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This research was conducted in the natural reserve Ngoc Son-Ngo Luong, Hoa Binh province, Viet Nam. The region however, has been the habitat of Muong ethnic group for thousands of years. To guarantee and improve the living standard of the local people, scientific support to identify and apply sustainable land management practices was highly needed. The ethnopedological science provides a promising tool to link this local and scientific soil knowledge. The book has been organised in six chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the ethnopedological approach and defines the research problems. Chapter 2 describes the biophysical and micro-scale socio-economical environment of the study area. Chapter 3 provides a range of methodologies and tools to assess the local soil classification and soil quality. Chapter 4 outlines the participatory farmer management approach for improving soil quality. In chapter 5, a conceptual framework of model-based explorations and interactions with local people, is developed to identify alternative land use plans that promote sustainable land management. The general conclusions have been summarized in chapter 6.

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Nguyen Dai Trung was born on May, 22nd, 1970 in Que Vo district, Bac Ninh province, Vietnam. Since 1992, he joined the Vietnam Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources In October, 2001, he received a Master of Sciences in Geology. In December, 2008, he obtained a PhD degree of Sciences in Geology in the field of ethno-pedology.

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