Imageries of the contested concepts “land grabbing” and “land transactions”: Implications for biofuels investments in Ghana

In Ghana, the contested concepts of “land grabbing” and “land transaction” are strategically applied by proponents of critical and win–win discourses respectively to describe outcomes of land deals. Using case study methods and discourse analysis, this paper explores four cases of biofuels investments in Ghana and the implications of the choice of concepts used to represent them. Proponents of the critical discourse use the “land grabbing” concept to invoke imageries of “illegality”, “theft” and “food insecurity” when describing land deals. Consequently, some biofuels investments have been hampered in their potential to generate profit and local employment. The biofuel investors in this study, whose projects have been labeled “land grabbing”, therefore switched to food production to downplay public scepticism. Proponents of the win–win discourse portray biofuels investments as “pro-poor” projects and use the “land transaction” concept to pre-empt possible public criticisms in the media and elsewhere. Such representations of these biofuels investments are therefore mainly intended to pre-empt criticisms or attract public praise. Some projects with potentially promising outcomes have thus been terminated, while others with problematic outcomes have continued to be promoted. In contexts characterized by weak land regulations and ambivalence towards large-scale agriculture, the trajectory and outcomes of biofuels investments are often influenced by land deal representations drawn from global discourses and how they interact with pre-existing local discourses.     

Eroding battlefields: Land degradation in Java reconsidered

Land degradation has been a major political issue in Java for decades. Its causes have generally been framed by narratives focussing on farmers’ unsustainable cultivation practices. This paper causally links land degradation with struggles over natural resources in Central Java. It presents a case study that was part of a research project combining remote sensing and political ecology to explore land use/cover change and its drivers in the catchment of the Segara Anakan lagoon. Historically rooted land conflicts have turned the land into a political battlefield, with soil erosion being the direct outcome of the political struggles. Starting from an analysis of environmental changes using satellite images and historical maps, the research explored a history of violent displacements in the frame of a series of brutal insurgencies and counterinsurgencies in the 1950/60s. In these struggles over national political power, entire villages were erased, and peasants’ land was appropriated by the state. This political history is ‘inscribed’ in today’s landscape. The contested land comprises some of the most erosion-prone sites in the entire catchment of the lagoon. The landscape of erosion is a landscape of conflict and a symbol of historical violence and injustice. In line with our research in other parts of the catchment, the case study presented here challenges dominant political discourses about the nature of upland degradation in Java. It provides insight into still unresolved and underexplored chapters of Indonesian history and presents a strong plea for combining land use change science and (historical) political ecology.     

内蒙古科尔沁右翼中旗地区孟恩陶勒盖岩体成因研究

内蒙古东部科尔沁右翼中旗地区孟恩陶勒盖岩体由二长花岗岩、 花岗闪长岩、 英云闪长岩组成,属于高钾钙碱性岩系。岩石具有SiO₂较高（平均为72.03%）,富碱并相对富K₂O（K₂O/Na₂O平均为1.08）,Mg^#较低（平均为0.30）,铝饱和指数（A/CNK）较高（平均为1.08）的特点。在ACF图解中,岩石投影在S型花岗岩中,标准矿物中普遍出现刚玉分子,岩石中可见白云母,个别可见石榴石,应属S型花岗岩范畴。岩石稀土总量较低（∑ REE平均为120.76×10^-6）,轻、 重稀土分馏明显（（La/Yb）_N=3.2～32.5）,有变化较大的负铕异常（0.2～0.8）;在微量元素蜘蛛网图上,强烈富集大离子亲石元素（如Rb、 Ba）,高场强元素（如Ti）强烈亏损,在微量元素与上陆壳标准化及（La/Yb）_N-δEu图解中,物源属于壳源。岩体Sr的含量平均为176.57×10^-6,小于300×10^-6,Yb含量平均为1.3×10^-6,小于2×10^-6,属于喜马拉雅型花岗岩,源岩可能为含石榴石和斜长石的高压麻粒岩相,形成于加厚地壳部分熔融的结果,其形成的压力可能为0.8～1.5 GPa。在R₁-R₂图解、 Yb-Ta图解中,岩石均投影在同碰撞环境。因此,该岩体是中三叠世挤压背景下同碰撞壳源S型花岗岩,为华北板块与西伯利亚板块碰撞上限的约束提供了资料。     

“山水林田湖草沙生命共同体”理念下的科尔沁沙地生态治理

“山水林田湖草沙生命共同体”理念为沙地生态环境治理指明了新方向,但是在沙区开展什么研究却是新课题。本文基于生态建设面临的挑战,从山水林田湖草沙一体化治理的角度,探析了科尔沁沙地生态治理的研究方向及应重点关注的问题。     

不同数据源下毛乌素沙地风况及输沙势特征

风是干旱、半干旱区风蚀风积地貌发育的动力基础,我们通常使用风速资料探讨区域风况,但选取不同的风速资料研究同一区域风况时结果存在差异。以毛乌素沙地为例,分别选取中国气象数据网（CMDC）的日最大风速及风向与美国国家气候数据中心（NCDC）的日8个定时观测风速及风向,对比分析起沙风特征。结果表明：（1）毛乌素沙地平均起沙风速相差较小,但起沙风频率明显在CMDC数据源中较高;（2）毛乌素沙地年起沙风向均以WNW、W和NW为主,但年起沙风次风向、不同区域夏季和秋季起沙风次风向组成均在CMDC数据源中较复杂,且起沙风主次风向频率均在CMDC数据源中较高;（3）毛乌素沙地整体均属于低风能环境,中等风向变率,锐双峰或宽单峰风况,但以最大风速计算的年输沙势约是以定时观测风速计算结果的3.3倍。基于两套数据源定量对比分析毛乌素沙地风况及输沙势,这对区域风况研究是一种新的尝试,以期提高对不同数据源提供的风速差异的认识,为今后不同区域的起沙风分析提供一定的参考。     

Profoundly entwined ecosystem services,land-use change and human well-being into sustainability management in Yushu,Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Journal of Geographical Sciences - The nexus exploration among land use/land cover change, ecosystem services and human well-being has been increasingly crucial in the context of Future Earth....     

Impact of land surface roughness on downslope windstorm modelling in the Arctic

The article considers the reasons for the underestimation of the wind speed by the WRF-ARW model when simulating downslope windstorms in the Russian Arctic. Simulation results for the Tiksi windstorm, for which sensitivity tests were carried out, appeared to be weakly dependent on the initial and boundary conditions, topography resolution, and boundary layer parameterization. Wind speed underestimation was mostly related to improper land use and the highly overestimated roughness length, which are used in the model. Reduction of the roughness length in accordance with the observations leads not only to a quantitative change in the wind speed in the boundary layer, but to qualitative changes in the dynamics of the flow. Wind underestimation in simulations with the overestimated roughness was caused by the jet stream unrealistically jumping over the lee slope and wake formation in the station area, while jet stream stayed near the surface and propagated to the station area in simulations with the modified roughness length. Modification of land use and roughness length in Tiksi and other regions where downslope windstorms are observed (Novaya Zemlya, Pevek, Wrangel Island) led to a decrease in wind speed modelling error by more than 2.5 times.     

Pathways to human well-being in the context of land acquisitions in Lao PDR

Land acquisitions are transforming land-use systems globally, and their characteristics and impacts on human well-being have been extensively analysed through local case studies and regional or global inventories. However, national-level analysis that is crucial for national policy on sustainable agricultural investments and land use is still lacking. This paper conducts an archetype analysis of a unique dataset on land concessions in Lao PDR to provide a national-scale assessment of the impacts of land acquisitions on human well-being in 294 affected villages. The results show that land acquisitions influence human well-being through 18 distinct pathways. These pathways describe how some land acquisitions enhance or maintain well-being, while others elicit adverse impacts or trade-offs between well-being dimensions, particularly food security, income, and livelihood resilience. They further reveal five archetypical processes that mediate the effects of land acquisitions on well-being through: (i) shifting access to land and natural resources; (ii) commercialization of agriculture; (iii) availability of development opportunities; (iv) environmental impacts; and (v) employment opportunities within and outside land acquisitions. These processes affect well-being by shaping livelihood portfolios and dependence on natural resources. The majority of land acquisitions trigger trade-offs or adverse impacts on well-being. The small number of villages where well-being increased despite the presence of land acquisitions were mainly shaped by narrow and rigid preconditions. The archetypical processes and the explanatory factors suggest that it is imperative to protect smallholders’ land-use rights and to avoid large-scale deals, as their adverse impacts outweigh opportunities and are more severe than the impacts of small-scale acquisitions. Employment opportunities may provide additional cash income but should not be exclusively relied upon.     

贵州省喀斯特地区土地退化与生态重建研究进展

喀斯特地区环境独特、生态脆弱，一直是科学界关注的热点地区。早期的研究多集中在喀斯特地区的水文、地质和地球化学等领域。近10多年来，喀斯特地区的土地退化乃至石漠化的问题日益严重，人类活动对生态的压力逐渐成为人们关注的焦点。我国西南喀斯特地区是世界上最大的喀斯特连续带，贫困人口集中，人口压力大，经济落后，土地退化严重，人地矛盾异常尖锐，如何开展生态建设、促进社会经济发展，成为西部大开发中最为紧迫的任务之一。贵州省是西南喀斯特地区的典型代表，部分地区已经失去了依靠自身力量进行生态恢复和发展的可能性，因而需要在科学研究的基础上，制定合理的规划和管理措施，针对性的增加外部投入，进行生态重建。对生态重建的理论、方法、技术和模式进行了总结，认为喀斯特地区土地退化是区域人地复杂巨系统结构损害和功能紊乱的集中表现，片面的环境保护和单独的生态治理工程无法解决这个系统问题，区域的生态重建需要采用系统科学的思路。在此基础上，提出喀斯特地区土地退化和生态重建研究中需要深入研究的一些问题。     

多步骤分类法在上海市闵行区土地利用/覆盖信息提取中的应用

遥感图像分类是进行土地利用/覆盖变化研究的基础。采用多步骤分类法对上海市闵行区4期遥感图像进行分类，总分类精度达到了85%。