Unravelling desertification: Policies and actor networks in Southern Europe

247 Pages·2005·2.2 MB·English

by  Geoff A. Wilson

Unravelling desertification
policies and actor networks in Southern Europe
edited by:
G.A. Wilson
M. Juntti
Unravelling desertification
To John B. Thornes
whose vision, enthusiasm and excellence in research
has changed the way we view, conceptualise
and analyse desertification problems
Unravelling
desertification
Policies and actor networks in Southern Europe
Edited by
Geoff A. Wilson
Meri Juntti
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Table of Contents
List of figures 11
List of tables 13
List of contributors 15
Acknowledgements 17
List of abbreviations 19
Part I – Setting the scene: desertification and policies in Southern Europe 21
1. Introduction 23
M. Juntti and G.A. Wilson
1.1 Setting the scene 23
1.2 Understanding ‘desertification’: definitions and debates 24
1.3 Addressing the human dimension of desertification: the EU-funded
MEDACTION project 26
1.4 Nature, networks and interpretative power 29
2. Desertification and policies: the global, European and national arenas 31
J.J. Oñate, M. Juntti and G.A. Wilson
2.1 Introduction: linking policies and desertification in Southern Europe 31
2.2 The UNCCD: genesis, objectives and implementation in the Southern
European context 32
2.2.1 Global desertification policies: compromise or coherent solution? 33
2.2.2 Implementation of the UNCCD in Southern Europe 41
2.3 Policy impacts on desertification in Southern Europe: the influence of the
policy arena beyond the UNCCD 47
2.3.1 Implicit and explicit policy effects on desertification: some conceptual
considerations 48
2.3.2 Non-UNCCD policies related to desertification in the EU 51
2.3.3 Agricultural and environmental policy drivers 55
2.4 Conclusions 59
Part II – Case studies of policy processes and desertification in
Southern Europe 61
3. Using case studies and actor orientation to explore policy impacts on
desertification: conceptual and methodological considerations 63
M. Juntti
3.1 Introduction: analytical focus and aims 63
3.2 The case study methodology 64
3.3 The UNCCD and the influence of policies and actor networks on
desertification in Southern Europe 68
Unravelling desertification 7
4. Desertification and policies in Spain: from land abandonment to intensive
irrigated areas 73
J.J. Oñate and B. Peco
4.1 Introduction 73
4.2 Methods 75
4.2.1 Rationale of the study 75
4.2.2 Methods of inquiry 76
4.3 Historical and institutional framework 78
4.4 Farm types and perceptions of desertification 82
4.4.1 Characteristics of surveyed farms 82
4.4.2 Stakeholder perceptions of desertification 84
4.5 Policy effects over the past 20 years 85
4.5.1 Irrigation farming 86
4.5.2 Dryland farming 90
4.5.3 Landuse planning policies and the National Action Plan to Combat
Desertification 96
4.6 Conclusions 97
5. Desertification policies in Italy: new pressures on land and
‘desertification’ as rural-urban migration 101
A. Povellato and D. Ferraretto
5.1 The Italian case study area 102
5.2 Desertification issues 104
5.2.1 Natural and anthropogenic drivers of desertification 104
5.2.2 Demographic dynamics in southern Italy 105
5.2.3 Desertification and depopulation issues in the Agri basin 107
5.2.4 The influence of farm structural, social and economic factors in the
Agri basin 109
5.2.5 Perceptions of desertification in the Agri basin 110
5.3 Institutional networks, power relations and desertification 111
5.3.1 Actor networks 111
5.3.2 Policy agendas in the Agri basin 113
5.4 Desertification and policies 115
5.4.1 The national framework for landuse planning and natural resource
management 115
5.4.2 The role of agricultural and forestry policies in natural resource
management 119
5.4.3 Policies and desertification in the Agri basin 123
5.5 Conclusions 128
6. Desertification and policies in Portugal: landuse changes and pressures
on local biodiversity 131
M. Vieira and P. Eden
6.1 The Alentejo: case study area and methodology 131
6.2 Key policy phases influencing landuse change in Portugal and the Alentejo 133
6.3 Structural and environmental characteristics of the Alentejo 135
8 Unravelling desertification
6.3.1 Socio-economic and geographical features 136
6.3.2 The current status of protective vegetation cover in the Alentejo 137
6.4 Desertification issues and policies in the Alentejo 142
6.4.1 CAP policies as drivers of change 142
6.4.2 Recent policy drivers of landuse change and desertification 143
6.4.3 Perceptions of desertification 145
6.4.4 Desertification and the recent policy arena 148
6.5 Conclusions 154
7. Desertification and policies in Greece: implementing policy in an
environmentally sensitive livestock area 157
N. Beopoulos and G. Vlahos
7.1 Introduction 157
7.1.1 The island of Lesvos 157
7.1.2 Case study area and methodology 159
7.2 The role of sheep farming in the north-west of Lesvos 160
7.3 CAP-related policy drivers and their influence on landuse changes 162
7.3.1 The importance of Less Favoured Areas policies 162
7.3.2 Special aid for small islands in the Aegean 163
7.3.3 Policy measures for the modernisation of holdings 164
7.3.4 Subsidies linked to sheep and goat meat CMOs 165
7.4 Policy impacts on farm survival and livestock farming in north-west Lesvos 167
7.5 Land management practices on sheep farms and implications for
desertification 169
7.6 The local dimension of policy promotion 172
7.6.1 The role of institutions in charge of policy implementation 172
7.6.2 Farmers’ perceptions of policy implementation mechanisms 174
7.7 Conclusions 176
Part III – Desertification, policies and actor networks in Southern Europe 179
8. Actor networks, policies and desertification: some theoretical
considerations 181
M. Juntti and G. A. Wilson
8.1 In search of new concepts of environmental governance 182
8.2 Contextualising Actor-Network Theory as a part of post-modern
interpretations of societal change 185
8.2.1 Actor-Network Theory: towards a new understanding of human-nature
interactions? 185
8.2.2 Actor-Network Theory and the politics of nature 186
8.2.3 Actor-Network Theory as a theorisation of power 187
8.3 Combining Actor-Network Theory and new institutionalist approaches
to better understand desertification 189
Unravelling desertification 9