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Landscape Characterization Integrating Expert and Local Spatial Knowledge of Land and Forest Resources

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Abstract

In many developing countries, political documentation acknowledges the crucial elements of participation and spatiality for effective land use planning. However, operative approaches to spatial data inclusion and representation in participatory land management are often lacking. In this paper, we apply and develop an integrated landscape characterization approach to enhance spatial knowledge generation about the complex human–nature interactions in landscapes in the context of Zanzibar, Tanzania. We apply an integrated landscape conceptualization as a theoretical framework where the expert and local knowledge can meet in spatial context. The characterization is based on combining multiple data sources in GIS, and involves local communities and their local spatial knowledge since the beginning into the process. Focusing on the expected information needs for community forest management, our characterization integrates physical landscape features and retrospective landscape change data with place-specific community knowledge collected through participatory GIS techniques. The characterization is established in a map form consisting of four themes and their synthesis. The characterization maps are designed to support intuitive interpretation, express the inherently uncertain nature of the data, and accompanied by photographs to enhance communication. Visual interpretation of the characterization mediates information about the character of areas and places in the studied local landscape, depicting the role of forest resources as part of the landscape entity. We conclude that landscape characterization applied in GIS is a highly potential tool for participatory land and resource management, where spatial argumentation, stakeholder communication, and empowerment are critical issues.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the community members of Cheju and Unguja Ukuu Kaebona for participating in the research, all the Finnish and Tanzanian members of the research project “Changing land use and forest management practices and multidimensional adaptation strategies in Zanzibar, Tanzania” (2010–2013), and the Department of Urban and Rural Planning (DoURP, formerly the Department of Survey and Urban Planning) in Zanzibar for allowing the use of spatial data. The research was funded by the Academy of Finland (Project 132819), the University of Turku, Department of Geography and Geology and the Laboratory of Computer Cartography (UTU-LCC), the Department of Forestry and Non-Renewable Natural Resources in Zanzibar, and the Department of Geography of Ghent University in Belgium.

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  1. Geography Division, Department of Geography and Geology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland

    Nora Fagerholm & Niina Käyhkö

  2. Department of Geography, Ghent University, Krijigslaan 281 S8, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Veerle Van Eetvelde

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  1. Nora Fagerholm
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  2. Niina Käyhkö
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  3. Veerle Van Eetvelde
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Correspondence to Nora Fagerholm.

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Fagerholm, N., Käyhkö, N. & Van Eetvelde, V. Landscape Characterization Integrating Expert and Local Spatial Knowledge of Land and Forest Resources. Environmental Management 52, 660–682 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-013-0121-x

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