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In recent years, the loss of forest in the Brazilian Amazon has taken on alarming proportions, with 2021 recording the largest increase in 13 years, particularly in the Abunã-Madeira Sustainable Development Reserve (SDR). This has significant environmental, social, and economic repercussions globally and for the local communities reliant on the forest. Analyzing deforestation patterns and trends aids in comprehending the dynamics of occupation and deforestation within a critical Amazon region, enabling the inference of potential occupation pathways. This understanding is crucial for identifying deforestation expansion zones and shaping public policies to curb deforestation. Decisions by the Brazilian government regarding landscape management will have profound environmental implications. We conducted an analysis of deforestation patterns and trends up to 2021 in the municipality (county) of Lábrea, located in the southern portion of Amazonas state. Deforestation processes in this area are likely to spread to the adjacent "Trans-Purus" region in western Amazonas, where Amazonia's largest block of remaining rainforest is at risk from planned highways. Annual deforestation polygons from 2008 to 2021 were categorized based on occupation typologies linked to various actors and processes defined for the region (e.g., diffuse, linear, fishbone, geometric, multidirectional, and consolidated). These patterns were represented through 10 × 10 km grid cells. The findings revealed that Lábrea's territory is predominantly characterized by the diffuse pattern (initial occupation stage), mainly concentrated in protected areas. Advanced occupation patterns (multidirectional and consolidated) were the primary contributors to deforestation during this period. Observed change trajectories included consolidation (30.8%) and expansion (19.6%) in the southern portion of the municipality, particularly along the Boi and Jequitibá secondary roads, providing access to large illegal landholdings. Additionally, non-change trajectories (67%) featured initial occupation patterns near rivers and in protected areas, likely linked to riverine and extractive communities. Tailoring measures to control deforestation based on actor types and considering stages of occupation is crucial. The techniques developed in this study provide a comprehensive approach for Amazonia and other tropical regions.

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This paper critically analyses the complexity of the land grabbing phenomenon in Argentina. We study land grabbing processes linked to the expansion of agribusiness by focusing on corporate regionally extended land grabbers' strategies through five dimensions: (1) forms of control over land (and other resources) are not restricted to the formal acquisition of property, (2) the role of both national and foreign actors are essential in land grabbing dynamics, (3) land grabbing is not expressed exclusively by the scale of the area traded, (4) the current cycle of land grabbing is part of the convergence of multiple crises and (5) forms of political action are complex and involve diverse positioning. We conclude that land grabbing mechanisms unfold differently depending on the diversity of socio-spatial formations they encounter in each territory and that forms of political action "from below" are complex and not restricted to overt conflict.

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COVID-19 is a humanitarian challenge that puts a spotlight on the need to understand the new provocations and how to prevent the escalation of different types of conflict. The present contribution gravitates around three major problems - foreign land grab, COVID-19 pandemic, and xenophobia. To the authors' best knowledge, this is the first study that investigates how COVID-19 has influenced the xenophobia feelings and the perceptions on foreign land acquisitions. Therefore, one objective is to investigate Romanian landowners' attitudes toward land grabbing effects, consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and xenophobia. Another objective is to reveal how well a set of variables could predict the preference for the nationality of the buyer in land transactions. The binary logistic regression indicates that the preference for the nationality of the buyer in agricultural land transactions can be predicted by three variables. The effect of COVID-19 on population health is found to have a significant prediction power. Even if only a moderate to low level of xenophobia among the interviewed persons is present, when land is under discussion, negative judgments and feelings towards non-Romanian citizens emerge. Authors consider that correcting misperceptions can be achieved through information campaigns using messages that reinforce positives outcomes of foreign investments. The study provides empirical justification for regulations, law enforcement mechanisms, and information campaigns that should profoundly reflect and support the multicultural dynamics of the European societies.

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We examine deforestation processes in Apuí, a deforestation hotspot in Brazil's state of Amazonas and present processes of land-use change on this Amazonian development frontier. Settlement projects attract agents whose clearing reflects land accumulation and the economic importance of deforestation. We used a mixed-method approach in the Rio Juma Settlement to examine colonization and deforestation trajectories for 35 years at three scales of analysis: the entire landscape, cohorts of settlement lots divided by occupation periods, and lots grouped by landholding size per household. All sizes of landholdings are deforesting much more than before, and current political and economic forces favoring the agribusiness sector foreshadow increasing rates of forest clearing for pasture establishment in Apuí. The area cleared per year over the 2013-2018 period in Apuí grew by a percentage more than twice the corresponding percentage for the Brazilian Amazon as a whole. With the national congress and presidential administration signaling impunity for illegal deforestation, wealthy actors, and groups are investing resources in land grabbing and land accumulation, with land speculation being a crucial deforestation factor. This paper is unique in providing causal explanations at the decision-maker's level on how deforestation trajectories are linked to economic and political events (period effects) at the larger scales, adding to the literature by showing that such effects were more important than aging and cohort effects as explanations for deforestation trajectories. Additional research is needed to deepen our understanding of relations between land speculation, illegal possession of public lands, and the expansion of agricultural frontiers in Amazonia.

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BACKGROUND: Traditionally, most Western models of health viewed sickness and disease as a product of individual factors such as personal behaviors and genetic predisposition; consequently, healthcare interventions were largely focused on fixing the individual, with little attention placed on contributing external factors. The WHO's "Social Determinants of Health" (SDH) framework, however, takes a broader ecological perspective that suggests that interventions must occur at multiple levels in order for good health to be achieved on an equitable basis. This model views health as a function of many circumstantial and environmental factors that are continuously and simultaneously interacting across multiple domains. These factors include structural mechanisms, such as laws and policies; socio-economic conditions, such as education and occupation; and intermediary circumstances, such as living and working conditions. Utilizing the SDH framework as a guide, this qualitative study sought to identify which specific determinants are most significant and present the greatest risk to the health and well-being of the Urak Lawoi' (UL), a "sea nomad" group indigenous to southern Thailand. METHODS: Interviews, household surveys, and focus group discussions were utilized to gather primary data from 71 subjects in three different UL communities in southern Thailand. In addition, a comprehensive literature review of relevant international mechanisms, national laws, and national policies was conducted. All data collected was analyzed and coded utilizing HyperRESEARCH. RESULTS: In all three communities, education and livelihoods were found to be the most critical determinants. Additionally, land grabbing and living conditions were identified as dire issues on Ko Lipe. The law and policy review revealed several deviations between international mechanisms and national laws and policies in both enshrinement and enforcement, with the Royal Thai Government (RTG) often overlooking the interests of the UL when formulating laws and policies. CONCLUSIONS: The above-mentioned determinants, along other structural and intermediary determinants, are synergizing, thereby placing the UL at increased risk of poorer health and health outcomes compared to other Thais living in the same vicinities. To rectify this, the RTG must reform national laws and policies that harm the UL, and civil society must hold them accountable. Several recommendations are offered to achieve a better future for the Urak Lawoi'.

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One question that has remained unexplored in the global land rush debate is how large-scale land acquisitions affect health and wellbeing of local populations. As part of a larger study, this study advances our understanding in this area by applying the concept of therapeutic landscapes to analyze interviews conducted in two coastal communities in Tanzania where land investments have been prevalent. Our analysis found that local populations perceived traditional lands with sacred sites as therapeutic spaces, which embodied cultural values, and promoted health and wellbeing when protected. Intrusion into these spaces through large-scale land investment is believed to remove their therapeutic attributes, thereby turning them into unhealthy landscapes. Dispossession of these spaces is perceived to heighten community distress resulting in poor psychosocial health. Based on our findings, we suggest that health consequences of land investments should move to the center of the large-scale land acquisition discourse. Health policy should refocus on the psychosocial health impacts of global land investments in Tanzania and other low-income countries. Ultimately local participation in land governance should be strengthened through land reforms in Tanzania and similar contexts, as this may provide a buffer to poor psychosocial health.

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The practice of "land grabbing", or the large-scale hoarding of fertile lands in developing countries by rich countries, transnational corporations and individuals, in order to grow food beyond their borders, is today reaching historically unparalleled figures. Although the dominant discourse vindicates this process as an opportunity for the countries that are recipients of these practices, numerous voices warn about the role played by this phenomenon in the (re-) emergence and development of global and local problems. The objective of this work is to demystify the theoretical, political and historical proposal endorsed and promoted by international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the light of conflicts over the use and ownership of land. Together, food security, impacts on small and medium-sized local farmers and migration are generating the current model of international land grabbing.

La práctica del "acaparamiento de tierras", o el acaparamiento a gran escala de tierras fértiles en países en desarrollo por parte de países ricos, corporaciones transnacionales e individuos, con el fin de cultivar alimentos más allá de sus fronteras, está alcanzando hoy cifras históricamente incomparables. Aunque el discurso dominante reivindica este proceso como una oportunidad para los países que son receptores de estas prácticas, numerosas voces advierten sobre el papel desempeñado por este fenómeno en la (re) aparición y desarrollo de problemas globales y locales. El objetivo de este trabajo es desmitificar la propuesta teórica, política e histórica respaldada y promovida por organizaciones internacionales como el Fondo Monetario Internacional y el Banco Mundial a la luz de los conflictos sobre el uso y la propiedad de la tierra. Juntos, la seguridad alimentaria, los impactos en los pequeños y medianos agricultores locales y la migración están generando el modelo actual de acaparamiento internacional de tierras.

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Agricultural large-scale land acquisition (LSLA) is a process that is currently not captured by land change models. We present a novel land change modeling approach that includes processes governing LSLAs and simulates their interactions with other land systems. LSLAs differ from other land change processes in two ways: (1) their changes affect hundreds to thousands of contiguous hectares at a time, far surpassing other land change processes, e.g., smallholder agriculture, and (2) as policy makers value LSLA as desirable or undesirable, their agency significantly affects LSLA occurrence. To represent these characteristics in a land change model, we allocate LSLAs as multi-cell patches to represent them at scale while preserving detail in the representation of other dynamics. Moreover, LSLA land systems are characterized to respond to an explicit political demand for LSLA effects, in addition to a demand for various agricultural commodities. The model is applied to simulate land change in Laos until 2030, using three contrasting scenarios: (1) a target to quadruple the area of LSLA, (2) a moratorium for new LSLA, and (3) no target for LSLA. Scenarios yield drastically different land change trajectories despite having similar demands for agricultural commodities. A high level of LSLA impedes smallholders' engagement with rubber or cash crops, while a moratorium on LSLA results in increased smallholder involvement in cash cropping and rubber production. This model goes beyond existing land change models by capturing the heterogeneity of scales of land change processes and the competition between different land users instigated by LSLA.

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This paper argues that pastoral commons are under increasing pressure not just from overuse by pastoralists themselves, but from land management policies. Since colonial times, these have been based on a persistent misconception of the nature of pastoral economies and combined with increasing land alienation and fragmentation through government policies and covert privatisation of pastures. The paper focuses especially on pastoral populations in African drylands and is based on long-term research by independent researchers summarising some of their experiences in western, eastern and southern Africa. Most of them are organised in the African Drylands Dialogue, trying to shed some light on the developments in these areas. Before discussing the actual situation of African pastoralists, the authors focus on basic institutional features of the political and economic management of common grazing lands. This is followed by an overview of land alienation processes in colonial times, which serves as a basis for understanding the current land alienation constellations. The paper then moves on to explain how and why pastoralists are framed by the national discourses as the 'other' and the 'troublemaker', even being labelled as terrorists in nation state contexts. This goes hand in hand with a new wave of land alienation in the form of large-scale land acquisitions or 'land grabbing' (including water grabbing and 'green grabbing' processes). The paper then outlines different coping and adaptation strategies adopted by pastoral groups in a context in which a range of different global and local political, economic and ecological situations interrelate ('glocal'). Finally, the paper discusses the way in which pastoralism could be reframed in a participatory way in the future.

Les auteurs de cet article soutiennent que la pression foncière croissante exercée sur les terres collectives pastorales n'est pas seulement imputable à la surexploitation par les pasteurs eux-mêmes mais résulte surtout des politiques de gestion des terres. Depuis le temps des colonies, ces politiques ont reposé sur une perception erronée et tenace de la nature même des économies pastorales, à laquelle se sont greffées l'aliénation croissante des terres et leur fragmentation impulsée par les politiques gouvernementales et par la privatisation dissimulée des prairies. Les auteurs s'intéressent particulièrement aux populations pastorales des régions arides d'Afrique et exposent les conclusions d'une étude conduite sur une longue durée par une équipe indépendante de chercheurs, résumant l'essentiel de leurs observations en Afrique de l'Ouest, de l'Est et australe. La plupart d'entre eux oeuvrent sous les auspices d'African Drylands Dialogue et tentent de faire la lumière sur les évolutions constatées dans ces régions. Avant de se pencher sur la situation des pasteurs africains aujourd'hui, les auteurs décrivent les principales caractéristiques institutionnelles de la gestion politique et économique des terres collectives dédiées au pâturage. Ils retracent ensuite les processus d'aliénation des terres opérés durant l'époque coloniale, qui servent de grille de lecture pour mieux comprendre les constellations actuelles de terres aliénées. Puis les auteurs expliquent comment et pourquoi les discours nationaux désignent les pasteurs comme « l'autre ¼ et le « fauteur de troubles ¼, quand ils ne les dépeignent pas comme des terroristes dans les contextes d'étatsnations. Ces accusations sont indissociables d'une nouvelle vague d'aliénation des terres, qui prend la forme d'acquisitions à grande échelle ou de réquisitions (y compris les processus d'appropriation des cours d'eau ou d'écosystèmes [green grabbing]). Les auteurs détaillent les stratégies mises en oeuvre par les groupes pastoraux pour faire face à cette évolution et s'y adapter, dans un contexte de forte interaction entre de nombreuses situations politiques, économiques et écologiques de portée tant mondiale que locale (niveau dit « glocal ¼). Enfin, les auteurs examinent les perspectives d'avenir du pastoralisme à travers un nouveau cadre de type participatif.

Los autores postulan que el patrimonio pastoral común se encuentra sometido a presiones crecientes, no solo a resultas de su explotación excesiva por parte de los propios pastores, sino también a consecuencia de las políticas de ordenación del territorio. Desde los tiempos coloniales, estas se basan en un equívoco pertinaz acerca del carácter de las economías pastorales, a lo que se suma un nivel creciente de enajenación y fragmentación de las tierras a resultas de las políticas públicas y la privatización encubierta de los pastos. Los autores prestan especial atención a las poblaciones pastorales de las tierras áridas africanas, basándose en investigaciones de larga duración realizadas por investigadores independientes y resumiendo parte de su experiencia en el África occidental, oriental y meridional. La mayoría de ellos están adscritos al African Drylands Dialogue [diálogo sobre las tierras áridas africanas] y tratan por esta vía de arrojar luz sobre la evolución de esas zonas. Antes de presentar la situación real de las sociedades de pastores africanas, los autores se detienen en una serie de rasgos institucionales básicos de la gestión política y económica de los pastizales de propiedad común. A continuación exponen a grandes líneas los procesos de enajenación de las tierras en la época colonial, que encierran elementos básicos para comprender la actual constelación de tierras enajenadas. Después pasan a explicar cómo y por qué en el discurso de ciertos países las sociedades de pastores han acabado representando la alteridad, percibida además como «agitadora¼, hasta llegar a ser etiquetadas de «terroristas¼ en algunos estados-nación, paralelamente a una nueva oleada de enajenación de tierras en forma de adquisiciones a gran escala o «acaparamiento de tierras¼ (lo que incluye procesos de acaparamiento del agua y «acaparamiento ecológico¼). Tras exponer diferentes estrategias de respuesta y adaptación adoptadas por los grupos pastorales en un contexto marcado por la imbricación entre diversas realidades políticas, económicas y ecológicas («glocal¼), los autores concluyen reflexionando sobre el modo en que en el futuro sería posible reestructurar el pastoreo pasando por métodos participativos.

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In the last decade, more than 22 million ha of land have been contracted to large-scale land acquisitions in Africa, leading to increased pressures, competition, and conflicts over freshwater resources. Currently, 3% of contracted land is in production, for which we model site-specific water demands to indicate where freshwater appropriation might pose high socioenvironmental challenges. We use the dynamic global vegetation model Lund-Potsdam-Jena managed Land to simulate green (precipitation stored in soils and consumed by plants through evapotranspiration) and blue (extracted from rivers, lakes, aquifers, and dams) water demand and crop yields for seven irrigation scenarios, and compare these data with two baseline scenarios of staple crops representing previous water demand. We find that most land acquisitions are planted with crops that demand large volumes of water (>9,000 m3⋅ha-1) like sugarcane, jatropha, and eucalyptus, and that staple crops have lower water requirements (<7,000 m3⋅ha-1). Blue water demand varies with irrigation system, crop choice, and climate. Even if the most efficient irrigation systems were implemented, 18% of the land acquisitions, totaling 91,000 ha, would still require more than 50% of water from blue water sources. These hotspots indicate areas at risk for transgressing regional constraints for freshwater use as a result of overconsumption of blue water, where socioenvironmental systems might face increased conflicts and tensions over water resources.

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The comparison of the Ecological Footprint and its counterpart (i.e. biocapacity) allow for a classification of the world's countries as ecological creditors (Ecological Footprint lower than biocapacity) or debtors (Ecological Footprint higher than biocapacity). This classification is a national scale assessment on an annual time scale that provides a view of the ecological assets appropriated by the local population versus the natural ecological endowment of a country. We show that GDP per capita over a certain threshold is related with the worsening of the footprint balance in countries classified as ecological debtors. On the other hand, this correlation is lost when ecological creditor nations are considered. There is evidence that governments and investors from high GDP countries are playing a crucial role in impacting the environment at the global scale which is significantly affecting the geography of sustainability and preventing equal opportunities for development. In particular, international market dynamics and the concentration of economic power facilitate the transfer of biocapacity related to "land grabbing", i.e. large scale acquisition of agricultural land. This transfer mainly occurs from low to high GDP countries, regardless of the actual need of foreign biocapacity, as expressed by the national footprint balance. A first estimation of the amount of biocapacity involved in this phenomenon is provided in this paper in order to better understand its implications on global sustainability and national and international land use policy.