USING GIS AS A TOOL FOR LANDSCAPE INVENTORIES IN MUNICIPALITIES TO IMPROVE DECISION MAKING AND FACILITATE PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT

Abstract

Conservation of landscape with aesthetical and ecological value is important in areas where intensive agricultural practices are a constant threat for remaining habitats or historic landscape features, as it is the case in the Alpine province of Bolzano, in Northern Italy. To map, describe and evaluate elements relevant to landscape ecology, a GIS database was developed. Landscape features recorded are ditches, ponds, dry stonewalls, hedges etc. The GIS database was constructed to be flexible so that it can be expanded and adapted according to local requirements, yet be centrally controlled. It proved to be an important vehicle to improve the level of public involvement in environmental management and landscape conservation. It is assisting in the development of a long-range landscape management plan on municipal level in the province of Bolzano. This example could serve as a model for using a GIS as a catalyst for greater public involvement in environmental management and landscape conservation.

Full text

USING GIS AS A TOOL FOR LANDSCAPE INVENTORIES IN
MUNICIPALITIES TO IMPROVE DECISION MAKING AND
FACILITATE PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
Joachim MULSER1, Wolfgang MOSER2, Franziska ZEMMER3
ABSTRACT
Conservation of landscape with aesthetical and ecological value is important in areas where intensive
agricultural practices are a constant threat for remaining habitats or historic landscape features, as it is
the case in the Alpine province of Bolzano, in Northern Italy. To map, describe and evaluate elements
relevant to landscape ecology, a GIS database was developed. Landscape features recorded are ditches,
ponds, dry stonewalls, hedges etc. The GIS database was constructed to be flexible so that it can be
expanded and adapted according to local requirements, yet be centrally controlled. It proved to be an
important vehicle to improve the level of public involvement in environmental management and
landscape conservation. It is assisting in the development of a long-range landscape management plan
on municipal level in the province of Bolzano. This example could serve as a model for using a GIS as
a catalyst for greater public involvement in environmental management and landscape conservation.
Keywords: GIS-database design, GIS-management, landscape inventory, conservation, public
involvement, environmental planning
1. INTRODUCTION
Landscape features, contributing to ecological diversity and landscape aesthetics, often fall victim to
rationalisations in agriculture, to expansions of housing and business parks as well as to tourist
developments (Autonome Provinz Bozen-Südtirol, 2002). In order to document the current state of
existing remains of near natural land as well as historical cultivated land and to regulate the fast
changes in landscapes, several municipalities, in Alpine regions in particular, have decided to establish
landscape inventories (Fischer et al., 1994; Amt der Kärntner Landesregierung, Abt. Landesplanung,
1996; Bayrisches Staatsministerium für Landwirtschaft und Forsten, 2001; Amt für Natur und
Landschaft, 2002).
The aim of this project was to develop a praxis-oriented (theory linked with practice) GIS operated
planning tool that comprises descriptive and evaluative data of landscape features in cultivated lands.
This original instrument was created out of the necessity for a user friendly documentation system that
could facilitate decision making in the authorization processes related to interventions in the landscape.
Further more, it provides a database for management planning and landscape restoration in the
framework of municipal development plans. A similar approach to document historic sites and
landscapes was chosen by the Bavarian State Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry (2001) as well as by
The Historic House Trust of New York City. (Haawik, 2003). Seelbach and Wiley (1997) report about
the Michigan River Inventory that was made to understand the ecology and the current state of the
Lower Michigan’s river systems by means of a GIS database. The basic idea of our system is to retrieve
geo-referenced data about mapped landscape features including their ecological state, biodiversity,
imminent threats; suggestions on management and conservation, as well as digital images with a few
mouse clicks (see Figure 1).
The system developed should furthermore enable a comprehensive evaluation of the state of nature
and landscape in a municipality and serve as a basis for landscape development plans along with
1 Autonomous Province of Bolzano, Department of Nature and Landscape, Italy, joachim.mulser@provinz.bz.it
2 Autonomous Province of Bolzano, Department of Information technology, Italy, wolfgang.moser@provinz.bz.it
3 Fatih University, Department of Biology, Turkey, fzemmer@fatih.edu.tr

management plans for landscape-conservation and improvement. Public involvement by means of
public relations directed towards citizens, stakeholders as well as vestryman, who take part in the
inventory compilation and further development planning, is fundamental to strengthen the sense of
responsibility for nature and landscape locally.
Figure 1: Bestandteile des Landschaftsinventars: geometrische und alphanumerische Information mit digitaler
Fotodokumentation
Figure 1: Components of the landscape inventory: geometric and alphanumeric information with digital image
documentation.
The study area is located in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-South Tyrol, part of the north-
Italian Alpine Region Trentino - Alto Adige. The project was limited to those municipalities that
agreed upon compiling a landscape inventory. Municipal land use is concerned primarily with
cultivated land ranging from the valley ground to the hill sides which have altitudes between 200 and.
1000 meters above the sea level. The climatic conditions favor apple farming and viticulture on lower
altitudes, whereas higher altitudes are suitable for arable farming and animal husbandry. Under such
conditions, agriculture is the main pillar of the local economy and, thus, characterizes the landscape
significantly. The farms are mostly small structured consisting of only a few hectares land; available
cultivation area is therefore considerably valuable. Farmers have hence aimed at an optimum use of
land often at the cost of nature near habitats, especially over the last few decades (Autonome Provinz
Bozen-Südtirol, 1994, 2002; Mair & Zemmer, 2004; Wilhalm & Hilpold, 2006; Zemmer, 2006).
The objects of the landscape inventory are those landscape features that have survived the
optimization of land use. They are mainly residues of primordial vegetation or historical landscape
features that noticeably contribute to the aesthetics of the landscape. Such features play an important
role as ecological niches for animal- and plant-life in extensively cleared landscapes; thanks to their
function as corridors they are essential for biotope-networking (Europäische Gemeinschaften, 1999;
Jedicke, 1994; Schweizerische Vogelwarte et al., 2002). Hedges, for example, are similarly structured as
the edges of woods and can, thus, accommodate a variety of bird species as well as smaller mammals

(Wildermuth 1986). In addition to that, they offer numerous microhabitats to vegetal species and
insects, and contribute therefore to farmland biodiversity (Benton et al., 2003).
Mapping and evaluating landscape features in ecological and conservational terms, requires a method
that allows quick labor, yet guaranteeing reliable data (Schweizerische Vogelwarte, 2000). The
documentation system has to fulfill locally changing demands: this is best achieved via flexible data
acquisition in a „dynamic database“ allowing to take into account local particularities. Field researchers
as well as municipal end-users only work on database excerpts, which periodically combine in a central
data base. Similar GIS managing concepts are discussed in Somers (1998). The system here described
enables South Tyrol-wide uniform data acquisition and management despite local adaptation. A clear
and user friendly application makes easy data access possible. Recorded landscape features are
displayed along with relevant geo-data by means of suitable GIS tools.
2. METHODS
Landscape features (hereinafter called objects or elements) in cultivated lands and settlement fringes
are mapped on aerial photographs (scale 1:10,000) and later digitized. The objects recorded were:
creeks, ditches, wet meadows, alluvial forests, ponds, pools, edges of woodland, hedges, dry stone
walls, big single trees, meadows with scattered fruit trees (orchards), meadows and fallow land (Fischer
et al., 1994; Schweizerische Vogelwarte, 2000; Benton, 2003). The field procedure was designed in the
format of a checklist (Schweizerische Vogelwarte, 2000; Schweizerische Vogelwarte et al., 2002) to fit a
number of parameters suitable for an object evaluation in landscape-ecological terms. Each protocol
comprises records of general data, such as name of the field researcher, object type, object
classification number, geometry (geographic representation), biodiversity, and habitat structure.
Additional parameters for each object are: the composition of the vegetation, the state, its use and
function (Riccabona, 1996; Schweizerische Vogelwarte et al., 2002). Further more, data on animal and
vegetal species, Natura2000-habitat types (European Commission DG Environment, 2003) along with
habitat types occurring in South Tyrol (Wallnöfer et al., 2007) are gathered. In the last stage,
recommendations on conservation and management strategies are provided. During the database entry
process, all parameters are checked in on site which be selected via ‘drop downs’ menus. Using a
checklist not only speeds the field research up, but also the data entry. Further more, it allows complex
data query in the database system later on. The content of the checklist can be refined according to
local particularities. Images acquired in on site are also integrated in the database (see Figure 1).
The database and the application are primarily designed for data acquisition and maintenance.
Attribute and geographic information are kept centrally, simultaneously supporting decentralised data
acquisition in the off line mode. The structure of the attribute and geographic data allows for
independent decentralized acquisition of object data and to react flexibly on specific changes whilst
maintaining the highest level possible of standardization and normalisation. A complex evaluation, also
in combination with additional data, is granted trough simple incorporation of information in suitable
tools.
The central database relies on ORACLE 9.2 as a database manager. The core consists of the central
database, the entity LANDSCAPE_ELEMENT, which is webbed into a net of master reference data.
The net is held together by the entities PLAN and OBJECTTYPE. Each landscape element has to be
clearly assigned to a plan and an object-type; this object type determines which master reference data
can be attributed to the single object-type. Access to master reference data as well as their attribution
to object-types can be expanded and altered through the application, whereby data-inconsistency is
impeded by the relational structure of the database (see Figure 2).
If required, the new acquisition-units ‘plan’ can be defined in the central database. These plans can be
in each case exported into a database (Microsoft ACCESS). The exported databases contain dynamic
data next to the entire reference data structure along with its provisions. Exported master reference
data are blocked against changes in the source database, yet it allows entering new records and
connections; added or connected data can be changed. During the import of exported databases from
the central database a dialogue monitors every change in the master reference data and allows the
administrator to accept, decline or modify entries. Only after alignment of all master reference data
landscape elements can be imported.

The user-interface was created in Microsoft ACCESS using VBA-programming. A module to
administer geography is built in the client application, whereas the data alignment process is built into
the server application. In the remaining parts, both applications are identical, thus covering all
functions. The separation of applications and data permits to save and change the exported database
easily.
Figure 2: Design der Datenbank mit Fokus auf die Funktion(en) eines Landschaftselements.
Figure 2: Design of the database with focus on the function(s) of a landscape element.
The structure of the GIS is very simple since it only has to cover a simple acquisition and maintenance
of geography. Given that the geography of each object can be point, line or polygon, the client
application includes only three shape files with a simple interface with the associated attribute database
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The core of the developed planning tool is the client-application with integrated map service (see
Figure 3). Geography is administered using the classes of the open source library MapWinGIS
(http://www.mapwindow.com/) in form of MapWinGIS ActiveX Control. The background map
consists either of a local geo-referenced image or an ArcIMS-map service (integrated via XML-
communication). In the case of the IMS-service, all objects presented in the map service can be
acquired. The editing supports digitizing, change, deletion of objects, as well as control over data-
inconsistency (see Figure 3). Geography can also be administrated with ArcView 3.x (ESRI) through a
specifically built interface (see Figure 4). The strength of the system is that a single, well distributable
and user friendly application can meet all the requirements related to data acquisition (attributes and
geography) and data alignment with the central database. However, the use of proprietary software, MS
Access, results in being dependent on the Microsoft product-policy.
Not only was the effort to put the application into practice reasonable, but also the entire execution
proved to be time and cost saving: the implementation of a landscape inventory beginning from the
work- and project-planning to the field research, the manual data input, its incorporation in the central
database to the final implementation in the municipal planning system is possible within one year.
Adding to the success of this project was the presence of sufficient scientific and financial support
from the regional nature protection authorities. Our findings are in line with the observations of
Nedović-Budić (2004) on data sharing across organizational boundaries: the motivation for doing so is
driven by the pursuit of a common mission (in our case sustainable landscape planning), saving

resources and the flow of financial contributions thanks to the inter-organizational relationship (in our
case between the local authorities and the municipality).
The system has proven to be a valuable decision making tool for authorization processes especially in
evaluations of landscape interventions: at municipal level, especially the building commission uses it to
evaluate project proposals related to the cultivated land. Complementary to other spatial data, a quick
overview of the state of a landscape element, and – primarily - of its ecological value, can be obtained.
This makes an improved control over landscape development at municipal level possible.
Figure 3: Clientapplikation; Fenster zur Bearbeitung der Geometrien mit eingebundenem ArcIMS-Dienst
Figure 3: Client application; window for the processing of geometries in ArcIMS-map service.
Land owners and citizens are involved in the planning process and get regular updates on the results of
the inventory. Education efforts involving the citizens related to the values and functions of landscape
elements begins at the very onset of the project. Field research often offers informal situations of
exchange with farmers and thus can contribute substantially to awareness of nature and landscape. A
working group that consists of stakeholders (associations, i.e. the farmer’s association, the melioration
consortium, the homeland caring organization) and municipal politicians accompany the project.
Interim results must be presented and public relations work be planned in good time (Schweizerische
Vogelwarte et al., 2002). In the frame of info-events, land owners in particular can inform themselves
on the results of the landscape inventory. On this occasion, findings from the field, as well as
suggested management measures for each single landscape element can be inquired from the GIS-
controlled database (Figure 4). Many more public involvement elements, such as offering courses for
the restoration and maintenance of the historic landscape elements (i.e. the making of dry stone walls),
projects with schools, local exhibitions, excursions and presentations are incorporated in the landscape
inventory process.

Figure 4: Landschaftsinventar in ArcView. Farben und Symbole erleichtern die Identifizierung der
Landschaftselemente. Das Anklicken eines Elements ruft den entsprechenden Eintrag in der Datenbank auf.
Figure 4: Landscape inventory in ArcView. Colors and symbols facilitate the identification of landscape
elements. A click on an element opens the respective database record.
4. CONCLUSIONS
The landscape inventory is a valuable source of data for concrete measurements for the
implementation of a sustainable development and shaping of cultural land based on a broad, conscious
and cooperative citizen involvement. By means of a long-term municipal management plan or
landscape development-concept (HSR & SRVA, 2002) valuable landscape elements or habitats can be
conserved and improved (Bosshard et al., 2002). This complementary planning tool for land-use or
landscape plans shifts the control of landscape development onto a municipal level, hence improving
the intercourse with natural and historic heritage through local involvement in spatial development
strategies (Europäische Gemeinschaften, 1999). Competence as well as responsibility for natural and
cultural assets is stepwise conveyed to local authorities and associations.
The value of information depends on its quality and availability. The system developed guarantees that
information is collected in a well structured way and that it can be consulted by the user. It is crucial
for the implementation of the landscape inventory to have means of access for both the decision
maker and the citizen (Fischer, 1994). Everybody should be able to understand the value of each single
landscape element and how they are correlated, which threats they are exposed, and which measures
can contribute to their conservation and improvement. This information service should be clearly
understandable, neatly arranged, but accurate and complete at the same time.
The system for landscape inventorying developed makes sure that landscape elements are uniformly
recorded in all those municipalities of South Tyrol that decide to use this planning tool. This
uniformity allows comprehensive landscape analysis beyond the municipal level and its results can be
used for future habitat connectivity plans on a regional level or similar purposes (Hertzog et al., 2007).
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