Abstract

Strong land-use pressure challenges sustainable development and calls for landscape approaches that balance economic, ecological, and socio-cultural aspects and interests. In the boreal, sub-alpine, and alpine regions in Sweden, encompassing 32 million ha, many and different land-use interests overlap, which causes risks for conflict, but potentially also suggests integration and synergy opportunities. Based on geographic information system (GIS) analyses of geographically delineated national interests regulated in the Swedish Environmental Code, including, amongst others, Natura 2000, contiguous mountains, recreation, reindeer husbandry, and wind power, and based on forestry as a dominating land use, we found extensive overlap among similar but also between dissimilar types of interest. In some mountain municipalities, our results show that the designated national interest area is four times as large as the available terrestrial area. Moreover, the overlap is much higher in the alpine than in the boreal biome, and there is increasing designation for nature conservation and a decreasing designation for national interests for culture, recreation, and tourism from south to north. We interpret the results with reference to multiple-use needs and opportunities for landscape approaches to sustainable planning. Departing from biodiversity conservation values, we also discuss opportunities to focus planning strategies on assessing synergy, integration, and conflict based on nature-based and place-based land-use characteristics.

Keywords

alpine; boreal; comprehensive planning; environmental code; integrated planning; land-use diversification; multiple use; municipal planning; Sweden

Published in

Sustainability
2020, Volume: 12, number: 12, article number: 5113
Publisher: MDPI

SLU Authors

• Svensson, Johan

  • Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Neumann Sivertsson, Wiebke

  • Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Thellbro, Camilla

  • Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns


UKÄ Subject classification

Economic Geography
Ecology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125113

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/107217