Impact of forest landscape restoration in combating soil erosion in the Lake Abaya catchment, Southern Ethiopia

As an effect of forest degradation, soil erosion is among Ethiopia's most pressing environmental challenges and a major threat to food security where it could potentially compromise the ecosystem functions and services. As the effects of soil erosion intensify, the landscape's capacity to support ecosystem functions and services is compromised. Exploring the ecological implications of soil erosion is crucial. This study investigated the soil loss and land degradation in the Lake Abaya catchment to explore forest landscape restoration (FLR) implementation as a possible countermeasure to the effects. The study used a geographic information system (GIS)-based approach of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to determine the potential annual soil loss and develop an erosion risk map. Results show that 13% of the catchment, which accounts for approximately 110,000 ha, is under high erosion risk of exceeding the average annual tolerable soil loss of 10 t/ha/year. Allocation of land on steep slopes to crop production is the major reason for the calculated high erosion risk in the catchment. A scenario-based analysis was implemented following the slope-based land-use allocation proposal indicated in the Rural Land Use Proclamation 456/2005 of Ethiopia. The scenario analysis resulted in a reversal erosion effect whereby an estimated 3000 t/ha/year of soil loss in the catchment. Thus, FLR activities hold great potential for minimizing soil loss and contributing to supporting functioning and providing ecosystem services. Tree-based agroforestry systems are among the key FLR measures championed in highly degraded landscapes in Ethiopia. This study helps policymakers and FLR implementors identify erosion risk areas for future FLR activities. Thereby, it contributes to achieving the country's restoration commitment.

Testing presence, assessing attitudes: Study of a 3D virtual tour in an "aesthetically challenged" landscape

This article examines the utility of 3D immersive media for enhancing public attitudes toward rare, open-canopied habitat restoration where the proposed treatments and outcomes may appear risky, unsightly, and at odds with people's sense of place in a forested landscape. We used 360° videos and video game software to build the first desktop-based, virtual tour of fire-dependent Pine Barrens restoration practices in Wisconsin's Northwoods in order to intervene where stakeholders have disapproved of pine barrens through conventional messaging. The study measured changes in attitudes toward clear-cutting, prescribed fire, and pine barrens between participant groups in a 2D- and 3D-media informational intervention including 73 subjects from Wisconsin and Minnesota. Results showed that both media interventions significantly enhanced attitudes across all three target categories, despite increased spatial presence, or immersion, in the 3D format. Against the 2D treatment, the 3D tour significantly enhanced both people's aesthetic sense of pine barrens and their attitudes toward this landscape for those whose initial attitudes were neutral or negative.

Landscape fires disproportionally affect high conservation value temperate peatlands, meadows, and deciduous forests, but only under low moisture conditions

Landscape fires are a natural component of the Earth System. However, they are of growing global concern due to climate change exacerbating their multiple impacts on biodiversity, ecosystems, carbon storage, human health, economies, and wider society. Temperate regions are predicted to be at greatest risk of increasing fire activity due to climate change, where fires can seriously impact important ecosystems for biodiversity and carbon storage, such as peatlands and forests. There is insufficient literature on the background prevalence, distribution, and drivers of fires in these regions, especially within Europe, to assess and mitigate their risks. Using a global database of fire patches based on the MODIS FireCCI51 product, we address this knowledge gap by quantifying the current prevalence and size of fires in Polesia, a 150,000 km² area comprising a mosaic of peatland, forest, and agricultural habitats in northern Ukraine and southern Belarus. Between 2001 and 2019, fires burned 31,062 km² of land, and were most frequent in spring and autumn. Although most fires started in agricultural land, fires disproportionately affected natural and semi-natural land cover types, particularly in protected areas. Over one fifth of protected land burned. Coniferous forests were the most common land cover type in protected areas, but fires mostly occurred in meadows, open peatlands (especially fen and transition mires), and native deciduous forests. These land cover types were highly susceptible to fires under low soil moisture conditions, but the risk of fire was low under average or higher soil moisture conditions. Restoring and maintaining natural hydrological regimes could be an effective nature-based solution to increase the resilience of fire-vulnerable ecosystems and support global biodiversity and carbon storage commitments under the United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change and Convention on Biological Diversity.

Multicriteria spatial model to prioritize degraded areas for landscape restoration through agroforestry

Reconciling the restoration of ecosystem services within agricultural landscapes is an effort that has been advancing within degraded areas restoration through agroforestry systems. However, to contribute to the effectiveness of these initiatives, it is essential to integrate landscape vulnerability and local demands to better highlight in which areas the implementation of agroforestry systems should be prioritized. Thus, we developed a spatial hierarchization methodology as a decision support tool as an active strategy for agroecosystem restoration. The proposed method constitutes a spatial indicator of priority areas to guide agroforestry interventions, including resource allocation and public policies for payment for environmental services. The methodology consists of Multicriteria Decision Analysis implemented in GIS software by combining input datasets based on biophysical conditions, environmental and socioeconomic aspects, that integrated promotes an assessment of the environment fragility, the pressures and responses to land use dynamic; a strategy for landscape restoration and conservation of the natural habitats, and multiple specific scenarios for decision making regarding the agricultural and the local actors demands. The output of the model provides the spatial distribution of areas suitable for the implementation of agroforestry systems, sorted into four priority levels (Low, Medium, High, and Extreme priority). The method is a promising tool proposal for territorial management and governance and subsidizes future research on the flows of ecosystem services.•Assessment of the environment fragility and the pressures and responses to land use dynamic.•Strategy for landscape restoration and conservation of remaining natural habitats.•Multiple specific scenarios for decision making regarding the agricultural and the local actors demands.

'Green', rammed earth check dams: A proposal to restore gullies under low rainfall erosivity and runoff conditions

Gully restoration check dams are usually made with construction materials and have a permanent impact on the landscape. Although earthen dams have not been used to restore gullies, they have been used around the world for water reservoirs and to control flooding. Here, we propose 'green', rammed earth check dams as a better environmental solution to restore gullies and integrate check dams in the natural landscape. This new design of earthen dam aimed at achieving a reduction in construction volume, as we propose a straight profile for the earthen wall upstream and an impervious core made of rammed earth wall. Moreover, the sloping, revegetated profile downstream enables integrating the check dam into the landscape, while the rammed earth wall allows the use of traditional materials and construction methods better adapted to the natural environment. We also present the design process, calculating its stability versus overturning, sliding and ground resistance for its weight. In addition, we compare the construction costs and carbon footprint of the rammed earth check dam with those of other frequently used check dams, such as concrete or gabion check dams. It shows that although rammed earth check dams may have a greater cost (>21%), they also have a sink effect of 23,639.36 kg CO₂ due to the vegetation cover on the downstream embankment. This work shows their feasibility in gullied areas and ravines of fine textured soils under low runoff and rainfall erosivity conditions.

Recoverable Earth: a twenty-first century environmental narrative

Rewilding may signify the emergence of a new environmental narrative. Discussion of underlying policy narratives is important because they shape understandings of the state of world and how society should act. I summarise the origins of twentieth century environmental narratives and argue that their influence derives from components telling of the dire state of nature, the catastrophic consequences of this and the need for competent authorities to act to govern the perpetrators of harm. Reflecting on my engagements with rewilding science and practice, I posit that stories of rewilding are adopting a quite different narrative structure: one that involves components telling of feelings of despondency and processes of awakening, action, and reassessment leading to the recovery of natural and social well-being. These components align with the narrative structure of accounts of mental health. I label this emerging narrative 'Recoverable Earth' and suggest that it signifies action by grassroot conservationists to reassert their ability to lead change locally and produce better outcomes for nature and society.

Water, Forests, People: The Swedish Experience in Building Resilient Landscapes

A growing world population and rapid expansion of cities increase the pressure on basic resources such as water, food and energy. To safeguard the provision of these resources, restoration and sustainable management of landscapes is pivotal, including sustainable forest and water management. Sustainable forest management includes forest conservation, restoration, forestry and agroforestry practices. Interlinkages between forests and water are fundamental to moderate water budgets, stabilize runoff, reduce erosion and improve biodiversity and water quality. Sweden has gained substantial experience in sustainable forest management in the past century. Through significant restoration efforts, a largely depleted Swedish forest has transformed into a well-managed production forest within a century, leading to sustainable economic growth through the provision of forest products. More recently, ecosystem services are also included in management decisions. Such a transformation depends on broad stakeholder dialog, combined with an enabling institutional and policy environment. Based on seminars and workshops with a wide range of key stakeholders managing Sweden's forests and waters, this article draws lessons from the history of forest management in Sweden. These lessons are particularly relevant for countries in the Global South that currently experience similar challenges in forest and landscape management. The authors argue that an integrated landscape approach involving a broad array of sectors and stakeholders is needed to achieve sustainable forest and water management. Sustainable landscape management-integrating water, agriculture and forests-is imperative to achieving resilient socio-economic systems and landscapes.

Governance and management dynamics of landscape restoration at multiple scales: Learning from successful environmental managers in Sweden

Due to a long history of intensive land and water use, habitat networks for biodiversity conservation are generally degraded in Sweden. Landscape restoration (LR) is an important strategy for achieving representative and functional green infrastructures. However, outcomes of LR efforts are poorly studied, particularly the dynamics of LR governance and management. We apply systems thinking methods to a series of LR case studies to analyse the causal structures underlying LR governance and management in Sweden. We show that these structures appear to comprise of an interlinked system of at least three sets of drivers and four core processes. This system exhibits many characteristics of a transformative change towards an integrated, adaptive approach to governance and management. Key challenges for Swedish LR projects relate to institutional and regulatory flexibility, the timely availability of sufficient funds, and the management of learning and knowledge production processes. In response, successful project leaders develop several key strategies to manage complexity and risk, and enhance perceptions of the attractiveness of LR projects.