Using ecological knowledge for development planning

Since October 1977, the East-West Environment and Policy Institute in Honolulu has been conducting a multinational collaborative project to enhance the preparation and utilization of natural systems assessments in developing countries. This paper presents some of the findings to date: 1. Channels are developing rapidly for transferring ecological knowledge into political and administrative decision making. 2. The systematic approach of ecology is replacing environmental quality as the organizing concept for information about natural resources and the environment. 3. Benefit-cost analysis is a promising method for integrating ecological knowledge into economic development decision making. 4. The lack of baseline information, inventories, and predictive capability will not be remedied soon or easily; thus priorities for ecological research are essential.This paper is adapted from a presentation at the Fifth Symposium on Tropical Ecology of the International Society for Tropical Ecology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 19 April 1979. Environmental Management, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 13–20     

A planning and decision-making framework for ecological restoration

A broad and objective perspective of ecological and socioenomic knowledge is required to underlie a scientific approach to the problems of terrestrial restoration ecology. Uncertainty associated with limited scientific knowledge highlights the crucial importance of the interaction between science and policy in weighing ecological restoration alternatives in relation to other management options. In this paper, we provide a pragmatic definition for restoration ecology that is suitable for extensive terrestrial applications and present a decision framework to help organize and clarify different phases of the decision process as it is related to ecological restoration. We argue that restoration planning should include a wider spectrum of participants and decisions than have traditionally been employed.     

Resource availability,planning rigidity and Realpolitik in Lithuanian forest utilization

As tensions among diverse forest‐use interests in Lithuania are on the rise, this study examines the actual resource availability, the underlying planning approaches and the pertinent policy arena. Two 5‐year cycles of sampling‐based forest inventory provide accurate data showing that the overall timber harvest/increment ratio (or utilization intensity) is 61%. Utilization intensity is similar in state and private forests. It could potentially be raised to 70‐80%, with due account for environmental values. Such an increase is inhibited by rigid routines of forest management planning, involving inflexible rotation ages and cutting norms. Age‐class analysis indicates that the current planning practice counters its underlying aim of achieving a long‐term even flow of timber. According to a survey of key forest stakeholders, those who directly benefit from forest utilization have a weak position in the policy arena, the dominant powers being vested in the national forestry authorities. State forest enterprises have to follow restrictive plans from above, private forest owners are constrained by stern regulations and suffer from the bad image caused by the persistent myth of overuse in private forests. More rational management of Lithuanian forests is hardly possible without major shifts in the institutional set‐up accompanied by transformation of the professional ideology.     

Mapping forest ecosystem functions for landscape planning in a mountain Natura2000 site,Central Italy

In last decades, numerous efforts have been carried out by the scientific community to assess the multifunctional role of forests in supporting the forest decision-making processes. Recently developed in Italy, the Forest Landscape Management Planning seems to be the most suitable tool to maintain the sustainability balance between forests and local populations. This research identifies and maps different forest ecosystem functions in a mountain Natura2000 Network site by performing a spatial estimation of forest inventory parameters, and implementing a multi-criteria and multi-level approach. Final results on mapping of forest functions show acceptable values of classification accuracy.     

Tracking collaboration: forest planning and local participation on the San Juan National Forest,Colorado

The proliferation of community-based collaborative approaches to public land management and planning has spawned many questions regarding issues of community representation and the effects of participation for local residents. This paper presents a longitudinal assessment of local resident participation in collaborative forest planning on local community–forest relations in southwestern Colorado. Using survey data of participants involved in the San Juan National Forest's forest plan revision community study groups from 1998 to 2003, we assess participation in terms of community representation and the effects of community-based collaboration upon individuals' forest uses, forest values, and the level and form of involvement in forest management and planning activities. Results show that community representation remains slanted towards existing active stakeholders, and that while forest values, uses, and frequencies of involvement change little, participants cite positive effects in terms of the development of new knowledge, personal relationships, and greater confidence to engage in forest management affairs.     

Agricultural change and redundant farm buildings: examples of the role of planning in Scotland

In response to the production of surpluses of agricultural crops in the European Community, policies of farm diversification are being pursued. This will involve changes in the use of some farm buildings and the construction of new ones. Planners have traditionally adopted a restrictive attitude to this type of development in the countryside. This paper considers the ways in which planners are responding to the need for more flexible approaches towards the use of farm buildings.     

Landscape ecological assessment: a tool for integrating biodiversity issues in strategic environmental assessment and planning

To achieve a sustainable development, impacts on biodiversity of urbanisation, new infrastructure projects and other land use changes must be considered on landscape and regional scales. This requires that important decisions are made after a systematic evaluation of environmental impacts. Landscape ecology can provide a conceptual framework for the assessment of consequences of long-term development processes like urbanisation on biodiversity components, and for evaluating and visualising the impacts of alternative planning scenarios. The aim of this paper was to develop methods for integrating biodiversity issues in planning and strategic environmental assessment in an urbanising environment, on landscape and regional levels. In order to test developed methods, a case study was conducted in the region of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and the study area embraced the city centre, suburbs and peri-urban areas. Focal species were tested as indicators of habitat quality, quantity and connectivity in the landscape. Predictive modelling of habitat distribution in geographic information systems involved the modelling of focal species occurrences based on empirical data, incorporated in a landscape ecological decision support system. When habitat models were retrieved, they were applied on future planning scenarios in order to predict and assess the impacts on focal species. The scenario involving a diffuse exploitation pattern had the greatest negative impacts on the habitat networks of focal species. The scenarios with concentrated exploitation also had negative impacts, although they were possible to mitigate quite easily. The predictions of the impacts on habitats networks of focal species made it possible to quantify, integrate and visualise the effects of urbanisation scenarios on aspects of biodiversity on a landscape level.     

Barcelona and the delta: metropolitan infrastructure planning and socio‐ecological projects

The delta of the Llobregat river is a natural expansion area for the city of Barcelona. It has been used first for agricultural purposes and then in the twentieth century for urban and infrastructural development. The history of the delta is examined, in order to trace the changing interactions between economic and political forces and ecological processes. This includes the influence of urban planning from 1930 onwards. The paper describes the effort made by the Spanish government from 1991 to co‐ordinate investment planning in the delta with the Catalan administration and local authorities. One municipality, El Prat, has offered a partial environmentalist challenge to the dominant economic development model of other administrations. It is concluded that it would be valuable to consider this key zone in relation to alternative projects for the socio‐economic and ecological development of Catalonia and Spain as a whole.     

Regional industrial ecology: examples from regional economic systems of forest industry and energy supply in Finland

Industrial ecology (IE) promotes the development of industrial systems based on recycling of matter and cascading of energy through cooperation. In this paper, the local/regional industrial ecosystem approach is reflected in two examples from Finland. The local forest industry system is based on renewable resources, waste materials and energy utilisation between forestry companies, a saw-mill, a pulp mill, a paper mill and a forest industry power plant. Waste energy from electricity production is used for production of heat and process steam. Regional city energy supply systems in Finland are also to a large extent arranged around power plants that utilise waste energy. The potential of combining the forest industry system with the energy supply systems of cities is considered and the conditions for success in the Finnish case are discussed.     

An evaluation of resource inventory and monitoring program used in national forest planning

The National Forest Management Act (1976) specifies that multiresource inventories be conducted to provide baseline data for development and, later, monitoring of national forest management plans. This mandate entails the most ambitious and complex resource planning effort ever attempted. In this paper we evaluate the structure and use of current inventory-monitoring programs and recommend a framework for gathering data to improve national forest planning. Current national guidelines are general and provide only basic directions to forest-level planners. Forest inventories have traditionally concentrated on timber. Although these inventories are often well designed, the questions we are now asking about forest resources have outgrown these methods. Forest management is impeded by general confusion over definitions of resources and the interactions among them. We outline a simple classification scheme that centers on identification of basic ecosystem elements that can be readily measured. Furthermore, spatial and temporal scales must be considered in the design of inventory-monitoring programs. The concept of ecological indicators is reviewed, and caution is advised in their use. Inventory-monitoring programs should be goal-directed and based on as rigorous a statistical design as possible. We also review fundamental issues of variable selection, validation, and sampling bias. We conclude by developing a flexible inventory-monitoring program that is designed to provide information on individual characteristics of the environment, rather than being based on fixed definitions of resources.     

Environmental planning,ecosystem science,and ecosystem approaches for integrating environment and development

Currently popular concepts such as sustainable development and sustainability seek the integration of environment and development planning. However, there is little evidence that this integration is occurring in either mainstream development planning or environmental planning. This is a function of the history, philosophies, and evolved roles of both. A brief review of the experience and results of mainstream planning, environmental planning, and ecosystem science suggests there is much in past scientific and professional practice that is relevant to the goal of integrated planning for environment and development, but still such commonly recommended reforms as systems and multidisciplinary approaches, institutional integration, and participatory, goal-oriented processes are rarely achieved. “Ecosystem approaches,” as developed and applied in ecology, human ecology, environmental planning, anthropology, psychology, and other disciplines, may provide a more transdisciplinary route to successful integration of environment and development. Experience with ecosystem approaches is reviewed, their advantages and disadvantages are discussed, and they are compared to traditional urban and regional planning, environmental planning, and ecosystem science approaches. Ultimately a synthesis of desirable characteristics for a framework to integrate environment and development planning is presented as a guide for future work and a criterion for evaluating existing programs.     

Promoting ecological sustainable planning for natural stone quarrying. The case of the Orosei Marble Producing Area in Eastern Sardinia

This paper presents an analysis of the main environmental impact factors (noise, vibration, fumes, dust, vehicle traffic) associated with marble quarrying and processing in the Orosei industrial area and their effects. Solutions are also proposed to prevent, mitigate and, where possible, eliminate the impact on the environment. Using three-dimensional topographic models, the authors simulated quarry and industrial processing development, with projections over the next 10, 30 and 50 years. The aim of these simulations was to establish land management planning guidelines for the optimal and environmentally sustainable development of the Orosei Marble industrial area. Lastly, careful quarry development planning is important both for enhancing LCA and for improving production processes through sustainable technologies that yield green label products meeting environmental performance standards.     

Flooding and erosion hazards on the ontario great lakes shoreline: a human ecological approach to planning and management

Understanding flood and erosion hazards in the context of developing coastal management plans requires an appreciation for variations in climate, geology, vegetation, land uses, human activities and institutional arrangements. On the Great Lakes, fluctuating water levels are characterized by temporal variations in their magnitude and frequency and their impact on flooding and erosion also differ from site to site. The traditional planning and management mechanisms in Ontario, through the use of emergency responses and land use setbacks, have been insufficient in resolving the rising costs of damage to property due to flooding and erosion along the Great Lakes shoreline. There is a need to develop an alternative management model with a focus on understanding hazards in the context of their natural and human components. A case study of the preparation of a resource survey for the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority illustrates the development of a human ecological approach and its applicability in developing shoreline management plans for the Great Lakes.