Report and synthesis of Stakeholder Workshop 1

Table of Contents

1. Authors
2. Introduction
   1. Background
   2. Objectives
3. Workshops
   1. How the methodology was used
   2. Participants
   3. Duration
4. Results from the single exercises
   1. Causes and effects of land degradation identified through the water and biomass cycles
   2. Local indicators
   3. Stakeholders' influence on, and motivation for sustainable land management
   4. Assessment of locally applied technologies and approaches
   5. Outline of an overall strategy for sustainable land management
5. Workshop evaluation
   1. Stakeholder involvement and participation
   2. Atmosphere
   3. Methodology
   4. Mutual learning
   5. Objectives and results
   6. Recommendations from study sites
6. Overall conclusions
   1. Have the objectives been attained?
   2. Strengths, weaknesses and challenges
   3. Limitations and problems
7. Annex: List of stakeholder workshop reports

Causes and effects of land degradation identified through the water and biomass cycles

'The water circulation inside the soil and along the slope is not perceived by the peasants' (Morocco).

The objectives of Exercise 2 were:

• To understand land degradation processes and their dynamics (space and time) in the local context.
• To understand links and relations between the water and biomass cycles.
• Identify disturbances of the cycles, understand their causes and effects.
• Identify already applied solutions to disturbances and land degradation.

Exercise 2 was a long exercise, divided up in different sub-steps. The exercise entailed transect walks and the development of the locally specific water and biomass cycle as a vehicle to identify causes and effects of degradation as well as already applied solutions. During the transect walk, the groups had the task to observe, discuss and document (with photographs) where and why which disturbances in the water and biomass cycle occur and what solutions are already being applied locally. The photos taken during the transect walk afterwards helped to visualize the disturbances and solutions of the local cycles. The cycle were completed by influencing legal, institutional, and socio-economic aspects before a resulting diagnosis of the cycle was done, including the prioritization of the 3 main problems and the 3 most important solutions.

The work with the cycles was actually done in almost all study sites, but not always including a transect walk. In the Russian Saratov site, frost and harsh winter conditions did not allow going out and they made a virtual transect walk based on satellite images and maps. We don't know exactly at which study sites the participants went outside during the workshop and at which they didn't.

This exercise and its work with the photographs and cycles were generally perceived as very helpful and enriching. From the evaluation we conclude that it is probably the most important and the most powerful step during the stakeholder workshop.

A. Disturbances identified in the water and biomass cycles

Analysis based on the information of all sites except Spain, Mexico, Italy, Crete. In the case of Spain, the exercise was conducted but not documented in the workshop report. Other reports also contain only limited information regarding the details of the cycles and therefore seem underrepresented in the analysis below.

Unsustainable use of natural resources leads to disturbances in natural cycles that negatively influence their performance. Desertification and land degradation are the effects of such disturbed cycles. The disturbances identified through exercise 2 within the water and biomass cycles mostly reflect the typical situation of desertification in semi-arid to subhumid areas.

Water cycle:

The principle of the water cycle is basically the same all over the world. Differences exist regarding time periods, specific processes and intensity.

The list below shows the typical situations in the DESIRE study sites (which were identified by all sites) with some special characteristics specifically mentioned in only some sites.

• Precipitation: low and irregular rainfall (all sites), heavy rains and flash floods (Morocco, Cape Verde), low amount during vegetation period (Djanybek), high amount in winter in form of snow (Djanybek), shortage in winter and spring before planting (China)
• Water infiltration: reduced infiltration causing runoff (all sites), weak permeability (Morocco), soil compaction (Morocco), high water absorption of sandy soils (Morocco), soil crusting (Morocco, Tunisia, Djanybek, Saratov).
• Water retention in the soil: low water retention capacity of the soils (all sites), lack of organic matter (all sites), saline and sodic soils (Nestos), poor drainage (Nestos), formation of impermeable clay layer (Nestos), low soil permeability (Djanybek)
• Recharge of groundwater and sources: reduced recharge (all sites), reduced underground water and sources drainage (Cape Verde), low water permeability (Eskisehir, Portugal), high recharge and rising of groundwater table due to less frozen soils (Djanybek, Saratov)
• Evaporation: increased evaporation (all sites), accumulation of soluble salts in surface soil (Nestos, Djanybek, Saratov), increasing temperature (Chile)

In general the water cycle is characterized in all sites by very few and increasingly less water availability at all stages, i.e. low / irregular rainfall, reduced infiltration, low water retention capacity of the soil, reduced recharge of groundwater and sources and increased evaporation. Too much water at certain moments in the year (heavy storms, flash floods) does not mitigated the situation, but rather cause heavy erosion. Exceptions are those sites where irrigation is practiced, which suffer from too much groundwater and therefore salinisation (Djanybek, Saratov and Nestos).

Biomass cycle:

The biomass cycle resembles the basic life cycle and is very closely linked to the water and nutrient cycle. With the water and the biomass cycle two main issues concerning agricultural production, namely soil fertility and water availability are covered; the nutrient cycle was therefore not included in the workshop.

The list below shows the typical situations in the DESIRE study sites (which were identified by all sites) with some special characteristics specifically mentioned in some sites.

• Germination / regeneration of vegetation cover: low regeneration capacity (all sites), weak productivity of soils (organic matter and nutrients) (Karapinar), bad germination of seeds (China, Djanybek, Saratov), low survival rate of seedlings (China), false start of germination (Chile)
• Vegetation growth: poor and slow vegetation growth (all sites), low biomass (all sites), low density of plants (Morocco)
• Maturing of plants / seeds and fruits: destruction / overexploitation of vegetation cover (all sites), reduced yields (all sites), maturity deficiency of grains (Morocco), stunted growth (Botswana), low and poor quality of wild fruits (Botswana)
• Withering and dying of plants: early / precocious withering of plants (all sites)
• Decomposition / mineralization: decelerated or incomplete decomposition and mineralization (all sites), accelerated decomposition and non-optimum mineralization rate (Eskisehir), low biomass (China, Chile)

The biomass cycle in desertification prone areas is disturbed by reduced vegetation growth and decomposition, but also by the affected proper timing of the cycle processes, e.g. germination at the wrong moment. Another disturbance is related to the type of vegetation as the (changed) conditions are favouring undesirable species, e.g. non palatable species in grazing land or weeds in cropland.

It is remarkable that in almost all study sites the basic model cycle from the guidelines were used during the workshops, without making any site-specific adaptations. On one hand this can be explained by the fact that these principles are applicable everywhere, but on the other hand it might also indicate that the guidelines were sometimes used a bit too 'mechanically'.

B. Causes and effects of land degradation (impact chains)

All typical impact chains for desertification prone areas were mentioned, some very detailed, others in a very general manner. Below, the most cited ones and some specific characteristics mentioned in selected sites.

Table 5: Causes of land degradation

Table 6: Effects of land degradation

The issues mentioned at the end of the above table are mainly socio-economic effects. The same points are sometimes perceived as effects, and as constraints. More information on these factors being perceived as constraints can be found in the next chapter. Sometimes this distinction is not explicitly made. An example for this is the issue 'water conflicts' which is identified as an effect of degradation in Tunisia, but as a constraint to sustainable land management in Cape Verde and Djanybek.

C. Socio-cultural, economic, political, and legal aspects

This analysis covers 12 study sites (all except Mexico, Italy, Crete, Nestos).

Besides the causes identified above, which have a direct influence on the water and biomass cycles, external factors may indirectly influence the management and therefore the quality / condition of the cycles. These are socio-cultural, economic, political and legal factors which can considerably influence the bio-physical processes of the cycles. The influence may be positive or negative. Typical of these external factors are that (individual) land users hardly can change them as these are framework conditions that shape land use in the local context.

Table 7: Socio-cultural, economic, political and legal aspects

All aspects listed in table 7 refer to negative influences on the water and biomass cycles. Positive aspects were not mentioned by any study site.

Remarkably, the following issues which often are constraints have not been mentioned in any of the study sites: gender issues, division of labour, access to markets, land market and speculation.

Analysis

Migration is a major problem in many sites. People are migrating out of the rural areas due to low economic productivity and perspectives (push factors) and due to e.g. the attractiveness of urban areas (pull factors). In some sites, migration is also caused by the advanced stage of degradation, such as in Morocco. A direct effect of the migration is that the ones remaining in the rural agricultural areas are mainly elderly people. Aging of the rural population forms a major constraint for land management especially in the European sites of Spain and Portugal. The only country mentioning population increase as an important factor is China, but aging there at the same time seems to be a problem too. Related to migration and aging are also problems of loss of cultural capital and loss of knowledge related to traditional land management practices (e.g. old water harvesting structure in Spain).

Additional information regarding these issues was found in other sections of the workshop reports. Table 8 summarises demographic issues identified as constraints in exercise 2, and additional demographic aspects found in other sections of the reports.

Table 8: Demographic issues: ageing of rural population, migration, population pressure

Apparently, population pressure is not only a problem in China, as mentioned in exercise 2, but also in Cape Verde.

Poverty is an important issue in the developing countries and was mentioned in all African study sites as well as in one of the Turkish (Eskisehir) and in China. In Botswana, poverty is indicated as a cause of degradation, but at the same time as a constraint to conservation, as poverty increases the dependency on natural resources. Poverty is very often perceived as one of the main drivers of degradation and the analysis here seems to confirm this or at least to support this understanding.

All these constraints highlighted so far are not changing rapidly and are very difficult to tackle. Lack of education, an issue which could easily be mitigated by training, does not seem to be a problem in many sites, as it was only mentioned in 3 sites. The table shows also that agricultural cooperatives and civil society organisations are identified as being very important for SLM. The lack of such local associations was mentioned in 5 sites.

Subsidies are either absent (3 sites) or wrong (3 sites), and therefore influences half of the sites' land management. Almost the same sites also complain about missing support and interest from the government and their technical services. Bad governance and lack of implementation of agricultural policies are mentioned in 5 sites. This also leads to the lack and poor implementation of laws, which was mentioned in another 5 sites. This means, that such governance and legal issues are a constraint in almost all sites (9 out of 12), except in Chile, Spain and Morocco.

Land tenure, mainly the splitting up of land due to inheritance rules, is a problem in 4 sites. A look at other sections of the reports provides more information related to land tenure issues. Table 9 includes land tenure related aspects identified as constraints in exercise 2, and additional land tenure related information found in other sections of the reports.

Table 9: Land tenure

D. Already applied solutions at the local level

The range of the number of already applied solutions in the study sites varies enormously. Some study sites are rich in long-term experiences with conservation measures, whereas others state that the land users are mostly doing nothing to combat land degradation and desertification. For example, almost 20 local measures were mentioned in Spain. On the other hand, especially in both Turkish study sites, it was mentioned that the land users would not have any effectively applied solutions at the local level. In the two Russian sites, only green manure and drainage system seems to be practiced so far. All the other study sites mention between 4 and 10 applied local solutions.

From long-term experience we know, that people often only think of strongly visible and well-known measures (e.g. terraces) and neglect or forget the small local innovations or even long-term traditions (e.g. small water harvesting structures, tillage practices, rotation and fallow systems, etc). How far this 'selective perception' also applies to the workshop participants and study site teams in the DESIRE study sites is not exactly known. However, it has to be assumed that in some cases it could have played a role.

The prioritized solutions are discussed in chapter 3.4.