Forest expansion versus the preservation of open landscapes in Baden-Württemberg:
Processes in space and time, impacts upon landscape ecology, political solutions

Background

In many regions of Europe the forest area is on the increase as a consequence of the decline and abandonment of agriculture in marginal areas. Forest expansion holds many opportunities, but also poses numerous problems for communities, tourism and nature conservation. A particular problem is the loss of species rich open and semi-open landscapes. Therefore, an understanding of the processes, consequences and political control options associated with forest expansion are of great social importance.

Objective of the project

The objective of this trans-disciplinary project is to gain insights into the extent of forest expansion to date and the expected expansion in the future, as well as its impacts in terms of nature conservation and into the driving forces behind this trend based on the example of Baden-Württemberg. Subsequently, political and landscape planning instruments designed to steer further expansion are to be developed.

      Central questions

• How have the forest-open land proportions developed historically?
• How do the various stakeholders perceive the situation?
• What are the consequences of forest expansion, particularly from a nature conservation perspective?
• What factors determine the forest-open land proportions?
• How will this develop in the future?
• How can it be steered successfully?

Research area

Two spatial levels are taken into consideration. The first level is that of the state Baden-Württemberg. To consolidate the study, five communities are selected, each with varying natural conditions and forest-open land proportions. The communities are:

• Bad Rippoldsau-Schapbach
  (northern Black Forest, forest cover 91%)
• Simonswald
  (central Black Forest, forest cover 82%)
• Todtnau
  (southern Black Forest, forest cover 71%)
• Ratshausen / Hausen am Tann
  (Alb foothills/Alb escarpment, forest cover 55%)
• Argenbühl
  (Alp foothills, forest cover 25%)

Procedure

The project is divided into five interlinked work packages:

• A historical landscape analysis facilitating a space-time description of landscape changes as well as the primary driving forces since the end of the 19th century.
• An analysis of existing political programmes and local steering approaches to provide insights into success factors and potential for improvement of the steering of afforestation and the preservation of open land.
• Various individual investigations to illuminate, for example, the impacts of forest expansion on climate and tourism, to assess the different land use options from a landscape planning perspective and to investigate the possibilities for the removal of barriers with respect to communal forms of utilisation that can be promoted by the preservation of an open landscape.
• The analysis and updating of key factors in landscape development (e.g., economic) are to be expressed in scenarios of the future development of the forest-open land proportions.
• An early warning system is to be developed to aid in the early recognition and combating of undesirable landscape developments, particularly at community level.

Practice relevance                     

The objective of the project is to produce at a high scientific level results with practical relevance. To achieve this, the knowledge and perspectives of the stakeholders will be incorporated into the project at all stages. This will involve::

	Constant consulting with representatives of the relevant interest groups
	Events held 'on site' in the research communities

The results of the project will be prepared in such a way that they are of use to the following target groups:

• Political institutions and authorities, for example, the Ministry of Nourishment and the Rural Area in Baden-Württemberg, the State Authority for Nature Protection,
• Scientific facilities, for example, the European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism,
• Foresters, farmers, the local population
• Organisations involved in regional development, agriculture, forestry, nature conservation and tourism, for example, landscape planning associations, nature park societies, leader-action groups
• Community administrations