This paper presents an ex-ante cost-benefit analysis of large-scale rangeland restoration through the Hima system within the Zarqa River Basin, drawing on experience from a pilot initiative by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture since 2010. The ecosystem services that arise from rangeland restoration are valued using a combination of stated preference, avoided costs, replacement cost, and market prices approaches. The economic analysis has built on high-resolution remote sensing, GIS, and biophysical soil and water assessment tools, and was elaborated to rigorously calibrate the impact of land use changes on forage availability, ground water filtration, carbon sequestration, and sediment stabilisation.
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This report identifies key rangeland ecosystem service benefits (food, fuel, construction material, ground water, genetic diversity, climate regulation, recreation and spiritual inspiration) in southern Botswana’s Kgalagadi District. It assesses the costs and trade-offs associated with ecosystem service delivery under: i) communal grazing, ii) private cattle ranching, iii) game ranching and...
Gedaref State was previously known as the food basket of Sudan. Over several decades unsustainable agricultural practices that combined near-monocropping with low nutrient replenishment have led to significant degradation of soils, which are no longer able to sustain farmer livelihoods. This study found that adopting an integrated sustainable land use...
Independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991 presented the republics of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, with severe challenges for land management with ensuing economic, social, and environmental crises. Driven by the historic development of irrigation projects, often unsupportable increases in livestock numbers on rangelands, and...
Independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991 presented the republics of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, with severe challenges for land management with ensuing economic, social, and environmental crises. Driven by the historic development of irrigation projects, often unsupportable increases in livestock numbers on rangelands, and...