scholarly journals Common Property and Power: Insights from a Spatial Analysis of Historical and Contemporary Pasture Boundaries among Pastoralists in Central Tibet

2006 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth M. Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Analysis ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Common Property ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Participatory Mapping ◽  
Positioning Systems ◽  
Tibet Autonomous Region ◽  
Central Tibet

Spatial analysis can bring out crucial issues in the political ecology of pastoral areas, with important implications for planning future development. This research combines textual analysis, participatory mapping, ethnography, and remote sensing data to study resource use and common property among pastoralists in Central Tibet. Specifically, this paper presents a case study of pasture boundaries over time in the Porong region (Nyelam County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, PRC). Translation and analysis of an historical (1884) boundary survey from Porong yielded hundreds of toponyms, boundary markers, livestock corrals, and resource locations, which were catalogued and indexed in a geographical database. Toponyms and landscape features listed in the boundary survey were geo-referenced using a Geographic Positioning Systems (GPS) unit: fieldwork in Tibet resulted in the collection of over five hundred GPS points that marked historical and contemporary pasture boundaries. In addition, participatory maps of pastures were generated with local herders and subsequently digitized using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software. These compiled GIS maps provide a time series of common property boundaries and illustrate how changes in Tibet’s governance (feudalism vs. socialism) and type of economy (e.g., collectivized vs. private household production) did or did not impact the distribution of resources among pastoralists. Analysis of vegetation resources available within historical and contemporary common property units provides compelling evidence that boundaries reflect the balance of power relations, resulting in unequal availability of rangeland resources. The case study adds to the literature on common property by reinserting the state’s central roles in defining boundaries, regulating resource use, and mediating resource conflicts.Key Words: participatory mapping, GIS, Central Tibet, common property resource management.

scholarly journals A Conflict between Traditional Flood Measures and Maintaining River Ecosystems? A Case Study Based upon the River Lærdal, Norway

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 1884
Author(s):  
Ana Juárez ◽  
Knut Alfredsen ◽  
Morten Stickler ◽  
Ana Adeva-Bustos ◽  
Rodrigo Suárez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
River Channel ◽  
Flood Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Flood Events ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
River Ecosystems ◽  
Hydraulic Models

Floods are among the most damaging of natural disasters, and flood events are expected to increase in magnitude and frequency with the effects of climate change and changes in land use. As a consequence, much focus has been placed on the engineering of structural flood mitigation measures in rivers. Traditional flood protection measures, such as levees and dredging of the river channel, threaten floodplains and river ecosystems, but during the last decade, sustainable reconciliation of freshwater ecosystems has increased. However, we still find many areas where these traditional measures are proposed, and it is challenging to find tools for evaluation of different measures and quantification of the possible impacts. In this paper, we focus on the river Lærdal in Norway to (i) present the dilemma between traditional flood measures and maintaining river ecosystems and (ii) quantify the efficiency and impact of different solutions based on 2D hydraulic models, remote sensing data, economics, and landscape metrics. Our results show that flood measures may be in serious conflict with environmental protection and legislation to preserve biodiversity and key nature types.

scholarly journals Modeling Community-Scale Natural Resource Use in a Transboundary Southern African Landscape: Integrating Remote Sensing and Participatory Mapping

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 631
Author(s):  
Kyle D. Woodward ◽  
Narcisa G. Pricope ◽  
Forrest R. Stevens ◽  
Andrea E. Gaughan ◽  
Nicholas E. Kolarik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Training Data ◽  
Systems Science ◽  
Participatory Mapping ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Human Habitation

Remote sensing analyses focused on non-timber forest product (NTFP) collection and grazing are current research priorities of land systems science. However, mapping these particular land use patterns in rural heterogeneous landscapes is challenging because their potential signatures on the landscape cannot be positively identified without fine-scale land use data for validation. Using field-mapped resource areas and household survey data from participatory mapping research, we combined various Landsat-derived indices with ancillary data associated with human habitation to model the intensity of grazing and NTFP collection activities at 100-m spatial resolution. The study area is situated centrally within a transboundary southern African landscape that encompasses community-based organization (CBO) areas across three countries. We conducted four iterations of pixel-based random forest models, modifying the variable set to determine which of the covariates are most informative, using the best fit predictions to summarize and compare resource use intensity by resource type and across communities. Pixels within georeferenced, field-mapped resource areas were used as training data. All models had overall accuracies above 60% but those using proxies for human habitation were more robust, with overall accuracies above 90%. The contribution of Landsat data as utilized in our modeling framework was negligible, and further research must be conducted to extract greater value from Landsat or other optical remote sensing platforms to map these land use patterns at moderate resolution. We conclude that similar population proxy covariates should be included in future studies attempting to characterize communal resource use when traditional spectral signatures do not adequately capture resource use intensity alone. This study provides insights into modeling resource use activity when leveraging both remotely sensed data and proxies for human habitation in heterogeneous, spectrally mixed rural land areas.

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