Research projects 5

  • Head of research Lindström, Kristina
  • Language n/a

The overall aim of the project is to improve productivity, livelihoods, nutrition and household wellbeing in Ghana and Uganda, while counteracting environmental degradation and mineral depletion caused by monocultures. The study will address both the individual farm level and the rural community level. Introducing the use of biofertilizers through a participatory process can highlight the potential of location-based resources, and empower the community more widely.

Team

Sumelius John (Project manager, Lindström Kristina (Principal investigator), Benjamin Ahiabor, John Baptist Tumuhairwe, Åsa Frostegård, Aserse Aregu (Participant), Vihinen Hilkka (Project manager), Sell Mila (Project manager), Sipiläinen Timo (Participant), Bäckman, Stefan, (Participant) Rosengren, Linda (Other)

To support and strengthen the capacity of Hamelmalo Agricultural College (HAC) so that it can contribute to increasing agriculture productivity and enhancing environmental sustainability, through their education mission by meeting ecological, economic and social needs and by building of new multidisciplinary partnerships and networks and strengthening of the existing ones.

Team

Mohamed Elfadl, Semere Amlesom, Juha Helenius, Mike Starr, Markku Larjavaara

  • Head of research Risto Kalliola
  • Language n/a

Hundreds of geoglyphs, geometrically formed man-made earth works, have only recently been found in southwestern Brazilian Amazonia and adjacent Bolivia. Geoglyphs occur in an area that partly overlaps with bamboo-dominated forests that are exceptional rain forests because they are dominated by a single species. The aim of the project is to find out if there is a causal relationship between bamboo forests and geoglyphs.

Team

Risto Kalliola, Martti Pärssinen, Pirjo K. Virtanen, Kalle Ruokolainen

Estimating how well existing conservation units represent different habitats and their species is necessary for the long-term preservation of biological diversity and for sustainable use of forest resources. The task is especially challenging in Amazonia, which is both extensive and largely unexplored. Therefore, exact enough maps of the distribution of biodiversity are not available. We aim to solve the problem by combining the efforts of two teams that have approached biodiversity-related questions from different points of view. Attention will be given both to the current distribution of biodiversity in Amazonia and to the geological history that has shaped it. This will invove a combination of novel remote sensing methods, exceptionally extensive and internally consistent field data, and a thorough understanding of the geology of the Amazon basin and the ecology of selected indicator plants.

Team

Hanna Tuomisto, Kalle Ruokolainen, Samuli Lehtonen, Jasper Van doninck, Gabriela Zuquim, Gabriel Moulatlet, Glenda Cárdenas

UTU Geography Section has been working in Tanzania since 2003 with Tanzanian and international partners. Our collaborative research topics are broadly related to the analysis of human-nature dynamics with landscape and geospatial approaches. We link our research efforts with education in Geography and Landscape Science, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing, Participatory GIS and Landscape Management. We collaborate with our partners in developing better spatial tools, methods and practices of sustainable landscape management and use and preservation of natural resources.

Team

Niina Käyhkö, Taimi Sitari,Nora Fagerholm, Jussi S. Jauhiainen, Jukka Käyhkö,Harun Makandi,Sanna Mäki,Mikko Joronen, Lauri Hooli, Joni Koskinen, Salla Eilola, Zakaria Khamis, Niko Humalisto