Assessment Report for the Interconnections of Land Use Practices and Land Abandonment with Biodiversity and Soil Characteristics
By Mediterranean Institute For Nature and Anthropos (MedINA)
The Terra Lemnia project attempts to support the biodiversity-friendly agro-pastoral practices developed around the original mandra systems and re-establish the broken links between arable farming and stockbreeding in Lemnos Island. The main baseline data needed for all the activities of the Terra Lemnia project have been derived by a combination of desk and field work, using several sources:
- the documentation of the territorial expression of this mixed agro-pastoral system and the assessment of its diachronic evolution in the past decades, has been performed using land cover maps, aerial photography and field survey;
- recording of important farming practices related to the mandra system, such as crop rotation, fallow land practice, preservation of semi-natural habitats etc., has been conducted by means of field surveying and questionnaires / interviews;
- recording of current livestock breeding and grazing conditions has been carried out by means of field surveying and questionnaires / interviews;
- recording of important species of biodiversity and soil characteristics in selected areas of the island has been based on field surveying; and
- assessment of interconnections between biodiversity species and soil characteristics with several agro-pastoral practices, and with land abandonment, has been based on secondary analysis of all the data collected by the above sources.
The report at hand deals specifically with the assessment, prioritization and reporting of the practices – biodiversity and soil impacts and interconnections, and will be used to:
(a) guide the process of selecting bio-indicator species for long term biodiversity monitoring on Lemnos Island, and
(b) support the design of specific measures for conservation and integration of biodiversity-friendly agro-pastoral practices in the agricultural management of the island.