Browsing by Author "Olson, Jennifer M."

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    Comparing the Kenyan and Tanzanian Slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro: Why are the Adjacent Land Uses So Distinct? Campbell LUCID WP 44
    (2004-06) Campbell, David J.; Misana, Salome B.; Olson, Jennifer M.
    One of the remarkable contemporary features of the landscape on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro is the sharp land use-land cover boundary that cuts across the gradient coinciding with the political boundary between Tanzania and Kenya. The general similarities in ecological conditions and potential land use on both the Kenyan and Tanzanian sides of the boundary raise the question as to why the contrast in land use-cover is so marked? This paper seeks to address this question. It adopts an approach that explores the recent history of land use, dynamics and distribution of wildlife, herding and farming, and the interactions among and within them, in a nested system in which local processes are examined in their wider national and international context. Both ecological and socio-economic conditions and processes define this context. Ecological characteristics include topography, rainfall, hydrology, vegetation, and fauna. There are differences between north and south sides of the mountain such as the presence of rain shadow on the northwest side, and more swamps northern side. The socio-economic context reflects the patterns of land use (farming, herding, and wildlife), interactions and exchanges between them within the study area and particularly their relationships with broader regional, national, and international processes such as trade and migration, and economic, social and environmental policies.
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    Land Use Change Analysis as an Approach for Investigating Biodiversity Loss and Land Degradation: A Targeted Research Project Proposal to UNEP-GEF. Olson LUCID WP 13
    (2000-02) Olson, Jennifer M.; Bart, Francois; Campbell, David J.; Gichohi, Helen; Maitima, Joseph; Mbonile, Milline; Misana, Salome B.; Mugisha, Sam; Tukahirwa, Joy; Reid, Robin
    The "Land Use Change Analysis as an Approach for Investigating Biodiversity Loss and Land Degradation" is a medium sized targeted research project funded by United Nations Environment Programme-Global Environment Facility (UNEP-GEF) and other donors. The project provides an umbrella for coordinated research activities occurring in sites across East Africa, and at the East Africa regional level. The project’s goal is to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and prevention of land degradation by providing useful instruments, or methodological guides, to identify and monitor changes in the landscape associated with biodiversity loss and land degradation, and to identify the root causes of those changes. The main approach has been to examine the linkages between the processes of change in biodiversity, land degradation and land use in East Africa in order to derive information and experience upon which to base the design of the guides for detecting such trends. Various ecological, socioeconomic and land use change theories and conceptual frameworks have informed the research and the guides.
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    A Research Framework to Identify the Root Causes of Land Use Change Leading to Land Degradation and Changing Biodiversity: Olson LUCID WP48
    (2004-10) Olson, Jennifer M.; Misana, Salome B.; Campbell, David J.; Mbonile, Milline; Mugisha, Sam
    Scientists, governments and NGOs have a critical need to understand the reasons behind land degradation, desertification and loss of biodiversity. Development of this understanding needs to be put on a firmer empirical and analytical footing. Current data deficiencies are due to limited biophysical and socio-economic databases that often are temporally and spatially limited. The socio-economic dimensions in particular are also often too simplistically analysed, without capturing the causal processes behind changing land management and land use practices. This approach to understanding the causes and extent of land degradation and loss of biodiversity would be greatly enhanced by the use of land use or land cover change analysis, coupled with ground assessments of human activities and biophysical measurements. Obtaining this knowledge is greatly enhanced with use of an analytical framework to guide the collection, analysis and interpretation of the root causes data and information. A framework is particularly useful for land use change research due to the complexity of the problem. This paper provides a guide and a framework for designing such research; technical methodological guides are available in other LUCID working papers and elsewhere.
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    The Spatial Patterns and Root Causes of Land Use Change in East Africa. Olson LUCID WP47 PART1
    (2004-06) Olson, Jennifer M.; Misana, Salome B.; Campbell, David J.; Mbonile, Milline; Mugisha, Sam
    The overriding finding of the LUCID land use changes analyses is how rapidly farming and agro-pastoral systems have changed. Small-scale farmers and pastoralists have changed their entire system several times since the 1950’s. New land uses have been developed, and existing land uses have been transformed. In sum, the most significant land use changes have been: 1) an expansion of cropping into grazing areas, particularly in the semi-arid to sub-humid areas, 2) an expansion of rainfed and irrigated agriculture in wetlands or along streams especially in semi-arid areas, 3) a reduction in size of many woodlands and forests on land that is not protected, 4) an intensification of land use in areas already under crops in the more humid areas, and 5) the maintenance of natural vegetation in most protected areas. These changes have allowed many more people to live on the land as farmers and agro-pastoralists, and the systems have shown flexibility and adaptability in face of changing international and national economic and political structures. Diversification, towards a mixture of crops and livestock, cash and food crops, and farm and non-farm income, has been a critical means for households to reduce their risk in face of these changes. Amid the complexity of socio-economic and environmental driving forces of the land use changes across space and time, six factors appear to explain a large part of the dynamics of land use change in East Africa: 1. Government policy, laws and regulations 2. Economic factors 3. Population growth and migration 4. Changes in land tenure arrangements 5. Access to markets 6. Environmental conditions. Despite the rapid evolution of systems responding to these forces, rural poverty is common and key environmental resources are becoming increasingly scarce, contested and/ or degraded. The LUCID team found that poverty, poor land management and land degradation are much more common and persistent in marginal environments, especially, the remote, semi-arid zones.
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    The Spatial Patterns and Root Causes of Land Use Change in East Africa: MAPS. Olson LUCID WP47 PART2
    (2004) Olson, Jennifer M.; Misana, Salome B.; Campbell, David J.; Mbonile, Milline; Mugisha, Sam