Sustainable Solutions for Land Degradation and Its Socio-Economic Impact in Rural and Peri-Urban Areas: Looking Back and into the Future

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Land Socio-Economic and Political Issues".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 27 January 2025 | Viewed by 1315

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Science, Rhodes University, Makhanda 6139, South Africa
Interests: land degradation; herbivory; natural resource management; rangeland ecology; fire
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is essential to find sustainable solutions for land degradation in rural and peri-urban areas if we are to protect the environment, promote economic expansion, and guarantee community well-being. By implementing sustainable land management practices, it is possible to reduce land degradation and its socio-economic impact.

There are many advantages to sustainable land management. It strengthens resilience to shocks, increases productivity, decreases poverty, and improves the health of the soil, which benefits rural communities’ access to food, money, and quality of life.

This Special Issue aims to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to give insights into the fight against desertification and land degradation, which endanger the livelihoods and food security of millions of people, particularly in drylands. In the context of climate change, addressing land degradation is essential since it both influences and contributes to the phenomenon. Practices for sustainable land management are essential in the fight against land degradation and its effects on the socioeconomic system. Putting these practices into action makes it feasible to protect land resources, foster economic expansion, enhance living conditions, and guarantee environmental sustainability.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:

  • Sustainable solutions against land degradation;
  • Land management practices;
  • Reducing land degradation and its socio-economic impact;
  • Food security for rural and peri-urban areas;
  • Protecting land resources against climate change.
We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Prof. Dr. James Gambiza
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • land degradation
  • sustainable land management
  • livelihoods
  • climate change
  • biodiversity loss
  • food security
  • sustainability
  • land resources

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

19 pages, 2301 KiB  
Article
Do Differences in Modes of Production Affect the Ability of Ecological Restoration Projects to Improve Local Livelihoods?
by Bei Xiao, Dongying Zhang and Renjun Li
Land 2024, 13(10), 1563; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13101563 - 26 Sep 2024
Viewed by 617
Abstract
Large ecological restoration projects have been widely implemented across the world since the 20th century, yielding complex ecological, economic, and social results. Today, balancing ecological restoration with local people’s livelihoods is a key issue. Based on the existing literature, this study proposes a [...] Read more.
Large ecological restoration projects have been widely implemented across the world since the 20th century, yielding complex ecological, economic, and social results. Today, balancing ecological restoration with local people’s livelihoods is a key issue. Based on the existing literature, this study proposes a “shock adaptation” mechanism to describe the response of rural residents’ livelihoods to the impact of ecological restoration projects. We hypothesize that adaptability varies across the modes of production. To verify our hypothesis, we used the machine-learning-based local projection (LP) method to analyze China’s Three-North Shelter Forest Program (TNSFP), with data for 596 counties from 2001 to 2020. After the TNSFP started, rural residents’ income dropped, rose, and then exceeded the starting point over 8 years. Moreover, significant heterogeneity exists between agricultural and pastoral areas. Agricultural areas recover faster and improve livelihoods, while pastoral areas take longer to bounce back. The results confirmed the “shock adaptation” mechanism and suggested the importance of the mode of production. Policymakers should add more social–ecological indicators to their evaluation systems, allow local communities more self-management, and offer extra help to those struggling to recover from shocks. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop