A landscape approach to planning conservation : integrating ecological valuation and stakeholder participation for sustainable development in a Mediterranean island context

Abstract

Ecosystems in the Mediterranean are intricately linked to human affairs. As human demands for resources increase, Mediterranean landscapes are subsequently altered, and the biodiversity therein is adversely affected. The aim of this research was to develop a methodology that seeks to value ecological resources at the landscape scale through specialist input, whilst concurrently ensuring that the methodological process is also guided by stakeholder perception. The study was carried out on the island of Gozo (Malta). An island-wide ecological survey was carried out to characterize and map the island's ecology, with results subsequently prioritized through the application of thirteen conservation value appraisal criteria, which were specifically developed for this case study, with a Mediterranean context in mind. The process led to the derivation of an ecological value map, using Geographic Information Systems. Subsequently, the involvement of key actors was sought through a soft systems process of Systemic Sustainability Analysis (SSA), with stakeholders identifying and ranking the main pressures on the landscape. The results of the research were combined to draft proposals and recommendations for a holistic strategy and policy for landscape conservation and management in Gozo, drawing on concepts of restoration ecology which are particularly appropriate to cultural landscapes in an area such as the Mediterranean. In particular, connectivity is emphasized as a means to increase the viability of pocketed parcels of land of ecological value, i.e., refugia, within an anthropogenic matrix. The conclusions suggest that the gap between ecological science and the human dimension on the one hand, and between anthropogenic land-uses and the natural setting on the other, is not necessarily as unbridgeable as may often be perceived, given a holistic and transdisciplinary planning strategy. Similarly, the research demonstrates that there is a role, and indeed a need for, both specialists and other stakeholders in landscape planning and conservation.