The Himalayas, known as the ‘Third Pole’, are facing an escalating crisis due to landslides driven by climate change and human activity. The settlements in the Himalayas are increasingly vulnerable due to a surging prevalence of landslides. This systematic review investigates the repercussions of landslide hazards on the inhabitants of the Himalayan Arc and explores the causes and adaptive strategies focusing on the period from 2002 to 2022. Data dealing with the impact of landslides were systematically extracted from Scopus, Web of Science, Pascal & Francis, Science Direct, and Google Scholar databases. The review adhered to the prescribed guidelines of reporting standards for systematic evidence systems (ROSES). The frequency and severity of landslides in the Himalayas are notably high, potentially exceeding those observed in other global regions, due to a combination of specific geological, climatic, and human-induced factors. Thematic categorization identifies that the Himalayan communities confront a multifaceted challenge involving social, natural, economic, human, and physical losses induced by landslides. However, they lack adaptive capacity. The origins of these landslides are diverse, emanating from natural forces, geological phenomena, and human activities within the Himalayas. The review contributes to the understanding of the profound impact that landslides inflict upon the Himalayan region. By consolidating data from diverse databases, the study illuminates the urgent need for comprehensive strategies to bolster resilience and mitigate the escalating threats posed by landslides in this vulnerable geographic expanse.
Sustainable development in mountainous and hilly regions is a critical component of global sustainability efforts. These regions are facing numerous challenges, including ecological fragility, labor migration, and resource scarcity and imbalance. Addressing these issues is imperative for sustainable development; this study identifies two primary conditions necessary for sustainable development in mountainous regions: achieving human and nature’s sustainable development, which provides reliable material support and social support for achieving the same in the mountainous and hilly regions. The flower-viewing economy, derived from transforming China’s mountain agriculture, is an efficient new format for mountainous and hilly regions. To verify these primary conditions, this study constructed a flower-viewing economy from three dimensions: material support, subject relationship, and expectation, using the peach blossom festival in Tingzi Village, Taihe Town of Chongqing City, as an example. Here, we explained that a sustainable development model focused on benefiting farmers is an endogenous, farmer-centered pathway to sustainable development, highly relevant to promoting sustainable development in developing countries’ mountain villages.
The analysis delves into key strategies for enhancing agricultural productivity in Southeast Asia and South Asia. It underscores the vital role of mechanization, sustainable input practices, and gender-inclusive policies. Customized interventions in these realms hold promise for significantly amplifying agricultural performance in the region. Fertilizer and machinery productivity are pivotal factors that correlate strongly with overall agricultural productivity, as revealed by regression analyses. Notably, male employment in agriculture and agricultural machinery exhibits positive and substantial impacts on agricultural productivity, while female employment and fertilizer consumption indicators show significant yet negative associations. The study highlights systemic issues such as unequal resource access and differing gender roles in agriculture that may impede the immediate productivity gains from increased female labor force participation. Mechanization and efficient fertilizer utilization emerge as critical drivers of enhanced agricultural output, with consistent coefficients across models. Male employment consistently demonstrates a positive influence on productivity, emphasizing the significance of labor force engagement in agriculture. Moreover, the study underscores the imperative of judicious fertilizer management to avert environmental degradation and diminishing returns. The findings affirm the efficacy of the random effects model, supported by the Hausman test, which indicates congruence in results between fixed and random effects models. This methodological choice ensures robust and reliable conclusions regarding the relationships between male and female employment, machinery, fertilizer consumption, and agricultural productivity in South and Southeast Asia.
From a multi-variate database, causal relationships regarding water scarcity for human consumption in the Chol-Chol River basin were identified. The relationships were examined using the principal component analysis (PCA) statistical technique, and digital coverage was processed with ArcGIS 10.1, allowing for the construction of different thematic maps. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with various local actors, including Mapuche community leaders or lonkos (chiefs in the Mapudungun language) and local planners. The models with the greatest statistical significance are associated with the variables that measure land use changes between 2013 and 2017, particularly native forest and agricultural crops. In areas with greater changes in land use, there is less water availability and greater drinking water distribution by tanker trucks. A group of three models with the best goodness of fit (statistically significant) were identified. The models are related to the replacement of native forests with forest plantation (monoculture) and overexploitation of groundwater for irrigation. This model also links lower native vegetation cover in the southeastern part of the basin to agricultural uses on arable land, which is of higher quality than land in the north, and to lower drinking water consumption. The historical occupation processes of the Araucanía region (Wallmapu), the public policies of land and water (water emergency zone), climate change (decreases in flow and precipitation and increases in temperatures) are some of the driving forces behind land use change and water availability observed. An important innovation of this work has been the realization and discussion of the interviewees’ perceptions, showing different perspectives on a common problem; water scarcity. The interviews reveal diverse responses to the research question: What are the main variables related to the lack of water in Mapuche territory? The perception of Mapuche lonkos is that the lack of water is mainly associated with the rapid expansion of forest plantations. Local planners in the municipalities share a similar opinion.
This original paper, within the context of grassland ecological protection subsidies and reward policies, draws on 27 empirical studies conducted between 2011 and 2024 to conduct a meta-analysis of the factors influencing Chinese herdsmen’s incomes concerning heterogeneity and its sources. The results reveal 16 variables that have a significant positive impact on herdsmen’s incomes. These include herdsmen’s gender, age, ethnicity, level of education, household size, labor force, membership in cooperatives, subsidy amount, livestock quantity, living and production expenses, fixed assets, grassland area, per capita grassland area, grassland quality, and location. Among them, the quantity of livestock shows the greatest effect. Significant heterogeneity is evident across six variables: Subsidy amount, livestock quantity, grassland area, labor force, production expenses, and per capita grassland area. The heterogeneity in subsidy amount and grassland area originates from the use of different statistical methods, while the heterogeneity in livestock quantity is attributable to differences in the type of literature; per capita, grassland area heterogeneity is caused by differences in the geographical regions under analysis.
