4a. Sustainable land use policy and planning
Track Chair:
Francisco Comín. Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología-CSIC, Spain. comin@ipe.csic.es
Goals and objectives of the track
Planning, implementing and monitoring sustainable land use requires both specific methodologies to optimize the use of resources and actions specifically designed for defined ecosystems. Multiple variables may regulate the functioning of natural ecosystems. However, human controlled and exploited ecosystems can be driven by a short number of regulating factors. In any case, science advances through the integration of ideas and methodologies and the incorporation of innovative approaches from different perspectives. This session on land use management for sustainability will deal with indicators and strategies to optimize the integrative use of natural and exploited ecosystems. A range of case studies will be welcome showing methodologies developed to monitor land use changes in natural and human exploited systems as wetlands, forests, mine zones, agroecosystems, and urban systems. Also, indicators of system state, including air, soil and microorganisms in natural and experimental conditions, and the improvement of production and use by human populations will be subjects of interest in this session.
While general principles of sustainability are more or less agreed at global scale, each type of land use in a territorial mosaic may need integrating specific rules to plan the sustainable land use of the resources and the sustainable development of their human populations.
This session welcomes contributions on:
- Improving land use techniques in natural and human exploited ecosystems.
- Human perception of land use improvement in natural and semi-natural ecosystems.
- Analyzing land use changes in a sustainability framework: methods and case studies.
- Indicators of sustainable practices in agroecosystems, urban zones, natural and semi-natural systems.
Francisco A. Comín performs research studies about integrating the human use of agroecosystems and the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems. Particularly interested on the evaluatin of ecosystem services as a tool for the management and restoration of watersheds and territories. He is also approaching the integration of the development of urban zones in the territorial matrix, including the social and economic aspects of these subjects of interest.
