Restoration of riparian habitats on sugarcane plantations for bird diversity, bird - regulated ecosystem services (cont)

Title cont - and climate change mitigation and adaptation in rural tropical landscapes, Tanzania

Land use change for agricultural intensification to meet increasing food demands is a main driver of habitat loss and fragmentation within tropical regions. Leading to increased levels of biodiversity loss and adverse impacts to ecosystem functionality. However, high levels of agricultural productivity are considered important to reducing poverty levels and ensuring food security, particularly in the rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Riparian habitats, adjacent to rivers and freshwater channels traversing through farmed land and providing water for crops, are subject to increasing degradation due to human encroachment and agricultural expansion. These habitats are transitional zones between aquatic and terrestrial areas. They are important, particularly within farming landscapes, due to the high levels of biodiversity they support and range of ecosystem services they provide.

Therefore, developing sustainable restoration of degraded riparian habitats that allows for high agricultural productivity whilst maintaining their functionality will be pertinent for ensuring positive outcomes for farming stakeholder groups, local community health and well-being and biodiversity.

Largely, research regarding riparian zones in tropical regions has focussed on water quality and hydrology. Contrastingly, there is limited research to address the effectiveness of these habitats for the provision of beneficial ecosystem services (e.g. biodiversity regulated pest control, erosion control), disservices (e.g. crop pest species) and for maintaining landscape connectivity for wildlife.

This research will focus on the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania, an agricultural landscape where sugarcane is farmed at both an industrial and subsistence scale. It aims to address key knowledge gaps surrounding riparian zones, specifically assessing their influence on landscape connectivity, biodiversity and provision of biodiversity-regulated ecosystem services and disservices.

Furthermore, it will look to integrate socio-economic and ecological evidence, collaborating with stakeholders, specifically industry and small-holder farmers, to inform restoration approaches and management interventions for riparian zones within the landscape.