Assessment of Local Knowledge About Land Use Relevant to Landscape Planning in a Case Study Area in Lowland Slovakia

Public perception and knowledge of land use changes, and preferences for future landscape development, can contribute to planning processes at different levels from the local to the national. Participatory processes and use of local knowledge are necessary for precise planning purposes and managemen...

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Main Authors: Dobrovodská Marta, Moyzeová Milena, Bezák Peter, Mojses Matej
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2022-05-01
Series:Journal of Landscape Ecology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/jlecol-2022-0004
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author Dobrovodská Marta
Moyzeová Milena
Bezák Peter
Mojses Matej
author_facet Dobrovodská Marta
Moyzeová Milena
Bezák Peter
Mojses Matej
author_sort Dobrovodská Marta
collection DOAJ
description Public perception and knowledge of land use changes, and preferences for future landscape development, can contribute to planning processes at different levels from the local to the national. Participatory processes and use of local knowledge are necessary for precise planning purposes and management of public affairs. This paper analyses the results of sociological research with regard to landscape development in Nová Vieska village in the Podunajská nížina lowland in Slovakia. The survey aimed to analyse the answers of local inhabitants and key stakeholders in the field of perception of land-use changes and their causes and biodiversity changes since 1990, as well as expectations of future land use and the driving forces of rural development. Local inhabitants were more likely to perceive changes in the productive parts of the study area (the decline of orchards and gardens, overgrowth of meadows and pastures, etc.), while key stakeholders perceived a broader range of changes in land use. According to the local inhabitants, the disintegration of cooperative farms was the main cause of the land use changes, and unsettled land ownership is the biggest obstacle to development of agricultural production. Key stakeholders cited economic, environmental (climate change) and social causes (ageing of population, change of life style, etc.) as the most important factors in land use change and they also perceived them as the most important obstacles for agricultural development. Local inhabitants (as well as key stakeholders) wished for an increase of the proportion of managed meadows and pastures, gardens, orchards, wetlands and non-forest vegetation, but they expect the opposite trend. The results confirmed that public knowledge of landscape development could provide substantial useful information for future development planning.
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spelling doaj.art-4d0d003bd61b42d79644831ae067276a2023-04-11T17:27:17ZengSciendoJournal of Landscape Ecology1805-41962022-05-01151617710.2478/jlecol-2022-0004Assessment of Local Knowledge About Land Use Relevant to Landscape Planning in a Case Study Area in Lowland SlovakiaDobrovodská Marta0Moyzeová Milena1Bezák Peter2Mojses Matej3Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Landscape Ecology, Štefánikova 3, 814 99Bratislava, SlovakiaSlovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Landscape Ecology, Štefánikova 3, 814 99Bratislava, SlovakiaSlovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Landscape Ecology, branch Nitra, Akademická 2, 949 01Nitra, SlovakiaSlovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Landscape Ecology, branch Nitra, Akademická 2, 949 01Nitra, SlovakiaPublic perception and knowledge of land use changes, and preferences for future landscape development, can contribute to planning processes at different levels from the local to the national. Participatory processes and use of local knowledge are necessary for precise planning purposes and management of public affairs. This paper analyses the results of sociological research with regard to landscape development in Nová Vieska village in the Podunajská nížina lowland in Slovakia. The survey aimed to analyse the answers of local inhabitants and key stakeholders in the field of perception of land-use changes and their causes and biodiversity changes since 1990, as well as expectations of future land use and the driving forces of rural development. Local inhabitants were more likely to perceive changes in the productive parts of the study area (the decline of orchards and gardens, overgrowth of meadows and pastures, etc.), while key stakeholders perceived a broader range of changes in land use. According to the local inhabitants, the disintegration of cooperative farms was the main cause of the land use changes, and unsettled land ownership is the biggest obstacle to development of agricultural production. Key stakeholders cited economic, environmental (climate change) and social causes (ageing of population, change of life style, etc.) as the most important factors in land use change and they also perceived them as the most important obstacles for agricultural development. Local inhabitants (as well as key stakeholders) wished for an increase of the proportion of managed meadows and pastures, gardens, orchards, wetlands and non-forest vegetation, but they expect the opposite trend. The results confirmed that public knowledge of landscape development could provide substantial useful information for future development planning.https://doi.org/10.2478/jlecol-2022-0004land use changesbiodiversitydriving forcesstakeholderslocal planning
spellingShingle Dobrovodská Marta
Moyzeová Milena
Bezák Peter
Mojses Matej
Assessment of Local Knowledge About Land Use Relevant to Landscape Planning in a Case Study Area in Lowland Slovakia
Journal of Landscape Ecology
land use changes
biodiversity
driving forces
stakeholders
local planning
title Assessment of Local Knowledge About Land Use Relevant to Landscape Planning in a Case Study Area in Lowland Slovakia
title_full Assessment of Local Knowledge About Land Use Relevant to Landscape Planning in a Case Study Area in Lowland Slovakia
title_fullStr Assessment of Local Knowledge About Land Use Relevant to Landscape Planning in a Case Study Area in Lowland Slovakia
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of Local Knowledge About Land Use Relevant to Landscape Planning in a Case Study Area in Lowland Slovakia
title_short Assessment of Local Knowledge About Land Use Relevant to Landscape Planning in a Case Study Area in Lowland Slovakia
title_sort assessment of local knowledge about land use relevant to landscape planning in a case study area in lowland slovakia
topic land use changes
biodiversity
driving forces
stakeholders
local planning
url https://doi.org/10.2478/jlecol-2022-0004
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