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martes, 30 de abril de 2013
Restoring forest landscapes around the world: new videos show the way
"More than half of the planet's original forest cover has been lost or degraded but there is huge potential to restore forests and turn degraded areas into healthy, fertile, working landscapes that meet the needs of people and the environment. And this restoration effort is well under way.In 2011, an international assembly of high-level representatives from governments, businesses and conservation groups set a target to restore 150 million hectares of degraded lands by 2020. This agreement is called the Bonn Challenge.
To harness this public support, IUCN joined forces with Airbus to launch the Plant a Pledge campaign, which, through an online petition, empowers all people to call on governments, landowners and communities to contribute land to the Bonn Challenge.
A series of five short videos by IUCN shows successful forest restoration in action and highlights the benefits that it generates".
To harness this public support, IUCN joined forces with Airbus to launch the Plant a Pledge campaign, which, through an online petition, empowers all people to call on governments, landowners and communities to contribute land to the Bonn Challenge.
A series of five short videos by IUCN shows successful forest restoration in action and highlights the benefits that it generates".
Cambios en las montañas mediterráneas
Hacemos reseña del resumen del artículo publicado en la revista Quercus, por por Yasmina Sanjuán, José M. García-Ruiz, Santiago Beguería, Juan I. López-Moreno y José Arnáez.
Es en las montañas donde se genera la mayor parte del caudal de los ríos mediterráneos, cuyas aguas satisfacen después la demanda agrícola, urbana e industrial en las tierras bajas. Como se sabe, la evolución de los caudales está controlada por dos grupos de factores variables en el tiempo: el clima y la cubierta vegetal. De ahí que los cambios en la temperatura, las precipitaciones y la composición y densidad de la vegetación, se reflejen en aumentos o disminuciones del caudal, perturbaciones en su distribución estacional (régimen fluvial), en la magnitud y frecuencia de las avenidas y en la carga de sedimentos que transportan. Por ejemplo, diversos estudios en el ámbito mediterráneo (1) y en el Pirineo central (2) han demostrado que el caudal sigue una tendencia decreciente desde mediados de los años sesenta del siglo XX, en relación, sobre todo, con el abandono de tierras de cultivo y la consiguiente recolonización vegetal (3), que incrementa el consumo de agua por parte de la vegetación y favorece la interceptación del agua de lluvia. Se estima que esta interceptación, es decir, la cantidad de lluvia que no llega al suelo al quedar atrapada en las hojas y ramas de árboles y arbustos, representa en torno al 20% de la precipitación anual.
Los trabajos que lleva a cabo el Departamento de Procesos Geoambientales y Cambio Global del Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (CSIC) en cuencas experimentales confirman que los ambientes forestales introducen cambios hidrológicos de gran envergadura, como avenidas más moderadas y menos frecuentes y una menor producción de agua en relación con la que entra en forma de lluvia. También se ha comprobado que los antiguos campos de cultivo tienden a aproximarse en su comportamiento hidrológico a los ambientes forestales a medida que van siendo colonizados por formaciones densas de matorral y manchas de bosque. En consecuencia, las zonas erosionadas son cada vez más reducidas en extensión y están más desconectadas de la red fluvial, lo que reduce el aporte de sedimentos de los ríos hacia los embalses. No obstante, otros importantes cambios son también previsibles en el piso subalpino ante futuros escenarios de cambio climático y uso del territorio."
jueves, 25 de abril de 2013
Avances en la restauración de sistemas forestales
En la Web de la SECF está disponible el Libro de Actas de la II Reunión Conjunta del Grupo de Trabajo de REPOBLACIONES FORESTALES de la SECF y el Grupo de Trabajo de Restauración Ecológica de la Asociación Española de Ecología Terrestre "Avances en la restauración de sistemas forestales. Técnicas de implantación”, celebrada en Palencia los días 22 y 23 de noviembre de 2012.
Paisajistas para territorios y poblaciones fragmentadas
La paisajista Susana Díaz-Palacios ha publicado en su blog un nuevo e interesante post titulado "Se buscan paisajistas para territorios y poblaciones fragmentadas". Aquí dejo una muestra y el enlace.
"En la escala Hinterland– Ciudad, la ciencia del Paisaje ha aportado el concepto de Infraestructuras Verdes Urbanas, que estarían formadas por todos los sistemas naturales, semi – naturales y artificiales que se encuentran interconectados y se localizan tanto en el interior como alrededor de las zonas urbanas. Estarían constituidas por los muros verdes, cubiertas ecológicas, huertos urbanos, zonas verdes, parques periurbanos, zonas agrícolas relictas entre usos urbanos, áreas abandonadas y corredores fluviales. De esta forma en el interior de la ciudad, se rompe la fragmentación de carácter vertical, al aprovecharse la energía solar obteniéndose biomasa y en su relación con el exterior se rompe la fragmentación a escala territorial de carácter horizontal; favoreciendo además la actividad física de la población y permitiendo su vinculación afectiva con los lugares que habita".
Leer artículo completo
"En la escala Hinterland– Ciudad, la ciencia del Paisaje ha aportado el concepto de Infraestructuras Verdes Urbanas, que estarían formadas por todos los sistemas naturales, semi – naturales y artificiales que se encuentran interconectados y se localizan tanto en el interior como alrededor de las zonas urbanas. Estarían constituidas por los muros verdes, cubiertas ecológicas, huertos urbanos, zonas verdes, parques periurbanos, zonas agrícolas relictas entre usos urbanos, áreas abandonadas y corredores fluviales. De esta forma en el interior de la ciudad, se rompe la fragmentación de carácter vertical, al aprovecharse la energía solar obteniéndose biomasa y en su relación con el exterior se rompe la fragmentación a escala territorial de carácter horizontal; favoreciendo además la actividad física de la población y permitiendo su vinculación afectiva con los lugares que habita".
Leer artículo completo
lunes, 22 de abril de 2013
Boletín RIACRE
Desde hoy, están disponibles en este blogf, en el apartado "Biblioteca" (menú de la parte superior) los diferentes números del Boletín RIACRE, de la Red Iberoamericana y del Caribe de Restauración Ecológica.
jueves, 18 de abril de 2013
Desertification crisis affecting 168 countries worldwide
Severe land degradation is now affecting 168 countries across the world, according to new research released by the UN Desertification Convention (UNCCD).
The figure, based on submissions from countries to the UN, is a marked increase on the last analysis in the mid-1990s, which estimated 110 states were at risk.
In an economic analysis published last week the Convention also warns land degradation is now costing US$490 billion per year and wiping out an area three times the size of Switzerland on an annual basis.
"Land degradation and drought are impeding the development of all nations in the world," UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja told RTCC.
"This is a challenge that is causing governments to take this issue seriously, but how do you get them to take it seriously? By showing them the rate of return on restoring degraded land is one of the smartest investments of our time.
He added: "Desertification, land degradation and drought is an issue of market failure. The lack of economic market valuation has led to land being perceived as a cheap resource."
This week experts from around the world are gathering in Bonn to assess how best to encourage governments and regional leaders to conserve water and protect their farmlands.
The causes of land degradation are varied, but are widely attributed to drought, climate change, intensive farming practices and poor water management.
Desertification is low on many countries' radar – illustrated by Canada's recent withdrawal from the UNCCD – but its links to climate change and food security are starting to resonate with governments and business, particularly given fears over the world's ability to feed a soaring population.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) predicts demand for food will increase 60% by 2050. Experts say the world will need an additional 120 million hectares of agricultural land to support the required food production – that is a new farm the size of South Africa.
Meanwhile recent studies by the UK Met Office and USAID have linked the severe drought that hit East Africa in 2011 and falling rice yields in South East Asia to man-made climate change.
Since 2000, the prices of staples such as of meat, dairy, cereals and sugar have doubled, reflecting a lack of elasticity in the food market's supply chain.
Efforts to boost agricultural production often lead to deforestation, a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions.
This has a knock on effect in terms of reducing the planet's store of natural carbon sinks and destroying the 'ecosystem services' trees provide such as water storage, exacerbating the problem.
The UNCCD hopes to adopt a 'Zero Net Land Degradation by 2030′ resolution at its 2013 Conference of the Parties in Namibia later this year, and there are signs sustainable land management could form one of the Sustainable Development Goals set to be announced in 2015.
Last week former Finland President Tarja Halonen, now Chairman of the UN Global Sustainability Panel, indicated that the links between rural poverty, famine and land management should "guide the work" on those new set of targets.
"Sustainable land management, prevention of land degradation and rehabilitation of land is the most cost effective and cost beneficial ways to eradicate rural poverty," she added.
In Africa alone a UNCCD expert panel estimates 4-12% of agricultural GDP is lost due to deteriorating environmental conditions, contributing to the high levels of chronic hunger and conflict on the continent.
This situation is acute in Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya, where the combination of weak governments and a lack of annual rains linked to climate change are driving desertification levels.
In China over 400 million people are affected by soil erosion, causing annual economic losses of US$10 billion, while the UNCCD says Indian reports of degradation have increased "by a factor of six".
A Burkinabe man from the village of Selbo village, in northern Burkina Faso, gestures near grass he planted to help stop the advance of the Sahara desert. Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images
Source: Guardian Environment Network
More information here
The figure, based on submissions from countries to the UN, is a marked increase on the last analysis in the mid-1990s, which estimated 110 states were at risk.
In an economic analysis published last week the Convention also warns land degradation is now costing US$490 billion per year and wiping out an area three times the size of Switzerland on an annual basis.
"Land degradation and drought are impeding the development of all nations in the world," UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja told RTCC.
"This is a challenge that is causing governments to take this issue seriously, but how do you get them to take it seriously? By showing them the rate of return on restoring degraded land is one of the smartest investments of our time.
He added: "Desertification, land degradation and drought is an issue of market failure. The lack of economic market valuation has led to land being perceived as a cheap resource."
This week experts from around the world are gathering in Bonn to assess how best to encourage governments and regional leaders to conserve water and protect their farmlands.
The causes of land degradation are varied, but are widely attributed to drought, climate change, intensive farming practices and poor water management.
Desertification is low on many countries' radar – illustrated by Canada's recent withdrawal from the UNCCD – but its links to climate change and food security are starting to resonate with governments and business, particularly given fears over the world's ability to feed a soaring population.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) predicts demand for food will increase 60% by 2050. Experts say the world will need an additional 120 million hectares of agricultural land to support the required food production – that is a new farm the size of South Africa.
Meanwhile recent studies by the UK Met Office and USAID have linked the severe drought that hit East Africa in 2011 and falling rice yields in South East Asia to man-made climate change.
Since 2000, the prices of staples such as of meat, dairy, cereals and sugar have doubled, reflecting a lack of elasticity in the food market's supply chain.
Efforts to boost agricultural production often lead to deforestation, a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions.
This has a knock on effect in terms of reducing the planet's store of natural carbon sinks and destroying the 'ecosystem services' trees provide such as water storage, exacerbating the problem.
The UNCCD hopes to adopt a 'Zero Net Land Degradation by 2030′ resolution at its 2013 Conference of the Parties in Namibia later this year, and there are signs sustainable land management could form one of the Sustainable Development Goals set to be announced in 2015.
Last week former Finland President Tarja Halonen, now Chairman of the UN Global Sustainability Panel, indicated that the links between rural poverty, famine and land management should "guide the work" on those new set of targets.
"Sustainable land management, prevention of land degradation and rehabilitation of land is the most cost effective and cost beneficial ways to eradicate rural poverty," she added.
In Africa alone a UNCCD expert panel estimates 4-12% of agricultural GDP is lost due to deteriorating environmental conditions, contributing to the high levels of chronic hunger and conflict on the continent.
This situation is acute in Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya, where the combination of weak governments and a lack of annual rains linked to climate change are driving desertification levels.
In China over 400 million people are affected by soil erosion, causing annual economic losses of US$10 billion, while the UNCCD says Indian reports of degradation have increased "by a factor of six".
A Burkinabe man from the village of Selbo village, in northern Burkina Faso, gestures near grass he planted to help stop the advance of the Sahara desert. Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images
Source: Guardian Environment Network
More information here
viernes, 12 de abril de 2013
Segundo premio en concurso fotográfico
Con esta foto de la laguna de El Oso (Ávila) hemos quedado en el segundo puesto del Concurso de fotografía “Naturaleza en la provincia de Ávila”, enmarcado en la Semana Forestal.
lunes, 8 de abril de 2013
Erosión en La Caldera de Taburiente
Estas dos imágenes son un ejemplo de los procesos erosivos que ocurren en el Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente (isla de La Palma, Islas Canarias, España). La altura de raíces que quedan al descubierto constituyen el volumen de suelo erosionado. Las fotos son de Ramón Velasco.
Control de cañaverales en ríos
La caña (Arundo donax) es una especie invasora peligrosa y nociva. Actualmente, en los ríos españoles la situación es preocupante, por lo que se están desarrollando estudios para su erradicación. El colaborador del Grupo de Hidrología y Conservación Jesús Jiménez junto con Xosé M. Vilán publican en el último número de la revista Quercus un artículo sobre sus avances en esta materia.
Más información pinchando aquí.
Artículo completo aquí.
Más información pinchando aquí.
Artículo completo aquí.
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