Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 6
Visualising Changes in Agricultural Landscapes
Sébastien Griffon, Daniel Auclair, and Amélie Nespoulous
Introduction
Rural land managers, foresters and farmers, but also local decision makers, local
authorities and members of local governments, are increasingly aware of the necessity
to take into account the perception of the landscape by the general public, and to
predict the evolution of landscapes according to management decisions (Bergen
et al.
1995
; Bell
2001)
. Different management choices can lead to similar, or to very
different landscapes. The positioning of woodlots, of fields, and of agroforestry
areas, the type of silvicultural management (selective or systematic thinning, artificial
pruning, clear-cut or shelterwood systems, reforestation, choice of species, etc.) or
agricultural system (rotation, land attribution, crop allocation, etc.) and the balance
between forest and agriculture, are susceptible of drastically modifying the visual
aspect of the landscape. The public generally considers the landscape as timeless,
and resistance to any change is often very great. Forest management can arouse
public antipathy and in some cases can lead to outspoken criticism. Conversely, a
well thought out management plan can considerably improve the visual aspect of
a rural landscape (Savill et al. 1997).
Although land managers generally have a good experience of what result can be
expected from their decisions, they are often faced with difficulty when trying to
communicate the visual impact of a future management option to all the stakeholders
(local and regional decision-makers, land managers, landscape planners, and various
communities involved in outdoor activities). The perception and aesthetic evaluation
