To study the magnitude of land degradation, desertification or resilience in Montenegro throughout the 20 th and early 21 st century, we re-photographed the landscapes pictured on 48 historical photographs dating back to periods between 1890 and 1985, and analysed in a semiquantitative way the land use and cover changes that occurred through an expert rating system (six correspondents). Time series of hydrology and population density were analysed for the period since 1948, and compared to the changes observed through repeat photography. Overall, vegetation cover has strongly increased and barren areas occupy less space. The industrialisation that expanded in the 1950s led to strong urbanisation. Despite steadily increasing population (with the notable exception of the Mountain region), the vegetation cover has increased strongly and everywhere. This denser vegetation has led to higher infiltration of rainfall. Partitioning of infiltration water led on one hand to deep infiltration and better low flows and on the other hand to increased evapotranspiration at the boundary layer, leading to decreased total runoff coefficients. In the Mountain region, runoff coefficients have increased, which may be related to earlier snowmelt. Overall, the findings of this study are in line with observations elsewhere in the former SFR of Yugoslavia that, as a result of erosion control and significant vegetation regrowth, the changes observed over a century point to land resilience and not to desertification.Key words: Discharge, Land degradation, Population growth, Repeat photography, Runoff coefficient IntroductionRecent studies discuss (Brandt and Thornes, 1996;Geeson et al., 2002;Hill et al., 2008;Hooke, 2006;Kosmas et al., 1997;Le Houérou, 1989), and sometimes question (Butzer, 2005;Grove and Rackham, 2001), the magnitude of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean basin, the human responses, and the linkages with land use and cover (LUC) changes. This is an actual environmental issue, where mostly the strong evidence for trends in desertification/

This paper presents a case study of the village of Mrkovi in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, showing the importance of landscape identification and assessment in planning the revitalization and development of Mediterranean rural settlements. The research revealed the methods of identification and evaluation of different landscape types. Moreover, it showed how such an approach could considerably contribute to the preservation of the space's identity and quality by taking into account the existing characteristics of the space or the relationship between cultural and natural heritage. The identification of the landscape types was followed by the evaluation of individual elements and assessment of vulnerability in relation to the space's natural, cultural, and visual quality. The first step in the process of preserving the elements that contribute to the landscape's identity was the spatial identification of the cultural pattern of traditional terraces with drystone walls. The results of analysis indicate a high risk of degradation of the basic landscape value. The effects of future interventions in the space, especially the planned construction of a tourist resort, can be mitigated if they comply with the guidelines related to the rational use of the space and delimitation of the construction zones. This paper points out the importance of a responsible attitude and planned approach regarding the cultural and natural landscape of Mediterranean rural settlements.2 of 15 development possibilities at the landscape level and proposed solutions for the preservation of the elements of the structure of the landscape could make a big contribution to the cultural landscape's identity and/or biodiversity [2,3].Geographical position of the Boka Kotorska Bay and its specific nature caused the formation of human settlements in this area in the remote past, as evidenced by cultural heritage, which is very important for the study of the history of a particular space. Villages in Boka Kotorska, over its long development history, have changed much less than the towns, and that is why the villages have preserved homogeneous traditional and conservative features.At their very beginning, the villages in Boka Kotorska were made up of several houses belonging to the same clan or kinship community. That is why many of today's villages and hamlets are named after the first families that were their original inhabitants. Villages in Boka mostly belong to so-called dispersed villages. The houses in the entire village or in some of its parts are scattered without any order. This is how most of the villages in the hills are organized. The villages are near the road, and there are plenty of houses on the slopes of the hills. Parts of the village are separated by valleys, streams, hills, and hill slopes. "The original inhabitants preferred to have their houses isolated, with the land around the house, and to be away from the road because it was believed that the house near the road partly belongs to someone else" [4].The position of the village was...

Landslides are a worldwide occurring hazard that can produce economic impact and even fatalities. The collection and monitoring of data regarding active landslides are important for predicting future landslides in that region, and is critical to minimize the losses caused. In the expanding metropolitan area of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, drastic changes of land use and increasement of construction zones represent a current evolution issue. The urban sprawl phenomenon imposed the expansion of the city limits and outside the old built-up area, and due to the hilly terrain and geomorphology, natural hazards such as landslides and erosion processes are susceptible to appearance or reactivation. The study incorporates interdisciplinary research composed of evaluation of a landslide susceptible hotspot located in an area of interest to the municipality by means of geodetic and topographic precise measurements, combined with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) monitoring of surface movement and GIS spatial analysis. The data obtained in a span of over two years reveal that the investigated slope is subjected to a shallow active landslide of a few centimeters per year, and based on the 64 individual placed landmarks the highest displacement value was 67 mm. Through geomatic tools the exchange rate of the slope surface was evaluated with comprehensive volume calculations, such as displacement, erosion, and accumulation that illustrate a volume of material displaced of 107.2 m3 and the accumulated one of 55.7 m3. The results provide valuable insight into the complex landslide and erosion dynamics that are crucial when predicting future movements and prevention measures.

The Transylvanian region of Romania is a place of rich history since ancient times, where the original natural environment around architectural heritage sites or buildings has not been severely altered by urban development. Unfortunately, many such places are left by the authorities to degrade or totally collapse for lack of funds, vision or initiatives. The current paper addresses the potential of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the assessment of a viable and feasible prospect of restoration on a 19th century mansion that belonged to a nobiliary family. UAV use is rising in many industries and has become very popular in the last decade, but for survey engineering and related domains they represent a quantum leap in technology. Integrating UAV-acquired data and structure from motion software, has enabled modern techniques to obtain useful metrics from the field, accurate photorealistic 3D models for visual inspection, structural damage analyses, architectural rehabilitation-restoration, conservation and spatial analysis of the surrounding area. In this work a socio-cultural planning and design process is explored and presented to improve the local community and inclusion in a tourist circuit based on the regional potential, as well as an evaluation of accessibility derived from a vector-raster database that highlights the central position of the cultural heritage in regards to the axis of circulation between the important metropolitan areas and the local tourist attractions. This established workflow of modern topographic and construction measurements is fully integrable into the architectural process, building information modelling, heritage conservation and reconstruction.

There is a great need for an efficient geographic information system (GIS) implementation in interdisciplinary domains for providing useful information for scientific and managerial processes of further improving land-use planning and decision making in horticulture. The main goal of this study was the creation of a digital map and GIS application for the Fruit Research Station in Cluj-Napoca, NorthWestern Romania. The benefit of this implementation is a fully integrated land information system, where information is accessed omnipresent for processing, value adding and further analysis. The created model is as a modern solution for obsolete analogue maps, sketches, inventory and land records that are usually unreliable and poorly represented in agricultural productive units. Using the created GIS database and spatial analysis there were obtained a very useful orchard mappings that incorporate management and economical attributes essential in land planning. Future focus and development will be mainly on system maintenance, including system enhancement and upgrading rather than to create a new systems. Under the constant pressures of urban sprawl and land degradation in this area, the paper conducts towards a guideline and model for an effective use of land resources to the best advantage and capacity.