Environmental degradation; Farmland conservation; Land consolidation; Land redistribution; Sustainable land management; China; Europe; Africa; Conservation of Natural Resources/methods; Agriculture; Conservation of Natural Resources; Environmental Engineering; Waste Management and Disposal; Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law; General Medicine
Abstract :
[en] Land consolidation (LC) is a widespread form of rural planning and is often presented as an important tool for mitigating land degradation. We therefore decided to make a systematic review of the effects of LC projects implemented under different natural and socio-economic conditions. Our results show that there is a major dichotomy in the understanding of LC. Studies from some parts of the world, e.g., Africa and South-east Asia, mostly report on LC projects aimed principally at creating larger fields to facilitate management. Studies from other regions, notably from Europe and China, describe LC as a complex form of planning that includes various types of land management measures. The effects of LC projects on land degradation are strongly linked to the type of project. Within the sample of reviewed studies, the effect of LC projects on land degradation was ambivalent, and projects not including land management measures even tended to contribute to land degradation. Conversely, in studies where LC projects involved specific land management measures, LC had a positive effect on most land degradation types. The results of our study indicate that LC projects can help significantly to mitigate land degradation.
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Janečková Molnárová, Kristina; Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Sklenička, Petr; Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Bohnet, Iris C; Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Lowther-Harris, Fred ; Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
van den Brink, Adrianus; Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Movahhed Moghaddam, Saghi; Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Fanta, Václav; Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Zástěra, Vojtěch ; Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Azadi, Hossein ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Modélisation et développement
Language :
English
Title :
Impacts of land consolidation on land degradation: A systematic review.
The research presented in this review was funded by FRAMEwork - Farmer clusters for Realising Agrobiodiversity Management across Ecosystems (EU Horizon, 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 862731), and by CULS grant IGA 2020B0013 Protection of pluzina landscapes in the Czech Republic.
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