Lic abstract
Name: Challenges of urban nature conservation
Author: Sara Borgström
Within contemporary nature conservation there is a growing awareness of the necessity to include landscapes that are intensively used by humans, such as cities. However, since urban landscapes represent different social and ecological characteristics compared to, for example, rural landscapes, the implementation of nature conservation frameworks is not straightforward. Issues of where, what, how and for whom to preserve nature, need to be reconsidered on the basis of the urban context.
This licentiate thesis identifies and discusses these challenges of urban nature conservation. The theoretical framework is based on ideas and methodology from natural resource management, landscape ecology and conservation biology. All of them include large scale approaches to land use policies that to various degrees are applied in research and management of urban systems. This thesis is based on two empirical studies that used a local and a regional/national viewpoint, respectively, and were performed in southern Sweden.
Paper 1 aimed to examine potential differences in nature conservation patterns in relation to various degrees of urbanisation at a municipal level. The number, size, age, land cover and purpose of appointment of 1869 nature reserves in 209 municipalities in southern Sweden were analysed. The analyses showed that the urban nature reserves were fewer and larger, contained a higher diversity of land covers and were founded upon more and more socially oriented purposes of appointment. The found patterns are probably unintended consequences when applying nature conservation practices without recognising the urban landscape characteristics and prerequisites. Consequently, contemporary urban nature conservation planning in southern Sweden mainly protect remains of nature from the urban landscape in which it is embedded, instead of using a more integrative and holistic approach.
Paper 2 was performed at the local scale and studied how spatial, temporal and functional scales were handled within the management of five urban green areas in Greater Stockholm Metropolitan Area, Sweden. The study was based on qualitative data from management documentation and interviews with managers. The combined dataset was analysed by using scientifically defined criteria of ecosystem management. The analyses showed a general awareness of the importance of management at multiple scales, whilst a limited recognition of cross-scale dynamics. This mismatch indicated a view of the urban green areas as temporally static and spatially isolated entities within the urban landscape.
In conclusion the challenges of current urban nature conservation, found in the two studies, can be described as a general mismatch between the natural dynamics and the social demands and management organisation. A more integrated and holistic planning and management of the whole urban landscape is thus necessary to mitigate the ongoing process of degradation of the urban systems.