Participatory studies for agro-ecosystem evaluation

Goma, H.C; Rahim, Khalid Abdul; Nangendo, Grace; Riley, Janet; Stein, Alfred

doi:10.1016/s0167-8809(01)00277-8

Cited by 40 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…According to several authors, it is important to involve potential users of an assessment model as much as possible in the working group. This allows consideration of local issues, which broadens the range of performances assessed and increases confidence in the results produced and facilitates future acceptance of the model (Burford et al 2013;Goma et al 2001). Although collective construction has much promise, engaging many people makes organizing regular design workshops difficult due to temporal and geographical constraints.…”

Section: Determining Interaction Procedures Between These Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Guidelines to design models assessing agricultural sustainability, based upon feedbacks from the DEXi decision support system

Craheix¹,

Bergez²,

Angevin³

et al. 2015

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

New agricultural systems are required to satisfy societal expectations such as higher quantity and quality of agricultural products, reducing environmental impacts, and more jobs. However, identifying and implementing more suitable agricultural systems is difficult due to conflicting objectives and to the wide diversity of scientific disciplines required to solve agricultural issues. Therefore, designing models to assess the sustainability of agricultural systems requires multicriteria decision aid methods. The French agronomist community has recently developed 11 hierarchical and qualitative models to assess sustainability using the DEXi decision aid software. Here, we give guidelines to help designers to build their own specific models. First, we present the principles and applications of the DEXi software. Then, we provide guidance on the following steps of model designing: (1) initial analysis and planning of the design process, (2) selection and hierarchy of sustainability criteria, (3) indicator selection and building, (4) parameterization, (5) evaluation, and (6) model dissemination and uses. We then discuss advantages and drawbacks of this kind of modeling formalism, the role of a participatory approach, and the main properties to consider during the design process.

show abstract

Section: Determining Interaction Procedures Between These Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Guidelines to design models assessing agricultural sustainability, based upon feedbacks from the DEXi decision support system

Craheix¹,

Bergez²,

Angevin³

et al. 2015

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Fire also remains a highly debated conservation management tool (Mentis and Bailey 1990;Trollope et al 1995;van Wilgen et al 1998). It is therefore important that fire be used cautiously and, probably learning and using burning methods that have been used in the past (Goma et al 2001) will be a prerequisite. In this respect, conservationists need to focus more attention on the current vegetation management practices of local people surrounding conservation areas (Leone and Lovreglio 2004) since they have been noted to use fire destructively (Condit et al 1998;Wheater 1971).…”

Section: The Effect Of Continuing Reforestation On the Biodiversity Omentioning

confidence: 99%

Composition of woody species in a dynamic forest-woodland-savannah mosaic in Uganda: implications for conservation and management

Nangendo¹,

Steege²,

Bongers³

2006

Forest Diversity and Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Forest-woodland-savannah mosaics are a common feature in the East African landscape. For the conservation of the woody species that occur in such landscapes, the species patterns and the factors that maintain it need to be understood. We studied the woody species distribution in a forest-woodland-savannah mosaic in Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda. The existing vegetation gradients were analyzed using data from a total of 591 plots of 400 or 500 m 2 each. Remotely sensed data was used to explore current vegetation cover and the gradients there in for the whole area. A clear species gradient exists in the study area ranging from forest, where there is least disturbance, to wooded grassland, where frequent fire disturbance occurs. Most species are not limited to a specific part of the gradient although many show a maximum abundance at some point along the gradient. Fire and accessibility to the protected area were closely related to variation in species composition along the ordination axis with species like Cynometra alexandri and Uvariopsis congensis occurring at one end of the gradient and Combretum guenzi and Lonchocarpus laxiflorus at the other. The vegetation cover classes identified in the area differed in diversity, density and, especially, basal area. All vegetation cover classes, except open woodland, had indicator species. Diospyros abyssinica, Uvariopsis congensis, Holoptelea grandis and all Celtis species were the indicator species for the forest class, Terminalia velutina and Albizia grandbracteata for closed woodland, Grewia mollis and Combretum mole for very open woodland and Lonchocarpus laxiflorus, Grewia bicolor and Combretum guenzi for the wooded grassland class. Eleven of the species occurred in all cover classes and most of the species that occurred in more than one vegetation cover class showed peak abundance in a specific cover class. Species composition in the study area changes gradually from forest to savannah. Along the gradient, the cover classes are distinguishable in terms of species composition and vegetation structure. These classes are, however, interrelated in species composition. For conservation of the full range of the species within this East African landscape, the mosaic has to be managed as an integrated whole. Burning should be varied over the area with the forest not being burnt at all and the wooded grassland burnt regularly. The different vegetation types that occur between these two extremes should be maintained using a varied fire regime.

show abstract

“…The main question here is whether these differences between the two groups may influence their choice of a suitable set of ecological restoration priorities. This topic has been widely discussed in the USA, Europe and South Africa, when assessing environmental and land management strategies (Chalmers and Fabricus, 2007;Goma et al, 2001;Lamarque et al, 2011;Payton et al, 2003;Strager and Rosenberger, 2006). The debate still exists whether the opinion of the two groups should be simultaneously integrated in environmental decisionmaking (Gadgil et al, 2003, Mauro andHardison 2000;Nadasny, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Similarities in stakeholder identification of restoration targets in a semiarid area

Derak

Taiquib

Aledoc

et al. 2016

Journal of Arid Environments

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ecological restoration is a suitable tool to revert the decline in the provision of ecosystem services in semiarid areas. Stakeholder opinion has been increasingly incorporated in ecological restoration strategies. However, the debate still exists whether the opinion of scientists and managers should be integrated together with that of local stakeholders in the decision making process. We assessed the restoration priorities in a semiarid area in North Morocco according to the opinion of 67 stakeholders, including scientists and managers, direct users and collaborators. The questions consisted in (i) ranking five categories of services in addition to economic benefits, and in (ii) comparing pairs of services within each category. We checked for both cardinal and ordinal inconsistency. The results showed an overall consensus about regulating and supporting services as the most valuable categories. More specifically, the most important services were erosion and flood control, soil fertility, water supply and species richness. The accuracy of the responses of the three groups was similar as the consistency for their judgments was not significantly different. Our results bring additional proof that the opinion of scientists, managers and local stakeholders should be considered of similar interest and accuracy when defining the most suitable restoration objectives.

show abstract

Participatory studies for agro-ecosystem evaluation

Cited by 40 publications

References 10 publications

Guidelines to design models assessing agricultural sustainability, based upon feedbacks from the DEXi decision support system

Guidelines to design models assessing agricultural sustainability, based upon feedbacks from the DEXi decision support system

Composition of woody species in a dynamic forest-woodland-savannah mosaic in Uganda: implications for conservation and management

Similarities in stakeholder identification of restoration targets in a semiarid area

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About