Elsevier

Land Use Policy

Volume 27, Issue 4, October 2010, Pages 1111-1122
Land Use Policy

Multifunctional forest management in Northern Portugal: Moving from scenarios to governance for sustainable development

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2010.02.008Get rights and content

Abstract

If there is a strong argument in favour of multifunctional forest management, there is also controversy regarding the types of multifunctionality able to instil virtuous circles across landscapes. Managing forests in such a way that user groups, sustainability practitioners and forestry institutions all agree to, is not easy. For any reliable consensus to occur, via viable landscape design procedures, through which multiple functions (production, environmental protection and recreation) may be coordinated by means of innovative planning, there is a need to negotiate a set of common objectives and shared responsibilities. This paper examines the policy dimensions of multifunctional forest management, and, through an exploratory case study, proposes an approach for cooperative planning and institutional design. The case study involved two parishes in the Minho region of Portugal (Gavieira and Entre Ambos-os-Rios) combining the local communities, the National Park, and local forestry officers. The case study created, developed and validated two scenario storylines through a series of participatory processes (two focus group meetings, one comprehensive workshop, and one expert meeting). One scenario focussed on continuity of the traditional management patterns, with an emphasis on direct goods such as timber and livestock grazing (traditional multifunctionality). The other concentrated on indirect ecological services, such as soil and water protection, as well as carbon sequestration (new multifunctionality). An attempt was also made to implement the scenario storylines through initiating a pilot project in both of the case study areas. However, there were neither robust planning mechanisms nor adaptive governance systems with the capacity to put into place forest management “futures” likely to deliver more sustainable landscape-scale uses in these areas. This paper illustrates the difficulties in forging governance systems that have the capacity and the vision to be able to put sustainable development concepts into practice, even when a coherent package of planning measures are tried out, given a policy setting that is confused, contradictory, and where the “status quo” tends to be given prominence.

Introduction

Planning and management for sustainable use of natural resources supported by governance systems able to deal the challenges involved are seen as key vehicles for a transition to sustainability (OECD, 2002, OECD, 2006). According to the European Landscape Convention, “planning” is a forward-looking action to enhance, restore or create landscapes (ELC, 2000), while “management” means the routine tasks needed in order to achieve planning goals. Planning is generally associated with integration across space; it is a “place making” instrument. Recently, there has been a trend to broaden the concept by emphasising the integration of place within the whole landscape by means of a spatial planning approach. However, the mere act of establishing goals and adopting programmes will never be successful unless such objectives are made fully operational and enforceable (Carlman, 2005). In addition to effective planning, innovative governance systems for sustainability need to be put into practice (Adger et al., 2004, OECD, 2002, OECD, 2006).

Governance over a territory can be understood as “the emergence and implementation of innovative shared forms of planning and managing of socio-spatial dynamics” (CEMAT, 2007:29). To govern a territory means to negotiate a set of commonly agreed objectives as well as a framework of shared responsibilities by the use of spatial development strategies and policies (CEMAT, 2007), thus calling for a whole landscape approach. A “whole landscape approach” is defined by Dolman et al. (2001:306) as “a process of integrated planning across property boundaries that optimizes the amount, location, configuration and management of … landscape elements”. Despite increasing recognition of a need to manage the whole landscape (Dolman et al., 2001), “traditional” planning is still embedded in sectoral approaches (Selman, 2002). Consequently, there are landscape ecological plans for agriculture, forestry and coastal areas where the link between these and the whole landscape (including living communities) is vague. In addition, there are landscape economic plans, landscape social plans, landscape heritage plans, and so on (Selman, 2002). A whole landscape approach requires a full integration of responsibilities and “mind-sets” between planning institutions (Dolman et al., 2001).

Such institutions in Western Europe have, or at least are supposed to have, greater abilities to deal with the challenges of attaining sustainability (O’Riordan and Stoll-Kleemann, 2002, O’Riordan and Voisey, 1998). Western European countries have well established public administration systems based on rule of law, rational specialisation of tasks, together with a professional and high skilled civil service (OECD, 2002). Yet, the extent to which these “well-functioning institutions” and the operational plans they put into practice, really do promote sustainable development, is now being critically examined. For example, there has been a recent call for new forms of cooperation between public and private property rights, involving “fresh” institutional arrangements and funding for an orderly transition to more sustainable landscapes to occur (Milligan et al., 2009, Nicholson-Cole and O’Riordan, 2009). It has also been suggested that a “new paradigm” for policy and governance is crucial for any successful move forward (OECD, 2006).

This paper explores issues related to innovative planning and governance for sustainable forestry management in rural areas of Northern Portugal. It examines the ways in which forests can be integrated into the whole landscape, for community living as a way to move towards sustainability. Its ultimate aim is to throw light on the scope for creating meaningful governance for such innovative approaches, by means of a staged sequence of methodological trials.

In Portugal, as in other European countries, forestry institutions have offered financial support both for new plantations and for protection of established forest areas (DGRF, 2007). A review of the different ways in which European countries deal with the forestry sector is presented in the work by Marey-Pérez and Rodríguez-Vicente (2008). Despite considerable criticism of the authoritarian style of economic and regional development strategies currently being pursued in EU countries, which have encouraged reforestation (Okkonen, 2008), the area of forest in Europe has increased by almost 13 million ha in the past 15 years. This is mainly due to the planting of new forests and natural expansion of forests onto former agricultural land (MCPFE, 2007, Nabuurs et al., 2001, Niskanen and Lin, 2001). The reversion of deforestation rates, and even an increase in area of forests, is explained by the forest transition concept (Mather, 1992, Mather and Needle, 1998). There are studies reporting forest transition in countries such as France (Mather et al., 1999), Spain (Marey-Pérez and Rodríguez-Vicente, 2008), Scotland (Mather, 2004) and Denmark (Mather et al., 1998). Mather (1992) summarises the overall trend as a change from a pre-industrial stage through an industrial stage towards a post-industrial stage of forestry. While the first two stages can be ascribed to traditional utilitarian management approaches, forest management in the post-industrial stage perceives forests less as commodities and more as functioning ecosystems serving multiple purposes. The post-industrial stage calls for multi-purpose forestry in which forests provide a wide range of functions across whole landscapes (Mander et al., 2007, Vejre et al., 2007).

The concept of multifunctionality, either addressed throughout a single land use type such as forestry or agriculture, or by means of integrating of several land use types (multifunctional land use), is of major importance in context of rural development (Dwyer, 2007, Hagedorn, 2007). The evidence in rural areas of Europe, both from the development of various scenarios, as well as from case studies promoted by programs such as FAIR, of which one example is the Impact project (Knickel and Renting, 2000), reveal the contours of a new development trajectory in which the key features are diversity and multifunctionality. Diversity is reflected in the actors involved, the particular activities undertaken, and the patterns of motivation that emerge (Elands et al., 2004, Elands and Praestholm, 2008). Multifunctionality is the simultaneous and interrelated provision of different functions from a single land use type (Mander et al., 2007). The concept of multifunctionality has attracted the attention of several scholars (Brandt et al., 2000, Fry, 2001, Mander et al., 2007, Pinto-Correia and Breman, 2008, Selman, 2006, Vejre et al., 2007). An array of topics exploring the concept has been presented in various international conferences such as “multifunctional landscapes” (Brandt et al., 2000). Multifunctionality lies within the operational role of sustainable development, and is based on the assumption that agricultural and forestry usage have always fulfilled more than just their primary aim of producing food, fibre, timber and fuel (Knickel and Renting, 2000, Mander et al., 2007). Hence, the study of “viable multifunctionalities” aiming at creating sustainable livelihoods in otherwise deprived rural areas is of upmost importance (Pinto-Correia and Breman, 2008, Selman, 2002).

Multifunctional land use can be achieved in three ways: (1) by pursuing different goals in a corresponding mixture of separate land use types, (2) by pursuing different goals on the same parcel of land, but sequentially in time, or (3) by integrating from the beginning and coordinating the different goals to accomplish them simultaneously (de Blust and Olmen, 2000). The first way can be defined as spatial multifunctionality because different spatial units (land use types) have clearly defined management goals. In spatial multifunctionality each piece of land has one function, but when zooming in or out to see a full landscape, it appears to be more or less multifunctional (de Blust and Olmen, 2000). By contrast, in the second and third variants, different goals are attained in the same spatial unit (successively in the second and simultaneously in the third). This type of multifunctional land use can be defined as integrated multifunctionality (Brandt et al., 2000).

Forestry is increasingly recognized as a critical activity for retaining viable livelihoods within rural development for many EU countries (Slee, 2006, Slee, 2007, Slee et al., 2004, Stengera et al., 2009). Rural development is currently addressed from two contrasting perspectives namely, endogenous and exogenous development. The former is conceived as a community led exercise in which rural development results from local initiatives. The latter is conceived as a bureaucratic process in which rural development is the result of political and economic dynamics created outside rural areas (Okkonen, 2008). These different processes of development raise different perspectives on possible ways forward for rural regions. Research by Elands and Wiersum (2001) distinguishes between different roles for forestry based on five discourses of rural development. These are agri-ruralist, hedonist, utilitarian, community stability and nature conservation. This particular study looks at more complex arrangements, mixing these perspectives, around sustainable development based on integrated and spatial multifunctionality.

Because there are complex ecological, socio-cultural and economic drivers affecting the future(s) of rural Europe, the development and assessment of land use scenarios can play an important role in promoting the understanding of such complex and uncertain systems (Shearer, 2005, Tress and Tress, 2003). Kok et al. (2006:264) defined scenarios as “plausible, challenging and relevant stories about how the future might unfold that can be told in both words and numbers”. There are several scenario studies addressing possible futures for rural Europe. Some examples are projects such as RUFUS (Rural Future Networks), EU Ruralis, Visions, Prelude, and Corason (Tovey, 2008). Some are multi-scale (global and local scenarios) such as the work developed in the Med Action Programme by Kok et al. (2006) for Europe, the Mediterranean region and watersheds within the Mediterranean. Land use suitability analysis is a widely used approach for modelling future land use allocations in scenario studies. The aim of land use suitability analysis is to identify the best site for some activity given a set of potential locations (Malczewski, 2004). In this type of analysis relevant attributes of the “object” to model are known (e.g. ecological thresholds for tree species). By performing both land suitability analysis and land use allocation, the alternative sites are ranked based on their characteristics, so that the best site can be identified for a specific land use (Malczewski, 2004). Another common feature of the studies dealing with scenario development across Europe is the use of participatory processes (Kok et al., 2006). Despite wide agreement on the advantages of participatory processes, there are also shortcomings related to the effects of “powerful” stakeholders that may clearly influence the participatory process. These include issues such as the credibility of the policy framework for adapting to the demands and expectations of stakeholders, representativeness of participants, time for resolving conflicts, shifts in policy and economic conditions as the process evolves, and means of ensuring wider interests are fully taken into account. These are not simple conditions to meet (Milligan and O’Riordan, 2007).

In countries such as Portugal during the recent past (1950s) forests in rural areas were regarded as an agro-silvo-system where agriculture, animal husbandry and forests complemented each other (Pereira et al., 2005, Pereira and Fonseca, 2003). One example is the use of understorey from forests as bedding for livestock which in turn provided manure to fertilize the fields. This was noted by several authors (Firmino, 1999) as a form of “sustainable” multifunctionality connecting agriculture, forest and grazing land use types. Such a system worked well in a localised economy context. Successive Common Agriculture Policies (CAP) have been blamed for disrupting these traditional systems by incentivising mass agricultural production against which such “traditional management” practices could not compete (Andresen and Castelbranco, 1993). As a consequence of the disruption of the equilibrium between the mosaics of agriculture, forestry and grazing areas, the traditional management which created an integrated multifunctionality is no longer working, raising issues such as depopulation, ageing of rural population and land abandonment in many inland rural areas. The study of “viable” multifunctionalities in a post-modern Portugal is of major environmental, social and economic importance (Pinto-Correia and Breman, 2008).

By using scenario approaches in two specific case studies this research focussed on: (1) developing scenario storylines for integrating forestry within the whole landscape mosaic in rural areas of Northern Portugal, (2) exploring “viable” designs for land use as well as planning mechanisms to implement those designs, (3) examining appropriate governance systems capable of implementing the storylines seen as “viable”, and (4) testing the implementation of those storylines through a pilot project. The research particularly addresses the issues that planning and governance systems have to tackle in order to place multifunctional forests within the whole landscape mosaic as a means to move towards effective sustainability in revitalising rural areas of Northern Portugal.

Section snippets

Study area and case study selection

The Minho region is located 38 km north of Porto and stretches to the frontier of Galicia in north-western Spain. Within Minho there are two sub-regions: the upper area (Alto Minho) and the lower area closer to Porto (Baixo Minho). Arcos de Valdevez and Ponte da Barca are two municipalities located in the Alto Minho region of Portugal which are spatially separated by the River Lima. In this study storylines for “viable futures” were created for two parishes located within the Peneda-Geres

Results

The participants in the focus group meetings for Gavieira and Entre Ambos-os-Rios were appointed by different local institutions, namely a rural development association – ARDAL – and the parish council of Entre Ambos-os-Rios. In Entre Ambos-os-Rios the group had a majority of farmers and forestry landowners as well as forestry related people such as local fire-fighters. In Gavieira, professional planners and managers as well as farmers and industry representatives participated. These

Discussion

In this study, “viable future” storylines were created, validated and supported by local stakeholders following state of the art participatory approaches (Milligan and O’Riordan, 2007), collaborative planning methods (Martins and Borges, 2007), and stakeholder engagement techniques (Grimble and Chan, 1995). The workshop and expert meeting revealed there were neither robust planning mechanisms nor adaptive governance systems with the capacity to put into place scenarios likely to deliver more

Conclusion

In this study, scenario storylines were created, validated and supported by local stakeholders. The method of establishing whole landscape preferences, set in a framework of user values and expectations, and geographically embedded in landscape cultures and histories, provides a basis for mapping and revealing multifunctional whole landscape scenarios that are both well grounded and comprehensible to a wide range of stakeholders (Appleton and Lovett, 2003, Milligan and O’Riordan, 2007). This

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all focus group members and workshop participants for their essential contribution to the study. Special thanks are due to the staff of all the Forestry Municipal offices in Minho region of Portugal, particularly to those in Ponte da Barca and Arcos de Valdevez and ARDAL – Associação Regional de Desenvolvimento do Alto Lima – for their assistance in the scenario creation and development. Thanks are also due to the Peneda-Gerês National Park and Forestry Office staffs in Minho

References (69)

  • H. Martins et al.

    Addressing collaborative planning methods and tools in forest management

    Forest Ecology and Management

    (2007)
  • A.S. Mather et al.

    The course and drivers of the forest transition: the case of France

    Journal of Rural Studies

    (1999)
  • G.J. Nabuurs et al.

    Sustainable management regimes for Europe's forests—a projection with EFISCEN until 2050

    Forest Policy and Economics

    (2001)
  • A. Niskanen et al.

    Regional similarities of forest resources and socio-economic structures in EU member states

    Forest Policy and Economics

    (2001)
  • B. Slee

    The socio-economic evaluation of the impact of forestry on rural development: a regional level analysis

    Forest Policy and Economics

    (2006)
  • B. Slee

    Social indicators of multifunctional rural land use: the case of forestry in the UK

    Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment

    (2007)
  • B. Tress et al.

    Scenario visualisation for participatory landscape planning—a study from Denmark

    Landscape and Urban Planning

    (2003)
  • 3DNature

    World Construction Set, Visual Nature Studio

    (2009)
  • Adger, W.N., Brown, K., Jorban, A., Paavola, J., Rosendo, S., Seyfang, G., 2004. Governance for sustainabilty: towards...
  • Adobe

    Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended

    (2009)
  • J. Brandt et al.
  • I. Carlman

    The rule of sustainability and planning adaptativity

    Ambio

    (2005)
  • Carvalho-Ribeiro, S.M., 2009. The role of multifunctional forests in sustainable landscapes: a case study from...
  • S.M. Carvalho-Ribeiro et al.

    Associations between forest characteristics and socio-economic development: a case study from Portugal

    Journal of Environmental Management

    (2009)
  • CEMAT

    Spatial development glossary

    Territory and Landscape n. 2

    (2007)
  • G. de Blust et al.

    Monitoring multifunctional terrestrial landscapes: some comments

  • DEFRA

    Valuing our natural environment

    Final Report NR0103

    (2006)
  • DGRF
  • P.M. Dolman et al.

    Designing whole landscapes

    Landscape Research

    (2001)
  • J. Dwyer

    The state of the rural environment in Europe: what challenges and opportunities for future policies

  • J.R. Eastman

    IDRISI Andes Manual

    (2006)
  • ELC

    The European Landscape Convention

    (2000)
  • T. Fidelis et al.

    Nature conservation and urban development control in the Portuguese planning system: a new impetus against old praxis?

    European Environment

    (2008)
  • C. Folke et al.

    Resilience and sustainable development: building adaptive capacity in a world of transformations

    Ambio

    (2002)
  • Cited by (77)

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text