This study is a part of the research project on “Eco-management in agriculture” funded by the Agricultural Academy with period of implementation 2013-2014. This report summarizes the results of the first year and includes: - state of the studies in the area; - theoretical and methodological...

We review the literature on the distribution of farm sizes in sub-Saharan Africa, trends over time, drivers of change in farm structure, and effects on agricultural transformation, and present new evidence for six countries. While it is widely viewed that African agriculture is dominated by...

Drought, land degradation, and desertification are global problems which involve different climatic, soil, vegetation, agricultural and demographic factors. Originally attributed to the most arid regions of the world, the risk of desertification has rapidly increased in temperate regions. In...

Questo lavoro analizza la distribuzione spaziale dell’impermeabilizzazione del suolo in Italia attraverso un approccio esplorativo di statistica multivariata e analisi spaziale. Lo studio dimostra come semplici indicatori elaborati a scala locale possano fornire indicazioni per l’analisi...

The conversion of natural areas to human-dominated land uses results in loss, degradation, and fragmentation of wildlife habitat which often lead to species endangerment and local extinction. The risk of endangerment may be particularly acute for species that exist as metapopulations in which...

There has been considerable recent interest in the idea that farms can produce both food and a variety of ecosystem services. One particularly intriguing notion is that farmers might find it in their own interest to adopt an “ecosystem services” approach to production in preference to a...

The world has pledged to protect 30 percent of its land and waters by 2030 to halt the rapid deterioration of critical ecosystems. We summarize the state of knowledge about the impacts of protected area policies, with a focus on deforestation and vegetation cover. We discuss critical issues...

The European Union designates 26% of its landmass as a protected area, limiting economic development to favor biodiversity. This paper uses the staggered introduction of protected-area policies between 1985 and 2020 to study the selection of land for protection and the causal effect of...

Changes in the biophysical characteristics of natural habitats – that can be measured with data on land cover – are the best proxy to monitor pressures on ecosystems and biodiversity. This paper presents a suite of indicators that track land cover change over time in a globally consistent...

This paper details a methodology for calculating the extent of terrestrial and marine protected areas recorded in the World Database on Protected Areas by country, type and IUCN management categories. The method allows the data on protected areas to be summarised in a harmonised and more...