Envisioning the Future of Mosaic Landscapes: Actor Perceptions in a Mixed Cocoa/Oil-Palm Area in Ghana
- PDF / 2,624,518 Bytes
- 19 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 54 Downloads / 182 Views
Envisioning the Future of Mosaic Landscapes: Actor Perceptions in a Mixed Cocoa/Oil-Palm Area in Ghana Kwabena O. Asubonteng
1
●
Mirjam A. F. Ros-Tonen1 Isa Baud1 Karin Pfeffer2 ●
●
1234567890();,:
1234567890();,:
Received: 23 April 2020 / Accepted: 19 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract The future and benefits of mosaic landscapes have been a source of scientific and societal concern due to increasing population growth, climate change, urbanization, and expanding agricultural commodities. There is a growing call for integrated landscape approaches in which landscape actors discuss trade-offs between different land uses with a view to reaching a negotiated decision on the allocation of land uses. Yet, the operationalization of such approaches is still in its infancy, and integrated methodologies to visualize actors’ landscape visions are still scarce. This study therefore presents a participatory spatial scenario-building methodology that uncovers local perceptions of landscape dynamics and needed actions in a mixed cocoa-oil-palm landscape in Ghana’s Eastern Region. The methodology visualizes landscape actors’ perceived plausible changes and desired future landscapes, and is designed to trigger discussions on actions needed to achieve these desired futures. Findings show that farmers and institutional actors are aware of their landscapes with future preferences coming close to actual landscape composition and spatial configuration, and that—contrary to common assumptions—only those in the oil-palm-dominated landscape who already experienced the drawbacks of increasing landscape homogenization desire a mosaic landscape. The paper concludes that the collective mapping process makes actors aware of challenges at landscape level and increases farmers’ negotiation power through active engagement in the process and visualization of their knowledge and visions. Application of the methodology requires dedicated funding, political will, and capacity to apply it as an ongoing process, as well as monitoring feedback loops. Keywords Landscape integration–segregation Smallholders Participatory spatial scenario building Landscape approach Tree crops Ghana ●
●
●
●
●
Introduction
Supplementary information The online version of this article (https:// doi.org/10.1007/s00267-020-01368-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Kwabena O. Asubonteng [email protected] [email protected] 1
Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 VW, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2
Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands
Mosaic landscapes1 provide ecosystem services relevant for biodiversity conservation, carbon storage, rural livelihoods, and the sustainable production of food and other products, while enhancing the connectivity needed for the movement of animals and maintenance of natural processes (Van Noordwijk et al
Data Loading...
