Gerrit J. Carsjens

Strategic land-use allocation: dealing with spatial relationships and fragmentation of agriculture

Abstract In The Netherlands, a debate continues to take place on how to allocate the available space among several types of land use. The rural area is under constant pressure from urban developments. Multi-purpose land use is becoming more and more important. Land-use allocation problems can be identified as complex planning problems, with a large number of stakeholders involved. Therefore the decisions made with respect to land use must be clear and transparent to these stakeholders. Various methods have been developed to support land allocation issues. Typically, however, the analysis of topological relationships, initiated by biophysical and socio-economic processes, and the spatial configuration of different land uses, is often neglected, especially for agricultural planning. Neglecting the spatial configuration and these relationships can result in spatial fragmentation of land use, thus endangering sustainable land use. This paper focuses on a method to address land-use allocation issues where the topological relationships are taken into account. The method is implemented in a Geographical Information System (GIS). Two cases for Dutch agriculture are discussed.

Local Community Participation in Italian National Parks Management: Theory versus Practice

The need for participation of local communities in the management of protected areas (PAs) is widely acknowledged, and its implementation is viewed as an indicator of sustainable practice. Such participation is increasingly mentioned in the recent European Union (EU) policy and legislation, yet little statutory guidance and few minimum requirements are available. Italy, as an EU Member State, has committed itself to incorporate participation in PA management. However, to date, there has been no assessment of how participation has materialized in practice. This paper presents the results of an investigation of participatory practices focusing specifically on local community involvement in Italian National Park management. The investigation is based on a review of the state-of-the-art theory on participation in PA management, specifically addressing the following questions: what levels of participation are preferable, what methods should be utilized in order to enable effective PA management and who should participate? The results show a discrepancy between best practice theory and practice for the case of Italy. More importantly, the results indicate the need for the development of practical guidance and a common participation framework for PA management in Europe.

Assessment of nitrogen and phosphorus flows in agricultural and urban systems in a small island under limited data availability.

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are two essential macronutrients required in agricultural production. The major share of this production relies on chemical fertilizer that requires energy and relies on limited resources (P). Since these nutrients are lost to the environment, there is a need to shift from this linear urban metabolism to a circular metabolism in which N and P from domestic waste and wastewater are reused in agriculture. A first step to facilitate a transition to more circular urban N and P management is to understand the flows of these resources in a coupled urban-agricultural system. For the first time this paper presents a Substance Flow Analysis (SFA) approach for the assessment of the coupled agricultural and urban systems under limited data availability in a small island. The developed SFA approach is used to identify intervention points that can provide N and P stocks for agricultural production. The island of St. Eustatius, a small island in the Caribbean, was used as a case study. The model developed in this study consists of eight sub-systems: agricultural and natural lands, urban lands, crop production, animal production, market, household consumption, soakage pit and open-dump landfill. A total of 26 flows were identified and quantified for a period of one year (2013). The results showed that the agricultural system is a significant source for N and P loss because of erosion/run-off and leaching. Moreover, urban sanitation systems contribute to deterioration of the islands ecosystem through N and P losses from domestic waste and wastewater by leaching and atmospheric emission. Proposed interventions are the treatment of blackwater and greywater for the recovery of N and P. In conclusion, this study allows for identification of potential N and P losses and proposes mitigation measures to improve nutrient management in a small island context.

Modeling urban expansion by using variable weights logistic cellular automata: a case study of Nanjing, China

ABSTRACT Simulation models based on cellular automata (CA) are widely used for understanding and simulating complex urban expansion process. Among these models, logistic CA (LCA) is commonly adopted. However, the performance of LCA models is often limited because the fixed coefficients obtained from binary logistic regression do not reflect the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of transition rules. Therefore, we propose a variable weights LCA (VW-LCA) model with dynamic transition rules. The regression coefficients in this VW-LCA model are based on VW by incorporating a genetic algorithm in a conventional LCA. The VW-LCA model and the conventional LCA model were both used to simulate urban expansion in Nanjing, China. The models were calibrated with data for the period 2000–2007 and validated for the period 2007–2013. The results showed that the VW-LCA model performed better than the LCA model in terms of both visual inspection and key indicators. For example, kappa, accuracy of urban land and figure of merit for the simulation results of 2013 increased by 3.26%, 2.96% and 4.44%, respectively. The VW-LCA model performs relatively better compared with other improved LCA models that are suggested in literature.

The role of collaborations in the development and implementation of sustainable livestock concepts in The Netherlands

This paper discusses the role of collaborations in the development and implementation of sustainable livestock farming. The study reflects upon the experiences with two innovative pig farming concepts in the Netherlands that aim to address sustainability-related concerns regarding the economic viability, environmental impact and social responsibility of livestock production. The findings show that collaborations can result in smarter and innovative solutions and provide support in the development of more sustainable farming concepts. The study also shows that collaborations do not safeguard the implementing of these concepts in practice. Pioneers are confronted with higher production costs and the complex context of agricultural policies and regulations. These pioneering efforts are, however, the seeds for change, and the key ingredient for a transition towards more sustainable production. We rely upon their innovations, social networks and learning experiences in the transition towards more sustainable production. Therefore, pioneers need to be protected from market influences and regulatory barriers, and supported by intermediaries when developing novelties for a more sustainable agriculture. The findings emphasize the need for more knowledge exchange and understanding between farmers, policy-makers and researchers to navigate towards a more sustainable agriculture in the future.

Assessing the influences of ecological restoration on perceptions of cultural ecosystem services by residents of agricultural landscapes of western China

Landscape change caused by ecological restoration projects has both positive and negative influences on human livelihoods, yet surprisingly little research on the cultural consequences of ecological restoration in agricultural landscapes has taken place. Cultural consequences can be captured in the ecosystem services framework as cultural ecosystem services (CES). However, assessment and valuation of these services to support decision-making for this essential ecosystem is lacking. To help fill this gap, we assessed the opinions of Chinese rural communities about CES and the changes in their perception under the Grain for Green program (GFG), a nationwide program to relieve the pressure on ecosystems (soil erosion and land degradation) by converting cultivated land or barren land on steep slopes into grassland and forests. We used Guyuan City in Chinas Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region as a case study, using a workshop to identify the CES provided by the agricultural landscape, followed by semi-structured household interviews to quantify perceptions of these CES. We found that all eight CES types identified by the workshop were perceived by the rural communities. Reforestation changed their perceptions of CES directly due to land cover change and indirectly due to the resulting economic changes and migration of mostly young workers in search of better jobs. Cultivated land was perceived as more important than forest for CES provision. In addition, residential areas were perceived as providing significant CES because of local traditions that produce close and highly social neighborhood bonds in agricultural landscapes.