Abstract
The abandonment of agricultural land leads to landscape changes in many parts of Europe, often followed by natural forest regrowth. These landscape changes have far-reaching social and ecological consequences. Our research addresses the question of how local actor groups involved in land management perceive natural forest regrowth on abandoned land. Based on 42 interviews with local actors, we analyse narratives on natural forest regrowth in four case studies, one in France and three in Spain. Across the case studies, we find three narratives: a rural fatalism narrative, a pro forest management narrative and a pro nature narrative, each with its own problem definitions and solution strategies on natural forest regrowth. Our analysis reveals regional nuances, which depend on land use characteristics that shape the perceptions of local actor groups. We conclude that natural forest regrowth holds different symbolic functions, ranging from lost territory to recovered land. Any assessment of trade-offs and opportunities needs to consider the local situation. Furthermore, management and governance approaches need to acknowledge different cultural beliefs, which shape the perception of actor groups.
Highlights
IntroductionDrivers for land abandonment in Europe are related to geographic and ecological factors, such as de creasing soil fertility, exposition and site location, demographic and socio-economic factors, such as rural depopulation and market in centives (Gellrich, 2006; Pointereau et al, 2008), and European and national policy effects (Pointereau et al, 2008)
The analysis reveals three narratives on land abandonment and natural forest regrowth (NFR): rural fatalism, pro forest management and pro nature
Aside from the rural fatalism narrative, which was absent in the highly urbanised Barcelona case study, the three main narratives were iden tified in all the case studies, albeit with specific adaptations to the specific contexts
Summary
Drivers for land abandonment in Europe are related to geographic and ecological factors, such as de creasing soil fertility, exposition and site location, demographic and socio-economic factors, such as rural depopulation and market in centives (Gellrich, 2006; Pointereau et al, 2008), and European and national policy effects (Pointereau et al, 2008). These factors are in terrelated and may mutually support or compensate for each other. What are the most influential factors on the type of management that is done in the forests of the Alto Tajo Region?
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have