Subcategories

• National policies - Morocco

  Authors:	Ahmed El Aich, Zoritza Kiresiewa
  Coordinating authors:	Inma Alados, Ruta Landgrebe, Sandra Nauman
  Editors:	Alexandros Kandelapas, Jane Brandt

  Editor's note 20Mar14: Source D242-5.

  The following policies were selected for analysis concern the vital resources for the Ait Arfa du Guigou, namely rangelands, agricultural land and water resources.

  Policies addressing LEDD issues in the Timahdit SES

  Policy area	Competent institution
  Land policy	Ministry of Interior
  Agricultural Policy	Ministry of Agriculture and Maritime Fisheries
  Water Policy	Ministry of Energy, Mining and Environment
  Desertification Policy	High Commission for Water, Forestry and Desertification Control (HCFDC)
  Soil Policy	Ministry of Energy, Mining and Environment and (HCFDC)

  To better understand the present structure and functioning of land and water institutions in Morocco, it is necessary to go as far back as the pre-French protectorate and even beyond, to the introduction of Islam to Morocco in the 9th century. In fact, laws and rules governing the functioning of land and water use in Morocco emerged from the historical superimposition of three bodies of laws and rules: the Orf (customary sets of rules and admitted practices), the Chraa (religious interpretation of the Islamic law and rules) and modern legislation (introduced by the French protectorate and later reinforced by Morocco after independence).

  The management of the tribal territory in the pre-colonial era was defined by the nature of the area – namely, the space in which the group had all the resources necessary for its existence (forests, water, farmland, pastures). The group managed the access of its members to different resources within its territory as well as agreements with neighbouring groups. In contrast, the Protectorate aimed to build a modern state and effected massive and irreversible changes of the territories of communities. One of the main aims of the Protectorate was to make arable land available for French settlers and also to politically control ethnic communities.

  The mixture of law (“orf” or customary), religion and modern agreements often results in conflicting provisions with regard to natural resources. While the modern state more regularly considers its own laws, but there is still resistance from the people to accept the state’s laws. As far as the rangelands are concerned, they are collective lands governed by a dated discouraging investments and management.

  On the other hand, most modern laws are oriented towards the intensification of agriculture. Policies favouring sedentary farming over nomadic herding contribute to desertification. The degradation of rangelands, leads officials from the rural Timahdit community to "push" people into moving towards agriculture or horticulture in the framework of "Plan Maroc Vert".

  The multitude of stakeholders makes management and improvement of rangelands particularly difficult. Pasture degradation is recognized as a real problem on a local level and those groups who really suffer from desertification (i.e. whose livelihoods depend on availability of pasture) have the possibility to undertake action, for example through attempting to rehabilitate transhumance, which has been the key factor for ecological integrity of the Timahdit SES in the past. Such action entails recognition of the need for management and for strengthening the jmaa, on the part of local communities. Political weakness however acts as an obstacle. It is therefore for the state to take action (alternative sources for energy to prevent use fo wood, alternatives for sheep producers, consideration of effects of drought).

  Impacts of the selected laws

  Laws	Impacts
  Policy A: Dahir of 1919	Dated law, Very effective law and negative impact on natural resources.
  Policy of "Million hectares"	Barely effective for the study area, with negative impact on natural resources.
  Agricultural Investment Code	Planning Pastoral Perimeter, with small impact on natural resources.
  Law Number 33-94	Effective law for the study area, but not effective for rangelands.
  Plan Maroc Vert	Small impact (promoting drip irrigation and cultures of high added values crops).
  Water law	Creation of association for water management and drinking water for houses in Timahdit.

   

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  5

• National policies - China

  Authors:	Hong Hu Liu
  Coordinating authors:	Constantinos Kosmas, Ruta Landgrebe, Sandra Nauman
  Editors:	Alexandros Kandelapas, Jane Brandt

  Editor's note 20Mar14: Source D142-7.

  The selection of policies for in-depth analysis for the Zigui county study site mostly concerns the period since the 1980s.

  Selection of policies for the Zigui county study site

  Horizontal policies	Development policies	Environmental policies
  Administrative policy	Regional development policy	Horizontal environmental policy	Forest policy
  Spatial planning policy	Agricultural/Rural development policy	Water policy	Soil policy, National Plan to Combat Desertification and Drought
  	Tourism policy	Nature protection (biodiversity) policy	Landscape policy

  Source: authors

  Overall, policy is a manifestation of the will of national development in various forms. Environmentally-focused policies (water, horizontal, nature protection) remain largely poorly- or unimplemented in the study site, while polices seeking to stimulate and increase economic growth (regional and rural development policy) have had more influence. Spatial planning policy impacts in the Zigui county study site demonstrate the trend toward industrial and urban development. Land use conversion toward more industry and less agricultural production is widespread and is often accompanied by land tenure issues and conflicts. Water policy assumes a subordinate position in the policy framework of the Zigui study site but has cross-policy linkages (e.g. agricultural/rural development and horizontal environmental policy). Water shortages are recognized as potentially impacting industrial development.

  The main characteristics of policy implementation are:

  • economic factors take precedence over environmental policy implementation. Environmental protection investment is also very limited compared to economic investment.
  • Management links are missing.
  • A number of environmental non-governmental organizations are active.
  • Chaotic management with multiple policies that overlap within each region, where the local governments are not enthusiastic if the policies do not suit their own interests.

  Environmental governance is difficult to prioritize within a growing economy as local governments tend to sacrifice consideration of the environment for economic and political achievements. Construction of roads and industrial plants is seen as the main driving force of economic growth.

  For infrastructure improvement and supervision of farmers, the rural development policy has a significant impact, but the structural problems in agriculture and its products are worrisome.

  The standard political institutions may provide opportunities for corruption.

  Interaction between policies and their instruments

  Policies	Spatial Planning policy (SP)	Regional development policy (RD)	Agricultural/ Rural Development policy (A/RuD)	Horizontal policy (H)	Water policy (W)
  Spatial Planning policy (SP)		Land-use change to industrial and increasingly urban contributes to regional development plans	Agricultural land being converted to industrial and construction land for urban expansion. Less arable land and production leading to alternate food security policies (increasing foreign imports)	EIA policies are theoretically peremptory in land use changes to construction (or other) projects, but economic interests are pursued over environmental issues so weak thresholds	SP may cause water conflicts if upstream and downstream water resources are not properly accounted for as well as due to lack of rational control of water resources by different uses (industrial pollution and agriculture)
  Regional development policy (RD)	Land-use change to industrial and increasingly urban contributes to regional development plans		A/RuD funding targeted toward agricultural production subsidies, so theoretically allowing for farmer income; but RD targeted toward economic development through increasing industrialization, presenting a potential conflict within rural areas	Financial incentives of RD for economic development hampers implementation of H	RD lack of infrastructure development can have negative effects on water quality and W implementation due to ineffective waste and sewage management
  Agricultural/ Rural Development policy (A/RuD)	Agricultural land being converted to industrial and construction land for urban expansion. Less arable land and production leading to alternate food security policies (increasing foreign imports)	A/RuD funding targeted toward agricultural production subsidies, so theoretically allowing for farmer income; but RD targeted toward economic development through increasing industrialization, presenting a potential conflict within rural areas		Financial incentives for increasing productivity of the agricultural industry through RuD hampers implementation of H; weak implementation of H can lead to poor environmental conditions for A/RuD	RuD lack of implementation of environmental aspects can lead to agro-industry processing wastewater affecting water resource quality; W lack of prevention of shortages hamper agricultural productivity
  Horizontal policy (H)	EIA policies are theoretically peremptory in land use changes to construction (or other) projects, but economic interests are pursued over environmental issues so weak thresholds	Financial incentives of RD for economic development hampers implementation of H	Financial incentives for increasing productivity of the agricultural industry through A/RuD hampers implementation of H; weak implementation of H can lead to poor environmental conditions for A/RuD		H implementation is insufficient for supervision of discharge permits, leading to groundwater contamination; W supports H implementation, but W insufficiently implemented for quality management
  Water policy (W)	SP may cause water conflicts if upstream and downstream water resources are not properly accounted for as well as due to lack of rational control of water resources by different uses (industrial pollution and agriculture)	RD lack of infrastructure development can have negative effects on water quality and W implementation due to ineffective waste and sewage management	RuD lack of implementation of environmental aspects can lead to agro-industry processing wastewater affecting water resource quality; W lack of prevention of shortages hamper agricultural productivity	H implementation is insufficient for supervision of discharge permits, leading to groundwater contamination; W supports H implementation, but W insufficiently implemented for quality management

  Source: authors

   

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  11

• National policies - Spain

  Authors:	Artemio Cerda, Felix Gonzalez, Paz Erea, Frederico Fillat, Maite Gartzia, Michiel Curfs, Anton Imeson
  Coordinating authors:	Constantinos Kosmas, Ruta Landgrebe, Sandra Nauman, Marit de Vries
  Editors:	Alexandros Kandelapas, Jane Brandt

  Editor's note 20Mar14: Source D142-5 and -6, D242-3, D342-4

  The LEDDRA project includes 4 study sites in Spain (2 cropland, 1 grazing land, 1 forest). Policy selection is therefore similar for all sites. However, due to increased regionalisation of the Spanish administration, Autonomous Communities may implement different measures of the same (national) policy. Policies are therefore analysed at the regional level, with appropriate reference to the study sites, as follows:

  • Policies applying to the Canyoles River Basin cropland SES (Valencia)
  • Policies applying to the Central Pyrenees grazing land SES (Aragón)
  • Policies applying to the Western Andevalo cropland SES and the Baixo Guadiana forest SES (Andalucía)

   

  	Cropland		Grazing land	Forest & shrubland
  Study site	Canyoles River Basin (Valencia)	Western Andévalo (Andalucía)	Central Pyrenees (Aragón)	Baixo Guadiana (Andalucía)
  Development	Agricultural/Rural Development	Agricultural policy	Agricultural/Rural Development PILLAR 1	Agricultural policy
  			Agricultural/Rural Development PILLAR 2	Direct aid to fruit and vegetable sector
  Environmental	Water Policy	Forest policy	Natural Heritage and Biodiversity	Forest Policy
  Horizontal	Spatial Planning Urban Planning Landscape

   

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  National policies - Spain (Valencia)
  National policies - Spain (Aragón)
  National policies - Spain (Andalucía)

  Article Count:

  12

  • National policies - Spain (Valencia)

    Editor's note 3Jun2014. Introduction needed.

     

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    Article Count:

    3

  • National policies - Spain (Aragón)

    Editor's note 3Jun14. Introduction needed.

    The most important LEDD problem affecting the study site is shrub encroachment due to abandonment of villages, declining livestock numbers and increasing human pressure. From the 1980s until 2010, more than 30% of shrubs were converted into forests.

     

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    Article Count:

    3

  • National policies - Spain (Andalucía)

    Editor's note 3Jun14. Introduction needed.

     

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    Article Count:

    6

• National policies - Italy

  Authors:	Giovanni Quaranta, Rosanna Salvia, Angelo Nolè, Giuseppe Mancino, Luca Salvati
  Coordinating authors:	Constantinos Kosmas, Agostino Ferrara, Ruta Landgrebe, Sandra Nauman, Marit de Vries
  Editors:	Alexandros Kandelapas, Jane Brandt

  Editor's note 6Jun14: Sources D142-4, D342-3

  The LEDDRA project includes two study sites in Italy (1 cropland, 1 forest). Policy selection is therefore similar for both sites. However, due to increased regionalisation of the Italian administration, regions may implement different measures of the same (national) policy. Policies are therefore analysed at the regional level, with appropriate reference to the study sites, as follows:

  • Policies applying to the Alento River Basin (Alento)
  • Policies applying to the Matera Prefecture (Matera)
    

  Summary of the policies related to the Matera SES and Alento River Basin SES

  Alento River Basin Cropland	Matera Prefecture Forest
  Agricultural/Rural development policy (Measure 216 RDP on non-productive investments)	Agricultural/Rural development policy
  Agricultural policy: decoupling direct aids to olive producers under the introduction of the Single Payment Scheme	Forest policy
  Agricultural use of oil mill waste water	Horizontal policy (EIA, SIA)
  Agri-tourism	Tourism policy
  Spatial planning	Nature protection policy
  Greenhouse structures	Soil protection policy, desertification and drought policies

  Source: Authors
  

   

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  National policies - Italy (Alento)
  National policies - Italy (Matera)

   

  Article Count:

  12

  • National policies - Italy (Alento)

    Editor's note 6Jun14. Introduction needed.

     

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    Article Count:

    6

  • National policies - Italy (Matera)

    Editor's note 6Jun14. Introduction needed.

     

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    Article Count:

    6

• Policy recommendations

  Editor's note 6Sept12: Introduction to be written. Eleni - the text of this category introduction cannot be edited from the front end. You need to copy and paste into a word document, make the corrections using track changes and email it to Jane.

   

  Note: Article titles marked ** are not available yet.

  Article Count:

  2

• National policies - Greece

  Authors:	Eleni Briassoulis, Alexandros Kandelapas
  Coordinating authors:	Constantinos Kosmas, Ruta Landgrebe, Sandra Nauman
  Editors:	Alexandros Kandelapas, Jane Brandt

  Editor's note 3Jul14: Sources D142-3 and D242-4.

  Eleven national policies have been identified as influencing, through their implementation or non-implementation, LEDD and responses to LEDD in the Cretan study sites in the Messara Valley and Asterousia. These policies have been grouped into (a) horizontal, (b) development, and (c) environmental and their description is organised around their respective objects, goals & objectives, actors and instruments (legal, institutional, financial etc.).

  Selection of National Policies

  Horizontal policies	Development policies	Environmental policies
  Administrative policy	Regional development policy	Horizontal environmental policy	Forest policy
  Spatial planning policy	Agricultural/Rural development policy	Water policy	*Soil policy, National plan to combat desertification and drought
  	Tourism policy	Nature protection (biodiversity) policy	*Landscape policy

   * These policie have not yet been implemented.

   

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  10

• EU policies & strategies
  Authors: Ruta Landgrebe, Sandra Naumann

  Editor's note 6Sept12: Source D141 Chapter 3. Eleni - the text of this category introduction cannot be edited from the front end. You need to copy and paste into a word document, make the corrections using track changes and email it to Jane.

  This section provides an overview of the EU policies, strategies and initiatives directly or indirectly pertinent to land degradation and desertification generally as well as in cropland, grazing land, forests & shrubland more specifically. The relevant policies are listed »Overview of EU policies and strategies related to LEDD. These include all existing environmental policies as well as relevant sectoral polices at the EU level. The selection of policies for the analysis is based on the ecosystem services that cropland provides, taking into consideration the global as well as national pressures on cropland resources.This chapter provides an overview of the EU policies, strategies and initiatives directly or indirectly pertinent to land degradation and desertification generally as well as in cropland more specifically. The relevant policies are listed in Table 6 below. These include all existing environmental policies as well as relevant sectoral polices at the EU level. The selection of policies for the analysis is based on the ecosystem services that cropland provides, taking into consideration the global as well as national pressures on cropland resources.

  Note: Article titles marked ** are not available yet.

  Article Count:

  14

• International agreements
  Authors: Ruta Landgrebe, Sandra Naumann
  

  Editor's note 6Sept12: Check and edit this introduction. Source D141 Chapter 2. Eleni - the text of this category introduction cannot be edited from the front end. You need to copy and paste into a word document, make the corrections using track changes and email it to Jane.

  This section of LEDDRIS provides a review and analysis of the three Rio Conventions and of the FAO Guidelines. The three conventions include:

  • United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
  • United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
  • United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

  All three international agreements relate directly or indirectly to land degradation and desertification generally as well as to LEDD in cropland more specifically. The UNCCD is selected because of its direct objective to prevent and reduce land degradation and to rehabilitate partially degraded and reclaim decertified land. The UNFCCC and the CBD, on the other hand, are considered because of their role in addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, and thus indirectly also LEDD processes. The FAO is selected as a strong stakeholder at the international and national levels: it facilitates dialogue and sets global or regional goals, calling for actions, mobilizing political will and facilitating consensus among governments and stakeholders. Land resources, management, planning and use are its main areas of work. The three international agreements and the FAO Guidelines are considered as pertinent to LEDD issues in cropland.

  These international agreements influence the respective policies at all lower levels, namely, the European (EU), national and regional levels.

  Note: Article titles marked ** are not available yet.

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  4

• Policy context
  Authors: Eleni Briassoulis, Ruta Landgrebe
  

  Editor's note 5Sep12. Text to be re-read following move of this category to main menu. Eleni - the text of this category introduction cannot be edited from the front end. You need to copy and paste into a word document, make the corrections using track changes and email it to Jane.

  Policies play a dual role in land degradation and desertification (LEDD). On the one hand, they may contribute to LEDD if they encourage resource-depleting activities and harmful land management practices. On the other hand, policies may help to combat LEDD, either directly or indirectly, if they encourage resource protection and environmentally friendly land use practices. In this latter role, policies serve as important planned and formal positive responses to LEDD. Their absence may also be one of the reasons why LEDD occurs in a region. Policies do not act alone, but rather in combination with other policies as it is the case, for exsample, with environmental and regional development policies. Moreover, policies interact with informal responses to LEDD such as activities that the users of land undertake to either combat LEDD or to satisfy individual or collective needs. This is why the analysis of the policy context occupies a central place in the study of human responses to LEDD.

  Policies are formulated at all levels, from the international through the supranational (e.g. the European Union) to the national, regional and local levels, depending on the political and administrative systems of a country. At the international level, policies are known as international agreements because the notion of policy is used only within the context of sovereign states. International agreements concern economic, social and environmental issues. The UNCCD, the UNCBD and the UNCCC are examples of such international agreements.

  LEDDRA categorizes policies into two groups: direct and indirect. The former explicitly concern the protection of land resources and the environment (e.g. water, soil, biodiversity); the latter concern general, sectoral, economic and spatial issues (such as taxation, agricultural production, regional development, spatial planning, etc.). Indirect policies affect the drivers of LEDD, thus indirectly aggravating or ameliorating LEDD in a region. The table below offers an overview of the policies that are being considered in LEDDRA.

   

  	International	European Union	National
  Direct policies	UNCCD, UNCBD, UNCCC, Forest Strategy, ....	Habitats Directive, Water Framework Directive, EIA, SEA, EU thematic strategies, ....	Environmental policies, nature protection, water protection, forest policies, ...
  Indirect policies	WTO agreements, ...	CAP, TEN, SFs, CF, enterprise policies, ...	Agricultural, trade, transportation, urban planning, regional development, ..

  To achieve their goals and objectives, policies provide for various types of policy instruments that formal and informal actors use through policy-prescribed and other procedures.

  Various types of policy instruments exist, such as legal, institutional, administrative, economic, fiscal, educational, communication, physical and technological. Most of the time, policy instruments are used in combination with one another, e.g. economic instruments are administered through particular administrative arrangements, while their provision is subject to the implementation of certain environmental regulations. Furthermore, instruments relating to more than one policy are often simultaneously in place; through their combined action, they influence the ways in which human activities are carried out and resources are used.

  The effectiveness of a policy depends on the conditions under which it is implemented, its interactions with other policies and the stakeholders involved. Policy implementation hinges on the presence of barriers preventing or opportunities favouring its uptake and application on the ground.

  LEDDRA systematically analyzes selected policies that concern three land use types – cropland, grazing land and forests & shrubland – and examines their implementation in the selected study sites. These sites are located in Spain, Greece, Italy, China and Morocco that have been chosen for their coverage of three land use types. The analysis is based on desk studies and stakeholder consultation that is conducted via interviews, surveys, stakeholder workshops and a policy conference. The choice of stakeholders and their involvement in the research process is particularly significant as they will provide important input to the research and will also facilitate the dissemination of research findings to a variety of audiences and their application after LEDDRA ends. The following table provides an overview of the stakeholder groups that are considered in LEDDRA.

   

  	Name of stakeholder group
  International level
  UN bodies	UNEP, UNCCD, FAO, etc.
  Commercial interests	WTO, etc.
  International NGOs	Greenpeace, WWF, etc.
  EU level
  EU bodies	DG-ENV, DG-Regio, etc.
  Private sector bodies at EU level	Representatives of major economic sectors (e.g. agriculture, industry, etc.)
  NGOs at EU level	EEB, etc.
  National level
  Public sector	Ministries, etc.
  Private sector	Representatives of major economic sectors (e.g. agriculture, industry, etc.)
  Civil society	Professional associations, academic and research institutions, NGOs, etc.
  Regional level
  Public sector	Regional authorities, etc.
  Private sector	Representatives of major economic sectors (e.g. agriculture, industry, etc.)
  Third sector (professional associations, NGOs, etc.)	Professional associations, regional research institutions, regional NGOs, etc.
  Local level
  Public sector	Local authorities, etc.
  Private sector	Local businesses, business associations, etc.
  Civil society	Professional associations, local research institutions, local NGOs, etc.
  Individuals	Farmers, etc.

  The analysis of the policy context is expected to:

  • assist in identifying those factors that are critical for policy implementation,
  • suggest new management tools and policy instruments that can be successfully integrated in existing policies,
  • support the formulation of policy recommendations to enhance policy effectiveness and the design of optimal response assemblages for each land theme in general and for the study sites specifically and
  • identify suitable knowledge transfer processes for different kinds of stakeholders and end users at various levels.

   

  Article Count:

  4