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Example of the water for humans and irrigation supply (left) and demand (right) maps obtained during the participatory mapping workshop.
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The application of the ecosystem services (ES) framework in landscape planning has become particularly relevant in rural-urban gradients since it allows for the integration of the complex interactions between ES supply and demand. This framework might be a powerful tool to inform landscape planning and decision-making intended to maintain the curre...
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Citations
... The approach can take into account the land uses and needs of IPLC, giving them a voice and democratizing the decision-making process of spatial planning over traditional biophysical mapping that faces social complexity and political negotiation (Andrew et al. 2014;Brown and Fagerholm 2015). While participatory mapping is applied in various social and ecological contexts, there have been limited studies on landscape gradients, particularly within the forest-agriculture frontiers (Palomo-Campesino et al. 2018). A limited understanding exists on how agrarian change meets local communities' desires for ES under different intensification gradients. ...
Agrarian change affects the supply and demand of ecosystem services (ES) by reducing the extent of natural ecosystems. Agricultural intensification can lead to changes in land covers and livelihood opportunities and it remains unclear how such changes align or misalign with the desires of local communities. Using participatry mapping, we assessed ES uses and desires of Indigenous people and local communities provided by different land cover types along a gradient of agricultural intensification (forest subsistence, agroforestry mosaic, and monoculture and market-dependence) in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. We found that mapped ES use diversity was highest in the forest-dependent zone and lowest near monoculture agricultural systems. The expressed ES uses and desires varied greatly among land cover types amidst loss of old-growth forest and greater reliance on secondary forest and shrub land. The spatial analysis showed that high priority areas of ES use was related to access in the landscape, demonstrating the importance of attending to place-based social values in ES assessments. From this study, we call for a people-centric spatial modelling approach to address the divergence of social and cultural ES values associated with land covers under different intensification contexts. Participatory mapping clarifies the ES desires of local communities, which state policy often fails to address. We recommend a place specific management strategy to reduce ES trade-offs of specific land use practices, which are currently apparent with agrarian change in Indonesia and relevant for other tropical developing countries.
... The majority of studies looking at peri-urban land-use have focused on specific stakeholder groups that are organized through representative organizations (e.g. Zasada 2011;Palomo-Campesino et al. 2018;Rodríguez-Morales et al. 2020). Several more recent studies, in various landscape types, focus on residents' landscape preferences (e.g. ...
... The rural-urban gradient is a characteristics of the transition from built-up to more open and natural landscape, which has commonly been used to study peri-urban landscapes (e.g. Kroll et al. 2012;Larondelle and Haase 2013;Baró et al. 2017;Palomo-Campesino et al. 2018;Zhou et al. 2018). A variety of indicators exists to measure the ruralurban gradient, from demographic to physical and landscape-oriented metrics (Hahs and McDonnell 2006;Andersson et al. 2009). ...
Developing successful policies for sustainable land use requires understanding the perspectives of different actors. This study explored how residents – an often under-represented and un-organized group – vary in their valuation of ecosystem services (ES) and perception of multifunctionality in a peri-urban setting. We conducted 127 interviews in the Kromme Rijn region of the Netherlands guided by an interactive, visual canvas tool (STREAMLINE). We addressed four research questions: (1) Is there variation among residents regarding preferences for ES? (2) Which competing interests do residents see in this landscape? (3) Where are hotspots of perceived multifunctionality? and (4) Can the level of perceived multifunctionality be explained by its location on the rural–urban gradient? Our findings demonstrate that while the majority of ES are important to residents of a peri-urban landscape, there is variation in relative preference towards a subset of ES (mainly provisioning services). A typology of preferences distinguishes three groups: (A)‘I want it all’ – all ES (very) important; (B)‘I want most of it’ – majority of ES important; and (C)‘I want some’ – several ES not important at all. The majority of competing interests identified by respondents were between biodiversity and either a provisioning or cultural service. Universal hotspots of perceived multi-functionality overlapped with the area around residential areas, whereas natural (grassland) areas and water were considered multifunctional by only a small share of respondents. These perceptions and preferences do not necessarily align with current policy and management efforts, it is advised that residents’ perceptions and values are better accounted for in landscape governance.
... Some studies have navigated the lack of data by integrating local stakeholders into participatory land-use planning processes which can have a dual benefit, such as gathering the required information and promoting more transparent decision making [16,18]. This engagement can empower local stakeholders/communities to make their voices heard and facilitate the process of building trust and sharing knowledge which will benefit the implementation of land-use planning [87]. Another study in Paraguay used different data/indicators to fill in gaps of information [74]. ...
Land-use planning identifies the best land-use options by considering environmental, economic, and social factors. Different theoretical land-use plan models can be found in the literature; however, few studies focus on its practical application and particular challenges in different contexts, especially in the Global South. We use expert surveys to explore the feasibility and relevance of integrated land-use planning and data acquisition in developing countries using Paraguay as an example. We identify the challenges of developing land-use plans and strategies to navigate these barriers to speed up its implementation. The results show that it might be difficult to develop an integrated land-use plan in the context of developing countries, mainly due to data availability, lack of political will, lack of stakeholder engagement, and insufficient financial and human resources. We also highlight examples of creative ways in which previous land-use planning projects and studies navigated these challenges, including stakeholder consultations, use of simpler models that required less data, prioritization of data collection, and engagement of decision makers throughout the process. We provide crucial information to improve land-use planning processes in Paraguay and across the Global South in areas with similar contexts and challenges that aim to develop in a more sustainable way.
... The questionnaire was designed to collect data relevant to the local socio-ecological and agricultural context, documenting household socio-economic indicators, farming activities and ecosystem services deemed to be important for the study region (FAO, 2017;Leakey et al., 2006;Palomo-Campesino et al., 2018; Table S2). ...
Restoring the degraded Atlantic Forest is one of the biggest conservation challenges in Brazil. In a biome with high human presence, understanding the potential for restoration approaches, such as agroforestry, to provide benefits to smallholder farmers and biodiversity is essential in developing equitable restoration strategies.
Smallholder or family farmers are essential to national food security, producing most fruit and vegetables consumed in Brazil. Their farms can also provide ecological stepping stones for biodiversity. To better understand their role in Atlantic Forest restoration, this study explores the use of agroforestry by smallholder farmers from the Movimento Sem Terra (MST), the Rural Landless Workers' Movement, in Pontal do Paranapanema.
We use quantitative and qualitative data to assess farmer perceptions of the measures which support agroforestry farming, barriers to implementation and its impact on indicators of wellbeing. We find agroforestry farmers report significant benefits in 8 of 18 tested indicators. Attitudes to agroforestry are varied, but common themes emerge including the high value of tree cover for shade and cooling effects, and the difficulties in selling agroforestry products. Our results show lack of policy support and initial investment needs are the biggest constraints to agroforestry, but opportunity cost is not considered a large barrier.
Tailored policies and financial measures are needed to integrate thousands of smallholder farmers into the Atlantic Forest restoration agenda, helping to reach biome restoration targets while supporting rural livelihoods and national food security. Further research is required into links between additional socio‐economic and biogeographical variables and agroforestry uptake in the region.
... The establishment of ecosystem service supply and demand indicators should consider regional local characteristics and differences. The comprehensive assessment results of supply and demand of ecosystem services have been applied to many aspects, including the analysis of profit and loss of supply and demand of regional ecosystem services [1,3,13,[22][23][24][25][26], the analysis of ecosystem security patterns [27,28], the diagnosis of ecosystem health [29], the payment of ecosystem services [30,31], the identification of the ecological source or ecologically important land [28,32], and landscape planning [33][34][35][36]. However, the application of the current comprehensive assessment results of the supply and demand of ecosystem services is still limited mainly because many studies are too simplistic to assess the needs of ecosystem services, such as spatialization of demands based solely on socioeconomic [27,37] or night lighting data [38]. ...
The continuous supply of ecosystem services is the foundation of the sustainable development of human society. The identification of the supply–demand relationships and risks of ecosystem services is of considerable importance to the management of regional ecosystems and the effective allocation of resources. This paper took the Yihe River Basin as the research area and selected water yield, carbon sequestration, food production, and soil conservation to assess changes in the supply and demand of ecosystem services and their matching status from 2000 to 2018. Risk identification and management zoning were also conducted. Results show the following: (1) The spatial distribution of the four ecosystems service supply and demand in the Yihe River Basin was mismatched. The food production supply levels in the middle and lower reaches and the upstream water yield, carbon sequestration, and soil conservation supply levels were high. However, most of the areas with high demand for ecosystem services were concentrated downstream. (2) From 2000 to 2018, the supply of water yield and carbon sequestration in the Yihe River Basin decreased, while that of food production and soil conservation increased. The demand for the four ecosystem services also increased. (3) Water yield faced considerable supply–demand risks. Fifty percent of the sub-basins were at a high-risk level, and the risk areas were concentrated in the middle and lower reaches. The three remaining services were mainly at low-risk levels. The Yihe River Basin was divided into eight types of supply–demand risk spatial management zones based on the ecosystem service supply and demand levels, which will help promote refined regional ecosystem management and sustainable development. The supply and demand assessment of ecosystem services from a risk perspective can integrate the information of natural ecosystems and socio-economic systems and provide scientific support for watershed spatial management.
... The urban-rural approach has been applied to analyze spatial land use and ecosystem services patterns between rural and urban regions in the Mediterranean (Martín-Lopez et al. 2012;Palomo-Campesino et al. 2018). During the last years, the research interest in peri-urban areas around Mediterranean cities has increased Baró et al. 2017). ...
Global change, through the impact of human activities on the processes that regulate the functioning of the Earth system, poses important challenges to society. The acceleration of human pressures during the last decades has had profound impacts on Mediterranean socio-ecological systems including the reduction of important contributions from nature to human well-being, referred to as ecosystem services (ES). For the coming decades, there is growing concern about how pressures of social-ecological systems, in particular urbanization, land management practices and nature conservation policies, will affect the supply of ES in the Mediterranean Basin and how the associated vulnerabilities could be reduced. Sustainable supply of ES is a key prerequisite to the achievement of many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but knowledge on how this could best be achieved is sparse, in the Mediterranean Basin but also elsewhere. This lack of knowledge is not confined to issues of scientific understanding, but also to the fact that research efforts are more limited in Northern African countries as compared to Europe. There is a particular need to elucidate trends, trade-offs and synergies between ES under the influence of pressures and management in the wider Mediterranean basin. The main goal of this thesis is to analyze how ES flows in the Mediterranean Basin area, and the tradeoffs between them, are affected by drivers of change. To this end, a multidisciplinary assessment perspective - from biophysical to socio-cultural factors, covering multiple spatial scales from the local to the Mediterranean Basin - has been used to analyze changes in ES supply and demand. The core results are presented on three independent studies. In the first one (chapter 2.1) I assess land cover and ES capacity supply trends in Mediterranean peri-urban areas due to urbanization using spatial open data sources. In the second sub-chapter (2.2), I present a literature review to identify the impact of conservative management practices on ES. In the third subchapter (2.3), I explore the impact of the role of stakeholders in environmental management decisions on their perception of ES patterns using collaborative mapping workshops. In the peri-urban zones around 12 Mediterranean cities I found a general decrease in the overall capacity to supply ES due to land cover changes (1990 – 2016) (chapter 2.1). In the European peri-urban areas, expansion of the urban surface has occurred at expense of agricultural land loss, whereas in North African experienced an increase of irrigated agricultural land. In chapter 2.2, a selection of alternative management options positively impacts the supply of regulating ES in Mediterranean agro-ecosystems. In contrast, crop yield was increased using management options such as no tillage and mulching, but decreased under mulching among others. Chapter 2.3 demonstrated that the spatial scale of influence of stakeholders on ES management affects the recognition of contributions from specific or wider landscape elements (e.g. protected areas) to ES supply. The revealed impacts of urbanization and commonly applied agricultural management systems negatively impact the supply of ES which may hinder the progress Mediterranean countries strive for within the frame of the SDGs. Better management of land use systems along the rural-urban gradient and the engagement of stakeholders could help to assure progress towards the SDGs. The chosen methods and data affect the results with regards to ES trends, synergies and trade-offs detected. In this thesis I recognize the need to apply integrated ES assessment to provide the estimation of trends, and the existence of shared knowledge within stakeholder groups that can provide the much needed link between theory and practice. This thesis evidence that the inclusion of diverse dimensions of the socialecological systems can improve the understanding of ES flows and changes therein.
Cities in Southeast Asia are vulnerable to disasters such as floods, earthquakes, and storms. These hazards are exacerbated by poorly regulated urbanization and inadequate infrastructure in high-risk areas, leaving many cities ill-prepared to withstand these threats. Secondary and tertiary cities in the region, and many in Indonesia like Sariharjo, are prone to pluvial and fluvial flooding due to extreme rainfall events, stormwater runoff, overflowing sewage systems, floodplain encroachment, and upstream land use change. Adverse effects, particularly the degradation of natural watersheds, reduced drainage system capacity, and increased non-permeable surfaces, contribute to prolonged flooding. Resolving these issues requires redefining stormwater management, integrating an environmental dimension into urban planning, and moving beyond a narrow technical focus. This chapter introduces the polycentric participatory approach to the management of urban water and explores the design and implementation of collaborative planning processes, which plays a fundamental role to integrate water management into urban planning. Furthermore, the chapter promotes a deeper understanding of multi-stakeholder engagement for participatory methods. Based on practical case study experience, the chapter introduces a novel methodology, rooted in the principle of participatory urban planning. Through its trans- and interdisciplinary nature, coordination among stakeholders and institutions became a key requirement to enhance integration of water management into urban planning processes. Combining these two elements, the polycentric participatory approach utilizes tools for cross-sectoral cooperation through multi-stage combination of empirical research, stakeholder interviews, focus group discussions, and system analyses. The results reveal that adopting a polycentric approach to urban water management can empower secondary and tertiary cities in Southeast Asia to actively influence their water-sensitive transformation. The diverse development dynamics of cities across social, physical, natural, and institutional dimensions are considered, and application further fosters effective co-production and multi-stakeholder engagement. It offers essential contributions to sustainability and long-term effectiveness of implemented solutions.
Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) are highly context-specific and inherently linked to local identity, which challenges their assessment. Participatory methods have proven to capture the multiple values and aspects of CES for local communities. This paper presents an attempt to understand the different dimensions of CES in the Saint-Philippe municipality, Réunion Island, France. We applied a tiered, participatory approach that utilises knowledge co-creation processes over a period of 3 years. First, we co-created the aim of the research and brought together focus groups and participatory GIS mapping. In a second step, we used an expert-based matrix assessment to estimate CES supply capacities and added social big data using InVEST modelling of CES flows. Outputs of these processes are 1) the mapping of important landscape features, 2) ecosystem capacities for CES supply and 3) modelled use of CES. Results of the participatory GIS mapping show 110 features linked to CES supply in the municipal area, including historic sites, recreational areas, and non-timber forest products such as pandanus leaves and vanilla production. Based on land use classes, the capacities of the landscapes to supply emblematic or symbolic values, landscape aesthetics and recreational activities were assessed. Ten experts contributed to the assessment in workshop format in February 2023. Spatial information on recreation patterns show that visitation mostly took place alongside the coast and along hiking trails, mainly corresponding with landscape aesthetics. Accessibility of sites close to infrastructure was found to be an important governing factor. The coastline, with its rocky basaltic shores, was highly appreciated. The outcomes of this co-creation approach show the value of ES for tourism and regional economic activities. Bringing this information together allows identifying the contribution of ecosystems to regional economic activities and informing policy and decision-makers with recommendations for enhanced land use planning and economic development.
Brazil’s Atlantic Forest biome (Mata Atlântica) is a global conservation and restoration hotspot lying within the Neotropics, one of the most species-rich realms on Earth. Around 80% of Brazil’s population live within its range, competing for land and natural resources. The biome’s remaining forests are highly degraded and fragmented and ambitious targets have been set to restore native forest over the coming decades. Diverse, often marginalised, rural communities from different socio-political, cultural and ethnic backgrounds exist across areas targeted for large-scale restoration. This thesis uses mixed-methods to explore opportunities for Forest Landscape Restoration to benefit both biodiversity and livelihoods while reaching Atlantic Forest restoration targets. First, I explore evidence on forest cover thresholds to understand the ecological evidence-base for restoration targets. I then combine Participatory Scenario Development, creating narratives of change for the region, and partial economic equilibrium modelling to evaluate the potential implications of restoration policy pathways using GLOBIOM-Brazil, a Brazilian regional biosphere management model. Modelling outcomes from different policy scenarios are explored comparing indicators of agricultural development, land-use change, and biodiversity. Finally, I use a case study of agroforestry as a restoration method, exploring its potential to deliver biodiversity and livelihood gains for subsistence farmers from the Rural Landless Workers Movement (MST). This case study allows an in-depth understanding of family farmers’ place in Atlantic Forest restoration, and explores the feasibility of modelled policy scenarios. It shows that restoration through agroforestry can deliver benefits to these communities, but multiple policy and financial barriers prevent uptake and implementation. Scenario modelling results show different policy pathways involve trade-offs between biodiversity gains, spatial distribution of restoration and agriculture, but importantly suggest that restoration goals are not incompatible with necessary agricultural development in the biome. I end by outlining recommendations towards the creation of policy and management options which promote restoration approaches which may benefit smallholder farmers in the Atlantic Forest.
The provision of ecosystem services is determined by three factors: supply, demand, and flow. The study looked into both the demand and supply sides, as well as the spatial and temporal variations between supply and demand, from the perspective of a city region. To investigate the mismatch between demand and supply both quantitative and qualitative sources of data were employed. Landsat data, expert knowledge, document review, and qualitative data including key informant interview was utilized. The land-use patterns analyses show that ecosystem services flow in the city surroundings are higher than those within Mekelle city’s administrative boundary. Land use/land cover dynamics were the main drivers of ecosystem services supply decline in the Mekelle city region. Those changes negatively affected the capacity of ecosystems to provide goods and services to the growing urban and rural populations. This supply of bundles of ecosystem services did not match the demands of the society which endangered the sustainable utilization of natural capital. The results disclose land-use patterns over time and space as well as the capacities of different ecosystems to provide sustainable ecosystem services supply are declining. On the contrary, demands for these services are increasing due to the growth of the population and economic activities. The study can support spatial planners in addressing the sustainable use of watershed ecosystem services.
