exclosure

Most commonly, exclosures are areas that are set aside for regreening.{{cite journal |last1=Aerts |first1=R |last2=Nyssen |first2=J|last3=Mitiku Haile |title= On the difference between "exclosures" and "enclosures" in ecology and the environment |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |date=2009|volume=73 |issue=8 |pages= 762–763 |doi=10.1016/j.jaridenv.2009.01.006 |bibcode=2009JArEn..73..762A |url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/239842 }} Wood harvesting and livestock range are not allowed there.

The establishment of an exclosure has positive effects on:

• biodiversity{{cite book |last1=Aerts |first1=R. |last2=Lerouge |first2=F. |last3=November |first3=E. |title=Birds of forests and open woodlands in the highlands of Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District |date=2019 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |url=https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030049546}}{{cite journal |last1=Mastewal Yami |first1=and colleagues |title= Impact of Area Enclosures on Density and Diversity of Large Wild Mammals: The Case of May Ba'ati, Douga Tembien Woreda, Central Tigray, Ethiopia |journal=East African Journal of Sciences |date=2007|volume=1 |pages=1–14 }}{{cite journal |last1=Aerts |first1=R |last2=Lerouge |first2=F |last3=November |first3=E |last4=Lens |first4=L |last5=Hermy |first5=M |last6=Muys |first6=B |title=Land rehabilitation and the conservation of birds in a degraded Afromontane landscape in northern Ethiopia |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |date=2008 |volume=17 |pages=53–69 |doi=10.1007/s10531-007-9230-2 |s2cid=37489450 |url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/145812 }}
• water infiltration
• protection from flooding{{cite journal |last1= Descheemaeker|first1= K. and colleagues| title= Runoff on slopes with restoring vegetation: A case study from the Tigray highlands, Ethiopia. |journal= Journal of Hydrology |date=2006 |volume=331 |issue=1–2 |pages=219–241 |doi= 10.1016/j.still.2006.07.011|bibcode= 2006JHyd..331..219D|url= https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/378900|hdl= 1854/LU-378900 |hdl-access= free }}
• sediment deposition{{cite journal |last1=Descheemaeker |first1=K. and colleagues |title= Sediment deposition and pedogenesis in exclosures in the Tigray Highlands, Ethiopia. |journal=Geoderma |date=2006 |volume=132 |issue= 3–4|pages=291–314 |doi=10.1016/j.geoderma.2005.04.027 |bibcode=2006Geode.132..291D }}
• carbon sequestration{{cite journal |last1=Wolde Mekuria |first1=and colleagues |title= Restoration of Ecosystem Carbon Stocks Following Exclosure Establishment in Communal Grazing Lands in Tigray, Ethiopia |journal= Soil Science Society of America Journal |date=2011 |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=246–256|doi=10.2136/sssaj2010.0176 |bibcode=2011SSASJ..75..246M }}

In developing countries, people commonly have economic benefits from these exclosures through grass harvesting, beekeeping and other non-timber forest products.{{cite journal |last1=Bedru Babulo |first1=and colleagues |title= Economic valuation methods of forest rehabilitation in exclosures |journal=Journal of the Drylands |date=2006 |volume=1 |pages=165–170 }} The local inhabitants also consider it as “land set aside for future generations”.{{cite book |last1=Jacob |first1=M. and colleagues | title= Exclosures as Primary Option for Reforestation in Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District |date=2019 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |url=https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030049546}}

Exclosures have as an additional benefit that the surrounding communities may receive carbon credits for the sequestered CO₂,{{cite book |last1=Reubens |first1=B. and colleagues | title= Research-based development projects in Dogu'a Tembien. In: Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains - The Dogu'a Tembien District |date=2019 |publisher=SpringerNature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |url=https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030049546}} as part of a carbon offset programme.[https://www.planvivo.org/project-network/ethiotrees-tembien-highlands/ EthioTrees on Plan Vivo website]

In the Tigray Region, in Ethiopia, several exclosures are managed by the EthioTrees project. The revenues are then reinvested in the villages, according to the priorities of the communities;[https://www.davines.com/blogs/projects/ethiotrees EthioTrees on Davines website] it may be for an additional class in the village school, a water pond, conservation in the exclosures, or a store for incense.{{cite book |last1=Moens |first1=T |title=Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains |last2=Lanckriet |first2=S |last3=Jacob |first3=M |chapter=Boswellia Incense in the Giba River Gorge |date=2019 |publisher=Springer Nature |pages=293–300 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-04955-3_19 |series=GeoGuide |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |s2cid=199113310 }}

Exclosures are sometimes constructed by government agencies that manage livestock use on public lands—a practice in which private owners of cattle pay, though often only a nominal sum, for the right to graze their livestock on the public lands.{{fact|date=January 2020}}

File:Exclusion plot on Island Saddle.jpg in the South Island of New Zealand. Introduced browsing mammals often have a detrimental effect on New Zealand's native vegetation.]]

One purpose of the exclosure is to determine how the area would develop (in biodiversity, vegetation height, ecological characteristics, etc.) if grazing were not conducted.{{fact|date=January 2020}}

Another purpose is to demarcate an area safe for humans by excluding potentially deadly animals. For example, a beach may have a shark net around it to prevent sharks from attacking human swimmers. Another example is at wild animal preserves which provide fenced in areas for humans to safely watch lions, tigers, or other large predators.{{fact|date=January 2020}}

• Predator proof fence

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Aerts |first1=R. |last2=Nyssen |first2=J. |last3=Haile |first3=M. |title=On the difference between 'exclosures' and 'enclosures' in ecology and the environment |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |date=1 August 2009 |volume=73 |issue=8 |pages=762–763 |doi=10.1016/j.jaridenv.2009.01.006 |bibcode=2009JArEn..73..762A |url=https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/239842 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100610211330/http://tpyoung.ucdavis.edu/KLEE/index.html The Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment] - An exclosure experiment in Africa with both livestock and wildlife.
• [http://www.mikehudak.com/PhotoEssays/BurntCreek2002/index.html Burnt Creek Exclosure] - photos of a Bureau of Land Management exclosure in the Pahsimeroi River Valley of Idaho

Category:Land management

Category:Environmental conservation