Sustainable Land Management Sourcebook

Policies promoting pro-poor agricultural growth are the key to helping countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals especially the goal of halving poverty and hunger by 2015. The public sector, private sector, and civil society organizations are working to enhance productivity and competitiveness of the agricultural sector to reduce rural poverty and sustain the natural resource base. The pathways involve participation by rural communities, science and technology, knowledge generation and further learning, capacity enhancement, and institution building. Sustainable land management (SLM) an essential component of such policies will help to ensure the productivity of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and hydrology. SLM will also support a range of ecosystem services on which agriculture depends. The 'Sustainable Land Management Sourcebook' provides a knowledge repository of tested practices and innovative resource management approaches that are currently being tested. The diverse menu of options represents the current state of the art of good land management practices. Section one identifies the need and scope for SLM and food production in relation to cross-sector issues such as freshwater and forest resources, regional climate and air quality, and interactions with biodiversity conservation and increasingly valuable ecosystem services. Section two categorizes the diversity of land management systems globally and the strategies for improving household livelihoods in each system type. Section three presents a range of investment notes that summarize good practice, as well as innovative activity profiles that highlight design of successful or innovative investments. Section four identifies easy-to-access, Web-based resources relevant for land and natural resource managers. The 'Sourcebook' is a living document that will be periodically updated and expanded as new material and findings become available on good land management practices. This book will be of interest to project managers and practitioners working to enhance land and natural resource management in developing countries.

The Sustainable Land Management Sourcebook is a resource of good practice information on land and natural resource management issues that will be of operational relevance to practitioners in the tropics and sub-tropics. The Sourcebook covers a comprehensive range of topics on the technical issues of land and natural resource management and is presented in a way that will facilitate use by both experts and lay readers. The text is well-illustrated with graphs and photos and for the more specialized reader, key references and web links to institutional reference databases are provided.

Land is the integrating component of all livelihoods depending on farm, forest, rangeland, or water (rivers, lakes, coastal marine) habitats. Due to varying political, social, and economic factors, the heavy use of natural resources to supply a rapidly growing global population and economy has resulted in the unintended mismanagement and degradation of land and ecosystems. Sustainable Land Management provides strategic focus to the implementation of sustainable land management (SLM) components of the World Bank's development strategies. SLM is a knowledge-based procedure that integrates land, water, biodiversity, and environmental management to meet rising food and fiber demands while sustainaing livelihoods and the environment. This book, aimed at policy makers, project managers, and development organization, articulates priorities for investment in SLM and natural resource management and indentifies the policy, institutional, and incentive reform options that will accelerate the adoption of SLM productivity improvements and pro-poor growth.

Soil quality is threatened by many human-induced activities, but can also be improved by good land management. In the relatively short history of mankind on earth, the landscape and soils of the world have been drastically modified from their "natural " state. Landscapes altered by man's activities are termed "Anthroscapes" which are inextricably linked to culture and history. The challenges for today's scientists are to devise and implement sustainable land management strategies in order to preserve the land for the benefit of future generations. This book is a valuable compendium of the research experiences so far gained in studies of the context and concept of the "Anthroscape" and highlights the potential future contributions of such research to sustainable development.

In a context of escalating food demand and pressure on natural resources, this study emphasizes the importance of land evaluation and land-use planning. Only with a rational use of resources can we enhance productivity while maintaining resilient ecosystems. The publication stresses the importance of collaborative processes to meet the interwoven challenges of population growth, competition for limited resources, land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change.

Bringing together case studies from Europe, Africa and North and South America, this book makes a fresh assessment of the role of the individual and the state in land development. It discusses a range of issues related to land reform, land development and land management, providing a unique reflection of the current state of research. Particular emphasis is laid on the implementation of sustainable processes of land development as an integrated principle of land management. The book examines the rights of the land users and addresses a number of issues relating to sustainability and land development, ranging from emerging land markets and environmental issues, through to natural resource development. The case studies provide practical examples of the application of land reform and land development to land management.

Soil quality is threatened by human activity but can also be improved by our intervention. This book is a valuable compendium of work on the concept of the 'Anthroscape' that highlights the potential contribution of such research to sustainable development.

Land is the integrating component of all livelihoods depending on farm, forest, rangeland, or water (rivers, lakes, coastal marine) habitats. Due to varying political, social, and economic factors, the heavy use of natural resources to supply a rapidly growing global population and economy has resulted in the unintended mismanagement and degradation of land and ecosystems. 'Sustainable Land Management' provides strategic focus to the implementation of sustainable land management (SLM) components of the World Bank's development strategies. SLM is a knowledge-based procedure that integrates land, water, biodiversity, and environmental management to meet rising food and fiber demands while sustaining livelihoods and the environment. This book, aimed at policy makers, project managers, and development organization, articulates priorities for investment in SLM and natural resource management and identifies the policy, institutional, and incentive reform options that will accelerate the adoption of SLM productivity improvements and pro-poor growth.