land, increase in gardening, agricultural expansion and population growth. These results lay a foundational step towards the co-construction of a governance framework for practising agriculture in forest-adjacent areas. Moreover, the paper shares methodological reflections and experiences intended to promote initiatives where the construction of a shared understanding facilitates sustainable land-use practices that foster natural resource conservation.

Biodiversity conservation are increasingly focused on involving stakeholder engagement, making power a key concept in understanding its success and failure. Power is often conceptualized as unidimensional and coercive, but a multidimensional view better reflects structural power, as well as its productive and enabling potential. This paper investigates how different dimensions of power in participatory processes affect biodiversity conservation objectives. Six case studies from Europe and Asia-Pacific were analysed using an adapted framework that explores the interlinkages between 'power over' and 'transformative power', looking at the scale and space in which power occurs, and analysing in which arenas of power and under which form of expression it appears. The framework distinguishes between the different ways to exert influence ('power to', 'power with', 'power within', 'power for'), as well as the dynamics of domination and resistance observed in decision-making (visible power), hidden biases and exclusionary experiences (hidden power), and actions that either reinforce or resist social norms and beliefs (invisible and systematic power). Focusing on biodiversity, the different arenas of power allow us to go deeper than the surface issues and conflicting interests of diverse participants, regarding for example wildlife, to question underlying power dynamics. Different expressions of power, more specifically the 'power for' dimension, allow an understanding of how participants integrate nature and biodiversity in their aspirations. The different levels of power also highlight the need to focus not only on the local level but to analyse how participatory processes are embedded in national, or even international governance in a globalized world. Finally, they shed light on two challenges in participatory processes regarding biodiversity: the representation of non-human interests (designated here as 'beyond-human' voices), and the integration of multiple forms of kno

Sustainable harvest of wildlife is a major food security and conservation issue. In Africa, where wildlife is harvested mainly for subsistence, this remains a challenge. In this study, using waterbirds as model for natural resources, we assessed the sustainability of harvest through fishing bycatch on Lake Fitri (Chad). We estimated the abundance of 24 target taxa through aerial distance sampling over four consecutive years (2018–2021) and in parallel estimated the number of birds harvested through interviews of a sample of 105 out of approximately 5500 fishermen. By modelling their potential excess growth, we found a high risk of overexploitation for four species, including the world-threatened Black Crowned Crane Balearica pavonina, likely due to an influx of fishermen to Lake Fitri fleeing the Boko Haram security crisis. Synthesis and applications: This work is likely the first quantitative approach of bird harvest sustainability in Africa. It should contribute to fill a methodological and an information gap in the strategic planification of several multilateral environmental agreements like the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement and the Ramsar Convention. In particular, this work could help implementing adaptive management of natural resources (including birds) in Ramsar site management plans. African wetlands such as Lake Fitri may not be able to provide enough natural resources in the medium term for movements of displaced civilians forced by armed conflict into such biodiversity strongholds.

The fragmented and complex landscape in the Miombo landscape makes it a challenge to map and disentangle the various forest change drivers (FCD) associated with these changes and relate them to other underlying drivers. To overcome these challenges, we developed a method to spatially disentangle the drivers of deforestation (smallholder and commercial agriculture, mining, and clean-cutting charcoal), forest degradation (selective charcoal production, wildfires, logging), and forest growth (abandoned land, regrowth including plantations) in the Beira corridor, in central Mozambique. We identified ten potential FCD from the literature and created two land use and land cover (LULC) maps for 2000 and 2020 to identify areas of forest change. We used stratified random sampling based on the LULC change map, visually interpreted high-resolution satellite imagery, and NDVI time series to characterise and collected observation points of the FCD. We derived several potential underlying drivers as explanatory spatial variables. We used the random forest algorithm to evaluate their relative importance and generate a map of FCD. The forest loss due to deforestation and degradation accounts for 82.8 % (38,553.1 ha year−1) and 5.2 % (2,399.1 ha year−1), respectively, while the gain due to plantations accounts for 2.8 % (1,314.4 ha year−1) and regrowth for 9.2 % (4,297 ha year−1) of the total forest change area from 2000 to 2020. Smallholder agriculture (72.2 % of the total forest change), clear-cutting charcoal (9.1 %), abandoned land (5.4 %) and regrowth (5.7 %) were the main FCD in the study area. They are explained mainly by the intensity of change, altitude, population density and proximity to the main road. The results show a satisfactory accuracy for the LULC map (overall accuracy = 88 % and F1-score = 80 % for LULC 2000 and 90 % and 88 % for LULC 2020) and for the FCD map (overall accuracy = 79 % and F1-score = 73 %). This study provides a significant improvement in quantify

Deforestation has been at the heart of the transformation of the Amazon. Global concerns over deforestation and its impact on climate change have resulted in the adoption of a number of initiatives in the framework of zero deforestation. However, undifferentiated application of the concepts of zero net, gross, and illegal deforestation has revealed a lack of understanding of their scope and of challenges to their implementation. Zero legal and illegal deforestation is, in particular, a controversial subject from the point of view of regulation and sovereignty but an essential aspect from the perspective of public policy design. In Colombia, zero deforestation commitments make no mention of legal deforestation. Papers that analyze deforestation and official data sources fail to incorporate the legal dimension in their analysis. This article addresses this gap by identifying areas where deforestation is legal and where it is illegal in one deforestation hotspot of the Colombian Amazon, the administrative department of Guaviare. Our results show that deforestation has increased since 2013, mainly occurs in illegal zones, and that Guaviare department, 85% of which is covered by forest, has very little legal deforestation potential. Our findings reveal that assessing the legality and illegality of deforestation is more complex than often assumed and must become a priority, especially in forested countries where regulation on forest and land management is shared between different level of governments and institutions.

Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) maps are important tools for environmental planning and social-ecological modeling, as they provide critical information for evaluating risks, managing natural resources, and facilitating effective decision-making. This study aimed to generate a very high spatial resolution (0.5 m) and detailed (21 classes) LULC map for the greater Mariño watershed (Peru) in 2019, using the MORINGA processing chain. This new method for LULC mapping consisted in a supervised object-based LULC classification, using the random forest algorithm along with multi-sensor satellite imagery from which spectral and textural predictors were derived (a very high spatial resolution Pléiades image and a time serie of high spatial resolution Sentinel-2 images). The random forest classifier showed a very good performance and the LULC map was further improved through additional post-treatment steps that included cross-checking with external GIS data sources and manual correction using photointerpretation, resulting in a more accurate and reliable map. The final LULC provides new information for environmental management and monitoring in the greater Mariño watershed. With this study we contribute to the efforts to develop standardized and replicable methodologies for high-resolution and high-accuracy LULC mapping, which is crucial for informed decision-making and conservation strategies.

Official conservation activities are absent in many tropical regions, but local people living in and around these areas nonetheless engage in practices that contribute to conservation objectives. These practices, when they arise endogenously, are referred to here as autonomous conservation. They are not well documented and their value and significance remain unclear and debated among scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. We reviewed literature on autonomous conservation practices, combining keyword searches, snowballing, citation tracking, and references from scholars in our network. Eighteen cases of autonomous conservation in the tropics, representing marine (n=11), terrestrial (n=6), and combined systems (n=1) were identified for additional analysis. Our review identified three common themes linking long-standing local practices and conservation. The first theme emphasizes conservation as an outcome achieved through various practices, including those associated with spiritual beliefs and taboos. These practices restrain overharvesting, sustain resources, and protect places and species. Second, the overall effectiveness of these practices is influenced by the strength of social institutions, knowledge transfer mechanisms, and deterrence measures. They are grounded in norms, legitimacy, and respect that promote compliance, maintain social processes, and sustain practices over time. The third theme highlights the nuanced perspectives on conservation ethics within local communities. Some authors view conservation as embedded in local knowledge and practice, while others emphasize the importance of discerning a recognizable conservation motive when labeling these autonomous practices as 'conservation'. As conservation policies and practices increasingly demand evidence-based approaches, understanding local practices and their relevance in conservation is crucial for more effective and inclusive conservation.

Purpose of Review: International ambitions for massive afforestation and restoration are high. To make these investments sustainable and resilient under future climate change, science is calling for a shift from planting monocultures to mixed forests. But what is the scientific basis for promoting diverse plantations, and what is the feasibility of their establishment and management? As the largest global network of tree diversity experiments, TreeDivNet is uniquely positioned to answer these pressing questions. Building on 428 peer-reviewed TreeDivNet studies, combined with the results of a questionnaire completed by managers of 32 TreeDivNet sites, we aimed to answer the following questions: (i) How and where have TreeDivNet experiments enabled the relationship between tree diversity and tree performance (including productivity, survival, and pathogen damage) to be studied, and what has been learned? (ii) What are the remaining key knowledge gaps in our understanding of the relationship between tree diversity and tree performance? and (iii) What practical insights can be gained from the TreeDivNet experiments for operational, real-world forest plantations? Recent Findings: We developed a conceptual framework that identifies the variety of pathways through which target tree performance is related to local neighbourhood diversity and mapped the research efforts for each of those pathways. Experimental research on forest mixtures has focused primarily on direct tree diversity effects on productivity, with generally positive effects of species and functional diversity on productivity. Fewer studies focused on indirect effects mediated via biotic growing conditions (e.g. soil microbes and herbivores) and resource availability and uptake. Most studies examining light uptake found positive effects of species diversity. For pests and diseases, the evidence points mostly towards lower levels of infection for target trees when growing in mixed plantations. Tree diversity ef

Many countries have integrated agroforestry into their sustainable development policies, particularly in Southeast Asia. In Timor-Leste, the national strategy to promote agroforestry has adopted a modern, technique-oriented approach focused on crop rotation, intercropping and agro-silvo-pasture. In so doing, it has largely overlooked the pre-existence, diversity and performance of traditional agroforestry systems (AFS). The data collected in seven villages located in four districts of the eastern municipalities of Timor-Leste identified five common AFS: home garden, crop field and fallow, young agroforest, forest garden and silvopastoralism. The combined use of the customary AFS by rural households depends on the households' ability to access the four types of capital (land, financial, labour and social) underpinning their development strategies. Four rural household archetypes were therefore distinguished. Six farming strategies used by these archetypes were identified: cattle specialisation, palm and tree product harvesting, crop intensification, diversification of off-farm and on-farm income, abandonment of farming, and survival. Each of these farming strategies combine certain customary AFS. The diversity and complexity of AFS require a better description of how they function and a better understanding of how they fit into the heterogeneous development strategies of rural households before actions are considered to improve their performance.

Understanding the effectiveness of conservation interventions during times of political instability is important given how much of the world's biodiversity is concentrated in politically fragile nations. Here, we investigate the effect of a political crisis on the relative performance of community managed forests versus protected areas in terms of reducing deforestation in Madagascar, a biodiversity hotspot. We use remotely sensed data and statistical matching within an event study design to isolate the effect of the crisis and post-crisis period on performance. Annual rates of deforestation accelerated at the end of the crisis and were higher in community forests than in protected areas. After controlling for differences in location and other confounding variables, we find no difference in performance during the crisis, but community-managed forests performed worse in post-crisis years. These findings suggest that, as a political crisis subsides and deforestation pressures intensify, community-based conservation may be less resilient than state protection.

Promoting smallholders' sustainable development in Africa means addressing agronomic and economic factors but also highly relevant social influences shaping farmers' production and affecting household well-being. Holistic, integrated analyses can help to meet this need, informing more effective policies and interventions for smallholder farming systems. The authors apply a transdisciplinary, quantitative approach to analyzing social impacts in the smallholder context, using milk-producing crop-livestock family farms in central Madagascar as a test case. First, stochastic frontier analysis is leveraged to confirm education as a social indicator linked to production efficiency. Then, linear regression is used for exploratory modeling of children's educational outcomes. Findings from the Malagasy case emphasize the influence of rural infrastructure, parental education, chronic poverty, family planning, and crop-livestock diversification on children's educational outcomes among one region's farming households. Taken together, results suggest that Madagascar's policymakers should consider comprehensive territorial planning for simultaneously promoting agricultural development and human well-being. This study illustrates how a transdisciplinary approach to social impacts analysis can integrate agronomic, economic, and social dynamics and help anticipate potential outcomes in support of smallholders' sustainable development.

La procédure officielle d'inventaire des ressources ligneuses pour les forêts communautaires camerounaises constitue un obstacle technique et financier majeur. Plusieurs études ont testé des démarches simplifiées mais sans jamais pouvoir proposer une alternative satisfaisante à la méthode standard d'inventaire, à savoir plus abordable financièrement et techniquement pour les populations locales, tout en étant statistiquement robuste. L'article récapitule la démarche et les résultats d'un inventaire forestier à dire d'acteurs, qui a été expérimenté dans une forêt communautaire de 4 800 ha, au couvert forestier dégradé. Cet inventaire repose sur cinq simplifications (1) les seules espèces inventoriées sont celles vendues sur le marché domestique ; (2) les arbres inventoriés sont ceux situés à une distance inférieure à deux kilomètres d'une piste ou d'une rivière d'évacuation ; (3) seuls les arbres ayant un diamètre supérieur ou égal au diamètre minimum d'exploitabilité sont relevés ; (4) l'inventaire n'est réalisé qu'avec les propriétaires coutumiers volontaires ; (5) leur droit de possession coutumière sur les arbres est reconnu. Cet inventaire à dire d'acteurs a permis de recenser 3 885 arbres pour un volume de 19 297 m3 dans la forêt communautaire. La quasi-totalité (93 %) de ces arbres sont situés en cacaoyères. La démarche est techniquement robuste puisque le taux de sondage est estimé au minimum à 35 %, et est donc largement supérieur à celui de l'inventaire forestier standard de 2 %. Cet inventaire est également économique puisque son coût revient à moins de 0,5 €/ha, c'est-à-dire moins de la moitié du coût d'un inventaire classique. Il est enfin socialement acceptable puisqu'il valorise les savoirs traditionnels et permet d'élaborer un mode d'exploitation des arbres favorable aux propriétaires coutumiers. Il incite ces derniers à la durabilité en leur permettant de devenir les principaux bénéficiaires de cette activité. Cette méthode paraît adaptée au contexte

Human activities have a growing impact on global biodiversity. While our understanding of biodiversity worldwide is not yet comprehensive, it is crucial to explore effective means of characterizing it in order to mitigate these impacts. The advancements in data storage, exchange capabilities, and the increasing availability of extensive taxonomic, ecological, and environmental databases offer possibilities for implementing new approaches that can address knowledge gaps regarding species and habitats. This enhanced knowledge will, in turn, facilitate improved management practices and enable better local governance of territories. Meeting these requirements necessitates the development of innovative tools and methods to respond to these needs. Citizen science platforms have emerged as valuable resources for generating large amounts of biodiversity data, thanks to their visibility and attractiveness to individuals involved in territorial management and education. These platforms present new opportunities to train deep learning models for automated species recognition, leveraging the substantial volumes of multimedia data they accumulate. However, effectively managing, curating, and disseminating the data and services generated by these platforms remains a significant challenge that hinders the achievement of their objectives. In line with this, the GUARDEN and MAMBO European projects aim to utilize the Pl@ntNet participatory science platform (Affouard et al. 2021) to develop and implement novel computational services to enable the widespread creation of floristic inventories. In the pursuit of this project, various standards and reference datasets have been employed, such as the POWO (Plants of the World Online) world checklist and the WGSRPD (World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions) standard, to establish a foundation for creating a global service that aids in plant identification through visual analysis. This service relies on a NoSQL (Not Only St

Agroecological food system transformation remains marginal in South Africa despite numerous policies, plans and programmes favouring sustainable agriculture. Problems of weak budgets, fragmented interventions and lack of coordination reflect the power dynamics in the prevailing food system, dominated by large-scale conventional agriculture and agribusiness. The paper provides an in-depth case study of the importance of promoting agroecological transitions. Following a qualitative research methodology based on a literature review for context, preparatory discussions with local contact points, and semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with local actors in the field, the paper describes, analyses and characterises the agroecological transitions in the Overberg District in the Western Cape. It considers the broader policy, discursive and organisational landscape of agroecology followed by an in-depth analysis of the site drawing on key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The results demonstrate that local stakeholders are positioned to better connect food and nutrition issues with human health, biodiversity, climate change, natural resource management, and local development. As a result, transformative dynamics could emerge from local projects and programmes. Several lessons and recommendations are drawn to contribute to the policy debate. These highlight the potential of multi-actor coalitions which can develop from specific agroecological initiatives and activate positive dynamics, bringing in multiple interventions of municipalities.

Si les approches participatives et inclusives ont été reconnues nécessaires pour impliquer les populations dans la gestion des ressources et des territoires, leur impact reste souvent faible dans la durée, que ce soit à l'échelle locale ou pour des territoires plus vastes. C'est à partir de ce constat qu'une équipe du Cirad a mis au point à la fin des années 1990 une méthode s'appuyant sur un jeu sérieux, TerriStories®. Les effets de la première expérimentation au Sénégal en 1998-1999 perdurent encore aux échelles locale et nationale. Appliquée à la gestion de territoires locaux puis à la définition de règles nationales foncières et environnementales, la méthode a impulsé, dans tous les pays où elle a été déployée, des propositions collectives endogènes que les acteurs portent ensuite eux-mêmes et mettent en oeuvre selon leurs propres besoins.

Low female participation in community-based forest actions for mitigating and adapting to climate change (i.e., “forest climate actions”) increases gender inequalities and could reduce intervention effectiveness. Factors preventing women's participation in forestry are well-researched, while factors motivating women's participation is comparatively lacking. We fill this gap by (i) identifying women's motivations to participate in communal action in other domains; (ii) analyzing to what extent these motivations exist in forest climate actions; (iii) suggesting how forest climate actions can better motivate women's participation. Our paper presents an original mixed methods approach using data from two studies in different domains (health vs. forestry), objectives (feasibility study vs. impact evaluation), and data collection approach (key informant interviews vs. standardized surveys). Women's motivations to participate in Posyandu (Pos Pelayanan Terpadu), a state-run infant and maternal health service system operated mostly by female collaborators (Kader), were contrasted with conditions shaping women's participation in forest climate actions. Data were collected in the same period (2013–2014) in forested rural areas of Indonesia. We find women are motivated by the following values they find lacking in forest climate actions: (1) altruistic values: improving other's well-being through Posyandu, vs. limited benefits from forest climate actions; (2) social capital: enhancing own and family's social status by participating in Posyandu, vs. limited social enhancement through forest climate action; and (3) identity enhancement: increasing own pride and competence when supporting an established organization like Posyandu, vs. no equivalent organization for women in forest climate action. What would attract women to forest climate action? We suggest (1) tangible benefits from forest climate action for women and rural communities, so that women see forests are worth fightin

Although participatory and inclusive approaches have been recognised as necessary for involving local people in the management of resources and territories, their impact often remains limited in the long term, whether at the local level or for broader territories. Based on this observation, a CIRAD team developed a method in the late 1990s using a serious game, TerriStories®. The effects of the first trial in Senegal in 1998-1999 are still seen today at the local and national levels. Applied to the management of local territories, then to the definition of national land and environmental regulations, the method has succeeded – in all of the countries in which it has been deployed – in driving collective endogenous proposals that the actors themselves then deliver and implement according to their own requirements.

Aunque se ha reconocido que los enfoques participativos e integradores son necesarios para implicar a la población local en la gestión de los recursos y los territorios, su impacto suele ser escaso con el paso del tiempo, tanto a nivel local como en territorios más extensos. Teniendo esto en cuenta, a finales de los 90 un equipo del Cirad desarrolló un método basado en un juego responsable: TerriStories®. Los efectos de la primera experiencia, realizada en Senegal en 1998-1999, siguen haciéndose sentir a nivel local y nacional. El método, aplicado a la gestión de los territorios locales y luego a la definición de las normas nacionales de tenencia de la tierra y del medio ambiente, ha impulsado en todos los países donde se ha desplegado, propuestas colectivas endógenas que los propios actores proponen y aplican después en función de sus propias necesidades.

Embora as abordagens participativas e inclusivas tenham sido reconhecidas como necessárias para envolver as populações na gestão dos recursos e dos territórios, o seu impacto a longo prazo é muitas vezes reduzido, quer seja na escala local quer seja em territórios mais vastos. Foi a partir desta constatação que uma equipe do Cirad desenvolveu um método baseado num jogo sério no final dos anos 1990, TerriStories®. Os efeitos da primeira experiência no Senegal, em 1998-1999, ainda persistem em termos de escalas local e nacional. Aplicado à gestão dos territórios locais e depois à definição de regras nacionais fundiárias e ambientais, o método tem impulsionado, em todos os países onde foi implementado, propostas coletivas endógenas que os próprios atores levam adiante e implementam de acordo com as suas próprias necessidades.

Fire is a natural element of some tropical dry ecosystems. However, during the last decades, fire occurrence has become more frequent and intense due, in part, to climate change and land use transformation. This is the case in the Gran Chaco Americano, one of the largest dry forests all over the world that extends across Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil. Fire has shaped the Gran Chaco landscape since ancient times, but today, as in many other regions, the pattern, frequency, severity and intensity are being dramatically altered. Based on information collected mainly over the last two decades, this paper presents a detailed review of the available literature on the fire regime across the Gran Chaco region. Here, we present a multi-disciplinary understanding considering fire behavior and dynamics in the study ecosystem within a very specific ecological, administrative and historical framework. A noteworthy aspect of this review indicates the clear imbalance between regions in terms of available literature; while information about the Argentine Chaco is abundant, the literature for the Paraguayan or Bolivian Chaco is practically non-existent. The rainfall gradient and drought periods are key climatic drivers of fire ignitions while cattle ranching is the main socioeconomic activity of this region and key precursor of forest fires. In general, a substantial part of the available information focused on ecological aspects of the fire regime as the effect of fires on plant functional traits such as bark thickness, resprouting ability and flammability patterns. Other post fire effects on soil, invasive species, herbivory and soil seed banks have been also explored in detail to understand ecosystem recovery and research needs. We finally highlight current necessities and future prospects, mainly related to soil burn severity (SBS), invasive species and wildlife impact. Although our study specifically focused on changes in the fire regime of the Gran Chaco, some genera

En Côte d'Ivoire, l'agroforesterie devient une notion incontournable après une déforestation massive pour les cultures de plantation. Depuis les années 2010, le terme se généralise dans le vocabulaire politique, les normes internationales de durabilité et la communication des entreprises chocolatières. Cette note examine comment l'agroforesterie s'est imposée dans l'agenda politique ivoirien. Adoptant une approche compréhensive et à partir d'une soixantaine d'entretiens et des documents politiques, elle analyse la manière dont la notion d'agroforesterie est mobilisée en Côte d'Ivoire, les instruments de sa promotion et les controverses qu'elle suscite. D'abord, ce travail montre que la mise à l'agenda de l'agroforesterie en Côte d'Ivoire se fait suivant des canaux pluriels. Différents instruments de promotion de l'agroforesterie se côtoient, tels que les normes de certification privée, la norme africaine régionale de durabilité pour le cacao, les paiements pour services environnementaux ou encore un dispositif national dit " Agro-Forêt ", issu du nouveau Code forestier. Ensuite, malgré le consensus sur la promotion de l'agroforesterie, sa définition large permet à des acteurs aux intérêts divergents de s'approprier le concept. Ce travail met par ailleurs en évidence la pluralité des objectifs et des perspectives que recouvre la notion en Côte d'Ivoire. Il identifie ainsi des controverses concernant les critères du système agroforestier, sa finalité, la place des agriculteurs, l'échelle d'analyse et la temporalité à considérer. En définitive, cette note contribue à expliciter les traductions politiques plurielles d'une notion issue des sciences. Les liens complexes entre les recherches biophysiques et la pratique politique soulignent l'importance de prendre en compte cette interface pour une meilleure conception de l'agroforesterie et une transition efficace.

Since the 1960s, droughts have caused significant degradation of Sahelian ecosystems, particularly resulting in a reduction in tree cover. Despite the challenges posed by climate change, the rural Sahelian population continues to depend on natural resources for pastoral livestock farming, which remains a critical source of livelihood. To address this issue of land degradation, Sahelian states and international coalitions are prioritizing efforts to restore pastoral land through reforestation programs. These initiatives aim to enhance ecosystem services, generate new income for the population, and safeguard biodiversity.In practice, however, reforestation has often led to a depletion of resources for communities due to enclosure policies. This paper explores various land management models for reforestation within a pastoral context through provisioning ecosystem services (PES) modeling.This study quantifies the economic potential of PES offered by reforestation programs in Senegal. It employs a quantitative methodology to assess the profitability of these operations from the perspective of pastoral economies. The analysis reveals that the PES benefits of reforestation can significantly enhance the economic potential of sylvo-pastoral productions if resource access is negotiated collaboratively between pastoralists and forestry extension services during reforestation activities and after. From an investment perspective, the economic viability of reforestation operations in drylands is questionable. The findings suggest that when evaluated solely in terms of PES profitability, these programs may not be financially sustainable. The sustainability of these investments would require taking into account supporting and regulating ecosystem services.

Payments for environmental services (PES) have been widely studied as one possible way to counter deforestation and support livelihoods. Given the high rates of deforestation in the Amazon region, it is important to study under which conditions PES have positive environmental and social outcomes. We contribute to this debate through a systematic review based on the Realist Evaluation framework. First, we review case studies to identify configurations of social-ecological factors (context), PES design and implementation (resource mechanisms), people's responses (reasoning mechanisms), and the results in terms of forest conservation and people's livelihoods (outcomes). Second, we develop a middle-range theory of how, for whom, and under what conditions PES in the Amazon achieve these results. After screening 972 articles in the SCOPUS, Scielo, and WorldCat databases, we reviewed 13 articles in-depth that contained all the elements (context-mechanism-outcomes) needed to identify these configurations. Our results show that PES in the Amazon generate positive environmental and social outcomes when they: (a) combine cash and in-kind incentives, (b) raise environmental awareness through capacity building, (c) engage socially and ethnically diverse stakeholders through equitable and inclusive approaches, (d) apply transparent spatial targeting, (e) guarantee strong conditionality through robust monitoring of compliance, and (f) guarantee stable delivery of payments.

Calling on the concept of environmental justice in its distributive, procedural and recognition dimensions, we implemented a coelaborative scenario building approach to explore sustainable livelihoods pathways in four sites belonging to two Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) in southern Africa. Grounded on participation and transdisciplinarity, as a foundation for decolonised anticipatory action research, we aimed at stimulating knowledge exchange and providing insights on the future of local livelihoods engaging experts living within these TFCAs. Our results show that wildlife and wildlife-related activities are not seen as the primary drivers of local livelihoods, despite the focus and investments of dominant stakeholders in these sectors. Instead, local governance and land use regulations emerged as key drivers in the four study sites. The state of natural resources, including water, and appropriate farming systems also appeared critical to sustain future livelihoods in TFCAs, together with the recognition of indigenous culture, knowledge and value systems. Nature conservation, especially in Africa, is rooted in its colonial past and struggles to free or decolonise itself from the habits of this past despite decades of reconsideration. To date, the enduring coloniality of conservation prevents local citizens from truly participating in the planning and designing of the TFCAs they live in, leaving room for limited benefits to local citizens and often limiting Indigenous people's capacity to conserve. A practical way forward is to consider environmental justice as a cement between the two pillars of the TFCA concept, that is, nature conservation and socio-economic development of local or neighbouring communities, as part of a more broadly and urgent need to rethink the relationships between people in, and with, the rest of nature.

Identifying the drivers of soil organic carbon (SOC) stock changes is of the utmost importance to contribute to global challenges like climate change, land degradation, biodiversity loss, or food security. Evaluating the impacts of land use and management practices in agriculture and forestry on SOC is still challenging. Merging datasets or making databases interoperable is a promising way, but still has several semantic challenges. So far, a comprehensive thesaurus and classification of management practices in agriculture and forestry has been lacking, especially while focusing on SOC storage. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present a first comprehensive thesaurus for management practices driving SOC storage (DATA4C+). The DATA4C+ thesaurus contains 224 classified and defined terms related to land management practices in agriculture and forestry. It is organized as a hierarchical tree reflecting the drivers of SOC storage. It is oriented to be used by scientists in agronomy, forestry, and soil sciences with the aim of uniformizing the description of practices influencing SOC in their original research. It is accessible in Agroportal (http://agroportal.lirmm.fr/ontologies/DATA4CPLUS, last access: 24 March 2022) to enhance its findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reuse by scientists and others such as laboratories or land managers. Future uses of the DATA4C+ thesaurus will be crucial to improve and enrich it, but also to raise the quality of meta-analyses on SOC, and ultimately help policymakers to identify efficient agricultural and forest management practices to enhance SOC storage.

Mainstreaming of ecosystem service approaches has been proposed as one path toward sustainable development. Meanwhile, critics of ecosystem services question if the approach can account for the multiple values of ecosystems to diverse groups of people, or for aspects of inter- and intra-generational justice. In particular, an ecosystem service approach often overlooks power dimensions and capabilities that are core to environmental justice. This article addresses the need for greater guidance on incorporating justice into ecosystem services research and practice. We point to the importance of deep engagement with stakeholders and rights holders to disentangle contextual factors that moderate justice outcomes on ecosystem service attribution and appropriation in socio-political interventions. Such a holistic perspective enables the integration of values and knowledge plurality for enhancing justice in ecosystem services research. This broadened perspective paves a way for transformative ecosystem service assessments, management, and research, which can help inform and design governance structures that nourish human agency to sustainably identify, manage, and enjoy ecosystem services for human wellbeing.

Integrated landscape approaches that engage diverse stakeholder groups in landscape governance are increasingly promoted to address linked social–ecological challenges in tropical landscapes. Recent research suggests that a transdisciplinary approach to landscape management can help identify common research needs, enhance knowledge co-production, guide evidence-based policy development, and harmonize cross-sectorial integration. Meanwhile, guiding principles for landscape approaches suggest that identifying common concerns and negotiating a process of change are fundamental to implementation and evaluation efforts. As such, the use of decision support tools such as theory of change models that build ordered sequences of actions towards a desired, and agreed, future state are increasingly advocated. However, the application of the theory of change concept to integrated landscape approaches is limited thus far, particularly within the scientific literature. Here, we address this gap by applying the principles of landscape approaches and knowledge co-production to co-produce a theory of change to address current unsustainable landscape management and associated conflicts in the Kalomo Hills Local Forest Reserve No. P.13 (KFR13) of Zambia. The participatory process engaged a diverse range of stakeholders including village head people, local and international researchers, district councillors, and civil society representatives amongst others. Several pathways, actions, and interventions were developed around the themes of deforestation, biodiversity and wildlife conservation, socio-economic development, access rights, and law enforcement. To make the theory of change actionable, participants identified a need for enhanced cross-sector and multi-level communication, capacity development, and improved governance, while a lack of commitment towards coordinated knowledge exchange and access to information along with poor policy formulation and weak enforcement of rules were

Nowadays, satellite image time series (SITS) are commonly employed to derive land-cover maps (LCM) to support decision makers in a variety of land management applications. In the most general workflow, the production of LCM strongly relies on available GT data to train supervised machine learning models. Unfortunately, these data are not always available due to time-consuming and costly field campaigns. In this scenario, the possibility to transfer a model learnt on a particular year ( source domain ) to a successive period of time ( target domain ), over the same study area, can save time and money. Such a kind of model transfer is challenging due to different acquisition conditions affecting each time period, thus resulting in possible distribution shifts between source and target domains. In the general field of machine learning, unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) approaches are well suited to cope with the learning of models under distribution shifts between source and target domains. While widely explored in the general computer vision field, they are still underinvestigated for SITS-based land-cover mapping, especially for the temporal transfer scenario. With the aim to cope with this scenario in the context of SITS-based land-cover mapping, here we propose spatially aligned domain-adversarial neural network, a framework that combines both adversarial learning and self-training to transfer a classification model from a time period (year) to a successive one on a specific study area. Experimental assessment on a study area located in Burkina Faso characterized by challenging operational constraints demonstrates the significance of our proposal. The obtained results have shown that our proposal outperforms all the UDA competing methods by 7 to 12 points of F 1-score across three different transfer tasks.

We here present a database of evidence on the impact of agricultural management practices on biodiversity and yield. This database is the result of a systematic literature review, that aimed to identify meta-analyses that use as their response variables any measure of biodiversity and yield. After screening more than 1,086 titles and abstracts, we identified 33 relevant meta-analyses, from which we extracted the overall estimates, the subgroup estimates as well as all information related to them (effect size metric, taxonomic group, crop type etc.). We also extracted information relative to the empirical studies used for each meta-analysis and recorded the countries in which they took place and assessed the quality of each meta-analysis. Our dataset is publicly accessible and can be used for conducting second-order meta-analyses on the effect of management measures on species richness, taxon abundance, biomass and yields. It can also be used to create evidence maps on agriculture-related questions.

En Afrique, si les premiers projets d'observatoires fonciers ont émergé à la fin des années 1980, c'est à partir du milieu des années 2000, qu'ils se sont multipliés avec la mise en oeuvre d'observatoires fonciers à Madagascar, au Cameroun, au Burkina Faso ou encore en Afrique du Sud, en Ouganda et au Sénégal. Ces projets d'observatoires fonciers, portés par des acteurs très différents, ont pour ambition d'améliorer la gouvernance de la terre et des ressources qu'elle porte au profit d'une meilleure gestion des espaces agricoles, naturels et de leurs interfaces. Pourtant, malgré la grande visibilité et attractivité du concept, beaucoup d'observatoires fonciers ne parviennent pas à engager des activités effectives de production d'informations et de diffusion de connaissances. Cet article vise à éclairer les principaux facteurs explicatifs des écarts de mise en oeuvre, entre les projets sur le " papier " et les projets sur le " terrain " en accordant une attention particulière aux contraintes de nature socio-économique et politique d'accès, de production et de partage des données dans le champ du foncier.

This paper develops a novel approach called Outcome Trajectory Evaluation (OTE) in response to the long-causal-chain problem confronting the evaluation of research for development (R4D) projects. OTE strives to tackle four issues resulting from the common practice of evaluating R4D projects based on theory of change developed at the start. The approach was developed iteratively while conducting four evaluations of policy-related outcomes claimed by the CGIAR, a global R4D organization. The first step is to use a middle-range theory (MRT), based on “grand” social science theory, to help delineate and understand the trajectory that generated the set of outcomes being evaluated. The second step is to then identify project contribution to that trajectory. Other types of theory-driven evaluation are single step: they model how projects achieve outcomes without first considering the overarching causal mechanism—the outcome trajectory—from which the outcomes emerged. The use of an MRT allowed us to accrue learning from one evaluation to the next.

In January 2021, the Great Green Wall Accelerator was announced at the third One Planet Summit in Paris. Based on the notion of acceleration developed by Harmut Rosa and using the idea of conflicting temporalities in the study of social-ecological systems, this article analyzes how the political will to accelerate the Great Green Wall reveals power dynamics between Western and Sahelian countries. We put in tension this acceleration of the Great Green Wall with (1) temporalities with respect to nature and reforestation, and (2) temporalities of life among the Sahelian populations. Whereas our contribution is mostly theoretical, building on Hartmut Rosa's work, we illustrate our approach in terms of political ecology and anthropology based on an empirical case study of the Ferlo region in Senegal, a key region with respect to the Great Green Wall initiative. Our analysis shows that by controlling the temporality of the Great Green Wall program through this Accelerator, Western powers dominate the Sahelian states, making the Accelerator part of a neo-colonial approach. Moreover, the desire to accelerate the Great Green Wall with a massive investment in a short span of time corresponds to the perception of a nature made available, incompatible with the time of ecological restoration. Finally, the acceleration advocated by Western economic liberalism seems to be coming up against resistance of local populations rooted in an identity that values community solidarity, the stability of social structures, and closeness between humans, their herds, and nature.

Ecological restoration is essential to curb the decline of biodiversity and ecosystems worldwide. Since the resources available for restoration are limited, restoration efforts must be cost-effective to achieve conservation outcomes. Although decision support tools are available to aid in the design of protected areas, little progress has been made to provide such tools for restoration efforts. Here, we introduce the restoptr R package, a decision support tool designed to identify priority areas for ecological restoration. It uses constraint programming—an artificial intelligence technique—to identify optimal plans given ecological and socioeconomic constraints. Critically, it can identify strategic locations to enhance connectivity and reduce fragmentation across a broader landscape using complex landscape metrics. We illustrate its usage with a case study in New Caledonia. By applying this tool, we identified priority areas for restoration that could reverse forest fragmentation induced by mining activities in a specific area. We also found that relatively small investments could deliver large returns to restore connectivity.

Today, major changes are required in global agricultural systems to produce enough healthy food for all, while preserving the quality of land, air and water and safeguarding biodiversity. But producing enough while simultaneously protecting the environment is a particularly complex equation. Agroecology, a key principle of which is the use of agricultural biodiversity, is a promising pathway to achieve these changes. Extensive qualitative and quantitative evidence demonstrates the agricultural and environmental effectiveness of agroecological practices and confirms their capacity to meet the demands of global production in the long term. Among the possible diversification strategies, agroforestry, intercropping and crop rotation can all significantly increase production and enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services (soil quality, pest and disease control, water use and quality). This evidence can serve as a basis for new public policies to be introduced from the local to the global level. The implementation of such policies is crucial in climate-vulnerable regions where demand for food is growing, such sub-Saharan Africa.

Aujourd'hui, d'importantes mutations de l'agriculture mondiale sont nécessaires pour produire suffisamment d'aliments sains pour tous, tout en préservant la qualité des terres, de l'air et de l'eau et en sauvegardant la biodiversité. Mais produire suffisamment et préserver en même temps l'environnement est une équation particulièrement complexe à résoudre. Les pratiques agroécologiques, dont un principe essentiel est l'usage de la biodiversité cultivée, constituent une voie prometteuse pour assurer ces mutations. De nombreuses preuves qualitatives et quantitatives montrent leur efficacité sur les plans agricole et environnemental et confirment leur capacité à répondre aux impératifs de production mondiale sur le long terme. Parmi les voies possibles de diversification, l'agroforesterie, les cultures associées et la rotation des cultures permettent d'augmenter significativement la production et favorisent la biodiversité et les services écosystémiques fournis — qualité du sol, contrôle des maladies et ravageurs, qualité et usage de l'eau. Ces preuves permettent de fonder de nouvelles politiques publiques à mettre en oeuvre des échelles locales à l'échelle mondiale. La réalisation de telles politiques est cruciale dans les régions vulnérables au changement climatique et dont les besoins alimentaires sont en augmentation, comme l'Afrique subsaharienne.

Cet article questionne le rôle de la production des savoirs sur l'état écologique des milieux dans la gestion et la mise en oeuvre de politiques de surveillance et de protection des ressources en eau utilisées pour la production d'eau potable en Afrique subsaharienne. Sur la base d'une recherche interdisciplinaire réalisée en Côte d'Ivoire et au Sénégal par une équipe comprenant des sociologues et des écologues, l'article montre comment des savoirs experts d'évaluation de la qualité des milieux interagissent avec les jeux d'acteurs, les structures de gestion existantes et les représentations locales de ces mêmes milieux. Nous interrogeons à travers cette approche interdisciplinaire les difficultés d'articulation de la diversité de points de vue sur les ressources en eau, ainsi que les freins, les incertitudes et controverses autour de la production de savoirs et de leur intégration dans des dispositifs de gestion. Nous analysons plus particulièrement les principaux défis pour la mise en place des suivis de l'état écologique des milieux aquatiques, ainsi que les possibles contributions des savoirs experts et locaux à la co-construction d'un diagnostic partagé.