School of Earth and Environment

Luuk Fleskens Dr Luuk Fleskens

Lecturer: Environmental Change

Telephone number: +44(0) 113 34 35279
Email address: l.fleskens@leeds.ac.uk
Room: 9.102

Water Harvesting for Rainfed Africa: investing in dryland agriculture for growth and resilience (WAHARA)

Desertification Mitigation and Remediation of Land (DESIRE)

Africa College Partnership

Catastrophic shifts in drylands: how can we prevent ecosystem degradation

Transforming water scarcity through trading

Biography

I am interested in assessing the impacts of environmental change, and particularly how land and water management interventions can increase resilience of agro-ecosystems. Using integrated environmental models and participatory methods I consider impact in both physical and economic terms, at different scales, and taking into account diverging socio-cultural perceptions of various stakeholders. This ranges from a farmer who, based on his or her perceived benefits and constraints decides to adopt or not to adopt technologies, to environmental policy-making where the objective of equitable and sustainable resource use and rural development is easier claimed than reached. I am also interested in the role science can play to bring together stakeholders at different levels and to resolve conflicts of interest.

My lectureship is funded through Africa College, a cross-faculty University of Leeds partnership with external partners to improve food security in Africa. I bring a wealth of field experience to this position: prior to joining SRI I have worked as a technical advisor for capacity building of research on soil and water conservation in Eritrea, in different researcher and lecturer positions at Wageningen University, and as a consultant for a wide range of organizations and projects in Mozambique. Recent consultancy experiences include a study prioritizing rural public works interventions for IFDC in Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern Congo DRC and on including environmental conservation in an integrated environmental health project for AMREF in Kenya. Previous research projects while at Wageningen University focused on water harvesting in Northern Africa and Central Asia and on the future of olive plantation systems in Southern Europe.

Qualifications

  • MSc Tropical Land Use (1997)
  • PhD Production Ecology and Resource Conservation (2007), Wageningen University

Research Interests

  • Sustainable land management
  • land degradation
  • water harvesting
  • integrated environmental modelling
  • participatory processes
  • farmer decision-making

Current research projects

  • CASCADE (2012-2016, funding by EU FP7), on catastrophic shifts in Mediterranean drylands and development of management schemes for sustainable resource use and conservation of ecosystem services.
  • WAHARA (2011-2016, funding by EU FP7), on water harvesting for rainfed Africa to enhance food production and resilience, with study sites in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Tunisia and Zambia.
  • Transforming water scarcity through trading (2011-2014, funding by EPSRC), looking at market opportunities to enhance distributed water storage in the UK and developing country context.
  • DESIRE (2007-2012, funding by EU FP6), a large research project on promising alternative land use and management conservation strategies in sixteen degradation and desertification hotspots around the world.

Current PhD student supervision

  • Ms Sarah Lebel - Water harvesting for rainfed Africa: system sustainability under climate change (Co-supervised with Prof Piers Forster and Dr Brian Irvine; funded by University of Leeds FIRS studentship, 2011-2014).
  • Mr Thomas Swinscoe - Transforming water scarcity through trading: agricultural water use and farm economics (Co-supervised with Prof John Barrett; funded by EPSRC studentship, 2011-2014).
  • Ms Uzma Aslam - Assessing the scope of PES in relation to GHG emissions in agri-ecosystems (Co-supervised with Prof Mette Termansen; funded by Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan, 2009-2013).

Completed PhD students:

  • Mr Doan Nainggolan - On the operationalization of a spatially explicit evaluation of the complexity of land use trajectories in semi-arid Mediterranean agro-ecosystems (Co-supervised with Prof Mette Termansen; funded by University of Leeds ORS, DESIRE, and Aarhus University, 2007-2012).

Academic CV (pdf file)

Publications

  • Qasim M; Hubacek K; Termansen M; Fleskens L (2013) Modelling land use change across elevation gradients in district Swat, Pakistan, Regional Environmental Change, . doi: 10.1007/s10113-012-0395-1
  • Fleskens L; Hubacek K (2013) Modelling land management for ecosystem services, Regional Environmental Change, . doi: 10.1007/s10113-013-0465-z
  • Nainggolan D; Termansen M; Fleskens L; Hubacek K; Reed MS; de Vente J; Boix-Fayos C (2012) What does the future hold for semi-arid Mediterranean agro-ecosystems? - Exploring cellular automata and agent-based trajectories of future land-use change, Applied Geography, 35, pp.474-490. doi: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2012.09.007
  • Perkins J; Reed M; Akanyang L; Atlhopheng J; Chanda R; Magole L; Mphinyane W; Mulale K; Sebego R; Fleskens L (2012) Making land management more sustainable: experiences implementing a new methodological framework in Botswana, Land Degradation & Development, . doi: 10.1002/ldr.1142
  • Fleskens L; Nainggolan D; Termansen M; Hubacek K; Reed MS (2012) Regional consequences of the way land users respond to future water availability in Murcia, Spain, Regional Environmental Change, . doi: 10.1007/s10113-012-0283-8
  • Reed MS; Buenemann M; Atlhopheng J; Akhtar-Schuster M; Bachmann F; Bastin G; Bigas H; Chanda R; Dougill AJ; Essahli W; Evely AC; Geeson N; Fleskens L; Glass JH; Hessel R; Holden J; Ioris AAR; Kruger B; Liniger HP; Mphinyane W; Nainggolan D; Perkins J; Raymond CM; Ritsema CJ; Schwilch G; Sebego R; Seely M; Stringer LC; Thomas R; Twomlow S; Verzandvoort S (2011) Cross-scale monitoring and assessment of land degradation and sustainable land management: A methodological framework for knowledge management, Land Degradation & Development, 22, pp.161-171. doi: 10.1002/ldr.1087
  • Fleskens L; de Graaff J (2010) Conserving natural resources in olive orchards on sloping land: alternative goal programming approaches towards designing effective cross-compliance and agri-environmental measures, Agricultural Systems, 103, pp.521-534. doi: 10.1016/j.agsy.2010.05.005
  • Fleskens L; Jorritsma F (2010) A behavioral change perspective of Maroon soil fertility management in traditional shifting cultivation in Suriname, Human Ecology, 38, pp.217-236. doi: 10.1007/s10745-010-9307-5
  • de Graaff J; Duarte F; Fleskens L; de Figueiredo T (2010) The future of olive groves on sloping land and ex-ante assessment of cross compliance for erosion control, LAND USE POLICY, 27, pp.33-41. doi: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2008.02.006
  • Fleskens L; Duarte F; Eicher I (2009) A conceptual framework for the assessment of multiple functions of agro-ecosystems: A case study of Tras-os-Montes olive groves, J RURAL STUD, 25, pp.141-155. doi: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2008.08.003
  • de Graaff J; Zuazo VHD; Jones N; Fleskens L (2008) Olive production systems on sloping land: Prospects and scenarios, J ENVIRON MANAGE, 89, pp.129-139. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.04.024
  • Fleskens L (2008) A typology of sloping and mountainous olive plantation systems to address natural resources management, ANN APPL BIOL, 153, pp.283-297. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-7348.2008.00260.x
  • Duarte F; Jones N; Fleskens L (2008) Traditional olive orchards on sloping land: Sustainability or abandonment?, J ENVIRON MANAGE, 89, pp.86-98. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.05.024
  • Fleskens L; de Graaff J (2008) A sustainable future for olive production on sloping land?, J ENVIRON MANAGE, 89, pp.73-74. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.05.017
  • Fleskens L; Stroosnijder L (2007) Is soil erosion in olive groves as bad as often claimed?, GEODERMA, 141, pp.260-271. doi: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2007.06.009
  • Fleskens L (2007) Conservation scenarios for olive farming on sloping land in the Mediterranean, Wageningen University.
  • Fleskens L; Ataev A; Mamedov B; Spaan WP (2007) Desert water harvesting from Takyr surfaces: Assessing the potential of traditional and experimental technologies in the Karakum, LAND DEGRAD DEV, 18, pp.17-39. doi: 10.1002/ldr.759
  • Fleskens L; Stroosnijder L; Ouessar M; De Graaff J (2005) Evaluation of the on-site impact of water harvesting in southern Tunisia, J ARID ENVIRON, 62, pp.613-630. doi: 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2005.01.013
  • Schiettecatte W; Fleskens L; Kabbachi B; Van der Voort D (2002) The role of seguias in soil and water conservation within the Talkjounte watershed, In: Graaff JD; Ouessar M (Ed) Water harvesting in Mediterranean zones: an impact assessment and economic evaluation, Tropical Resource Management Papers, 40, Wageningen University, pp.61-70.
  • Fleskens L; Stroosnijder L; Fetoui M (2002) Economic evaluation of on-site impact of water harvesting in southern Tunisia, In: Graaff JD; Ouessar M (Ed) Water harvesting in Mediterranean zones: an impact assessment and economic evaluation, Tropical Resource Management Papers, 40, Wageningen University, pp.89-100.
  • Geurts PMH; Fleskens L; Löwer J; Folmer ECR (1999) Nutrient balances at field level of mixed cropping systems in various agroecological zones in Mozambique., In: Smaling; A EM; Oenema; O; Fresco; O L (Ed) Nutrient disequilibria in agroecosystems: concepts and case studies, CABI, pp.191-210.