Planning multifunctional measures for efficient landscape management: Quantifying and comparing the added value of integrated and segregated management concepts

Abstract

Scientists often argue that landscape and environmental planning should aim for developing multifunctional landscapes in order to enhance implementation effectiveness and public spending efficiency. In planning and decision-making practice however, multifunctional effects are usually neither quantitatively assessed nor explicitly and transparently considered. In this research, a procedure is developed for quantitative assessment of multifunctional effects and trade-offs of conservation measures on landscape functions. The procedure is applied on local scale and uses available data. The method is tested for a core set of landscape functions in a case study region in Germany. The results provide empirical confirmation that integrative management strategies can be considerably more effective and efficient than sectoral ones. However, the added value of integrative environmental measures highly depends on their spatial allocation within areas of overlapping requirements for multiple landscape functions. The results of the analysis can help directing implementation resources towards areas and management measures that maximize attainable benefits. The analysis thus provides very useful support for planning decisions.