Land Use Competition: Ecological, Economic and Social Perspectives

Abstract

In this chapter, we define, conceptualize, and exemplify competition for ecosystem services derived from land. Competition for land-based ecosystem ser- vices arises when utilization of an ecosystem service by one actor reduces the possibility of other actors to use the same or other ecosystem services. Therefore, we focus on trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services and argue that the functional relationships between the trade-offs are crucial in shaping how land-use competition plays out. We use this conceptualization of competition for land-based ecosystem services as well as the closely related concepts of trade-off and synergies as a framework to interpret the five case studies in this section, which provide aunique and rich overview of land-use competition in terms of actors involved, geographic coverage, spatial scale, and ecosystem services. These studies convey important insights into opportunities and challenges of intervening into competition for land-based resources and can inform efforts to improve land governance.