Climate change and food security: a Sri Lankan perspective

There is growing concern in Sri Lanka over the impact of climate change, variability and extreme weather events on food production, food security and livelihoods. The link between climate change and food security has been mostly explored in relation to impacts on crop production or food availability aspects of food security, with little focus on other key dimensions, namely food access and food utilization. This review, based on available literature, adopted a food system approach to gain a wider perspective on food security issues in Sri Lanka. It points to several climate-induced issues posing challenges for food security. These issues include declining agriculture productivity, food loss along supply chains, low livelihood resilience of the rural poor and prevalence of high levels of undernourishment and child malnutrition. Our review suggests that achieving food security necessitates action beyond building climate resilient food production systems to a holistic approach that is able to ensure climate resilience of the entire food system while addressing nutritional concerns arising from impacts of climate change. Therefore, there is a pressing need to work towards a climate-smart agriculture system that will address all dimensions of food security. With the exception of productivity of a few crop species, our review demonstrates the dearth of research into climate change impacts on Sri Lanka’s food system. Further research is required to understand how changes in climate may affect other components of the food system including productivity of a wider range of food crops, livestock and fisheries, and shed light on the causal pathways of climate-induced nutritional insecurity.     

Forest protection and economic development by offshoring wood extraction: Bhutan’s clean development path

With globalization, virtual exchanges of natural resources embodied in traded commodities redistribute geographically land use and its environmental impacts. Benefits of national forest protection may be undermined at the global-scale by leakage through international trade. We studied land use displacement associated with national policies to protect forests in Bhutan. This case study provides a simple situation: a dominant forest cover almost unaffected by agricultural expansion, a rural economy dominated by the primary sector, centralized forest conservation policies, and a dominant trading partner. We assessed the net effects at the international level of the Bhutanese forest protection policies by accounting for trade in wood products with India. Our results show that these policies have been effective in maintaining a high forest cover, but have been accompanied by an increasing displacement of forest use to India. In 1996–2011, the difference between the total volume of wood imported from India and the total volume exported from Bhutan—i.e., the net displacement—corresponds to 27 % of the total volume consumed in Bhutan. In 2011, 68 % of the total forest area required to produce the wood consumed in Bhutan was located in India. The wood imported by Bhutan was likely originating from tree plantations in the northeastern Indian states. Since Bhutan has few tree plantations and very valuable natural forests, the net international-level ecological impacts of this land use displacement is arguably positive. Most of the wood imports of Bhutan were wood charcoal for its emerging chemical industries. This case of displacement reflects functional upgrading in the value-chain rather than an externalization of consumption-based environmental costs. Through its government policies, Bhutan has managed to support its economic development while protecting its forests and leapfrogging the negative impacts on forests generally associated with the early stages of modernization.     

Recent Changes in Land-Use in the Pambala–Chilaw Lagoon Complex (Sri Lanka) Investigated Using Remote Sensing and GIS: Conservation of Mangroves vs. Development of Shrimp Farming

Shrimp aquaculture is currently one of the major threats to mangroves, their destruction causing both environmental and social problems. This study investigated the mangrove area in the Pambala–Chilaw Lagoon complex (07°30 N, 079°49 E) in Sri Lanka. Using air-borne remote sensing, a land-use map was constructed in a geographical information system of the study area and pond managers were interviewed about the functioning of their shrimp farms. Based on fieldwork during the four years after taking the aerial photographs, an updated GIS-based land-use map was constructed and compared the original situation. This revealed that shrimp farms had expanded with by 25 ha in four years, mainly at the expense of mangrove forest (approx. 13 ha) and coconut plantations (approx. 11 ha). Official documents from the World Conservation Union advise conservation of the undisturbed habitats in Pambala, but this study's observations do not corroborate an eventuation of this. Other authors reported political patronage as the main cause of this adverse situation. Since the shrimp industry depends on various ecological services provided by the mangrove ecosystem in order to maintain production (cf. ecological footprint concept) the mangrove destruction is counter-productive and these observations are therefore alarming for the aquaculturists as well. The low ratio (2.6 : 1) of remaining mangrove to shrimp pond area suggests that the industry may experience severe problems, particularly as mangrove areas continue to be reclaimed for aquaculture or other land uses, unless drastic measures are taken.     

Increasing tree cover while losing diverse natural forests in tropical Hainan,China

To protect biodiversity and improve environmental conditions, China has invested billions of dollars in reforestation and payments for ecosystem service programs. Here, we examine the Sloping Land Conversion Program, the largest such program in the world and found that after 13 years of implementation at our study site, it has had negative impacts on natural tropical forests. GIS and remote sensing techniques revealed that both natural forests and natural shrub and grasslands were replaced by non-native monocultural plantations on Hainan Island, China, a key tropical biodiversity hotspot. Under current Chinese policy, these plantations are classified simply as “forests”, with the assumption that they are equivalent to natural forests. This lack of a distinction in forest quality has led to substantial deforestation and plantation expansion, including encroachment into protected areas on Hainan. Additional social and economic drivers of these changes were identified by examining the participants in this program and their actions. Without a new ecologically based definition of forests and new goals for reforestation, such programs designed to improve ecosystem services, and forest quality may actually threaten remaining natural forests and other vegetation types in Hainan and in other areas of mainland China.     

Use of geochemical data banks in monitoring the natural environment — a case study from Sri Lanka

A survey carried out on the incidence of dental diseases and the distribution of fluoride in drinking water wells and also copper in such waters in Sri Lanka showed the influence of the natural environmental factors on the prevalence of certain geographical diseases. In the case of the geographical variation of dental fluorosis and dental caries it was found that in Sri Lanka, more than any artificially created causes, the natural environmental factors such as mineral occurrences containing the elements concerned, climate, topography, geology, structure, soil, etc. play a very significant role in the geographic variations of elements and hence incidence of diseases. The same was found to be true in the case of copper in potable waters.Two cities in the dry zone of Sri Lanka namely Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa had a natural fluoride concentration ranging from 0.34 to 4.55 ppm. In some of these regions dental fluorosis was as high as 77.5%. Kandy, situated in the wet zone on the other hand, had in its well waters a low fluoride concentration of less than 0.2 ppm and hence only 13% dental fluorosis. Similarly copper in the well waters of Sri Lanka showed a range of concentrations depending on many natural environmental factors and in some areas far removed from any effects of industrialization still had high copper concentrations of the order of 1–3 ppm, due to the occurrence of copper bearing mineral deposits.It is the aim of this paper to illustrate the use of establishing natural geochemical data banks in monitoring the environment as they would provide useful background values. Any attempt at erecting national or international acceptable levels for the chemical elements must necessarily consider those which are natural to defined environments.     

More dams,more violence? A global analysis on resistances and repression around conflictive dams through co-produced knowledge

The present article analyses a unique database of 220 dam-related environmental conflicts, retrieved from the Global Atlas on Environmental Justice (EJAtlas), and based on knowledge co-production between academics and activists. Despite well-known controversial, social, and environmental impacts of dams, efforts to increase renewable energy generation have reinstated the interest into hydropower development globally. People affected by dams have largely denounced such ‘unsustainabilities’ through collective non-violent actions. Nevertheless, we found that repression, criminalization, violent targeting of activists and assassinations are recurrent features of conflictive dams. Violent repression is particularly high when indigenous people are involved. Indirect forms of violence are also analysed through socio-economic, environmental, and health impacts. We argue that increasing repression of the opposition against unwanted energy infrastructures does not only serve to curb specific protest actions, but also aims to delegitimize and undermine differing understanding of sustainability, epistemologies, and world views. This analysis cautions that allegedly sustainable renewables such as hydropower often replicates patterns of violence within a frame of an ‘extractivism of renewables’. We finally suggest that co-production of knowledge between scientists, activists, and communities should be largely encouraged to investigate sensitive and contentious topics in sustainability studies.     

Shifting sands: changes in community perceptions of mining in Ghana

The contribution of mining to the Ghanaian economy has been substantial. The mining sector is currently a major foreign exchange earner and contributes to long-term capital formation and fiscal payment to the state. However, the industry continues to have adverse consequences on the lives of local community dwellers, most of whom are often unprepared to deal with these impacts. Often, new mining exploration takes place on land that provides land-based livelihood to many rural people. Ironically, compensation payments seem to worsen poverty in the mining communities and bring about the social conflicts. Hence, whilst communities are highly welcoming of mining companies during exploration, they become resentful during operation of the mine. Using two communities in the Asutifi District of Ghana as case studies, this paper presents a candid assessment of the changes that occur in respondents’ perception of mining during, before and after the inception of mining. It also examines the gender dimensions of the impacts of mining activities as well as the communities’ sources of information. Since public participation is an integral part of the environmental assessment process in Ghana, the paper concludes by recommending among others, precise channels of communication and dialogue before mining begins and during the operation of the mine, to increase awareness among community members.     

Amazonian forest loss and the long reach of China’s influence

This paper explores China’s role in deforestation in Latin America. Brazil’s Amazon region contains vast natural resources including land, timber, minerals and hydroelectric potential. China’s strong economy and large demands relative to domestic supplies of these resources mean that China has become Brazil’s largest trading partner, primarily for natural resources. The paper examines how China influences deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia in a variety of ways, including through the direct influence of Chinese enterprises through land purchases and other mechanisms. This paper finds that the rapid rise in exports of soy and beef products to China are two of the major drivers of Amazonian deforestation in Brazil. The paper further argues that Chinese purchases of agricultural and forest land and Chinese imports of commodities such as timber and aluminum also cause environmental impacts in Amazonia. Chinese financing and investment in Amazonian infrastructure such as railways and mineral processing facilities have additional impacts.     

Spaces of flow as technical and cultural mediators between society and nature

Modern societies organize and consume their basic natural resources in great technical infrastructures of transport, supply, communication, and information. Together with these infrastructures a new culture emerged, which influences since the 19th century the perception of nature. This article reflects on technical infrastructures as spaces of flow, which mediate technically and culturally between society and nature and on the necessity to evolve a new cultural perception of them. The vital importance of technical spaces of flow for daily life will be shown in the first part. The second part reveals the history and some characteristics and environmental impacts of technical spaces of flow. Their threefold spatial structure and typical conflicts arising at each spatial segment will be described in the third part. The last part investigates the cultural perception of technical spaces of flow, the natural resources they mediate and the environmental impacts they cause. They are the technical spaces and flowing processes themselves, which lead to a false cultural perception of the modern interaction with nature and to the necessity of political, technical, esthetical, and planning measures in order to make spaces of flow and flowing processes “visible” and to evolve a new, sustainable consumption culture.     

Combining remote sensing and household level data for regional scale analysis of land cover change in the Brazilian Amazon

Land cover change in the Brazilian Amazon depends on the spatial variability of political, socioeconomic and biophysical factors, as well as on the land use history and its actors. A regional scale analysis was made in Rondônia State to identify possible differences in land cover change connected to spatial policies of land occupation, size and year of establishment of properties, accessibility measures and soil fertility. The analysis was made based on remote sensing data and household level data gathered with a questionnaire. Both types of analyses indicate that the highest level of total deforestation is found inside agrarian projects, especially in those established more than 20 years ago. Even though deforestation rates are similar inside and outside official settlements, inside agrarian projects forest depletion can exceed 50% at the property level within 10–14 years after establishment. The data indicate that both small-scale and medium to large-scale farmers contribute to deforestation processes in Rondônia State encouraged by spatial policies of land occupation, which provide better accessibility to forest fringes where soil fertility and forest resources are important determinants of location choice.     

Commodity production as restoration driver in the Brazilian Amazon? Pasture re-agro-forestation with cocoa (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Theobroma cacao</Emphasis>) in southern Pará

The increasing demand for agricultural commodities is a major cause of tropical deforestation. However, pressure is increasing for greater sustainability of commodity value chains. This includes the demand to establish new crop plantations and pasture areas on already deforested land so that new forest clearing for agriculture is minimized. Where tree crops are planted as part of agroforestry systems on deforested land, this amounts to a form of re-agro-forestation which can generate environmental benefits in addition to crop production. Here, we discuss a case where agroforestry systems based on cocoa (Theobroma cacao) are being established on crop and pasture land in the south of Pará state, Brazilian Amazon. The adoption of cocoa by farmers and ranchers of the region is stimulated by the coincidence of (1) favorable prospects for cocoa on the national and international markets including the expectation of a global cocoa supply gap; (2) environmental policies obliging land owners to reforest excess cleared land with native trees, with agroforests based on the native cocoa tree being an economically attractive option; and (3) biophysical conditions (especially soil fertility) favorable for growing cocoa in part of the region. We show that in the state of Pará at least 1.26 million hectares of naturally high-fertility soils in deforested areas outside legally protected and indigenous lands are potentially suitable for cocoa production with low agrochemical inputs, sufficient to make a significant contribution to closing the predicted supply gap. Their actual suitability depends on their state of degradation after years of pasture use and the availability of technologies and finance to convert them into tree crop agroforests. We discuss the significant environmental benefits of pasture re-agro-forestation with cocoa-based systems, including reduced emissions of up to 135 Mg of carbon per hectare compared to the historically common scenario of planting cocoa after forest clearing. We identify important research questions related to the scaling up of this practice and the maximization of its environmental benefits. We conclude that the coincidence of the afore-mentioned factors could drive a re-agro-forestation frontier in this part of the Amazon, with potential for positive outcomes in terms of commodity production while generating social and environmental benefits.     

Farming dynamics and social capital: A case study in the urban fringe of Mexico City

Urban development has important implications for farmland preservation and natural resource management in local peri-urban communities. Social science research on recent changes in rural landscape of mega-cities tends to be limited to case studies in Latin-American nations. This study analyses the socioecomic dynamics of farming land use and the interactions between multiple cultural variables and the environment. Fieldwork was carried out during the 2002–2003 period in rural livelihoods of the five high mountain towns of south Mexico City. Data obtained from participatory survey and ethnographic techniques were integrated to assess changes in rural landscape and resource management and how urbanization, deforestation and market oriented agricultural production result in different livelihoods within a similar urban fringe context. The dynamic of mixture of urban and rural landscapes is based on farm productivity and social capital factors. The study concludes that policy support for regional agricultural production systems through enhancing ecosystems services, environmental protection and economic development is needed for sustainable development of local communities. Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue     

Study on the Non-point Source Pollution in the Upper and Middle Reaches of the Taoer River Basin

The Taoer River basin is the epitome in the west of Northeast China and it is one of the most fragile and sensitive ecoregions. Thus, protection of water quality of the Taoer River is important. Not only point source pollution but non-point source (NPS) pollution results in deteriorating water quality. In this study, long-term hydrologic impact assessment model was used to evaluate the impacts of land use change impacts on NPS pollution, and the replacement cost method was used to calculate the economic loss caused by NPS pollution. Through analyzing the NPS pollutant loads of different land categories and the economic loss, the article puts forward that there exists a close relationship between land-use types and NPS pollution, and agricultural pollution is the main component of the NPS pollution in this area. The results of this study can provide decision-making basis for agricultural development and land-use change.     

Proximate causes of deforestation in the Bolivian lowlands: an analysis of spatial dynamics

Forests in lowland Bolivia suffer from severe deforestation caused by different types of agents and land use activities. We identify three major proximate causes of deforestation. The largest share of deforestation is attributable to the expansion of mechanized agriculture, followed by cattle ranching and small-scale agriculture. We utilize a spatially explicit multinomial logit model to analyze the determinants of each of these proximate causes of deforestation between 1992 and 2004. We substantiate the quantitative insights with a qualitative analysis of historical processes that have shaped land use patterns in the Bolivian lowlands to date. Our results suggest that the expansion of mechanized agriculture occurs mainly in response to good access to export markets, fertile soil, and intermediate rainfall conditions. Increases in small-scale agriculture are mainly associated with a humid climate, fertile soil, and proximity to local markets. Forest conversion into pastures for cattle ranching occurs mostly irrespective of environmental determinants and can mainly be explained by access to local markets. Land use restrictions, such as protected areas, seem to prevent the expansion of mechanized agriculture but have little impact on the expansion of small-scale agriculture and cattle ranching. The analysis of future deforestation trends reveals possible hotspots of future expansion for each proximate cause and specifically highlights the possible opening of new frontiers for deforestation due to mechanized agriculture. Whereas the quantitative analysis effectively elucidates the spatial patterns of recent agricultural expansion, the interpretation of long-term historic drivers reveals that the timing and quantity of forest conversion are often triggered by political interventions and historical legacies.     

Application of remote sensing techniques toward the role of traditional water bodies with respect to vegetation conditions

Sri Lanka being an agrarian country, the role of water is important for agricultural production. In Sri Lanka, various tank cascade systems, earthen dams and distribution canals have been accepted as few of the most complex ancient traditional water systems of the world. Rainfall, surface water, groundwater and runoff are linked with each other, they have close interactions to land cover classes such as forests and agriculture. The monitoring of vegetation conditions can show subsurface manifestations of groundwater. In this study, an effort to understand the role of traditional water reservoirs and groundwater recharge was made using remote sensing techniques. We have analyzed various vegetation indices such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI-2), Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), tasselled cap transformation analysis (TCA brightness, greenness and wetness) and their relations with the existence of soil, vegetation and water. Result shows that EVI, SAVI, and TCA-based Greenness Index indicates good relationship with the vegetation conditions as compared to other indices. Therefore, these indices could play a crucial role in depicting the interaction between soil, vegetation, and water. However, multi-temporal observations can provide significant results about these interactions more accurately.     

Management of catchments for the protection of water resources: drawing on the New York City watershed experience

Primary purposes for catchment management are to establish a cost-effective allocation and use of its water resources and to most effectively apply measures to protect the quantity and quality of the water produced by the catchment. For the latter purpose, diffuse sources of contamination are the greatest difficulty. Diffuse (or non-point source) water pollution poses challenges for public policy and requires innovative management approaches. Solutions ultimately require behavioural change and a broad societal response, and must be flexible and adaptive to stochastic catchment conditions and to long-term trends. Internationally, new models of governance for difficult land and water resource management problems are developing. This paper reviews the characteristics of ‘wicked’ environmental management problems and the specific policy challenges posed by diffuse water pollution. A framework for action is derived and compared to the activities and outcomes of water protection in the New York City watershed. Successes to date in this case indicate that because land management and diffuse sources of pollution have a local basis, protection of water at source necessitates the fostering of local instruments for an adaptive and twin-track strategy of applied research and stakeholder deliberation, supported by multi-level partnerships and an enabling regulatory environment. Although long running, evidence from this case alone is insufficient to establish whether potential trade-offs between water protection and the economic vitality of catchment communities can be fully resolved.     

The oil palm boom: socio-economic implications for Q’eqchi’ households in the Polochic valley,Guatemala

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) has become one of the most rapidly expanding crops in the world. Many countries have promoted its cultivation as part of a broader rural development strategy aimed at generating paid work and producing both export commodities and biofuels. However, oil palm expansion has often occurred at the expense of ecosystems and subsistence agriculture, and on lands riddled with tenure conflicts. In this article, we analyse the implications of the combined effect of labouring in oil palm plantations and land access on households, and we discuss how these implications affect human well-being in two indigenous communities of the Polochic valley, Guatemala. Combining participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and land-time budget analysis at household level, we reveal how oil palm cultivation increases incomes for plantation workers’ households, but decreases the productivity of maize cultivation, reduces the time that household members have available for other activities and, particularly, reduces women’s resting time. In contrast, households that focus more intensively on maize cultivation show higher degrees of food security and women can allocate more time to social activities. However, our results also show that maize consumption per capita has not decreased in households working in oil palm plantations since such crop is considered sacred by the Q’eqchi’ and plays a central role in their diet and culture. In conclusion, we argue that while working for an oil palm cultivation can increase specific elements of the basic material conditions for a good life, other aspects such as food security, health, freedom of choice, and social relationships can become deteriorated.     

The environmental pollution of Kandy Lake: A case study from Sri Lanka

The water pollution levels of Kandy Lake in Sri Lanka were monitored to probe the impacts and influences of urban environment in a developing country. Although Kandy Lake is a source of drinking water for the town, it was observed that a large number of effluent channels drained in to it, carrying a continuous flow of contaminated water. The hydrogeochemistry, pH, and bacterial levels were studied using lake and drain water samples. A high coliform count and a high degree of faecal contamination was observed in all water samples obtained from the lake and drains. The Cu²⁺ and F^? concentrations were relatively low and did not reach harmful levels, but were higher than that in the background. The pH of water remained almost neutral and provided ideal conditions for bacterial growth. All laboratory and field experiments indicated eutrophic conditions in the lake and the unsuitability of water in the unpurified state for drinking purposes. The purified water had a zero coliform count, but the chlorine content added was relatively high and may also prove to be a health hazard. On the whole, the polluted water in Kandy Lake indicated the adversities of human involvements with nature and provided a good case study for human influence on water pollution in a developing country.     

Land change in the southern Yucatán: case studies in land change science

The southern Yucatán Peninsular Region project was designed from the outset as an integrative, multidisciplinary program of study examining tropical deforestation in the largest track of seasonal tropical forest remaining in Mexico and in which smallholder agriculture and a major biosphere reserve are juxtaposed in regard to land uses and covers. Treating land as a coupled human–environment system, the project joins the remote sensing, environmental, social, and modeling sciences in a way that is now recognized as land change science. This paper introduces the project, the study region, and six papers that explore some of the coupled system dynamics in the region. These include the sub-regional variation in deforestation, the pan-regional adoption or anticipation of cattle ranching, the emergence of divergent household agricultural and overall livelihood strategies, the roles of cultural and household histories in agricultural livelihood choices, the temporal intensification of swidden cultivation and its implications for forest species, and carbon stocks across cultivation units, including a new econometric modeling application to forecast changes in these stocks.     

Land use history of a floodplain area during the last 200 years in the Upper-Tisza region (Hungary)

Research into landscape history makes it possible to follow landscape changes in the past and support landscape management, conservation and restoration programs. Floodplain habitats are lost, isolated and fragmented on account of land use. Nowadays, these habitats are threatened by modifications in the natural water regime, as well as agricultural and forestry practices. Floodplains have great importance because they provide a transition between aquatic habitats and terrestrial biotopes. Our analysis of aerial photographs and topographical maps revealed that the major predicted changes in the study area are related to agricultural abandonment and afforestation. The comparison of land cover maps from 1784 to 2005 showed intensification of agriculture with land cover conversions from arable land and orchards to grasslands, marshes and woodlands. The land use types that are mostly responsible for the fragmentation of the landscape are arable land, economic plantations and orchards. We found that fragmentation was greater after 1956. This was caused by socioeconomic changes and showed that the habitats of floodplains have changed intensively during the last 200 years. Knowledge of this last 200 years of history contributes to a more careful and wiser management of the region through biodiversity protection and environmental development.