LAND USE AND LAND DEGRADATION ISSUES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE UNESCO “MAN & BIOSPHERE” PROGRAMME

Abstract

A brief historical overview of approaches to study the problem of land use and land degradation in the MAB UNESCO program is provided. Over the past 50 years these issues remain important although the general strategic approach to their research and solving has changed from a multilateral study of land management and land degradation in different geographic and socio-economic conditions with an emphasis on natural diversity, to practices and approaches of sustainable land management in biosphere reserves, as reflected in MAB Strategy (2015-2025) and Lima Action Plan (2016-2025). Many of the MAB initiatives in the field of sustainable land management and combating land degradation have been further reflected and revised in different international programs and conventions. The development of these approaches and the integration of the MAB program with other modern activities can significantly increase the effectiveness of the results of Strategic Direction “A” of the Lima Action Plan on the use of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves as models for sustainable development. Five objectives are proposed for closer cooperation of the MAB program and its network of biosphere reserves with other international and national measures for promoting sustainable land management practices and combating land degradation: 1) using biosphere reserves as priority sites and observatories for comparative assessments of indicators of land degradation neutrality (LDN) for protected areas and adjacent territories in similar bioclimatic conditions; 2) use of data obtained through the series of observations in the territory of protected areas as the most important additional or alternative indicators and measures for the LDN interpretation; 3) biosphere reserves as models for selecting effective solutions reflecting the triad of adaptive actions to avoid degradation, reduce the rate of degradation and restore previously degraded lands; 4) achieving LDN on the territory of biosphere reserves through the implementation of the Aichi biodiversity targets; 5) the use of LDN as a criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of the activities of biosphere reserves. Preliminary results of the LDN assessment for Central Chernozem State Natural Biosphere Reserve and Middle Volga Integrated Biosphere Reserve and their adjacent territories provided to demonstrate the possibility of performing some of the objectives listed.

Experience in application and adaptation of the land degradation neutrality concept in the Russian Federation

“…At the same time, almost all such studies noted that specific data obtained from global databases differ to various extents from ground and statistical data; also, the Trends.Earth platform, which uses a relatively low data resolution (250–300 m) was deemed problematic for local assessment due to the possible mismatch of boundaries and erroneous interpretation of satellite imagery (Figure 2). Additional studies displayed that the use of LANDSAT satellite imagery and neural networks for image interpretation, as well as the clarification of land types list, provide an opportunity to increase the mapping accuracy by at least 70‐times and simultaneously correct the interpretation of positive and negative dynamics for a specific site (Kust et al, 2021). Although this approach is relatively laborious, it becomes useful for local LDN estimates (Figures 3, 4) (RSF, 2020).…”

“…Pilot study for local assessment of land cover change (Middle Volga Biosphere Reserve area, Samara region), by (Kust et al, 2021). (a).…”

“…(Zolotov et al, 2020), (Kust et al, 2021) have emphasized the possibility of using the state of protected areas (PA, area in the region, and internal stability) to characterize changes in land cover. For example, the total area of PAs in the Altai region due to the establishment of new PAs and expansion of existing PAs will increase from 795.55 thousand hectares or 4.74% of the region's territory to 1616.6 thousand hectares (9.6% of the Region's territory) and preserve the most significant natural complexes.…”

“…It was determined (Figure 3) that the PA territories can be considered as observatories for comparative assessments of LDN indicators for adjacent territories. For the studied PAs themselves, the baseline period of 15 years is sufficient to assess their dynamics in the absence of extreme impacts (Kust et al, 2021). (Lobkovskiy et al 2020b) drew attention to the fact that, in addition to the temporal and ecosystem factors of baseline setting, the duration of baseline period also depends on the spatial and scale fac- by a 60-year cycle (Sizov et al, 2020).…”

“…established monitoring system, which is currently under development (Unified System 2021). For forest areas, additional LDN indicators were proposed: level of biological diversity (indicated by species diversity of trees and shrubs)(Ptichnikov & Martynyuk, 2020), and the types of recovery dynamics (also accompanied by changes in species diversity)(Ptichnikov et al, 2019) (Zolotov et al, 2020),(Kust et al, 2021). have emphasized the possibility of using the state of protected areas (PA, area in the region, and internal stability) to characterize changes in land cover.…”