Resumo -Este artigo apresenta os conceitos e a metodologia utilizados no estudo «Identificação e Caracterização da Paisagem em Portugal Continental», elaborado para a DGOT-DU, Ministério do Ambiente e Ordenamento do Território, pelo Departamento de Planeamento Biofísico e Paisagístico da Universidade de Évora, entre 1999 e 2001. A abordagem metodológica adoptada fundamenta-se, por um lado, nas metodologias utilizadas recentemente para estudos semelhantes realizados noutros países da Europa e na forma como a paisagem tem vindo a ser considerada em vários documentos estratégicos ao nível europeu, e por outro lado na preocupação, por parte da equipa, de considerar a paisagem numa perspectiva holística, contemplando as suas várias componentes: ecológica, cultural, socioeconómica e sensorial. Para definir as unidades de paisagem, ao cruzamento da cartografia relativa a variáveis seleccionadas juntam-se assim a análise da imagem de satélite e as observações de campo, mas também uma avaliação por peritagem do caracter e coerência da paisagem. O resultado é uma abordagem flexível, que combina uma análise objectiva com uma outra mais subjectiva, sendo a combinação das duas considerada fundamental pela equipa para a verdadeira apreensão da paisagem.Palavras-chave: Paisagem, unidades de paisagem, apreciação, caracter Abstract-IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERISATION OF LANDSCAPE IN PORTUGAL -This paper presents the concepts and methodology used in the study «Identification and characterisation of landscape in continental Portugal» undertaken by the Department of Landscape and Biophysical Planning of the University of Evora for the General Directorate for Spatial Planning and Urban Development (DGOT-DU) at the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, between 1999 and 2001. On the one hand, the methodological approach developed is based on the methodologies used recently for the same purpose in different European countries and on the way landscape has been considered in various European documents in the last years. On the other hand, it is also based on the team's concern to approach the landscape as an holistic entity, and to examine its various components: ecological, cultural, socio-economic and sensorial. The set aim has been to define landscape units and to characterize these units in relation to the present landscape and the recorded trends, related problems and possibilities. Thus, the cartography relative to selected variables has been combined and related to satellite images and field surveys. The results of cross-referencing all this information has than been combined with expert examination of landscape coherence and character within each unit. The assessment was completed after careful bibliographic research and consultation with regional experts. The result is a flexible approach that combines objective analysis with a more subjective assessment, which the team considered fundamental for a true understanding of landscape.
Fast and continuous landscape changes have been considered as one of the strongest drivers behind the loss of nature values, along with degradation and regimes of ecological disturbances that have evident impacts on economic activities ( Olarieta et al., 2008 ; Nuissl et al., 2009 ). The need to preserve the diversity, identity and cultural heritage of landscapes and societal demand for sustainable development ( Roca and Oliveira-Roca, 2007 ; van Eetvelde and Antrop, 2009a ) has led to initiatives for inventorying, assessing and monitoring landscape dynamics (Meeus, 1995; Swanwick, 2002 ; Cancela d'Abreu et al., 2005 ). It has also improved landscape modelling based on future scenarios ( van Berkel and Verburg, 2011 ).Over the last decade, these concerns have allowed landscape character to be considered as a concept to support land use policies. Considering landscape features as distinctive characteristics, particular combinations of biophysical and anthropogenic components may lead to a recognisable pattern of elements and thereby create a specifi c landscape character ( Swanwick, 2002 ; Jessel, 2006 ).Stimulated by the European Landscape Convention (ELC), landscape character assessment has been developed as a methodological approach that identifi es landscape either to better understand its components and how they interact or to integrate them in spatial planning, especially at the local level ( Oliveira et al., 2011 ). Thus, countries such as Portugal that have ratifi ed the Convention, legally recognise landscape as a fundamental element for their citizens' quality of life, in an attempt to defi ne landscape policies that aim at landscape protection, management and planning. The ELC Art. 1, indeed, defi nes landscape policies as an 'expression by the competent public authorities of general principles, strategies and guidelines that permit the taking of specifi c measures aimed at the protection, management and planning of landscapes' ( Council of Europe, 2000 : 9). This is the case of the Azores islands, where the Regional Government applied this defi nition of landscape policy at the regional level. However, island landscape evaluation is extremely complex due to its very particular dynamics, not only those related to geodynamic processes but also those arising from land use.Moreover, landscape character assessment can be seen as a process to identify, describe and evaluate landscapes based on the presence and arrangement of landscape features ( Makhzoumi and Pungetti, 1999 ), as well as on the recognition of the main forces of change. Furthermore, diverse approaches have been used for landscape assessment, both in methods and in applications for different purposes ( Wascher,
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