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Planning with nature-based solutions (NBS) presents a participatory approach that harnesses actions supported by nature to address societal challenges. Whilst Geodesign may facilitate participatory planning, manage boundaries between participants, and assess impacts of NBS, empirical insights remain scarce. This paper aims to develop and test a Geodesign process for planning with NBS, and to evaluate its contributions to boundary management. In a one-day Geodesign process, eleven stakeholders delineated priority areas, changed land uses, and observed resulting impacts on ecosystem services. Contributions to boundary management were evaluated regarding translation, communication and mediation functions, as well as perceived attributions of credibility, salience, and legitimacy. Results include spatial NBS scenarios and insights into contributions to boundary management: translating scenario stories into maps differed depending on the stakeholders involved; communication can be easily facilitated; yet mediation using an indicator tool led to frustration. Geodesign can indeed facilitate NBS co-design but needs to be integrated into a larger collaborative process.
Forest cover change is of particular concern in tropical regions. In this study, we investigate the degree of deforestation in the entire ranges of nine highly threatened lemur species in northwestern Madagascar. Landsat satellite images were acquired from four different time stages (1990, 2000, 2011, 2020), classified into forest/non-forest, and changes quantified. Forest cover declined from 17.5% to 9.3% within the last 30 years. This decline varied across four protected areas (PAs) investigated: the forest cover of Ankarafantsika National Park (ANP) declined only moderately over time (from 76.3% to 67.4%), while it declined drastically in other PAs (e.g., from 54.9% to 18.9%, Bongolava Forest Corridor). Two lemur taxa are most affected (Lepilemur otto, Microcebus bongolavensis) by having only very few isolated forest patches left within their ranges (approximately 542.7 km²). For two other species (L. ahmansoni, L. aeeclis), most of the remaining forest is concentrated in two coastal PAs (in total 627.2 and 477.9 km², respectively), while those species occurring inside ANP (5 taxa) experienced rather stable forest coverage until 2020. A reversal of these deforestation trends and active reforestation measures are desperately needed to reduce habitat loss for these nine lemur species. A practical experience-based guideline is therefore provided.
Context
Climate change may increase the frequency, intensity, and occurrence of urban heat islands (UHI) in cities worldwide, often with harmful impacts on citizens. Strategic planning and implementation of multifunctional green roofs promises to help mitigating UHI effects, but cities often lack up-to-date scientific understanding of best-suited locations.
Objectives
The aim of this paper is to develop and apply a socio-ecological approach to explore and prioritize present and prospective opportunity spaces for roof greening based on remote sensing data to mitigate UHI effects.
Methods
The city of Krefeld, Germany, serves as a case study. The research design consists of three steps, applied to the conditions of 2019 and a 2030 scenario: (i) Examining residents’ vulnerability to heat, (ii) Assessing existing green roofs and potentials for greening, and (iii) Prioritizing opportunity spaces for roof greening to reduce UHI effects.
Results
Findings showed that the area of high vulnerability due to combined high heat exposures and densities of sensitive residents in Krefeld accounts for almost 300 hectares in 2019 and may triple until 2030. More than 90% of evaluated horizontal roofs have no vegetation cover. Highest priority for roof greening is attributed to 59 ha and 113 ha of roofs in 2019 and 2030, respectively.
Conclusions
The findings can inform strategic roof greening efforts for climate adaptation, e.g. for the extension of cadasters, and facilitate communication to increase understandings, public and policy support, and implementation.
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