Landscape management strategies for multifunctionality and social equity

Abstract

Increasing pressure on land resources necessitates landscape management strategies that simultaneously deliver multiple benefits to numerous stakeholder groups with competing interests. Accordingly, we developed an approach that combines ecological data on all types of ecosystem services with information describing the ecosystem service priorities of multiple stakeholder groups. We identified landscape scenarios that maximize the overall ecosystem service supply relative to demand (multifunctionality) for the whole stakeholder community, while maintaining equitable distribution of ecosystem benefits across groups. For rural Germany, we show that the current landscape composition is close to optimal, and that most scenarios that maximize one or a few services increase inequities. This indicates that most major land-use changes proposed for Europe (for example, large-scale tree planting or agricultural intensification) could lead to social conflicts and reduced multifunctionality. However, moderate gains in multifunctionality (4%) and equity (1%) can be achieved by expanding and diversifying forests and de-intensifying grasslands. More broadly, our approach provides a tool for quantifying the social impact of land-use changes and could be applied widely to identify sustainable land-use transformations. Managing landscapes sustainably is challenging given the competing interests of different stakeholder groups. By combining broad ecological data with information on the ecosystem service priorities of multiple stakeholder groups, this study provides a tool to quantify the social impact of land-use changes.

Full text

Nature Sustainability | Volume 6 | April 2023 | 391–403 391
nature sustainability
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-01045-w
Article
Landscape management strategies for
multifunctionality and social equity
Margot Neyret 1 , Sophie Peter1,2, Gaëtane Le Provost 1,3, Steffen Boch 4,
Andrea Larissa Boesing1, James M. Bullock 5, Norbert Hölzel 6,
Valentin H. Klaus 7,8, Till Kleinebecker 9, Jochen Krauss10, Jörg Müller 11,12,
Sandra Müller 13, Christian Ammer14, François Buscot 15,16, Martin Ehbrecht14,
Markus Fischer 17, Kezia Goldmann 15, Kirsten Jung 18, Marion Mehring1,2,
Thomas Müller 1,1 9, Swen C. Renner20, Peter Schall 14,
Michael Scherer-Lorenzen 13, Catrin Westphal 21, Tesfaye Wubet16,22 &
Peter Manning 1,23
Increasing pressure on land resources necessitates landscape management
strategies that simultaneously deliver multiple benets to numerous
stakeholder groups with competing interests. Accordingly, we developed an
approach that combines ecological data on all types of ecosystem services
with information describing the ecosystem service priorities of multiple
stakeholder groups. We identied landscape scenarios that maximize the
overall ecosystem service supply relative to demand (multifunctionality) for
the whole stakeholder community, while maintaining equitable distribution
of ecosystem benets across groups. For rural Germany, we show that the
current landscape composition is close to optimal, and that most scenarios
that maximize one or a few services increase inequities. This indicates that
most major land-use changes proposed for Europe (for example, large-scale
tree planting or agricultural intensication) could lead to social conicts
and r ed uc ed m ul ti fu nc ti on ality. However, moderate gains in
multifunctionality (4%) and equity (1%) can be achieved by expanding and
diversifying forests and de-intensifying grasslands. More broadly, our
approach provides a tool for quantifying the social impact of land-use changes
and could be applied widely to identify sustainable l an d- use t ra nsformations.
Growing demand for ecosystem goods and services throughout the
globe is placing increased pressure on land resources to provide mul-
tiple benefits, simultaneously and at high levels
1,2
. These changing
demands have also resulted in major shifts in land use, which, by alter-
ing the balance of ecosystem services provided, can lead to conflicts
between stakeholder groups. Conflicts often emerge because land-use
changes typically promote only a few ecosystem services3, especially
those related to provisioning. However, due to biophysical trade-offs
among services
4
, this often comes at the expense of other services,
including the protection of biodiversity
5
. Because stakeholder groups
differ in their demands, these changes result in ‘winners’, ‘losers’ and
inequities regarding distribution and access6,7.
To understand how landscapes can be managed to best supply
multiple ecosystem services and to minimize conflicts between land
users, a range of modelling approaches have been applied
8–12
. These
typically focus on the impact of land-use changes on ecosystem service
supply, but without quantifying their impact on stakeholders. Mean-
while, the assessment of the societal impact of land-use change has
been largely conducted within social–ecological and landscape man-
agement research, via interviews, scenario workshops or surveys13,14.
Received: 25 January 2022
Accepted: 6 December 2022
Published online: 16 January 2023
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A full list of afiliations appears at the end of the paper. e-mail: margot.neyret@senckenberg.de
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