Traditional agrosilvopastoral systems at the Municipality of Sohos, Thessaloniki
Agrosilvopastoral systems constitute a traditional land use at the Municipality of Sohos, prefecture of Thessaloniki. A survey of these systems was conducted during the years 2003 and 2004. A special sheet was completed for each system, where information about the ownership, the topographic characteristics, the tree species and agricultural crops or grazing and applied management was collected. The main tree species were walnuts and chestnuts while the agricultural crops were cereals, lucern and tobacco. The main characteristics of them were their small area, the old age of the trees and the absence of tree management. Most of these systems were grazed by sheep or goats, especially after the cereal harvest period. During the last years, farmers focused only at the agricultural crops and the mixed systems tend to change to intensive monocrops.
Geographical Information Systems for the appointment, the exploitation and the sustainable development of rangelands in semi-mountainous regions
Rangelands of semi-mountainous regions are connected with the agricultural and economic growth of inhabitants in Greek countryside. The appointment, the exploitation and the sustainable development of these wealth-producing sources should become main concern of the environmental and the land-planning policy, which is practised by the responsible comities. The residents of province are unbreakably tied up with the meadows, which constitute one from the sovereign environments in which they developed their social, economic and cultural activities. Our economic identity that is based on a big degree in the farmers requires electing, to develop and to protect the meadows of semi-mountainous regions. In the frames of this work became an effort with the use of geographic systems of information (ArcView 3.0 and ArcGIS 8.3), to be recorded, to elect itself and is proposed a possibility of sustainable development of meadows extents of semi-mountainous region at Krousia of Prefecture Kilkis. The Prefecture Kilkis is a frontier prefecture of Central Macedonia with a lot of meadows, which they are extended in semi-mountainous regions and they present from a lot of use types up to they are abandoned. We selected this region because the last decades are observed reduction of native of population, so that remain these unexploited extents. Our fundamental objective was the connection of geographic information with the descriptive information as photographs, comments, texts, with such way in order that the access and the recovery of information are easy even for inexperienced users of computers. The descriptive information that exists in the data base of system has such structure and organisation that is approachable with simple ways, while is given the possibility of briefing and extension of application under the suitable support in Hardware and Software.
Evaluation of environmental consequences from rangeland roads
The aim of this procedure is the protection of the environment and the delivery to the next generations at least in the situation that we inherited it (beginning of viable or sustainable development). In this procedure the factors that show the environment’s condition are studied (land, flora, fauna, scene, air, water), in a typical mountainous rangeland (forest district of Samarina in Grevena), the possible environmental consequences, that are provoked by rangeland roads are anticipated and valuated and some solutions are searched out and proposed for the decrease or the avoidance of bad consequences during the phase of the grassland roads’ planning.
Investment uncertainty in rangeland improvements
In a rangeland investment plan, the uncertainties are ought to the lack of knowledge about the evolution of various natural processes (physical or random uncertainties) as well as to the limited amount of the available data (manmade or technological uncertainties). In a typical problem of failure, under the conditions of uncertainty, there must be answered three critical questions: When the system will fail? How often the failure is expected? What are the possible consequences? The answer to the first question will be provided if it is possible to create the “critical condition” or the “critical conditions” the investigation of which will lead to the conclusion of the failure or the success of the under study investment. By the answer to the second question, essentially, it will be determined the percent probability of failure of the plan and next, according to the known procedure, this risk could be incorporated in the discount rate of interest. For answering to the third question, it is necessary to be determined, recorded and analyzed the various types of consequences and naturally, if is possible, to be quantified and expressed into economic terms. Moreover, determining the “rates of return” of every alternative solution, also, it may be assessed the risk of the investment by the assistance of the “standard deviation” of these rates.
Agrosilvopastoral systems in Greece
Agrosilvopastoral systems traditional and new occur in several parts of Greece and play an important role in local economy. They also play a very important ecological role because they prevent soil erosion and surface runoff while they improve the landscape and conserve the biodiversity. They separate to several types according to tree species. Over the last decades, these systems have been substantially reduced due to several reasons including both extensification and intensification. A measure for the preservation of these systems could be a national survey. For this reason the area of Askio Municipality was selected as a study case. Several combinations of trees and crops were identified in that survey conducted during the last three years. The main tree species were oaks, walnuts, poplars, and fruit trees. The understorey crops consisted mainly of cereals (wheat, barley, corn), lucerne, tobacco and vegetables. Crops are used for livestock feeding directly (grain, hay) or indirectly (grazing). In the latter case, animals use these areas in the critical periods of the year such as the summer and early autumn (after the crop harvest).
