Browsing by Author "Lomba, Angela"
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- Conservation Management of EU Priority Habitats after Collapse of Traditional Pastoralism: Navigating Socioecological Transitions in Mountain RangelandPublication . Honrado, João P.; Lomba, Angela; Alves, Paulo Jorge Mendes; Aguiar, Carlos; Monteiro-Henriques, T.; Cerqueira, Yvonne; Monteiro, Paulo; Caldas, Francisco BarretoAgricultural abandonment is a major driver of change in rural landscapes. Assumed to provide beneficial results to the environment and the conservation of biota, rural abandonment triggers landscape and biotic homogenization and loss of valuable species and habitats. This article focuses on the ecological effects and conservation challenges of shifts in extensive grazing regimes on marginal pastureland of Mediterranean mountains. We conceptualize a navigated socioecological transition toward conservation-oriented management after the collapse of historical land systems. The article provides examples from the LIFE+ project “Higro,” developed in mountainous protected areas in Portugal, of how management for conservation could sustain disturbance-dependent habitats. We argue that actively and regularly managing large habitat areas should be envisaged as a short-term approach to limit the immediate effects of rural abandonment. A gradual integration of conservation targets with other activities in changing rural economies is necessary to foster long-term conservation of species and habitats, building on the link between conservation-oriented habitat management and ecosystem services in rural landscapes. Conservation goals should run alongside recovery of social systems and innovation applied to traditional sources of income. This parallel development would contribute to building up social-ecological resilience by maintaining a diversity of social and ecological capital in rural areas.
- Stakeholder perceptions of wildfire management strategies as nature-based solutions in two Iberian biosphere reservesPublication . Lecina-Diaz, Judit; Campos, João C.; Pais, Silvana; Carvalho-Santos, Cláudia; Azevedo, João; Fernandes, Paulo M.; Gonçalves, João Francisco; Aquilué, Núria; Roces-Díaz, José V.; Torre, María Agrelo de la; Brotons, Lluís; Chas-Amil, María-Luisa; Lomba, Angela; Duane, Andrea; Moreira, Francisco; Touza, Julia M.; Hermoso, Virgilio; Sil, Ângelo Filipe; Vicente, Joana R.; Honrado, João P.; Regos, AdriánIncreased large and high-intensity wildfires cause large socioeconomic and ecological impacts, which demand improved landscape management approaches in which both ecological and societal dimensions are integrated. Engaging society in fire management requires a better understanding of stakeholder perceptions of wildfires and landscape management. We analyze stakeholder perceptions about wildfire-landscape interactions in abandoned rural landscapes of southern Europe, and how fire and the land should be managed to reduce wildfire hazard and ensure the long-term supply of ecosystem services in these fire-prone regions. To do so, a structured online questionnaire was sent to the stakeholders of two transboundary biosphere reserves in Spain-Portugal. Our analysis also questioned to what extent fuel management strategies can be considered nature-based solutions (NbS) using the IUCN standard. Overall, stakeholders state that fire should be managed and support fire prevention in lieu of fire suppression policies. Rural abandonment is perceived as the main cause of large wildfires, with high-intensity fires impacting the study regions more than in the recent past, a trend which they expect to continue in the future in the absence of management. All the suggested fuel management strategies, except chemical treatments, were accepted by the stakeholders who perceive more positive than negative effects of fuel management on forest ecosystem services. Transboundary coordination was rated as inadequate or even nonexistent. We did not find differences among stakeholder sectors and biosphere reserves, indicating that in the study area, there is a general agreement on perceptions about wildfire and associated impacts at the landscape level. Finally, we showed that promoting agricultural and livestock uses, modifying forest species composition to increase fire resistance, and introducing large herbivores have the potential to become effective NbS in the regions. This study represents a first-step analysis representing a base for future co-design and implementation of NbS to improve fuel management, contributing to the understanding of the stakeholder support for their application in addressing the socioeconomic challenges in high fire-risk areas.