Sustainable Landscape Planning Research Articles

Landscape fragmentation and connectivity as key variables on occurrence of human-wildlife interactions

Human-wildlife interactions (HWI) are one of the most highly studied topics from the fields of wildlife management and are reported to be increasing globally as anthropogenic lands uses expand into wild lands, especially in mountainous areas where forest habitats are in the proximity of human settlements. The upper Prahova Valley in south-central Romania provides habitat to several native charismatic wildlife species. Since 1990 this area has become a major tourist destination now characterized by a high density of major transport infrastructures and homes. To assess how the changes in land use have affected HWIs, from September 2018 to August 2019, we discussed with 370 local citizens from the cities of Sinaia, Bușteni and Predeal. We developed maps of wildlife habitat fragmentation and connectivity and superimposed them over the locations with the HWI hotspots. According to the results, over 50% of the hotspots identified where located in areas exhibiting the greatest level of fragmentation, and the species frequently involved in interactions were the brown bear (Ursus arctos), wild boar (Sus scrofa), and red fox (Vulpes vulpes). The maps suggest that habitat fragmentation could represent a primal cause for the regions’ high frequency of animal descents into settlements, since wildlife habitats and ecological corridors are affected by the fragmentation of anthropogenic infrastructures especially in the proximity of major settlements. As a conclusion, our results highlight the need for sustainable landscape planning in order to optimize biodiversity management and diminish interactions between humans and wild animals, based on: a) mapping the areas characterized by high quality wildlife habitats and including them into a system of strict protection, b) developing or enhancing wildlife ecological corridors to favour animal movement between intact ecosystems, and c) regulating the expansion of human infrastructures in the proximity of strictly protected habitats.

Determinants of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic beta diversity in breeding birds within urban remnant woodlots: Implications for conservation.

Examining beta diversity of animal assemblages in fragmented habitats, which measures variation in species composition among different fragments, is important for understanding the impact of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity. However, relying solely on taxonomic composition may not provide a comprehensive understanding. Incorporating measures of functional and phylogenetic diversities is essential for elucidating the ecological mechanisms underlying changes in community composition. In addition, prevailing studies often prioritize the evaluation of landscape characteristics within fragments as determinants of beta diversity, neglecting differences in habitat type and plant community composition. In this study, we surveyed birds in 26 remnant woodlot patches (ranging from 0.3 to 290.4 ha) in an urban landscape, southwest China, during the breeding season from 2017 to 2022. We recorded 70 bird species (excluding those recorded only once and high-flying birds, including raptors, swallows, and swifts), with the number of species per patch varying from 14 to 56. The overall bird taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversities were primarily contributed by the turnover component, while functional beta diversity was dominated by the nestedness-resultant component. Patch area and perimeter area ratio significantly influenced the taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic beta diversities, primarily mediated through the nestedness-resultant component, while inter-patch distance had a significant effect via the turnover component. In addition, there was a considerable correlation of bird taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic beta diversities with habitat type and woody plant beta diversities, including their respective partitioned turnover and nestedness-resultant components. Our results suggest that bird assemblages in these patches may be regulated by selective extinction, interspecific competition, and environmental filtering. The findings have significant implications for sustainable landscape planning and habitat restoration. Conserving habitat patches of different sizes and maintaining or enhancing habitat heterogeneity between patches can facilitate the persistence of metacommunities.

Assessing landscape fragmentation and ecological connectivity to support regional spatial planning: A case study of Jiangsu province, China

Urbanization in China has led to land-use changes resulting in landscape fragmentation, natural habitats loss and ecological connectivity decline. Aiming to support sustainable landscape planning, we proposed an integrated method for ecological structure assessment and optimization including morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), minimal cumulative resistance (MCR) model and circuit theory to assess landscape fragmentation and ecological connectivity change at regional scale. A modified connectivity index is also proposed by employing the index of relative quality of ecological patches and corridors. We applied the combined methods to Jiangsu province in eastern China for multi-temporal landscape analysis and optimization. The results showed that the combined analysis revealed both fragmentation trend of ecological patches and ecological connectivity reduction with regard to all the species as a whole in the study area from 2000 to 2018. While, the trend has been slowed down to a certain extent lately, which is related to a series of ecological protection policies implemented in the study area, including ecological redlines policy, national park construction and returning marginal farmland into forest or grassland. Furthermore, suggestions for improving the ecological network in the study area were proposed. We proposed to improve the ecological network by fostering twenty-five potential ecological sources, maintaining twenty-five pinch points, restoring eleven dredging corridors and planning fifty-three stepping stones. Overall, we argue that the combined method can reveal both structural connectivity and functional connectivity, and the time series analysis can provide dynamics situation for better understanding and planning landscape process. It can also provide planners with a valuable strategic tool that advances the practical utility of landscape ecology techniques for spatial planning, and the combined application of the method helps to reduce some of the limitations of each individual method.

Participatory modeling for collaborative landscape and environmental planning: From potential to realization

Participatory modeling is a collaborative approach to formalize shared representations of a problem and, through the joint modeling process, design, and test solutions. This approach is particularly well-suited to address complex socio-environmental problems like climate change and its implications on equitable and sustainable resource management and landscape planning. Despite its potential to inform landscape and environmental planning and policy, participatory modeling has yet to become a mainstream practice in our field. The reasons are several. First, it is hard to standardize the approach, as it must be heavily tailored to the characteristics and context of each planning problem, including the stakeholders engaged in the process. It is also onerous, requiring long-term commitment and a broad range of skills that can only be attained through extensive training and collaboration. These and other barriers are currently being addressed with a resurgence of knowledge co-production and ethical participation in scholarship, in practice, and in funding agendas. While most of the participatory modeling scholarship has focused on modeling tools and engagement techniques, multiple other dimensions must be recognized and articulated for impactful planning support. Grounding this perspective on a more fully integrated picture of participatory modeling, I identify some of these gaps and suggest an interdisciplinary research agenda to further evolve and scale up this practice for landscape and environmental planning and policy. The agenda highlights aspects of interface design and model biases, value elicitation and inclusion, management of diversity and innovation through facilitation, and the potential of novel computer-assisted assessment methodologies.

How Do the Dynamics of Urbanization Affect the Thermal Environment? A Case from an Urban Agglomeration in Lower Gangetic Plain (India)

Urban growth and development has significantly affected urban heat island (UHI) due to urbanization. Particularly in the cities in developing countries, the assessment of UHI has emerged as one of the core research themes as it significantly affects the ecological environment and livability in cities. Thus, the assessment of UHI is crucial for climate mitigation and sustainable urban landscape planning. This study identifies the dynamics of landscape patterns and the impact of composition and configuration on the thermal environment in English Bazar Urban Agglomeration (EBUA), Eastern India, along the urban–rural gradient (URG) approach. Geospatial approaches and spatial metrics were employed to assess the impact of the landscape pattern on the thermal environment. Descriptive and inferential statistics have also been used to find the effects of landscape patterns on the thermal environment. The result has also been validated based on the location and correlation analysis. The built-up area increased by about 63.54%; vegetation covers and water bodies declined by 56.72% and 67.99% from 2001 to 2021. Land surface temperature (LST) decreased with increasing distance from the core of the city. LST declined by about 0.45 °C per kilometer from the core of the city towards the outside. LST had a positive correlation with IS and a negative correlation with green space (GS) and blue space (BS). The mean aggregation of the impervious patches was larger (73.21%) than the GS (43.18%) and BS (49.02%). The aggregation of impervious surface (IS) was positively correlated, and aggregations of GS and BS had a negative correlation with LST. Findings suggest that the spatial composition and configuration of the impervious surface, GS, and BS must be considered in landscape planning and design framework to make the city more livable.

Landscape Planning and Design Approaches for Ecologically Sustainable Cities

Rapidly increasing urbanization trends at the global level increase the interest in sustainable urban life, while also revealing their effects on ecological balance more clearly. In particular, increasing urban areas create negative effects on ecosystems and quality of life through factors such as increasing air temperatures and changing precipitation patterns. This rapid urbanization process negatively affects the natural ecosystems in urban areas, ecosystems are fragmented, deteriorated and even face the danger of complete extinction. For this reason, the development of planning methods to preserve ecological balance has become a great necessity. These planning approaches are seen as the cornerstones of building sustainable cities. Factors such as spatial diversity and temperature variations play a vital role in understanding ecological processes. In this context, although studies on the design and maintenance of sustainable urban landscapes continue, more effective strategies are needed to ensure the sustainability of these landscapes in the long term. Many innovative ideas regarding urban landscape planning and design have been developed in recent years. However, there has been limited success in applicability of these ideas from a sustainability perspective. Sustainable landscape planning and design helps improve environmental quality and multiply social benefits through the integration of various materials and methods in the creation, construction and management of urban areas. Sustainability-focused approaches to landscape planning and design include restoration and enhancement of natural systems, sustainable management of resources, efficient use of water and energy, and protection of external environmental quality. The aim of this study is to discuss new strategies at the urban level. In this way, it is aimed to take ecosystem protection measures in urban areas, create livable environments and achieve sustainability goals more effectively.

Ecosystem Service Flow Perspective of Urban Green Land: Spatial Simulation and Driving Factors of Cooling Service Flow

The linking of ecosystem service flows (ESFs) with urban land management is still in its nascent stage. The spatial process modeling of ESFs plays a crucial role in establishing connections between urban land sustainability and human benefits. However, the spatial processes and driving mechanisms associated with urban cooling services (UCS) remain ambiguous. In this study, we selected the area within the 6th Ring Road of Beijing as the study area, where the population is highly concentrated and the urban greenery is relatively developed. We modeled the spatial processes of cooling service flow (UCSF) in this area and elucidated the contribution of landscape patterns to UCSF. Firstly, the cooling capacity, referred to as UCS, of the urban blue–green landscape, was estimated using the InVEST tool. Subsequently, the UCSF spatial process was simulated by employing a two-dimensional Gaussian function at the pixel level. In order to characterize the landscape features in the study area, eight landscape indices were selected, and Fragstats v4.2 was employed for their calculation. Finally, GeoDetector was utilized to explore the driving mechanisms of landscape patterns on UCSF. The predominant area for both UCS and UCSF lies between the 5th and 6th Ring Road in Beijing, exhibiting a declining trend from the 6th Ring Road toward the city center. The UCSF coverage area, which represents the beneficiary area, accounted for approximately 87.78% of the study area, with the largest increase occurring within the 2nd Ring Road. The Landscape Shape Index demonstrated the strongest individual contribution to UCSF, while its combined bivariate contribution was significant. Geometry exerted a greater influence on UCSF compared to landscape scale and spatial configuration. This study presents novel insights for assessing the omnidirectional flow of ESFs through the modeling of flow functions. The findings of this study can serve as a valuable reference for sustainable urban landscape management and planning.

People’s preferences and perceptions toward low-input versus conventional park design approaches using 3D images and interview-based questionnaires

Future urban planning and public satisfaction will be significantly impacted by understanding people's preferences and perceptions of urban landscape design scenarios, particularly innovative sustainable development approaches. This study examined residents' preferences in Mashhad, Iran, for low-input park design versus conventional park design techniques. The research method integrated questionnaire-based interviews with 3D-simulated images of a site designed with the two approaches. Ninety-three respondents answered validated questions regarding their preference towards the planting and architecture of the parks, their perceptions about social sustainability, psychological feelings, and their perceptions of low-input and maintenance of the spaces. T-test analyses showed that people preferred the low-input park design more than the conventional design for the first four factors. However, the respondents needed to recognize significant differences between the two plans for the low-input and maintenance character of the parks. These results showed that people have positive views and perceptions toward sustainable design approaches like low-input park design. This approach can attract the public and meet their social, psychological, and aesthetic needs with appropriate planning and designs. However, people require education and awareness about the maintenance and sustainability aspects of landscape design approaches. Architecture and planting design visual preferences were suitable predictors for people's overall preference toward the low-input park design approach. The research outputs and the applied method provide insights into sustainable landscape planning in the urban environment.

Optimization land use based on multi-scenario simulation of ecosystem service for sustainable landscape planning in a mixed urban - Forest watershed

Integrating ecosystem services (ESs) into land development strategies can provide a new perspective in order to make more informed land use (LULC) decisions. In this sense, a specific framework is provided to use ESs in land allocation in Ilam urban watershed, Western Iran. This region is experiencing unsustainable development and destruction of natural ecosystems and as a result, these conditions have affected ecological characteristics, and ESs. Therefore, characterizing the LULC of this watershed and its impact on ESs is significant to comprehensively understanding the influences of human activities on ecosystems. Hence, the simulated annealing-genetic hybrid algorithm was assessed to optimize LULC using Six types of ESs; including, food provisioning (FP), water yield (WY), sediment retention (SR), recreation quality (RQ), aesthetic quality (AQ) and habitat quality (HQ). Regarding optimization approach, FP, WY, SR, RQ, AQ, HQ and land integration (LI) scenarios were designed based on LULC types and ESs. Considering the land allocation, the results indicated that most changes are related to the northwest, southeast, southwest and middle parts of the region. Moreover, an increasing trend was observed regarding dense forest and low-dense forest, according to the following scenarios: FP, RQ, LI, AQ, WY, SR and HQ. In contrast, a decreasing trend was obtained for cropland in the same order of scenarios. Additionally, the highest areas of garden, grassland, park, river, urban land, and road classes were observed in scenarios HQ, LI, SR, WY and FP, respectively. The results also revealed that the SDR scenario can be regarded as the best one having the lowest LULC fragmentation. Our study indicated that using ESs to optimize LULC allocation is a useful and an important strategy due to the fact that one can consider both the function and the structure of ecosystems in LULC planning and management decisions. Thus, the results of this research can help land managers in order to develop LULC, based on ESs and ecological conditions, which would finally lead to maintain the ESs and achieve sustainable development.

Afforestation and abandonment of semi‐natural grasslands lead to biodiversity loss and a decline in ecosystem services and functions

Abstract During the past century, semi‐natural grasslands, once widespread throughout Europe, have largely been converted into intensively managed agricultural areas, abandoned or afforested. These large‐scale land‐use changes have already resulted in considerable biodiversity loss but can also lead to decline in ecosystem service provision and ecosystem multifunctionality. We assessed the impact of afforestation and abandonment of semi‐natural grasslands on the supply of ecosystem services in Western Estonia. We compared a wide array of services provided by open grasslands, abandoned grasslands and afforested grasslands. Additionally, we analysed the impact of land‐use change and species richness on ecosystem multifunctionality. Significant declines in the supply of pollination services, natural pest regulation, forage production, soil quality, wild food and cultural appreciation of landscape were detected as a result of overgrowing or afforestation. There was significant positive relationship between species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality, that is, more biodiverse grasslands were able to support more services at higher capacity. Results show that both grassland degradation due to abandonment, as well as grassland afforestation, have significant negative impacts on biodiversity, on the supply of multiple important ecosystem services and on the ecosystem multifunctionality. Synthesis and applications. Temperate semi‐natural grasslands have high biodiversity and capacity to deliver multiple important ecosystem services simultaneously. Conservation and restoration of grassland habitats must be considered as an important part of sustainable landscape planning.

Influences of landscape pattern on water quality at multiple scales in an agricultural basin of western China

Determining the associations between landscape pattern and river water quality and quantifying the abrupt change points of landscape metrics are vital to optimize landscape planning and improve basin water quality. This study took an agricultural basin in western China as a case study. River water quality of 61 sub-basin outlets were monitored during wet and dry seasons from 2020 to 2021. Landscape metrics were extracted at 100 m, 300 m, 500 m riparian buffer and sub-basin scales, respectively. Relationships between water quality and landscape pattern at multiple scales were explored by using redundancy analysis (RDA). Results showed that urban-related landscape metrics served as the primary contributor to degrade water quality during both seasons, followed by cropland-related metrics, which might be attributed to the increase of urban land and reduction of agricultural chemical fertilizer use. Landscape metrics could better explain the water quality variations during wet season than dry season. The explanatory abilities of landscape metrics to overall water quality appeared little difference among spatial scales during wet season, whereas landscape metrics within 100 m riparian buffer had much larger explanatory rate than other spatial scales during dry season. Results of abrupt change point analysis revealed that the abrupt change interval values (ACIVs) of percentage of urban land (PLANDurban) and the largest patch index of urban land (LPIurban) differed among COD, TN, and TP. The recommended threshold values of PLANDurban and LPIurban for COD, TN, and TP management were smaller than 11.0%, 2.5%, and 1.0%, respectively. When the PLANDurban or LPIurban exceeded 19.0%, the TN, TP, and COD pollution would all significantly accelerate. Therefore, a limit value of 19% of PLANDurban and LPIurban, respectively is put forward. From dry season to wet season, the ACIVs of PLANDurban and LPIurban for COD concentration increased, whereas they decreased for TN and TP concentrations. Our results can provide scientific insights into sustainable landscape planning and effective water quality protection in agricultural basins.

Land Use/ Cover Change Detection in High-Altitude Mountain Landscapes: A Case of Pangi Valley, Western Himalaya (India).

Recently, mountains are going to widely threatened by developmental activities and global climate change leading to changing shift of land uses/covers across the globe. The present study area has witnessed very significant changes in land use and land cover (LULC) especially after the implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) in the form of rapid developmental and constructional activities. As a result, rapid local roads and infrastructure construction has lead to increased hazards further putting pressure on the fragile physical landscape. Therefore, the present study is an attempt to evaluate changes and transformation in the LULC patterns in the Pangi valley, Western Himalaya (India). The LULC has been analyzed using remote sensing imagery from LANDSAT for the period 1992-2021. We conduct a supervised classification by using Maximum Likelihood Classifier (MLC) to prepare LULC maps. In short, seven LULC classes have been delineated. The result shows that barren land, built-up land, water bodies and agriculture land have increased by 97.5 per cent, 98.5 per cent, 14.4 per cent and 13.2 per cent, while snow cover pasture land and forest cover have drastically decreased by 68.1 per cent, 21.1 per cent and 20.9 per cent respectively. The LULC transformation result illustrates that the area under snow cover, pasture land and forest cover converted into barren land by 217.8 km2, 175.3 km2 and 47.3 km2 respectively out of the total 1520 km2 area of the Pangi valley. It reflects human influence in terms of developmental activities and impact of global climate change in the transformation of the physical landscape in the study area. The outcome derived from the current research will be helpful for policy makers and spatial planners for sustainable landscape planning and management of the high-altitude mountain landscapes.

Exploring Multiscale Influence of Urban Growth on Landscape Patterns of Two Emerging Urban Centers in the Western Himalaya

The Western Himalaya are experiencing and epitomizing growing urbanization trends due to rapid population and tourism rise across the Indian Himalayan region. The pace and process of urban development in these regions are largely unplanned and unregulated; consequently, the altered landscape composition and configuration are influencing key ecological processes and functions supporting human wellbeing. Existing urbanization research addressing this issue has mainly focused on large urban centers, underrepresenting the potential role of medium-sized cities in sustainable landscape planning. Thus, this study attempted to quantify land use/land cover and landscape pattern dynamics in response to urban growth and expansion in and around two emerging urban centers—Dharamsala and Pithoragarh, Western Himalaya, over the past two decades. The study was split into three temporal periods, and intensity analysis was used to characterize transformational patterns in the city and outer zone of each landscape. The results indicate that, during the T2 and T3 period, the overall LULC dynamics was highest in Dharamsala and Pithoragarh, respectively. The urban development in Dharamsala occurred at the expense of cropland followed by vegetation and forest, while, in Pithoragarh, it occurred at the expense of cropland followed by vegetation loss dominated. Furthermore, the landscape pattern results highlighted the aggregation and homogenization at the city level, with a higher degree of disaggregation, fragmentation, and heterogeneity in outer zone. This paper highlights the importance of transformational patterns based on intensity analysis and landscape patterns to sustainable landscape development and planning. In addition, considering the past to present urban development trajectories, this study purposes a framework for sustainable landscape development in Himalaya for urban planners and policymakers.

Seasonal effects of urban morphology on land surface temperature in a three-dimensional perspective: A case study in Hangzhou, China

Architecture influences the design of urban landscapes and hence plays an important role in the regulation of urban thermal environment. Studies on the correlation between multi-dimensional building morphology and land surface temperature (LST) have been conducted in many cities around the world. However, general conclusions on their relationship have not been drawn, owing to the differences in climatic, social, and economic conditions between cities. Moreover, the multivariate and nonlinearity of the three-dimensional (3D) indicators also require more robust and specific statistical models. In this study, the random forest (RF) regression model was used to quantitatively analyse the seasonal differences in the responses of nine multi-dimensional building indicators to LST. The results show that the building coverage ratio (BCR), high building ratio (HBR), and architecture height standard deviation (AHSD) always had the most substantial influence. Across seasons, the average relative contribution ratios of BCR, HBR, and AHSD were 13.23–33.50%, 11.37–20.06%, and 9.02–24.12%, respectively. In general, 2D indicators tended to have a higher impact in warmer seasons while 3D indicators showed more impact on LST in cooler seasons. According to the marginal effect analysis, the BCR, cubic index (CI), and aggregation index (AI) were the main heating indicators, whereas AHSD and HBR were the main cooling indicators. Overall, our findings contribute to the understanding of the urban heat island phenomenon, which remains an important issue in the context of sustainable landscape and urban planning.

Applying a Systemic Approach for Sustainable Urban Hillside Landscape Design and Planning: The Case Study City of Chongqing in China

Rapid urbanization has led some Chinese cities to extend to hillside sites with recurrent patterns of flattening sloping terrain to erect high rise buildings. This approach usually results in disturbing local ecosystems which protection is an important requirement towards achieving the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Studies examining the special patterns of urban extensions onto hills and the driving forces of behind the deterioration of environmental quality in cities are scarce. This paper aims to answer two questions; “What are the definitions and goals for sustainable landscape design for hillside urban extensions?” and “What are the real causes for the unsustainability of current urban hillside housing developments?” These questions will be approached, first through a literature review, and second through considering the case study of Chongqing Yue Lai eco-city and examining the limitation and remediation through the whole process of the land construction loop within the systemic approach. This article illustrates how sustainable urban hillside landscape design and planning can be achieved by balancing the priorities of four key stakeholders (government, developers, city dwellers, and local ecosystem). This calls for shifting from the central planning system dominated by local governments by including the equally important priorities of its citizens (human actors) and non-human actors (ecosystem).

Participatory Historical Village Landscape Analysis Using a Virtual Globe-Based 3D PGIS: Guizhou, China

The analysis of historical village landscape characteristics and the influential driving factors of their evolutions can provide an essential decision-making basis for rural sustainable development strategies and landscape planning. How to obtain historical village landscape data at a time when objectively recorded data, such as remote sensing images, were unavailable is a key problem that restricts the analysis of village landscape evolution characteristics. As local villagers are important knowledge sources regarding historical village landscapes, a participatory data collection and analysis approach was used for village historical landscape data in this paper using a virtual globe-based three-dimensional participatory geographic information system (3D PGIS). Taking Duimengshan village, Guizhou, China, as a case study, the 3D landscape of the Duimengshan village and corresponding major historical events in four historical periods, 1958, 1980, 1995, and 2015, were collected in an on-site, interactive way by researchers with the participation of local villagers, and its land-use structure, ecosystem service values, and landscape pattern were analyzed. The results show that the historical landscapes in the four periods were strongly related to important local historical events. The 3D PGIS greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of villagers to participate with its intuitive 3D display form and simple and easy-to-use operation mode. It can be concluded that the historical landscape memory of local villagers and the oral inheritance information handed down from generation to generation can be utilized to make up for the lack of remote sensing and other objective data in the collection and acquisition of historical village landscape data. The obtained historical village landscape characteristics and their evolution laws can be used in future participatory rural planning and landscape design.

ASSESSMENT OF LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE TOWARDS COST PLANNING: EXPERT VALIDATION ON THE CRITERIA OF SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE FOR PUBLIC PARK

In Malaysia, a substantial amount of money is spent yearly to maintain the public parks. However, there are still countless parks and open spaces that have been built with excellent facilities for the public but are being unkempt, deteriorating into disrepair and poorly maintained. Considering the importance of the public park to the community and how this is a critical link to landscape planning and maintenance, there is a need for a cost-efficiency study to set forth a strategy that best works to mitigate this issue. Adopting a quantitative research approach, the focus of this survey is to validate the expert's selection regarding attributes and parameters for the urban park maintenance checklist. The Percentage of Consensus of Agreement (PoCoA) analysis applied for this study has further demonstrated the significant sustainable landscape maintenance checklist criteria. The summary of these findings reveals the expert's preferences and validation process that further paved the conclusion on the need for sustainable landscape maintenance criteria that synergise to cost efficiency, linking to best practices for sustainable landscape planning and management.

Environmental Personhood as a Landscape Planning Tool

Abstract In the face of increasing human impact on the environment, it is necessary to look for new tools for sustainable landscape planning. One of them may be the institution of environmental personhood. The conducted studies based on an analysis of legal texts show that environmental personhood has evolved into a more complex institution. Increasing emphasis is placed on the intangible, cultural, and even spiritual aspects of granting legal personality to natural objects. The first implementations of environmental personhood in Ecuador, Bolivia, Australia, and India did not concern landscape, but the other cases in Colombia, New Zealand, and Canada did and have features typical of a landscape planning tool.

Interactive decision support and trade-off analysis for sustainable forest landscape planning under deep uncertainty

Sustainable environmental management often involves long-term time horizons and multiple conflicting objectives and, by nature, is affected by different sources of uncertainty. Many sources of uncertainty, such as climate change or government policies, cannot be addressed using probabilistic models, and, therefore, they can be seen to contain deep uncertainty. In this setting, the variety of possible future states is represented as a set of scenarios lacking any information about the likelihood of occurring. Integrating deep uncertainty into multiobjective decision support increases complexity, calling for the elaboration of appropriate methods and tools. This paper proposes a novel interactive multi-scenario multiobjective approach to support decision-making and trade-off analysis in sustainable forest landscape planning under multiple sources of uncertainty. It includes new preference simulation models aimed at reducing the decision-maker’s cognitive load and supporting the preference elicitation process. The proposed approach is applied in a case study of long-term forest landscape planning with four sustainability objectives in 12 scenarios and a forestry expert as the decision-maker. The approach is demonstrated to be efficient in exploring trade-offs in different scenarios, helping the expert gain deep insights into the problem, understand the consequences of alternative strategies, and find the most preferred robust strategy.

Impact of Landscape Management Scenarios on Ecosystem Service Values in Central Ethiopia

This study aimed at modeling scenarios of future land use and land cover (LULC) change and estimating ecosystem service (ES) values for the year 2051 compared to 2021 in Central Ethiopia. The future LULC changes for the year 2051 were simulated for four scenarios, namely Business-as-Usual (BAU), Rapid Agricultural Expansion (RAE), Ecosystems Protection and Agricultural Development (EPAD) and Landscape Ecosystems Restoration and Conservation (LERC). The four LULC change scenarios were simulated based on anticipated assumptions that were derived from existing spatial policies, a consultation workshop report on scenarios of agricultural development in Ethiopia, suitability analysis, population growth analysis and expert knowledge of the study area characteristics. We used a Multi-Layer Perceptron–Artificial Neuron Network (MLP–ANN) model-based projected LULC for the BAU scenario and the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model to generate RAE, EPAD and LERC scenarios in the study landscape. The benefit transfer method was used to estimate the total ES values and for trade-off analysis. The result showed that LULC changes in the study area varied across simulated scenarios compared to the base year 2021. Under the BAU and RAE scenarios, cultivated land increased by 146,548 ha (22%) and 193,965 ha (29%), whereas forest, water body, wetland and shrub-bush land were reduced. However, forest cover increased by 31,725 ha and 100,080 ha but bare land was reduced by 8466 ha (21%) and 10,379 ha (25%) under the EPAD and LERC scenarios. The forest cover annual rate of change was 3.2% and 6% under the EPAD and LERC scenarios. As a result, the total ES value increased by USD 24.5 and 78.5 million under the EPAD and LERC scenarios for the year 2051, whereas the total ES value was reduced under the BAU and RAE scenarios by USD 27.1 and 73.2 million. The trade-offs among ecosystem services were significantly synergized under the LERC scenario compared to RAE. Therefore, EPAD and LERC could be used as a reference for sustainable landscape planning and management. Landscape ecosystems restoration integrated with a sustainable agricultural intensification approach would enable us to ensure the sustainability of both agricultural production and ecosystem service synergies without negatively affecting the natural environment.