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Natural Resources and Conservation

Honors Theses

Theses/Dissertations

Deforestation

Institution
Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Missing The Trees For The Forest: The Socioecological Significance Of Dispersed Farmland Trees In Northern Ethiopia, Jacob A. Wall Jan 2016

Missing The Trees For The Forest: The Socioecological Significance Of Dispersed Farmland Trees In Northern Ethiopia, Jacob A. Wall

Honors Theses

Scattered trees are prominent features in the agricultural landscape of the Ethiopian highlands. The dry Afromontane forests of the Amhara Region in northern Ethiopia have faced centuries of deforestation - the FAO estimates only 3% of the region is forested today. The remaining landscape has been largely converted into agricultural and grazing lands, with the exception of some limited government-protected lands, as well as thousands of small forest fragments left around Orthodox Churches (“church forests”). But while a growing body of scholarship has highlighted the ecological and cultural importance of church forests and other natural forest fragments, the roles of …


The Roles Of Introduced Eucalyptus In The Conservation And Expansion Of Ethiopian Orthodox Church Forests In The Northern Ethiopian Highlands, Janice Liang Jan 2016

The Roles Of Introduced Eucalyptus In The Conservation And Expansion Of Ethiopian Orthodox Church Forests In The Northern Ethiopian Highlands, Janice Liang

Honors Theses

Species of the genus Eucalyptus (common name eucalyptus) are widely planted all across Ethiopia – including on large areas of land previously allocated to food production. In recent decades eucalyptus has also increasingly been planted on lands around and within “church forests,” sacred groves of old-aged Afromontane trees surrounding Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido churches. These revered holy sites have long been recognized for their cultural values and also for their ecosystem services – including their potential to support species conservation and restoration, as church forests are some of the only remaining sanctuaries for many of Ethiopia’s indigenous and endemic plant and …


Proving Widespread Deforestation Of The Ancient Mediterranean As Myth: A Detailed Examination Of How Anthropogenic Activities During Antiquity Affected The Mediterranean Landscape, Carolyn Hooper Jun 2014

Proving Widespread Deforestation Of The Ancient Mediterranean As Myth: A Detailed Examination Of How Anthropogenic Activities During Antiquity Affected The Mediterranean Landscape, Carolyn Hooper

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the debate surrounding the possible deforestation of the ancient Mediterranean landscape through anthropogenic activities. Until the ancient Mediterranean landscape is understood more clearly, it is impossible to impose current beneficial land-use laws in order to conserve and preserve the future landscape of the region. Currently there are three predominant views surrounding the debate: (1) deforestation did occur and drastically altered the landscape from a forested region to a more desert-like region, (2) human activities did not cause deforestation, rather the Mediterranean has always been home to a distinct and resilient landscape that is able to regenerate following …