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Debating land degradation: Strategy development for Bolivian mountain valleys
Author(s) -
Kessler A.,
Stroosnijder L.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
land degradation and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1099-145X
pISSN - 1085-3278
DOI - 10.1002/ldr.986
Subject(s) - land degradation , environmental degradation , earth science , degradation (telecommunications) , geology , gully erosion , land development , environmental resource management , geography , environmental planning , environmental protection , land use , erosion , environmental science , geomorphology , archaeology , ecology , agriculture , computer science , biology , telecommunications
A debate on response strategies to rural poverty and land degradation has relevance for the core business of this journal. Based on extensive fieldwork in the mountain valleys of Chuquisaca, Bolivia, this paper discusses farming and migration in the region, and elaborates on the required components of a strategy to tackle land degradation. We argue that collective action at the micro–meso level is essential to lay the foundation for development activities and to reduce survival‐driven migration rates. In order to actually change farmers into adaptive co‐managers of their natural resources it is also necessary to create enabling conditions at meso‐macro level. However, given the current context in Bolivia, the prospects for reducing land degradation are not good. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.