Conservation and Land Use

The focus topic “Conservation and Land use” deals with human use of the natural environment and its ecosystems in the context of climate change. Solutions to conflicts in areas of particular conservation concern will be developed in a unique setting involving stakeholders from various groups. In order to devise recommendations for strategic decisions, specific forms of land use as well as the combined effect of their usage will be reconsidered in light of the predicted environmental changes caused by global warming.

 
The Baltic Sea area stretching eastwards from the island of Rügen to Adlergrund and inland towards the industrial and energy site of Lubmin is a region of great importance both for nature conservation and economic development. Planned investments of several billion Euros in this region make this area a hot spot for industrial development.
 
However, at the same time Adlergrund is an important site for the recolonisation of deeper sea regions by benthic animals after episodic population fluctuation. In addition, this region is one the most frequented staging areas for water fowl in Europe and was designated as a protected area under the Habitats Directive owing to the presence of the habitat types “sandbanks” and “reefs".
 
Within the focus topic "Conservation and Land use", RADOST aims to develop solutions for pressing resource conflicts by fostering dialogue in a unique network configuration involving representatives from politics, government, business, science and civil society. Assessing the consequences of climate change for specific forms of land use will be a ground-breaking development. Accordingly, it will be necessary to integrate changes to land-use planning concepts based on climate change scenarios into existing plans. For example, animal and plant species that are endangered today may benefit from climate-induced environmental changes and colonise hitherto unsuitable regions of the Baltic Sea. Hence, decisions based on current biological indicators need to be reconsidered in view of future environmental changes. The subsequent recommendations will be included in spatial planning and public policy decisions and form the basis for new strategies.