Environmental and landscape planning

Thursday, the 26th of May : 9.00 to 12.00 pm

2 new lectures this morning, focusing on landscape and nature conservation in Norway.

First, Björn Vikoyr, regional manager of the protected areas presented us the history of landscape changes in this region and how some areas are protected and managed now. After a period during the 80's while the most important thing was to protect Nature against human activity, the stakes have changed in order to better integrate the natural dynamics in the management plan, esspecially for the coastal dunes.

The 2 pictures that he presented us demonstrate how a rare plant (Erygum maritimus) the unique species colonizing the dunes in the 50th has divided by 2 its population after the protection of the area, due to the disappearence of grazing activity.  There is now a effort maid to associate owners, farmers, locals, bird watchers... to the construction of the management plant of the protected areas. It is a hard task  with very few people!this presentation was a good way to understand that the wish of conserving a landscape could drive toward a regression or a dessappearance of this landscape if nobody take into account the factors that was at the origin of its constitution. And in this territory, even if the landscapes look natural, they are the result of centuries and centuries of human activities and practices.

The second presentation came from Morten Clemetson, from Aas univeristy, and was dedicated to Landscape character Assessment in Norway.

Base on the the idea that it was necessary to pass from an "action for the landscape to an action through the landscape "( P. Selman, 2006), Morten presented us a method that he has experimented many time in Norway with his students or during expert work wxith the aim to use LCA as a tool that faciltate the discussions between locals in association with farmers.

These 2 presentations were completing the 2 formers that occured last day (Bordeaux' students and mine).