The Challenge in Increasing Water and Soil Resources Resilience by Landscape Restoration: Examples from Southern Ethiopia and Iceland
Soil degradation and subsequent soil erosion is a major threat to vital ecosystem services, to food production, and finally to human societies. This threat is particularly imminent in subarctic Iceland and tropical Ethiopia. Both countries underwent large-scale deforestation in the past. Especially...
Published in: | Proceedings |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019030084 https://doaj.org/article/dcf986cb4a6e4d7791d3040bbede3fe9 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:dcf986cb4a6e4d7791d3040bbede3fe9 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:dcf986cb4a6e4d7791d3040bbede3fe9 2023-05-15T16:44:23+02:00 The Challenge in Increasing Water and Soil Resources Resilience by Landscape Restoration: Examples from Southern Ethiopia and Iceland Michaela Hrabalikova David Christian Finger Dominika Kobzova Petra Huislova Jan Ures 2020-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019030084 https://doaj.org/article/dcf986cb4a6e4d7791d3040bbede3fe9 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/30/1/84 https://doaj.org/toc/2504-3900 doi:10.3390/proceedings2019030084 2504-3900 https://doaj.org/article/dcf986cb4a6e4d7791d3040bbede3fe9 Proceedings, Vol 30, Iss 84, p 84 (2020) soil degradation surface runoff reclamation reforestation overgrazing agriculture General Works A article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019030084 2022-12-31T03:03:07Z Soil degradation and subsequent soil erosion is a major threat to vital ecosystem services, to food production, and finally to human societies. This threat is particularly imminent in subarctic Iceland and tropical Ethiopia. Both countries underwent large-scale deforestation in the past. Especially in Ethiopia, the demand for wood for cooking, heating, and construction is still high, inducing deforestation. On the other hand, Iceland solved the need for wood for energy purposes through the utilization of geothermal energy. Deforestation, overgrazing, and specific climatic conditions resulted in a high rate of soil erosion in both countries. In this study, the effectivity of restoration efforts is mapped in selected areas in Iceland and Ethiopia. Soil-water conservation (SWC) measures mapping was conducted in the Sidama zone and Halaba special district of southern Ethiopia, as well as in Thorlákshöfn, a municipality in southern Iceland. The Ethiopian study area is located in the Main Ethiopian rift valley. The Icelandic study area is in the Mid-Atlantic Rift. Degraded areas and applied SWC were GPS mapped in the field. The erosion agents in both countries are dominated by water erosion. In addition, Iceland has a high rate of soil loss due to strong wind erosion. In order to mitigate erosion, numerous SWC actions were implemented in both countries. In Ethiopia, indigenous SWC techniques have been applied since 400 BC, while the government-driven activities started after 1970. In Iceland, governmental soil reclamation programs started in 1907 through establishment of The Soil Conservation Service of Iceland (SCSI). Usually, all the reclamation program actions involve the closing of reclaimed area for livestock and people so that natural regeneration accompanied by additional measures such as planting seedlings can take place. In Ethiopia, such an area is called an “Area Closure”. The land is owned by the community. The common problem in the restoration of Closure Areas lies in people not respecting the watershed ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Subarctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Proceedings 30 1 84 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
soil degradation surface runoff reclamation reforestation overgrazing agriculture General Works A |
spellingShingle |
soil degradation surface runoff reclamation reforestation overgrazing agriculture General Works A Michaela Hrabalikova David Christian Finger Dominika Kobzova Petra Huislova Jan Ures The Challenge in Increasing Water and Soil Resources Resilience by Landscape Restoration: Examples from Southern Ethiopia and Iceland |
topic_facet |
soil degradation surface runoff reclamation reforestation overgrazing agriculture General Works A |
description |
Soil degradation and subsequent soil erosion is a major threat to vital ecosystem services, to food production, and finally to human societies. This threat is particularly imminent in subarctic Iceland and tropical Ethiopia. Both countries underwent large-scale deforestation in the past. Especially in Ethiopia, the demand for wood for cooking, heating, and construction is still high, inducing deforestation. On the other hand, Iceland solved the need for wood for energy purposes through the utilization of geothermal energy. Deforestation, overgrazing, and specific climatic conditions resulted in a high rate of soil erosion in both countries. In this study, the effectivity of restoration efforts is mapped in selected areas in Iceland and Ethiopia. Soil-water conservation (SWC) measures mapping was conducted in the Sidama zone and Halaba special district of southern Ethiopia, as well as in Thorlákshöfn, a municipality in southern Iceland. The Ethiopian study area is located in the Main Ethiopian rift valley. The Icelandic study area is in the Mid-Atlantic Rift. Degraded areas and applied SWC were GPS mapped in the field. The erosion agents in both countries are dominated by water erosion. In addition, Iceland has a high rate of soil loss due to strong wind erosion. In order to mitigate erosion, numerous SWC actions were implemented in both countries. In Ethiopia, indigenous SWC techniques have been applied since 400 BC, while the government-driven activities started after 1970. In Iceland, governmental soil reclamation programs started in 1907 through establishment of The Soil Conservation Service of Iceland (SCSI). Usually, all the reclamation program actions involve the closing of reclaimed area for livestock and people so that natural regeneration accompanied by additional measures such as planting seedlings can take place. In Ethiopia, such an area is called an “Area Closure”. The land is owned by the community. The common problem in the restoration of Closure Areas lies in people not respecting the watershed ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Michaela Hrabalikova David Christian Finger Dominika Kobzova Petra Huislova Jan Ures |
author_facet |
Michaela Hrabalikova David Christian Finger Dominika Kobzova Petra Huislova Jan Ures |
author_sort |
Michaela Hrabalikova |
title |
The Challenge in Increasing Water and Soil Resources Resilience by Landscape Restoration: Examples from Southern Ethiopia and Iceland |
title_short |
The Challenge in Increasing Water and Soil Resources Resilience by Landscape Restoration: Examples from Southern Ethiopia and Iceland |
title_full |
The Challenge in Increasing Water and Soil Resources Resilience by Landscape Restoration: Examples from Southern Ethiopia and Iceland |
title_fullStr |
The Challenge in Increasing Water and Soil Resources Resilience by Landscape Restoration: Examples from Southern Ethiopia and Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Challenge in Increasing Water and Soil Resources Resilience by Landscape Restoration: Examples from Southern Ethiopia and Iceland |
title_sort |
challenge in increasing water and soil resources resilience by landscape restoration: examples from southern ethiopia and iceland |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019030084 https://doaj.org/article/dcf986cb4a6e4d7791d3040bbede3fe9 |
genre |
Iceland Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Iceland Subarctic |
op_source |
Proceedings, Vol 30, Iss 84, p 84 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/30/1/84 https://doaj.org/toc/2504-3900 doi:10.3390/proceedings2019030084 2504-3900 https://doaj.org/article/dcf986cb4a6e4d7791d3040bbede3fe9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2019030084 |
container_title |
Proceedings |
container_volume |
30 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
84 |
_version_ |
1766034674655690752 |