Gudrun Schwilch, Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Switzerland

Sustainable Land Management

COST action ES1104

Desertification Hub

Sustainable Land Management (SLM)

Cape Verde

Spain Morocco

Greece G. Schwilch

G. Schwilch G. Schwilch

E. van den Elsen

SLM is defined as the use of land and water resources,

including soils, water, animals and plants, for the production of

goods to meet changing human needs, while simultaneously

ensuring the long-term productive potential of these resources

and the maintenance of their environmental functions.

SLM strategies

> Local to regional scale

> Technical interventions

> Implementation approaches

Role of science:

> To produce evidence of the impacts

> To assess the implications these impacts have for society, the economy, and policy

3

G. Schwilch

> economically viable

> socially acceptable

> ecologically compatible

Monitoring and assessment of dryland restoration practices

Atriplex plantations to restore gully degradation of slopes in Sehoul, Morocco

15. September 2014 4

G. Schwilch April 2009 April 2011

G. Schwilch

Green Water Use Efficiency

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

0-1 2-3 4-5 7-9

No.

of case s

tudie

s

Sum of GWUE impacts

Green Water Use Efficiency

Forest management

Grazing land management

Cross-slope barriers

Water management

Cropping management

Impacts considered:

- improved soil cover

- reduced soil evaporation

- increased soil moisture

- reduced surface runoff

Impact values:

1=little (5–20%);

2=medium (20–50%);

3=high (>50%)

Aggregated impacts of SLM technologies in regards to GWUE

Schwilch G, Liniger HP, Hurni H. 2013. Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices in drylands:

how do they address desertification threats? Environmental Management

Cost-benefit over time

6

sh

ort

-te

rm

lon

g-t

erm

establishment maintenance

Motivation (from WOCAT SLM approaches database)

7

Additional challenges: e.g. outmigration, climate change, disasters

8

B. Wolfgramm

B. Wolfgramm B. Wolfgramm K. Sudmeier-Rieux

Mitigation

Prevention

Rehabilitation / restoration

Time of intervention

Stage of SLM intervention

10

Prevention Rehabilitation

Mitigation

WORLD OVERVIEW OF

CONSERVATION APPROACHES

AND TECHNOLOGIES

A common global platform for SLM

WOCAT is the primary

recommended database for

reporting on SLM Best Practices of

UNCCD

Integration of methods

and scales

Schwilch G., Bestelmeyer B, Bunning S., Critchley W.,

Herrick J., Kellner K., Liniger H.P., Nachtergaele F.,

Ritsema C.J., Schuster B., Tabo R., van Lynden G.,

Winslow M. 2011. Experiences in Monitoring and

Assessment of Sustainable Land Management.

Land Degradation & Development 22: 214-225. Doi

10.1002/ldr.1040

• Part I – Identification:

Identify existing and potential strategies

with a participatory learning approach

(stakeholder workshop 1)

• Part II – Assessment:

Evaluate, document and share

strategies with standardised

questionnaires

• Part III – Selection:

Select the most promising

strategies with a

decision support tool

(stakeholder workshop 2)

Identify, evaluate and select SLM options

Enter criteria to search for water solutions

Current research:

CASCADE: CAtastrophic Shifts in drylands:

how CAn we prevent ecosystem DEgradation?

EU FP7, 2012 – 2017

Evaluation of land use and management to prevent

catastrophic shifts

a) How resilient is a SLM practice towards change?

b) How is SLM increasing the resilience of the ecosystem towards change?

Photos: G. Schwilch

EU-RECARE 2014-2018

SLM: not only for dryland restoration

15

Operationalize the Ecosystem Services concept for practical application in Preventing and Remediating degradation of soils in Europe through Land Care

Conclusions and research gaps

Investments in SLM must be carefully assessed and planned

On the basis of:

> properly documented experiences

> evaluated impacts and benefits

> participatory evaluation and selection processes

-> Commitment of research:

> Standardised impact assessment incl. on ecosystem services

> Spatial analysis of SLM

> Knowledge-broker in transdisciplinary processes

Thank you !

Photos: G. Schwilch

CDE (Centre for Development and Environment). 2010. Coping with degradation through SLWM. SOLAW Background Thematic report – TR12.

Rome: FAO (www.fao.org/nr/solaw)

Hessel R, Reed M, Geeson N, Ritsema C, van Lynden G, Karavitis C, Schwilch G, Jetten V, Burger P, van der Werff ten Bosch MJ, Verzandvoort S,

van den Elsen E, Witsenburg K. 2014. From Framework to Action: The DESIRE approach to combat desertification. Submitted to

Environmental Management (in press)

Liniger HP, Mekdaschi Studer R, Hauert C, Gurtner M. 2011. Sustainable Land Management in Practice – Guidelines and Best Practices for

Sub-Saharan Africa. TerrAfrica, WOCAT, FAO

Schwilch G, 2012. A process for effective desertification mitigation. PhD thesis Wageningen University. ISBN 9789461732880.

Schwilch G, Bachmann F, Liniger HP. 2009. Appraising and selecting conservation measures to mitigate desertification and land degradation

based on stakeholder participation and global best practices. Land Degradation & Development 20: 308–326

Schwilch G, Bestelmeyer B, Bunning S, Critchley W, Herrick J, Kellner K, Liniger HP, Nachtergaele F, Ritsema C, Schuster B, Tabo R, van Lynden G,

Winslow M. 2011. Experiences in Monitoring and Assessment of Sustainable Land Management. Land Degradation & Development 22 (2),

214-225

Schwilch G, Bachmann F, de Graaff J. 2012. Decision support for selecting SLM technologies with stakeholders. Applied Geography 34: 86-98.

Schwilch G, Bachmann F, Valente S, Coelho C, Moreira J, Laouina A, Chaker M, Aderghal M, Santos P, Reed MS. 2012. A structured multi-

stakeholder learning process for sustainable land management. Journal of Environmental Management 107: 52-63 (2012); doi:

10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.04.023.

Schwilch G., Hessel, R. and Verzandvoort, S. (Eds). 2012. Desire for Greener Land. Options for Sustainable Land Management in Drylands. CDE,

Alterra, ISRIC and CTA

Schwilch G, Laouina A, Chaker M, Machouri N, Sfa M, Stroosnijder L. 2013. Challenging conservation agriculture on marginal slopes in Sehoul,

Morocco. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, available on CJO2013. doi:10.1017/S1742170513000446

Schwilch G, Liniger HP, Hurni H. 2013. Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices in drylands: how do they address desertification

threats? Environmental Management (in press). Doi: 10.1007/s00267-013-0071-3

WOCAT 2007: where the land is greener – case studies and analysis of soil and water conservation initiatives worldwide. Editors: HP. Liniger and

W. Critchley. CTA, FAO, UNEP, CDE.

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