UNDESERT Report Summary Proje ct ID: 243906 Funde d unde r: FP7-ENVIRONMENT Country: De nmark
Final Repo rt Summary - UNDESERT (Understanding and co mbating desertificatio n to mitigate its impact o n eco system services) Exe cutive Summary: De s e rtification and land de gradation are natural and non-natural phe nome na conce rning mainly arid, s e mi-arid and dry s ub-humid are as . De gradation proce s s e s are drive n by climatic variations and various human activitie s re s ulting in the de gradation of s oil and ve ge tation of billions of he ctare s of range - and cropland. UNDESERT aims at ge tting a good unde rs tanding of de s e rtification and de gradation proce s s e s the re by aiming at prote cting and, whe re pos s ible , re habilitating land and wate r re s ource s . By inte grating re gional information with s ound fie ld data on biodive rs ity and s oil as we ll as s ocioe conomic and climate data, we aim to cre ate improve d unde rs tanding of the e ffe cts of de s e rtification and de gradation proce s s e s in We s t Africa on a local and re gional s cale . On this bas is re s ults have be e n pre s e nte d to natural re s ource manage rs , politicians and organis ations and de cis ion s upport mode ls and tools have be e n de ve lope d. UNDESERT als o include s two ve ry practical as pe cts , 1) re s toration through tre e planting, which is ce rtifie d for CO2 marke ting as the firs t re s toration s ite in We s t Africa and 2) manage me nt toge the r with local communitie s . UNDESERT activitie s we re imple me nte d by e mploying 17 PhD s tude nts , who re ce ive d training to e nhance future capacitie s to manage ris ks and unce rtaintie s in the frame of future de mographic and climatic change s . The s cie ntific re s ults have be e n and will hope fully be us e d furthe r to combat de s e rtification and de gradation dire ctly in the fie ld and in national and inte rnational programme s in orde r to contribute to the imple me ntation of re le vant inte rnational s trate gie s . Proje ct we bs ite addre s s : www.unde s e rt.ne ri.dk. Proje ct Conte xt and Obje ctive s : WP 1. Ris k as s e s s me nts we re conducte d in 6 diffe re nt cas e s tudie s on national and local s cale to inve s tigate the influe nce of land us e and climate change on plant s pe cie s dis tribution and dive rs ity patte rns . Advance d s pe cie s dis tribution mode ls we re applie d to e s timate the magnitude and probability of ris ks of change s in plant s pe cie s dis tributions and dive rs ity. Our re s ults re ve al that both land us e and climate pos e high ris ks for plant s pe cie s dis tribution and dive rs ity patte rns , climate change be ing more s ignificant. For the land us e impact it s howe d that tre e s are more s trongly affe cte d than s hrubs ; fore s t, woodland and tre e s avanna are like ly to change into de grade d s avanna and farmland. More ove r, future climate and land us e change s are a s e rious ris k for the dive rs ity patte rns of food s pe cie s . WP2. For many s pe cie s quantitative data on the ir s ocio-e conomic value s , us e purpos e s and importance for planting activitie s we re docume nte d. Spe cie s inve ntorie s and inte rvie ws re ve ale d pronounce d ve ge tation change s and de cre as ing s pe cie s abundance s , particularly for the mos t highly value d food and fodde r s pe cie s . Thus , pronounce d s ocio-e conomic cons e que nce s are found in all s tudy are as . Re s ults s how that poore r income groups are more de pe nde nt on the value d s pe cie s products and will be hit harde s t by the ir de cre as e . In re gard to options of local communitie s to de al with changing s pe cie s availabilitie s it s hows that pe ople might counte ract s hortage s to a ce rtain e xte nt by us ing s ubs titute s or planting local s pe cie s . WP3. Studie s on the impact of re s toration te chnique s on phys ico-che mical characte ris tics of the s oil we re pe rforme d in s e ve ral s ite s in We s t Africa. A s e le ction of local s pe cie s typical of the s ahe lo-s udanian s avanna e nvironme nts has be e n plante d in re s toration s ite s us ing diffe re nt te chnique s (banque tte s , tre nche s , s tone rows ). The diffe re nt te chnique s have be e n compare d for the ir e ffe ct on s oil parame te rs and plant growth. In the Sahe l, tre e s s ignificantly improve d s oil fe rtility parame te rs s uch as carbon, nitroge n and pH. Furthe rmore , the s iz e dis tribution of wate r s table aggre gate s and the ir carbon conte nt was me as ure d in orde r to be fe d into the CAST mode l (de ve lope d by the EUfinance d SoilTrEC proje ct). WP4. T By building an online data platform, WP4 inte grate d data from the s cie ntific WPs , from diffe re nt s ite s and made the m available for us e in the applie d WPs . The data platform cons is ts of thre e module s , the We s t African Data and Me tadata Re pos itory, the We s t African Ve ge tation Databas e and We s t African Plants – a Photo Guide . WP4 provide d the online databas e s tructure s , provide d manuals for the ir us e and as s is te d in the inte gration of conte nt and analys e d data from the platform to ide ntify s uitable de gradation parame te rs . WP5. The main obje ctive of WP5 is to take practical action in orde r to re s pond to de s e rtification and land de gradation. This has be e n done via an ide ntification of we ll pe rforming native s pe cie s and re s toration te chnique s and e s tablis hme nt of tre e plantations including a carbon cre dit ce rtification on one s ite in Se ne gal. Manuals of 26 us e ful s pe cie s and we ll pe rforming planting me thods we re produce d. Finally, carbon s e que s tration mode ling for improve d carbon e s timations was de ve lope d. Se e https ://www.youtube .com/watch?v=e 0gpz L61ZBc.
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WP6. Simulation mode ls from the s udanian s avanna and s ahe lian gras s land we re parame te riz e d and validate d with data from lite rature and UNDESERT, taking into account the impact of plant us e and s pe cie s compe tition. The s ys te m has be e n de s igne d having diffe re nt que s tions or que s tion s e rie s that may be as ke d be pe ople de aling with e cos ys te m manage me nt in mind. By he lping ans we ring the s e que s tions it is be lie ve d that the UNDESERT DSS will be a s trong tool in the hands of e cos ys te m manage rs or pe ople involve d in de ve lopme nt proje cts in We s t Africa. The DSS is available from the UNDESERT home page . WP7. The ove rall obje ctive of WP7 is to de ve lop be tte r communication of te chnical and innovative ide as , be tte r acce s s to mate rials and te chnical as s is tance through de ve lopme nt of capacity building works hops , s uitable manuals and guide line s and re comme ndations bas e d on mode lling and de cis ion s upport tools for s trate gy planning at inte rnational, re gional and local le ve l. The the re s ults have be e n dis s e minate d at five le ve ls : 1) Inte rnational organiz ations and conve ntions in which the partne rs of the proje ct have produce d policy re comme ndations . 2) Natural re s ource manage rs and politicians . 3) Local communitie s with whom UNDESERT partne rs have collaborate d clos e ly. 4) Scie ntific community. 5) A proje ct home page , www.unde s e rt.ne ri.dk. Proje ct Re s ults : The de s crption of the main S&T re s ults /fore grounds is attache d as PDF file . Pote ntial Impact: Pote ntial impact: UNDESERT aims at combating de s e rtification and land de gradation in orde r to mitigate the ir impacts on e cos ys te m s e rvice s and, cons e que ntly, on human live lihoods . This can s e t in motion a pos itive cycle that can make important contributions to alle viate pove rty and ge ne rate be ne fits at the community le ve l by this contributing s ubs tantially to achie ving the Mille nnium De ve lopme nt Goals . UNDESERT had focus on applie d re s e arch and the application of the re s e arch re s ults . Affore s tation me as ure s we re part of UNDESERT as we ll as good manage me nt practice s for s us tainable us e of goods and s e rvice s from fore s t e cos ys te ms . The de ve lopme nt of agrofore s try s ys te ms through tre e planting and carbon s ale contribute dire ctly to pove rty re duction, making the rural poor le s s vulne rable to the impacts of land de gradation. The s e me as ure s als o contribute to mitigate climate change through incre as e d carbon s e que s tration. The e nhance d s cie ntific unde rs tanding of de gradation proce s s e s and ide ntification of re liable indicators s upport policy make rs and de ve lopme nt of concre te manage me nt inte rve ntions for mitigating de s e rtification. One of the s alie nt fe ature s of the UNCCD is the participatory approach to policy de ve lopme nt and imple me ntation. UNDESERT has a s trong capacity building compone nt in village s and at unive rs itie s in orde r to promote e mpowe rme nt of communitie s , at the local le ve l, working with local land manage rs , farme rs and he rde rs . In this re gard, s tre ngthe ning of capacity building is crucial, as e xpre s s e d in UNCCD, including a s pe cial focus on capacity building ne e ds to e ns ure the s ucce s s ful imple me ntation of the conve ntion. To ove rcome de s e rtification proce s s e s , a common e ffort through an inte rdis ciplinary and fully participatory approach is ne e de d. UNDESERT worke d on four compone nts to unde rs tand and re duce de s e rtification: 1. Improve d unde rs tanding of the proce s s e s of de s e rtification and de gradation by an inte grative and inte rdis ciplinary approach, whe re re mote s e ns ing information on diffe re nt s cale s is combine d with ve ge tation-, s oil- and s ocio-e conomic re s ults and whe re ne w mode lling te chnique s are applie d. 2. As s e s s me nt of impact of de s e rtification and de gradation through clos e collaboration of s cie ntis ts and s take holde rs to e ns ure s ucce s s ful imple me ntation of s us tainable manage me nt practice s . 3. De ve lopme nt of de cis ion s upport mode ls /tools and be s t practice s for policy and de cis ion make rs on diffe re nt le ve ls cons ide ring e arly warning indicators of de gradation. 4. Concre te re s pons e s agains t de s e rtification and de gradation bas e d on s cie ntific re s ults , compris ing e cos ys te m re s toration through tre e plantations for carbon s e que s tration, which contribute to s us tainable live lihood s ys te ms by cons ide ring e conomic inte re s ts and cre ating ne w income options . Cons ide ration of ge nde r as pe cts : Ge nde r is s ue s are re le vant in two re s pe cts conce rning the UNDESERT proje ct; the focus on the inte gration of fe male s cie ntis ts and fe male s take holde rs . The fie ld of natural s cie nce s is dominate d by male re s e arche rs in both Europe and Africa, which me rits a focus on ge nde r as pe cts in UNDESERT. In the re s e arch group, howe ve r, the main proje ct coordination (WP8) and two workpackage s (WP1 and WP2) are le d by fe male s cie ntis ts . Ge nde r as pe cts in future re s e arch: The proje ct atte mpts to re inforce and incre as e the role of wome n by inclus ion of fe male PhD s tude nts at e ach of the African partne r ins titutions . The proje ct will (re fe rring to the EU policy on ge nde r is s ue s ) s e e k to ide ntify and inform qualifie d fe male candidate s for one third to half of the PhD pos itions , as this is a practice that has be e n us e d in e arlie r proje cts with s ucce s s . This will me an an addition of 5-7 fe male PhD s tude nts within the proje ct, which is a s ignificant numbe r compare d to the limite d numbe r of fe male s cie ntis ts in the natural s cie nce s in We s t Africa at pre s e nt and it will, the re fore , improve the ge nde r balance in the future . It has prove d to be ve ry difficult to find qualifie d fe male candidate s in s ome of the African countrie s be caus e the re is a low pe rce ntage of wome n with a mas te r’s de gre e in natural s cie nce s and the re are many proje cts that want to e mploy wome n. In UNDESERT, we aime d at having at le as t one fe male PhD s tude nt at e ach partne r ins titution, but this has not be e n pos s ible at thre e ins titutions (P6, P7, P8) de s pite big e fforts to look for qualifie d candidate s . For the mome nt, UNDESERT has 5 fe male PhD s tude nts (a 6th fe male s tude nt s tarte d, but could not continue ). Fe male s take holde rs in the proje ct: Wome n are ofte n the main us e rs of natural re s ource s , mainly for pre paration of me als and for income ge ne ration. The proje ct the re fore , dire ctly targe ts wome n by promoting an improve d manage me nt of natural re s ource s , particularly valuable s pe cie s , and by focus ing on wome n in the e s tablis hme nt of CO2 ce rtification in re s toration proje cts (WP5) and P a ge 2 o f 3 Research and Innovation
in e cos ys te m manage me nt (WP6). The e thnoe cological s tudie s (WP2) we re s tructure d to include an e qual numbe r of fe male and male informants in orde r to as s ure incorporation of both. The dis s e mination of re s ults (WP7) to local pe ople will pay particular atte ntion to fe male groups . Unde r WP5, the re has be e n a s trong focus on fe male s take holde rs who will be ne fit from at le as t 50% of the carbon income . The proje ct has e ns ure d wome n’s groups rights to land, which the y did not have be fore . Lis t of We bs ite s : www.unde s e rt.ne ri.dk Anne Me tte Lykke Coordinator of UNDESERT Aarhus Unive rs ity Ve jls oe ve j 25 8600 Silke borg De nmark Te l.: +45 89201765+45 89201765 Email:
[email protected]
Related info rmatio n Result In Brief
Combating climate change and de s e rtification in We s t Africa
Document s and
final1-unde s e rt_final-re port_aug15.pdf
Publicat ions
Co ntact Emilia Sumari Ale gria, (Proje ct Manage r) Te l.: +45 23266179 E-mail
Subjects Environme ntal Prote ction Information s ource :
SESAM
Last updat ed o n 2016-02-02 Ret rieved o n 2017-03-21 Permalink: http://cordis .e uropa.e u/re s ult/rcn/176852_e n.html © Europe an Union, 2017
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