Exploring the effect of land use on ecosystem services: The distributive issues

The current debate of ecosystem services has focused more on monetary valuation methods and payments for environmental services (PES) then on the classic economic analysis (i.e. assumptions regarding: sustainability, justice and efficiency). This paper examines, taking into consideration ecosystem services, income distribution from different land uses to stakeholders. We study the Portuguese common land ecosystem, which is characterized as having a wide range of ecosystem services. Allowing that all the benefits can be translated into economic value, we estimated the total economic value (TEV) associated with these territories on 5 different land use situations: forest, shrubland, water bodies, mountain agriculture and other uses, and analyzed the current institutional arrangements around these territories. We found that the distribution of the benefits of different land uses is relatively inequality. The results showed that the contemporary institutional arrangements of wealth distribution ensure a relatively fair distribution insider of system; however this institutional arrangement is unable to ensure equitable distribution of wealth by external stakeholders. We can conclude that different types of land use provide a very asymmetric distribution of income by different groups of humans: land owners; citizens of a country, and residents of Earth.     

Modeling of ecosystem services informs spatial planning in lands adjacent to the Sarvelat and Javaherdasht protected area in northern Iran

Dynamic models of ecosystem services supply and scenario analysis of changes in multiple services are being increasingly used to support land use planning and decision making. This approach reduces potential and real conflicts among various stakeholders potentially creating win–win solutions for all. It is particularly applicable in areas where insufficient land for agriculture and settlements is resulting in high rates of conversion of natural forest and grasslands. We quantified and mapped multiple ecosystem services, including habitat provision as a proxy for biodiversity, carbon storage and sequestration, and water balance and supply in the Sarvelat and Javaherdasht region of the globally-significant Hyrcanian (Caspian) forests in northern Iran using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs tool. This region is experiencing a rapidly increasing rate of forest conversion and as a result, the protected area located within the study landscape is threatened by human encroachment. Plausible future landscapes were modeled under three scenarios: (i) business as usual; (ii) protection-based zoning which reflects an expansion of the protected area boundary to prevent land use changes; and (iii) collaborative zoning through redefining the protection boundary simultaneously with an adjustment to meet local stakeholders’ objective of expansion of anthropogenic cover. The results showed that the collaborative zoning scenario would best contribute to effective policy because it presents a more rational spatial configuration of the landscape maintaining the provision of ecosystem services. This scenario may lead to reduced environmental impacts while achieving less conflict between the government and local communities. These results will help to inform and shape natural resource management policies in Iran and is applicable elsewhere in the world.     

Integrating preferences and social values for ecosystem services in local ecological management: A framework applied in Xiaojiang Basin Yunnan province,China

Previous works have made great progress in mapping and assessing ecosystem services (ES) that are directed toward exploring various aspects of ecological changes and economic values. These preferences, however, may neglect the important role of people who are the direct beneficiaries in this ecosystem. Therefore, including these stakeholders in ES assessment identifies their relations and perceptions between ecosystem services and society. In order to quantify and map these relations and perceptions, we designed and implemented an analytical framework based on the Public Participatory Geographic Information System (PPGIS) method to explore local stakeholders’ (Farmers, Government managers/Experts, and Company employees) similarities and differences in recognition of preferences and social values for ecosystem services in a typical Karst basin. Our results showed that remarkable differences appeared in preferences for ES across three groups. Farmers gave more preferences to provisioning services, Government managers/Experts to regulating and cultural services, and Company employees’ preferences were individualized. The spatial distributions and relations of social values for ES also showed great differentials. Provisioning services were always related to specific natural conditions, regulating services to forests, and cultural services to specific locations around tourism localities, forest, and wetland parks. The three stakeholder groups perceived more synergies than tradeoffs between the different ecosystem services. Landscape beauty was the most influential service in Farmers’ and Company employees’ perceptions, while Local climate change regulation was the most influential service in those of Government managers/Experts. The local stakeholders’ surveys can improve the enthusiasm of the local people to participate in environmental management and provide more socio-ecological information to help the managers alleviate the conflicts among different stakeholders.     

Application of an ecosystem function framework to perceptions of community woodlands

Owners, local residents, government, and conservation organisations can express divergent preferences in the development and management of local woodlands. The perceptions of these four groups were examined, in the context of three community woodlands in Eastern England, using an ecosystem function framework. In a pilot study, residents were able to allocate a relative importance to woodland ecosystem services which were then related to “regulation”, “habitat”, and “production” or “information” functions. However residents also placed importance on negative services or “dis-services” associated with the woodland ecosystem. Therefore a fifth category of “dis-services” was included in the main survey which included 84 local residents, three woodland owners, three government institutions, and six representatives from conservation groups. Each of the four groups placed greatest importance on services associated with habitat (16–39% of the total importance) and information (30–50%) functions suggesting, in this example, mutual interest in the use of woodlands as a habitat or recreational resource. By contrast a potential area of difference was the particularly high importance placed by one owner on dis-services such as fly tipping. In addition the woodland owners placed higher importance (10–20%), than local residents and conservation groups (7–9%), on the productive services of the wood. This suggests a need for communication when production-related operations affect recreation. The ecosystem function framework appears to be a useful approach for highlighting potential tensions and areas of mutual interest in the management of semi-natural ecosystems.     

基于土地利用的北京市农业生态服务价值评估研究

近年来,随着经济社会加速发展与新农村建设的不断深入,在北京这样的大都市中农业的生产功能逐渐被弱化,农业的生态功能越来越凸显重要作用,估算农业的生态服务价值逐渐成为学术界研究的热点。目前国内主要是参照谢高地提出的中国陆地生态系统单位面积服务功能价值表,即用全国生态系统的平均服务价值来估算不同区域的农业生态服务价值,这与北京的社会发展水平、城市定位及都市型现代农业的功能定位是不符合的,因此是不太恰当的。文章以北京农业生态服务价值评估为研究目标,在全国生态系统服务价值评估体系的基础上,对北京市300多位具有相关专业背景的学者进行问卷调查,对中国生态系统单位面积生态服务价值当量表进行有依据的修改,制定出更适合北京区域的不同土地利用类型生态系统服务评估单价体系,并以此表为依据测算了2013年北京农业生态服务价值的理论值与现实值。研究发现北京的农业生态服务价值十分巨大,文章提供了一种更符合北京生态系统状况与经济发展水平的农业生态服务价值评估方法,可以用于已知土地利用面积的农业生态服务价值估算,能够在较短时间内获得较为精确的结果。     

How do individuals and groups perceive wetland functioning? Fuzzy cognitive mapping of wetland perceptions in Uganda

Wetlands are critical natural resources around the globe, providing many direct and indirect benefits to local communities. However, wetland degradation and conversion to other land uses are widespread. Sustainable wetland management requires an understanding of stakeholders’ perceptions of the ecosystem and its management. This paper uses fuzzy cognitive mapping to capture individual stakeholder perceptions and group knowledge of wetland ecosystems in order to assess areas of consensus and opposing interests between different stakeholders and to develop future management scenarios. For this purpose, the Rushebeya-Kanyabaha wetland, which is one of the few wetlands in southwest Uganda that is still largely intact, is used as a case study. Our findings reveal differences in perceptions between different resource users. Papyrus harvesters, beekeepers, fishermen, wetland non-users, and hunters associate the largest livelihood benefits with a wetland conservation scenario, while farmers and government officials perceive increased agricultural production in the wetland area to be more livelihood enhancing. This poses a challenge to sustainable wetland management. The scenario results also suggest that centralized top-down laws and rules on wetland use are not sufficient for maintaining the wetland ecosystem. Therefore, there is a need to develop shared understanding through bottom-up approaches to wetland management that are nested within national regulatory frameworks, ideally combined with awareness building and knowledge sharing on the ecological benefits of the wetland.     

Prospective evaluation of the impact of land use change on ecosystem services in the Ourika watershed,Morocco

Land use change at the local stage affects the flow of ecosystem services at all levels. Analyzing the causes of land use change such as anthropogenic activities in the case of the Ourika watershed will facilitate sustainable policies. A decision-making tool, InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade Offs) was used to quantify three ecosystem services and to generate three spatially explicit land use scenarios (trend, development and conservation) with expert stakeholders and the local population. The results indicate that forest expansion under the conservation scenario increased carbon sequestration and sediment retention by 34.29 % and 7.17 % but decreased water yield by 0.75 %. Comparably, a combination of forest and cropland expansion under the trend scenario generated a moderate increase by 8.4 % and 0.98 % but a negligible decrease of 0.09 %. A decline in the forests under the development scenario caused an improvement in the water yield by 0.12 % but a decrease in carbon sequestration and sediment retention by 6.06 % and 0.88 % respectively. A combination of forests and croplands through agroforestry systems enhances the provision of all the three ecosystem services. Community-based ecosystem and land management is the best way to improve ecosystem services at the local level.     

Integrating Aspects of Ecosystem Dimensions into Sorghum and Wheat Production Areas in Kinmen,Taiwan

Balancing conservation and development with ecosystem services is a popular topic for the sustainable development of agricultural land today. This study establishes an evaluation framework to explore the heterogeneous preferences of tourists and residents for the ecosystem functions of agricultural land in Kinmen, Taiwan. The results showed that respondents preferred to transform the current farming type into sustainable agriculture, increase species habitats, plan wheat and sorghum landscape areas, and combine ecotourism with local cultural activities. Tourists had a higher marginal willingness to pay for farmland conservation than residents. People who supported the conservation program of agricultural land in sorghum and wheat production areas tended to 1) be female, 2) be tourists, 3) have higher education, and 4) have higher monthly income. The results suggest that policymakers must improve ecosystem functions with agricultural ecosystem function support funds, consistent with the guaranteed-price purchase policy in the Kinmen sorghum and wheat areas, for sustainable development.     

Can process-based modelling and economic valuation of ecosystem services inform land management policy at a catchment scale?

Land produces a range of benefits, from ecosystem services, but markets only incentivise the production of a small proportion of them. The Ecosystem Approach develops plans for moving towards a more optimal mix. This requires stakeholders to understand the value of ecosystem services and how these values change with land-use and management. We investigate whether process-based modelling and economic valuation can help stakeholders to do this. We do this by applying these tools to a plan to improve ecosystem services delivery in a catchment. To be used in decision-support, analytical approaches need to be relatively inexpensive and rapid, and our analysis was deliberately constrained in this way. Two 25-year future scenarios were developed and compared against a baseline scenario. The first Designated Site scenario was based on enhancing the condition of nationally important nature conservation sites. The second, Ecosystem Services scenario, represented implementing the ecosystem services delivery plan. We modelled the change between the scenarios with an internationally recognised process based ecosystem services toolkit (the Land Use Capability Indicator, LUCI tool) and used the model outputs to inform economic valuation methods. Our selection of which ecosystem services to model and value were initially identified through a participatory approach. However those we could quantify was limited by evidence and data availability. We assessed changes in water quality (phosphorus load), sediment generation, carbon storage and flood regulation. We were able to put economic values on only carbon sequestration and flood regulation. Both the modelling results and the experience of applying the linked modelling-valuation approach are examined in the discussion to consider the limitations to the current usefulness of linking process based modelling to economic valuation for informing land management policy. We explore the origin and nature of these limitations and the key bottlenecks that need to be overcome, applicable to its use in other sites, regions and countries. This includes the availability of suitable coefficients and/or underlying data/evidence to parameterise the model, and the compatibility of model outputs with available economic valuation evidence (for value transfer).     

Abandonment or survival? Understanding the future of Castanea sativa stands in function of local attitude (Northern Apennine,Italy)

In a chestnut belt in the northern Apennines (Italy), we interviewed current (n = 52) and potential growers from a younger generation (n = 57), to assess what factors are likely to drive their willingness to continue chestnut culture. In 35 cases, local appraisals of chestnut stand disturbances were also contrasted with expert assessments. More than half of current growers were confident about the future of chestnut cultivation. This proportion decreased with grower’s age and experienced issues, while slightly increased in presence of multifunctional management and support from family members. Although most growers resulted highly capable of diagnosing problems, expert advice significantly contributed to driving positive perceptions. About half of the younger interviewees also expressed interest in growing chestnut. This proportion was higher for respondents who are exposed to chestnut culture within the family, and who value cultural services above other ecosystem services (ES) of forests. Overall, passion for the activity and attachment to local heritage were the most influential motivation for both categories of respondents. We outline policy actions that may encourage the continuation of chestnut management and, more generally, conservation of cultural landscapes in mountain areas. Possible measures include financial incentives (e.g., payments for ES), tighter integration of traditional and expert knowledge in the production chain, and public recognition of the value of local heritage in land management. Broader support to maintaining services and infrastructure in rural areas, however, will also be a pre-condition.     

Exploring farmers’ orientation towards multifunctional agriculture: Insights from northern Iran

The multifunctional agriculture (MFA) concept, namely, the fact that agricultural activity may also have several other functions beyond its role of producing food and fiber, has emerged as a key notion in scientific and policy debates regarding the future of agriculture and rural development. However, the relationship between undertaking multifunctional activities and farmers’ perceptions of farming is to a great extent unknown. A survey of 209 randomly selected farmers was conducted in Masal County of Guilan province, Iran to describe farmers’ perceptions of MFA and provide a better understanding of factors shaping these perceptions. Several factors were considered in the study, including traditional farming practices of small-scale farmers in the area (e.g. manual soil tillage, use of livestock manure and by-products for soil improvement, multiple cropping, family livestock), good agricultural practices at farm level related to environmental protection (e.g. low use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides), and also local traditions and heritage. Exploratory factor analysis was used to categorize agricultural functions based on the collected data and cluster analysis was used for sorting out farmers regarding six extracted factors. These factors were: multiple cropping, social acceptability, environmental health, stability and continuity, food security, and local traditions and heritage. About half of the respondents (48.3%) showed highly positive perceptions of MFA, putting emphasis on social acceptability and environmental health for food security, including also preservation of local traditions (named: guardians of culture and traditions). Almost a third (31.1%) showed moderately positive perceptions of MFA, with mainly a socio-environmental orientation, whereas a sizeable proportion (20.6%) was indifferent to MFA. Data offer useful insights to decision makers regarding the design and implementation of territorial planning strategies. Food production remains a key element in farming systems, but besides mainstream agriculture, the positive perceptions of MFA support that alternative farming systems could be implemented. However, the most successful farming systems adapted to specific contexts and needs should be promoted, taking into account existing facilities and sufficiency for appropriate rural management.     

Multifunctional peri-urban agriculture—A review of societal demands and the provision of goods and services by farming

Peri-urban areas around urban agglomerations in Europe and elsewhere have been subject to agricultural and land use research for the past three decades. The manner in which farming responds to urban pressures, socio-economic changes and development opportunities has been the main focus of examination, with urban demand for rural goods and services representing a driving factor to adapt farming activities in a multifunctional way. Working within the peri-urban framework, this review pays particular attention to the relevance of multifunctional agriculture. Academic discourses and empirical insights related to farm structure and practices beyond conventional agriculture are analysed. Diversification, recreational and environmental farming, landscape management and specialisation, as well as direct marketing are all taken into consideration and discussed within the context of landscape functions. The provision of rural goods and services is contrasted with societal demands on peri-urban agriculture. This review finds that multifunctional agriculture has been commonly recognised in peri-urban areas – a phenomenon that includes a large variety of activities and diversification approaches within the context of environmental, social and economic functions of agriculture. In response to the post-productive, consumption-oriented requirements of the urban society, peri-urban farmers have intensified their uptake of multifunctional activities. Nevertheless, not all multifunctional opportunities are being fully developed when one considers the large and growing urban demand for goods and services provided by agriculture carried out near the city. This paper discusses policy and planning approaches to support multifunctional agriculture in peri-urban areas.     

基于模拟旅行费用法的城郊农田休闲娱乐生态服务价值评估——以平顶山地区为例

[目的]合理确定农田生态系统的休闲娱乐生态服务价值对促进土地资源优化利用和耕地保护等都具有十分重要的意义。[方法]文章以平顶山地区城郊的草莓种植地为研究对象,采用模拟旅行费用法探讨了平顶山市城郊农田休闲娱乐生态服务价值的构成和特点。[结果]随着休闲农业的快速发展,城郊农田通常情况下处于潜在隐性状态的休闲娱乐生态服务价值正通过农业观光、采摘等活动得到释放和显现。平顶山市郊区采摘草莓园的休闲娱乐生态服务价值由草莓园经营者相较传统草莓种植模式获得的"超额收益"和采摘者付出的劳动价值以及采摘者付出的交通、时间机会成本等费用共同构成。2013~2014年平顶山市郊区采摘草莓园的休闲娱乐生态服务价值大致介于26.156 25万~61.031 25万元/hm2之间,远高于平顶山市一般农田的直接生产收益,其平均值43.593 75万元/hm2可作为当前平顶山市城郊农田生态系统休闲娱乐生态服务价值的参考基准。[结论]随着休闲农业的社会需求不断增强,在城市郊区土地利用规划中,不能忽视农田生态系统休闲娱乐生态服务价值潜力的充分挖掘、实现和保护。     

Agricultural decline and sustainable development on mountain areas in Greece: Sustainability assessment of future scenarios

Agricultural decline may pose an important threat to mountain biodiversity but it also constitutes a driving force of socio-economic transformation. The aim of this study is to investigate the implications of alternative agricultural policy scenarios on the sustainable development of Greek mountain areas using a case study approach (Zagori region, Greece). Two agricultural policy scenarios were explored and assessed against a list of sustainability objectives. Causal relationships among drivers of changes and sustainability objectives were explored using Network Analysis. Our analysis has shown that agricultural liberalisation is expected to have devastating effects on the development of the area and it was strongly opposed as an alternative future by the local stakeholders. The analysis of the driver's causal relationship has also revealed that in order to ensure the sustainable development of the area it is necessary to sustain low input extensive farming, to promote mild tourism development and to enhance the operational efficiency of the National Park. Moreover, in order to reconcile agricultural decline, biodiversity and sustainable development, policy-management recommendations must be drawn at multiple administrative levels and complementary policy interventions within and between levels are required. It is thus, important that EU agricultural policies are complemented by national-regional interventions in order to regulate the fragile balance between agriculture and tourism. Finally, this study has shown that the combination of scenario analysis and sustainability assessment can provide an efficient tool to inform management strategies for sustainable development.     

Nonmarket valuation in developing countries: incorporating labour contributions in environmental benefits estimates

There are limitations associated with the application of nonmarket valuation techniques, including choice experiments, in subsistence economies. In part, this is due to the concern that using money as a mode of contribution may not capture the potential contribution of low‐income households. To address this limitation, respondents in this study were provided with the option of contributing towards the management of invasive plants in labour terms if they were unwilling to contribute in monetary terms. The results show that the existing practice of using dollar values to estimate willingness to contribute may disproportionately exclude the concerns of some groups within the community. The analysis also indicates that allowing respondents to express their willingness to contribute in labour increases their participation in environmental decision‐making processes and hence increases the estimated value of forest ecosystem services. This study contributes to the limited empirical literature on the development of nonmarket valuation surveys, particularly choice experiments, in low‐income countries in general and rural areas in particular.     

平顶山市休闲农业不同区域的发展潜力评价

[目的]对平顶山市休闲农业的空间分布特征及其发展潜力进行分析和评价,以期为平顶山市休闲农业的可持续发展提供参考和借鉴。[方法]文章对平顶山市休闲农业空间布局分区论述,并采用层次分析法构建平顶山市休闲农业发展潜力指标评价体系,确定指标权重,然后根据各指标的游客和当地农民的打分值与权重值加权计算不同区域的发展潜力指数并比较发展潜力大小。[结果]根据区域位置和地理环境以及休闲农业发展速度,将平顶山市休闲农业划分为北部山区休闲农业区、东部城乡休闲农业区、南部现代休闲农业区和西部傍水休闲农业区4个区域,各区域发展特点突出。对各指标权重值与打分值的加权求和计算得到的不同区域发展潜力指数看出,西部傍水休闲农业区的发展潜力最大,其次为北部山区休闲农业区,再者是南部现代休闲农业区,东部城郊休闲农业区的发展潜力最小。[结论]平顶山市休闲农业发展前景广阔,具有可持续发展的巨大潜力。由于地理区位和交通基础设施建设及环境条件和农业基础的差异,平顶山市的休闲农业可分为东西南北4个发展区域,其中西部傍水休闲农业区和北部山区休闲农业区具有较大的发展潜力,平顶山市可将其作为重点发展对象,重点打造水岸和山村休闲农业游,借助发展优势突出区域特色。     

Modelling the supply of ecosystem services from agriculture: a minimum‐data approach*

We argue that to support agriculture–environmental policy decision making, stakeholders need ‘quantitative back‐of‐the‐envelope’ analysis that is timely and sufficiently accurate to make informed decisions. We apply this concept to the analysis of the supply of ecosystem services from agriculture. We present a spatially explicit production model and show how it can be used to derive the supply of ecosystem services in a region. This model shows that the supply of ecosystem services can be derived from the spatial distribution of opportunity cost of providing those services. We then show how this conceptual model can be used to develop a minimum‐data (MD) approach to the analysis of the supply of ecosystem services from agriculture that can be implemented with the kinds of secondary data that are available in most parts of the world. We apply the MD approach to simulate the supply of carbon that could be sequestered in agricultural soils in the dryland grain‐producing region of Montana. We find that the supply curve derived from the MD approach can approximate the supply curve obtained from a more elaborate model based on site‐specific data, and can do so with sufficient accuracy for policy analysis.     

山地型休闲农业生态系统服务功能价值评估研究

山地型休闲农业生态系统是在山地丘陵区域,位于乡村之间、景区之间具有一定的独特生态空间格局,以多功能农业开发为核心,划定生产、生活、生态空间,把农业与旅游业结合在一起,具有多功能性、市场化的生态农业系统,发展水平取决于其服务功能价值的高低;山地型休闲农业生态系统服务功能价值的评估是评价该类型休闲农业发展潜力的重要依据;山地型休闲农业生态系统的生态地位、主体功能和对经济发展的贡献大小,因不同区域背景及该区域人们对生态系统服务功能的支付意愿与能力水平的差异而有所不同。文章结合山地型休闲农业的地域特征,根据生态、生产、生活的功能内涵,从水分调节、养分循环、产品生产、废弃物处理、生物控制与多样性保护、氧气释放、二氧化碳固定、休闲游憩、文化服务等9方面构建了生态服务功能评价指标体系,并建立了评价模型,对闽清丰达休闲农业大观园案例进行了实证分析,表明具有适宜性。     

Beyond the visual dimension: Using ideal type narratives to analyse people's assessments of landscape scenarios

In this study it was investigated how local stakeholders in a Swiss mountain area assess visual and non-visual aspects of different landscape scenarios, taking into account their values and assumptions. For this analysis, a procedure was developed that involves a novel tool in landscape research, ideal type narratives. Three scenarios of agricultural and conservation policy developments were drawn up for the year 2030, and their assumed landscape consequences for the study area were visualised using computer-aided photo-editing. The scenarios were rated by stakeholders both in terms of their visual and non-visual consequences, and discussed in a group meeting. The results suggest that most stakeholders prefer a highly structured cultural landscape, similar to the landscape prevalent in the area before the onset of agricultural mechanisation. Stakeholders are, however, not willing to pay the social, economic and cultural costs that restoring such a landscape would entail; in an overall assessment they prefer a Business as Usual scenario that assumes a future life situation similar to the present one.     

山西省山区土地资源利用现状与合理开发对策

通过对山西省山区土地资源及其利用现状的综合分析，指出了山区土地资源利用中存在的水土流失严重、土地用养失调、农业结构不合理、生态环境脆弱等问题，并针对这些问题提出了治理水土流失、提高耕地质量、发展绿色食品、发展生态农业、调整农业结构、增加农业科技投入等具体对策。