1. Sustainable land use in central Romania
Jan Hanspach
Leuphana University Lüneburg
Feb 2 2012

2. Study area
Transylvania

35. Our research project
• Goal:
To develop a holistic, social-ecological understanding of
the Saxon area of Transylvania (Romania) and identify
pathways for its sustainable development

37. Stratified random selection of village
catchments

38. Village catchments

39. Village catchments
Kim Wilkie Associates 2001. Mihai Eminescu Trust.

40. Stratification of village catchments
Terrain ruggedness (H, M, L) Protection status (SPA, SCI, NO)

41. Stratified random selection of 30 village
catchments

42. Village catchment as social-ecological unit

43. Project topics
• Quantify and map selected elements of
biodiversity and ecosystem services;
• Analyse historical patterns in land use change;
• Institutional analysis
• Develop scenarios with local stakeholders.

44. Some questions
• What drives biodiversity patterns?
• How might changes in land use effect
patterns of biodiversity and ES?
• Are socioeconomic factors related to likely
changes in land use in a given village?
• How do different socioeconomic scenarios
affect biodiversity and ecosystem services?
• Are there development pathways that are
plausible, socially and economically
desirable, and ecologically sustainable?

45. A village catchment: aerial photo

46. Biodiversity surveys

47. Quantification and mapping of ES
Provisioning
• Crop yield
• Livestock meat yield
• Milk yield
• Drinking water
• Firewood
• Timber
Provisioning
• Biodiversity

48. Quantification and mapping of ES
Regulating
• Erosion control
• Carbon sequestration
• Pollination
Cultural
• sense of place
• eco-tourism
• traditions

49. People’s valuation of cultural services
• Q method with photos
Ranking photos according to degree of appreciation and
following a normal distribution
Neff 2011 Frontiers

50. Bundles of ES
Flower diagrams to visualize
bundles of ES
C. Raudsepp-Hearnea, G. D. Peterson, E. M. Bennett:
Ecosystem service bundles for analyzing tradeoffs in diverse landscapes
PNAS 2010

51. Trade-offs between ecosystem services
Wheat harvest in Idaho; Source: wikipedia
Do we lose resilience when maximizing ecosystem services?

52. Analysis of the social system
• Interviews and workshops
• Institutions and leaders are highly relevant to development of a
village

53. Common agricultural policy
(CAP)
• complex system of subsidies,
income support mechanisms
and agricultural funds
• Agri-environment payment
schemes to promote sustainable
land management
Romanian CAP experts:
• small-scale farmers are “no real farmers” because they are “not economically
viable”, and moreover “a barrier to regional development”
• “As soon as the micro-farmers which are so attached to their soil die out, Romania
can finally modernize.”
• Preliminary findings: small scale
farming supports the natural
heritage
• Small scale farmer: Lack of
information and education, not
eligible (<1ha), land register
incomplete, payments relatively
low

54. The Prince of Wales inaugurates the first organic
wastewater treatment plant in Romania
Revitalisation and conservation of saxon culture in Transylvania
Photos: MET

55. Fundatia Adept
• Supporting local farmers and products
• Implementation of agri-environment schemes
• Nature conservation and biodiversity mapping
Photos: Fundatia Adept

56. Stakeholder engagement
and scenario planning
• Stakeholder engagement via workshops and
targeted meetings throughout the project
• Scenario planning workshops – especially with
NGOs
• Aim is to identify plausible alternative
trajectories for the future
• What are key leverage points and impediments
that need to be addressed to reach alternative
futures?

57. Participatory scenario planning
International initiative
LocalinitiativeLost region
Land abandonment
EU involvement low
No tourism
My way
High nature value farming
Eco-education („biodiversity university“)
Local/eco-tourism
Prosperity through education
Improved education
Western European style of organic
farming
Strong EU involvement
Standard tourism
Winner takes all
Strong EU involvement
Agricultural intensification
through big agri-businesses
little tourism
Student excercise for Transylvania:

58. Social-ecological system
Fischer et al. 2012 Conserv Letters

59. Social-ecological system
Fischer et al. 2012 Conserv Letters

60. Facilitating community self organisation
Preventing community self organisation
Strong leadersStrong institutions
Fischer et al. 2012 Conserv Letters
KorruptionEthnic tension InequalityPoverty
Social-ecological system

61. Thanks!
• To you, for listening
• To the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the German Ministry for Education
and Research, for generous funding
• To all collaborators and project partners, especially Joern Fischer, Tibor Hartel, Ine
Dorresteijn, Jaqueline Loos, Friederike Mikulcak, Andra Milcu, Henrik von Wehrden,
and the Mihai Eminescu Trust