Protection of groundwater dependent ecosystems: current policies and future management options

Groundwater dependent ecosystems (GDEs) include many terrestrial and aquatic systems with high biodiversity and important ecosystem services. The need for protection of these systems has recently received increasing recognition in many regions, including the European Union (EU), as pressures on groundwater are increasing due to increased consumption in agriculture and intensive land use. A key issue is to provide legislative frameworks that safeguard the ecosystem services these systems provide. This paper reviews European legislation and present methods for theoretical frameworks, and hydrological and ecological observations of GDEs. Insights into the current state of research are provided and gaps in scientific knowledge identified. Different restoration and protection measures, such as buffer zones, are presented and evaluated. Recommendations are given for the future protection of GDEs. Future research should focus on nationally important GDE sites to establish conceptual models describing the individual and interactive impacts of multiple stressors on the hydrological and ecological functioning of GDEs. Proactive management is required to protect GDEs from contamination, for example by using extended buffer zones and careful land use planning in the groundwater capture zone.

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Integrating Ecosystem Services into Land-Use Modeling to Assess the Effects of Future Land-Use Strategies in Northern Ghana

Land ◽

10.3390/land9100379 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 379

Author(s):

Hongmi Koo ◽

Janina Kleemann ◽

Christine Fürst

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Assessment Process ◽

Northern Ghana ◽

Agricultural Land Use ◽

Spatially Explicit ◽

Management Options ◽

Trade Offs

In West Africa, where the majority of the population relies on natural resources and rain-fed agriculture, regionally adapted agricultural land-use planning is increasingly important to cope with growing demand for land-use products and intensifying climate variability. As an approach to identify effective future land-use strategies, this study applied spatially explicit modeling that addresses the spatial connectivity between the provision of ecosystem services and agricultural land-use systems. Considering that the status of ecosystem services varies with the perception of stakeholders, local knowledge, and characteristics of a case study area, two adjoining districts in northern Ghana were integrated into an assessment process of land-use strategies. Based on agricultural land-management options that were identified together with the local stakeholders, 75 future land-use strategies as combinations of multiple agricultural practices were elaborated. Potential impacts of the developed land-use strategies on ecosystem services and land-use patterns were assessed in a modeling platform that combines Geographic Information System (GIS) and Cellular Automaton (CA) modules. Modeled results were used to identify best land-use strategies that could deliver multiple ecosystem services most effectively. Then, local perception was applied to determine the feasibility of the best land-use strategies in practice. The results presented the different extent of trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services delivered by future land-use strategies and their different feasibility depending on the district. Apart from the fact that findings were context-specific and scale-dependent, this study revealed that the integration of different local characteristics and local perceptions to spatially explicit ecosystem service assessment is beneficial for determining locally tailored recommendations for future agricultural land-use planning.

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An urban hierarchy-based approach integrating ecosystem services into multiscale sustainable land use planning: The case of China

Resources Conservation and Recycling ◽

10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.106097 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 178 ◽

pp. 106097

Author(s):

Xiao Sun ◽

Jianguo Wu ◽

Huajun Tang ◽

Peng Yang

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Sustainable Land Use ◽

Urban Hierarchy

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Combating Land Degradation and Desertification: The Land-Use Planning Quandary

Land ◽

10.3390/land8020027 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 27 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Helen Briassoulis

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Degradation ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Institutional Environment ◽

Critical Role ◽

Future Research ◽

Land Systems ◽

Development Goals ◽

Land Degradation And Desertification ◽

Global Threat

Land-use planning (LUP), an instrument of land governance, is often employed to protect land and humans against natural and human-induced hazards, strengthen the resilience of land systems, and secure their sustainability. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) underlines the critical role of appropriate local action to address the global threat of land degradation and desertification (LDD) and calls for the use of local and regional LUP to combat LDD and achieve land degradation neutrality. The paper explores the challenges of putting this call into practice. After presenting desertification and the pertinent institutional context, the paper examines whether and how LDD concerns enter the stages of the LUP process and the issues arising at each stage. LDD problem complexity, the prevailing mode of governance, and the planning style endorsed, combined with LDD awareness, knowledge and perception, value priorities, geographic particularities and historical circumstances, underlie the main challenges confronting LUP; namely, adequate representation of LDD at each stage of LUP, conflict resolution between LDD-related and development goals, need for cooperation, collaboration and coordination of numerous and diverse actors, sectors, institutions and policy domains from multiple spatial/organizational levels and uncertainty regarding present and future environmental and socio-economic change. In order to realize the integrative potential of LUP and foster its effectiveness in combating LDD at the local and regional levels, the provision of an enabling, higher-level institutional environment should be prioritized to support phrοnetic-strategic integrated LUP at lower levels, which future research should explore theoretically, methodologically and empirically.

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The utilization of ecosystem services mapping in land use planning: the experience of LIFE SAM4CP project

Journal of Environmental Planning and Management ◽

10.1080/09640568.2019.1598341 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 63 (3) ◽

pp. 523-545 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Stefano Salata ◽

Carolina Giaimo ◽

Carlo Alberto Barbieri ◽

Gabriele Garnero

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Ecosystem Services Mapping

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Ecosystem services for connecting actors – lessons from a symposium

Change and Adaptation in Socio-Ecological Systems ◽

10.1515/cass-2015-0001 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Paul Opdam ◽

Christian Albert ◽

Christine Fürst ◽

Adrienne Grêt-Regamey ◽

Janina Kleemann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Central Government ◽

Open Science ◽

Collaborative Relationships ◽

Assessment Design ◽

Actual Nature ◽

Individual Actor ◽

And Gender

AbstractThis paper is a communication from the corresponding symposium at the Global Land Project Open Science Meeting, Berlin, March 2014. We explored the assumption that the ecosystem services-(ES) concept has the potential to support communication and collaboration between actors in land use planning. If true, the concept could facilitate collaborative planning processes. We analyse how to evolve a planning context in which governance networks at the local landscape level gain importance in decision making, while the central government delegates power. From case studies presented during the symposium we learned that the ES-concept has been explored for application in local land use planning around the world. However, whether ES are recognized as a useful planning concept depends on individual actor preferences and cultural and contextual factors, such as the actual nature-human relationship and gender differences. Also, successful application requires the support of novel assessment, design and visualization tools, which are designed to foster collaboration and social learning. The potential of the concept to contribute to collaborative relationships needs further investigation.

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