The man from the biosphere – exploring the interaction between a protected cultural landscape and its residents by quantitative interviews: the case of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Rhön, Germany

Abstract

The Rhön is a sparsely wooded central German upland and an historical cultural landscape which has been protected as a biosphere reserve since 1991. This status has induced a positive change through adapted landscape conservation and support of endogenous economic processes. Quantitative interviews with residents were carried out to determine the relevance of their relationship with the landscape. The survey shows that the biosphere reserve is a preferred rural habitat and that the local population is keenly aware of it and accepts it. The variety of uses, however, also creates difficulties and conflicts, e.g. in the high number of out-commuters. A remarkable result is the positive influence of the biosphere reserve on the sense of cohesion in the region which traditionally suffers from multiple divisions.5 R e search eco.m o n t -Vo l u m e 3 , N u m b e r 1 , J u n e 2 0 1 1 ISSN 2 0 7 3 -1 0 6 X p r i n t v e r s i o n ISSN 2 0 7 3 -1 5 5 8 o n l i n e v e r s i o n : h t t p : / / e p u b . o e a w. a c . a t / e c o . m o n t

Thematic resolution in conservation monitoring - assessment of the impact of classification detail on landscape analysis using the example of a biosphere reserve

“…However, most of the studies have analyzed the interrelation between landscape patterns and spatial scales (e.g. kelly et al 2011;lustiG et al 2015;saura and martiNez-milaN 2001;turNer 1989;wickahm and riitters 1995;wu et al 2000;wu et al 2002;wu 2004). Thus, studies and applied research in landscape ecology and geography have dealt with the impacts of changing scale and resolution on quantitative landscape analysis for several decades but neglected the thematic resolution to a large extent (castilla et al 2009;BuyaNtuyev and wu 2007;lechNer et al 2012).…”