Technological Breakthrough for the Afforestation of Populus euphratica in the Mu Us Desert in China

The Mu Us Desert (MUD) is one of the four largest sandy lands in China. On 22 April 2020, the Shaanxi Forestry Bureau announced that the desertification land control rate in Yulin reached 93.24%, which means that the Mu Us Desert was about to “disappear” from the territory of Shaanxi. However, the problem of biological diversity, mostly for Pinus sylvestris and shrubs in the Mu Us Desert, remains serious. In order to consolidate the current forest conservation efforts, Populus euphratica has been considered an ideal candidate since the 1950s. However, the low survival rate and conservation rate of Populus euphratica in the MUD led us to perform further large-scale introduction for over 70 years. In this study, by using root control seedling technology, the survival and the conservation rate of Populus euphratica were increased to more than 90%. This study makes possible the introduction of Populus euphratica in the MUD, and the successful introduction of Populus euphratica will provide a new barrier for forest ecosystem stability in the desertification control project in the Yulin area.

Maintaining land and life in Vanuatu: Indigenous alter-natives of recovery following the Manaro eruption on Ambae, Vanuatu

Between 2017 and 2019, the Manaro volcano on the island of Ambae in Vanuatu erupted consistently, leading to two compulsory evacuations of the island’s communities. The eruption was only one of many ecological emergencies unfolding in Vanuatu as climate change continues to affect the islands. Amidst these overlapping crises, community leaders and the national government leveraged customary tenure practices to develop a system of customary reunion and secondary homes for evacuees. An analysis of 54 articles from the Vanuatu Daily Post’s media coverage of the Manaro eruption and disaster recovery from 2017 to 2019 reveals the centrality of customary tenure. While political ecologists have illustrated how disaster recovery policies can become disastrous in and of themselves, this article elaborates upon alter-native disaster recovery practices in Vanuatu and affirms the centrality of land control to Indigenous and settler futures.

Linking Greenspace Ecological Networks Optimization into Urban Expansion Planning: Insights from China’s Total Built Land Control Policy

Greenspace ecological networks (GENs) optimization is an effective way to prevent landscape fragmentation and promote ecological processes. Built land sprawl is an important factor affecting this optimization. However, few studies have specifically analyzed the encroachments caused by existing built land on GENs. Given the insights from China’s total built land control policy, this study proposed a new idea of linking GENs optimization into urban expansion planning through land transformation. This idea was implemented in the Su-Xi-Chang area and integrated a series of methods, emphasizing the importance of built land encroachments removal for restoring the connectivity and quality of GENs. We identified that the built land encroached on GENs. Furthermore, we proposed to transfer the scattered rural/industrial land, whose amount was set as the land quota for urban expansion planning. Four scenarios of urban expansion were simulated based on China’s land use policies/practices and assessed by landscape metrics. The land transformation happened between rural and urban land. The main findings indicated that more inclusive urban expansion planning with consideration of the GENs optimization can be obtained. This study has practical contributions regarding GENs optimization and urban expansion planning for policymakers and our ideas of land transformation provide a reference for similar studies.

Analysis of The Change of Derelict Lands in Ignalina District Municipality in 2013–2019

Although the number of derelict and unused land in the country is declining every year, the problem of derelict land still remains. The reasons for the emergence of such land are various, usually the whole complex of circumstances that led to the abandonment of land in one area or another. Abandoned land is noticeable in both private and public land. The largest areas of derelict land are found in Vilnius district and north-eastern Lithuania. At the beginning of 2019, there were 4,783 abandoned land plots in Ignalina district. They occupied 2286,93 ha, which was 1.5 percent. district area. In the analyzed period of 2013–2019, the area of abandoned lands decreased by 1985.57 ha, i. y. 46 percent. After examining the reasons for the emergence of abandoned lands, it was established that they are complex – natural, economic, social, demographic, political, legal and human economic activities. The article examines land management measures that have influenced the reduction of brownfields - inspections of state control of land use, inspections of brownfields according to spatial data sets and application of RDP for afforestation on non-forest land. The maximum number of abandoned land inspections was determined during the state land control. There were 2239 inspections of derelict land, which is 79 percent. all land management measures applied. Keywords: land management, abandoned lands, Land Fund of the Republic of Lithuania, agricultural land, state control.

The Governance Challenge within Socio-Technical Transition Processes: Public Bicycles and Smartphone-Based Bicycles in Guangzhou, China

In urban China, utilitarian cycling plays a significant role in achieving sustainable mobility. Within this context, different kinds of sharing-bicycle programs equipped with new technologies/devices emerge and extend. By comparing two generations of them in Guangzhou (China), this paper explores how new technologies impact existing modes of mobility governance. First, the technical innovations, e.g., app-based bicycle locks and micro-GPS equipment, contribute to liberating emerging private companies from existing governmental regulations based on land control. Second, the adoption of these innovations not only contributes to the accumulation of cultural and symbolic capitals based on a fashionable lifestyle but also links bicycles to personal point-to-point travel data that could be translated to economic capital. Third, the discrepancy between the dispositions of the government and private companies regarding the innovations opens an opportunity for the quick extension of sharing bicycles, which brings both positive and negative consequences on citizens’ daily travel and life. The absence of other civic actors in the decision-making process accelerates the negative consequences caused by the profit-driven fast extension of sharing bicycles and the governmental top-down governing logic. These findings provide academia with implications for understanding the impact of innovations on achieving sustainable mobility.

Military and Control of Land Resources? Conflict TNI and Magelang City Government

The military's involvement in power and land ownership often leads to conflicts, both vertically and horizontally. According to the Agrarian Reform Consortium's records in 2020, agrarian conflicts involving military personnel during the Covid-19 pandemic were relatively stagnant. This paper aims to explore the conflict between the TNI Akmil Magelang and the Magelang City Government. The method used in this study uses a descriptive qualitative approach. Data collection techniques in this study using observation and documentation techniques and processing research data using the stages of data presentation, verification, and concluding. This study uses Pondy's (1967) theory regarding the stages of conflict as an analytical tool. The results show that the military conflict over land control with the city government has occurred since 1985. However, this conflict has not yet found common ground. The peak of the conflict occurred in mid-August 2020 when the TNI put up a sign at the mayor's office complex. The TNI gave an ultimatum to the Magelang City Government to leave or compensate for land assets. The development of the conflict is currently heading towards conflict resolution. However, it does not mean that in the end the conflict resolution can be found. This departs from the historical record where this conflict has been going on for a long time, and various parties as mediators are involved. However, the conflict continues to roll on and at any time can explode again in public.