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Trees in multi-Use Landscapes in Southeast Asia (TUL-SEA): A Negotiation Support Toolbox for Integrated Natural Resource Management

Das Projekt "Trees in multi-Use Landscapes in Southeast Asia (TUL-SEA): A Negotiation Support Toolbox for Integrated Natural Resource Management" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Tropische Agrarwissenschaften (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institut), Fachgebiet Pflanzenbau in den Tropen und Subtropen (490e) durchgeführt. Trees use water while storing carbon; tree crops replace natural forest while reducing poverty; market-oriented monocultures compete with risk-averse poly-cultures, trading off income and risk; plantations displace smallholders, trading off local rights and income opportunities; national reforestation programs use public resources, promising an increase in environmental services that may not happen. Trees in all these examples are closely linked to tradeoffs and conflict, exaggerated expectations and strong disappointment. Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) requires site-specific understanding of tradeoffs between and among the goods and services that trees in agro-ecosystems can provide. It is thus costly when compared to readily scalable green revolution technologies. Replicable, cost-effective approaches are needed in the hands of local professionals with interdisciplinary skills to help stakeholders sort out positive and negative effects of trees in multi-use landscapes ( agroforestry) on livelihoods, water and (agro) biodiversity, associated rights and rewards, and thus on Millenium Development Goals (reducing poverty - promoting equitable forms of globalisation - building peace). ICRAF in SE Asia has developed a negotiation support approach for reducing conflict in multi-use landscapes. The approach aims to bridge perception gaps between stakeholders (with their local, public/policy and scientific knowledge paradigms), increase recognition and respect for these multiple knowledge systems, provide quantification of tradeoffs between economic and environmental impacts at landscape scale, and allow for joint analysis of plausible scenarios. Building on the achievements of participatory rural appraisal, we can now add quantitative strengths with the toolbox for tradeoff analysis. The TUL-SEA project (NARS, ICRAF and Hohenheim) will in 3 years lead to: Tests of cost-effectiveness of appraisal tools for tradeoff analysis in a wide range of agroforestry contexts in SE Asia represented by 15 INRM case studies; building on ASB (Alternatives to Slash and Burn; http://www.asb.cgiar.org/) benchmark areas with significant positive local impacts on poverty, environment and peace (www.icraf.org/sea/Publications/searchpub.asp?publishid=1290); Enhanced national capacity in trade-off analysis, information-based INRM negotiations and ex ante impact assessments; An integrated toolbox ready for widespread application. The toolbox consists of instruments for rapid appraisal of landscape, tenure conflict, market, hydrology, agrobiodiversity and carbon stocks, and simulation models for scenario analysis of landscape-level impacts of changes in market access or agroforestry technology.

Forest Ecosystems: Vulnerability Assessment of Goods and Services (ForEVAS)

Das Projekt "Forest Ecosystems: Vulnerability Assessment of Goods and Services (ForEVAS)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung e.V. durchgeführt. The overall aim of the project ForEVAS is the evaluation of the exposure and sensitivity of goods and services provided by the forest sector to global change, the analysis of the adaptation capacity of forestry to future global change and the role of forestry in mitigation and adaptation strategies at regional scales. The demand for forest goods and services is determined by a wide array of user groups (as forest owners, ground water administration, general public seeking recreation, consumers of wood and fibre products, groups interested in nature conservation). At the same time the object of climate impact, i.e. the forests with a given species-composition and structure, are the result of landscape and forest management measures. Therefore, the capacity for adaptation to climate change has to be described in the context of a multi-purpose, multi-user setting. ForEVAS will analyse vulnerability based on indicators, criteria and decisions on demand and preferred management options that are assessed in a dialogue with user groups. To do this, methods of scenario analyses with simulation models, of multi-criteria analysis, and uncertainty analysis of decision making with regard to the adaptive measures will be applied.

Networking Forest Plantations in a crowded world - optimising ecosystem services through improved planning and management strategies (NETFOP)

Das Projekt "Networking Forest Plantations in a crowded world - optimising ecosystem services through improved planning and management strategies (NETFOP)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Freiburg, Waldbau-Institut durchgeführt. The natural forests of the world are under intense pressure as their area decreases from year to year. The loss of natural forest and its biodiversity goes along with a declining number of goods and services provided by these ecosystems. The establishment of forest plantations could provide one possible solution to influence this trend. However, these plantations cannot always compensate for the natural diversity and often do not meet the expected supply of goods and services. This project is cooperation between the Forest Research Institute Dehra Dun (India), Alterra Wageningen (the Netherlands) and the Silviculture Institute in Freiburg. It aims to develop suitable methodologies for the assessment of ecosystem goods and services provided by planted forests in selected study areas in India and Germany. The study areas in both countries cover different vegetation zones in the mountain areas (Forests of Himalayan Range in the State of Uttaranchal in India and in the Black Forest in Germany). These areas comprise of 20 km long and 30 km wide strips. Within the study area the requirements of local stakeholders as well as provision of actual ecosystem goods and services from different landscape units will be studied. In the former case, participatory appraisal methods will be applied to evaluate uses of ecosystem goods and services according to local perceptions. In India, this work will be mainly based on research at village level, while in Germany focus group discussions with representatives of different stakeholders will be organised. The actual ecosystem goods and services will be assessed through an inventory of each landscape unit (especially forests and plantations) within the action range of the villages. The collected data will be processed in a landscape model to assess the importance of forest plantations in providing goods and services, compared to other landscape units. On the basis of these results, management options will be identified to adjust plantation management according to the local demands of ecosystem goods and services. Furthermore, the results will promote general awareness about the importance of biodiversity in providing ecosystem goods and services.

European Lifestyles and Marine Ecosystems (ELME)

Das Projekt "European Lifestyles and Marine Ecosystems (ELME)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Stiftung Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung e.V. in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft (AWI) durchgeführt. Marine ecosystems posses great intrinsic value as reserves of biological diversity and are vital providers of goods and services to humanity. However, they are often disregarded during economic and social development. Europe's four sea areas; the Baltic, NE Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea have each paid a heavy price for unsustainable development within their catchments and sea areas. Their ecosystems have suffered to differing degrees from eutrophication, chemical pollution, unsustainable fisheries and physical destruction of habitats. This damage is closely connected with human lifestyles throughout the continent. The future integrity of marine systems depends on our approach to European development in the coming decades. Bringing marine ecosystems into policies for sustainable development requires better information on the causal connections between human pressures and the changing state of the systems. This is particularly important at a time when the European Community is expanding, re-examining its agricultural and chemical policies, implementing a new fisheries policy and exploring new ways to protect marine systems. ELME will enhance understanding of causality, forecast the impacts of divergent development scenarios and inform evolving Community policies. Current interdisciplinary knowledge linking lifestyles with their marine environmental consequences is widely dispersed. ELME brings together a necessarily large consortium, covering all relevant disciplines and regions. It integrates existing knowledge of environmental state changes, sectoral pressures and social and economic drivers using a common conceptual model. It will select contextual indicators for each causal level and model the relationships between them. These models will be applied to plausible development scenarios with particular focus on the accession process, to explore possible consequences for the stated four marine ecosystems. Results will be diffused to the various stakeholders/groups. Prime Contractor: University of Plymouth; Plymouth, Devon; United Kingdom.

Evaluierung und Erfassung für die EU-Richtlinie zu Endenergieeffizienz und Energiedienstleistungen (EMEEES)

Das Projekt "Evaluierung und Erfassung für die EU-Richtlinie zu Endenergieeffizienz und Energiedienstleistungen (EMEEES)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie gGmbH durchgeführt. Die Richtlinie zur Endenergieeffizienz und Energiedienstleistungen (2006/32/EG) erfordert Methoden, mit denen die aus Energiedienstleistungen und anderen Maßnahmen zur Steigerung der Energieeffizienz erreichten Energieeinsparungen, als Beitrag zur Erreichung des Richtziels von 9 Prozent Energieeinsparung bis 2016, evaluiert werden können. Ziel des Projekts war es, die Europäische Kommission durch konkrete Beratung und Ergebnisse bei der Ausarbeitung von Evaluierungsmethoden zu unterstützen. Das beinhaltete die Entwicklung von konkreten Methoden für die Auswertung einzelner Energieeffizienzprogramme, Dienstleistungen und Maßnahmen (meistens Bottom-up-Methoden), sowie von Instrumenten zur Überwachung der Gesamtwirkung aller in einem Mitgliedstaat umgesetzten Maßnahmen (Kombination von Bottom-up und Top-down). Das Wuppertal Institut hat das Projekt koordiniert, an dem 21 internationale Institutionen beteiligt waren. Das Projekt umfasste folgende Arbeitsbausteine: eine Sammlung und vergleichende Analyse von good practice Beispielen bei Erfassungs- und Evaluierungsmethoden, ein Verfahren zur Entwicklung von harmonisierten Bottom-up- und Top-down-Evaluierungsmethoden,die konkrete Entwicklung von 20 Anwendungsbeispielen für Bottom-up- und 15 Anwendungsbeispielen für Top-down-Methoden, jeweils EU-weit anwendbar und soweit möglich harmonisiert, kombinierte Top-down/Benchmarking und Bottom-up Evaluierungsmethoden, um das Erreichen des 9-Prozent-Ziels nachzuweisen, sowohl ex-ante als auch ex-post, fünf Pilotprojekte für die Erprobung von entwickelten Methoden anhand konkreter Programme, Dienstleistungen oder anderer Maßnahmen, einen Vorschlag für die Struktur und Methodik der ersten Energieeffizienz-Aktionspläne, die von den Mitgliedsstaaten eingereicht werden müssen, um die Erfüllung der Richtlinie zu belegen, einen Vorschlag für eine Methodik, die von der Kommission zur Bewertung der eingereichten Pläne und Ergebnisse genutzt werden kann, eine Plattform zum Austausch von Information mit der Kommission und Interessenvertretern und begrenzte Ad-hoc-Beratung. Der Fokus lag auf Bottom-up-Methoden, da das ODYSSEE-Konsortium bereits detaillierte Top-down-Indikatoren entwickelt hat, die nur noch weiterer Anpassung bedurften. Die unmittelbaren Ergebnisse sind (1) ein System von Bottom-up-, Top-down- und integrierten Methoden für die Evaluierung von ungefähr 20 Arten von Energieeffizienztechnologien und/oder förderlicher Maßnahmen zur Steigerung der Energieeffizienz, soweit möglich harmonisiert zwischen den Mitgliedsstaaten; das System ermöglicht es, mindestens 90 Prozent der auf das Ziel anzurechnenden Energieeinsparungen zu berechnen; (2) harmonisierte Inputdaten und Richtgrößen für die Anwendung dieser Evaluierungsmethoden; (3) eine Vorlage und ein Leitfaden für die Mitgliedstaaten für die Energieeffizienz-Aktionspläne; und (4) eine akzeptierte Methode zur Bewertung der Pläne für die Europäische Kommission.

Challenges in assessing and forcasting biodiversity and ecosystem changes in Europe (ECOCHANGE)

Das Projekt "Challenges in assessing and forcasting biodiversity and ecosystem changes in Europe (ECOCHANGE)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt für Wald, Schnee und Landschaft durchgeführt. A range of advanced modelling approaches has been used so far to assess the impact of global change on biodiversity and ecosystems. These approaches yield projections of the distribution of species, communities and biomes and the functioning of ecosystems. Future goods and services are then assessed from these projections. However, four main limitations remain associated with these approaches: 1. knowledge and data of past species distribution is still limited, yet necessary for testing them in the past before projecting them to the future; 2. we miss sound estimates of species long distance migration rates in order to assess whether species will be able to keep pace with rapid global change; 3. some key assumptions of models, such as niche stability over time and/or space, are not well tested; 4. we need more reliable estimate of uncertainties in model predictions. Our project specifically proposes to go one step further by: 1. integrating different modelling approaches currently in use (niche-based, dynamic, dispersal, etc.), and by developing robust methodologies to estimate uncertainties associated with these projections; 2. generating required new data (paleo & migration) by using innovative DNA-based approaches, and global change scenarios; 3. testing niche conservatism and temporal evolution of biological communities; 4. using the new data in improved and integrated models to make projections more robust and realistic; 5. testing these approaches specifically in ecosystems of Fennoscandia and the Alps and by expanding the current projections to all of Europe. Our consortium encompasses a wide spectrum of skills required to meet these objectives. Our final goal is to provide data, scenarios and associated confidence limits so that policy makers and land managers can use them for anticipating societal problems and for designing sustainable conservation strategies by accounting the most likely global change effects on biodiversity and ecosystems. Prime Contractor: Centre National de al Recherche Scientifique; Paris; France.

Integration of European Wetland research in a sustainable management of water cycle (EUROWET)

Das Projekt "Integration of European Wetland research in a sustainable management of water cycle (EUROWET)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières durchgeführt. The final goal of the EUROWET project is to integrate the substantial multidisciplinary European research in wetlands to help attain the sustainable management of the water cycle. This will be achieved by the translation of state-of-the art science developed at both national and European levels, into practical guidance for end-users. This will be achieved by a comprehensive review, expert assessment and a focussed dissemination strategy. There is considerable scientific knowledge and technical experience gained in diverse aspects of wetland science and management including hydrology, biogeochemistry, ecology restoration, socio-economic and policy analysis. However the results of research and management experience are still too fragmentary and not sufficiently orientated to problem-solving or simply inadequately framed to be effectively transferred to, or used by, stakeholders and policy-makers. Simultaneously the general outcome of the scientific research has been increased awareness of the significance of wetlands in delivering goods and services important for human welfare including quality of life, biodiversity conservation and maintenance or enhancement of environment quality. Despite this wetlands continue to be degraded and lost throughout Europe without adequate consideration of the wider benefits to be achieved from this management. The new Water Framework Directive (WFD) promotes a unique opportunity to redress this problem by means of the holistic, integrated approach to water management. There is currently in preparation horizontal guidance on Wetlands as part of the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) process. There is however work still to be done on providing more specific scientific and technical guidance on the effective implementation of the Directive with respect to wetlands. This is particularly the case in relation to Integrated River Management, the CIS cluster within which wetlands are being considered in the WFD.

Global Change in Mountain Regions: An Integrated Assessment of Causes and Consequences (GLOCHAMORE)

Das Projekt "Global Change in Mountain Regions: An Integrated Assessment of Causes and Consequences (GLOCHAMORE)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Wien, Department für Naturschutzbiologie, Vegetations- und Landschaftsökologie durchgeführt. Many of the world's mountain ecosystems are moving along trajectories that couple high rates of environmental change with strong economic changes, whose collective effect may alter the ability of mountain regions to provide critical goods and services, both to mountain inhabitants and lowland communities. In order to address the environmental challenges facing the world's mountain regions in the 21st Century, we will develop an integrative research strategy for detecting signals of global environmental change in mountain environments, for defining the consequences of these changes for mountain regions as well as lowland areas dependent on mountain resources, and for facilitating the development of sustainable resource management regimes for mountain regions. Following a kick-off meeting, the details of the research strategy will be formulated through a series of product-oriented workshops dedicated to: 1) Long-term Monitoring, 2) Integrated Modelling, 3) Process Studies, and 4) Sustainable Development. The concepts developed in these Thematic Workshops will be revisited, refined and synthesised during a final Open Science Conference on Global Change in Mountain Regions. By gearing the research strategy toward implementation in mountain Biosphere Reserves, the project will take advantage of the existing UNESCO infrastructure and ongoing Global Change research in these areas. The structure of UNESCO mountain Biosphere Reserves provides ideal natural Global Change laboratories with core protected mountainous areas surrounded by lower-elevation buffer zones that are more strongly influenced by human activities. European scientific participation, capacity building and leadership will be promoted by adapting the research strategy for implementation in UNESCO's mountain Biosphere Reserves in both developed and developing countries. This will be achieved through the active participation of Biosphere Reserve managers in the development of the research strategy.

Methodische Grundlagen und Daten zur Multifunktionalität der Landwirtschaft und des ländlichen Raumes (MULTAGRI)

Das Projekt "Methodische Grundlagen und Daten zur Multifunktionalität der Landwirtschaft und des ländlichen Raumes (MULTAGRI)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Centre National du Machinisme Agricole, du Génie Rural, des Eaux et des Forêts durchgeführt. One of the guiding principles of Priority 6.3 Global Change and Ecosystems is to promote scientific research to provide support to the EU Strategy for Sustainable Development. The capitalisation process, in the way that it has been conceived in Multagri SSA, addresses several aspects directly related with the objectives of this Strategy. The aim of this proposal is to provide a complete overview of the research that has been done, particulary in Europe, in the different aspects related to Multifonctionality of agriculture. The essential approach adopted in this initiative is founded on the premise that for agriculture to be sustainable its multifonctional dimension must be acknowledged and promoted. Previous works have primitted the identification of the main axes in which the state-of-the-art review will be developed. The proposed framework of analysis has considered mutiple topics that are the subject of research on multifunctionality of agriculture and shape some of the current debates on this notion, such as definitions and interpretations of this term, production systems that privilege the provision of certain functions, methodologies and tools to assess the different roles of agriculture, institutional settings to acknowledge them, societal demands for additional goods and services from agriculture and related policy making and evaluation. Issues such as equitable regional development, food secutity and safety, natural resource conservation, rural income generation and global sustainability - explicitly revealed in the Strategy for Sustainable Development as key concerns - , are covered by the concept of Multifunctionality of agriculture, and therefore, make part of the analysis of the state-of-the - art proposed by Multagri SSA. By providing a set of recommendations on futur research, this proposal will contribute to strenghten the necessary scientific knowledge for the future orientation of the SD strategy and the 6th FP. Prime Contractor: Centre National du Machinisme Agricole, du Genie Rural, des Eaux et des Forets; Antony, France.

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