What is increasing the pressure on land resources? How can land use be sustainable and fair when land, water and biodiversity are claimed at the same time?
Worldwide, humans use three quarters of the ice-free land surface. Large areas of forest have been and are being converted into cropland. Further areas are used as pasture and settlement land.
Climate change, more intensive use of land resources and growing competition between agriculture, nature conservation and settlement development are increasing the pressure on ecosystems – not only in the world’s dry regions. If these processes continue, many ecosystems risk reaching tipping points. Serious, irreversible changes threaten both biodiversity and people.
Read more“Climate change is intensifying water scarcity, especially in arid regions such as Namibia. Savannah landscapes are already overexploited due to intensive livestock farming, increasing the risk of ecosystem tipping points.”
Dr. Stefan Liehr, Head of the Social-Ecological Systems Hub
In our research, we develop management and governance strategies for the sustainable use of land resources, in close interplay with sustainable water use and biodiversity protection – for example in the savannas of Namibia, the steppe of Mongolia and agricultural and cultural landscapes in Germany.
We aim to detect critical developments such as desertification early, in order to avoid damage from extreme weather events and social-ecological tipping points. At the same time, we investigate how conflicts between different interest groups can be resolved in order to promote the transition to fair and sustainable land use.
The project, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), is establishing a research infrastructure for social-ecological biodiversity research and developing a long-term monitoring system for social dynamics.
