| dc.description.abstract | Large parts of the Western Netherlands, including the so-called Green Heart (Groene Hart), consist of peat meadows. Soil subsidence occurs in these areas, mainly as a result of oxidation of peat above the artificially lowered groundwater level. Soil subsidence causes increased vulnerability to flooding, economic losses due to damage to homes and infrastructure and increased emissions of greenhouse gases. Therefore, governments are exploring sustainable approaches to reduce soil subsidence in peat meadows.
Currently, land use determines which water management is needed. In 2019, a design study was carried out for the Green Heart examining what would happen if water management were to be set up to stop or reduce soil subsidence and CO2 emissions, while the land use would adapt. In this same study, a case study was carried out for the Amstelscheg, for which two future scenarios were developed: Production landscape & Nature landscape. In the first scenario, agriculture remains the primary function in the area, but with more nature-inclusive agriculture, paludiculture and submerged drains, to reduce soil subsidence. The second scenario assumes maximization of biodiversity and active peat recovery, by transforming current agricultural use into nature.
There are numerous projects on tackling soil subsidence in the Green Heart, but implementations and upscaling are difficult to initiate. The route to implementation is also absent in the design study containing the two future scenarios. This study therefore focuses on what strategy can be followed to implement these future land use scenarios. One way of providing insight into what possible measures can be taken to prevent soil subsidence is by creating an adaptation pathway. This can help policymakers to decide which measures need to be taken and when. In scientific literature this adaptive approach has not been used before in the context of soil subsidence due to peat oxidation. This knowledge gap is addressed in this study.
The aim of this study is to identify the plausibility of pathways for landscape development in the Green Heart. Plausibility depends on the suitability and feasibility of a pathway. First of all, it was studied what pathways are, what pathways are used for and what the limitations of pathways are. Subsequently, a stakeholder analysis was carried out to determine which actors are important in the Amstelscheg and what their formal tasks, competences, interests, goals and problem perceptions are. The selected stakeholders were interviewed about their future visions for peatlands, the scenarios and what is needed to realize these future visions. The results of the interviews were compared in order to arrive at the most plausible pathway. In addition, a roadmap was created that provides insight into how the implementation of the pathway can be achieved.
The results show that the production landscape is preferred by most stakeholders. A combination of agriculture in a much more extensive form, places where meadow birds can breed, and possibly places where paludiculture is practiced. In addition, this study shows that within the water system there should be more focus on controlling drought and not only on controlling floods, as is still often the case in the Netherlands. Moreover, the results showed that a step-by-step approach is preferable compared to a transformation overnight, and the adaptation pathway approach can be a valuable method in this respect. Although defining tipping points proved to be a challenge for adaptation pathways in the context of soil subsidence, the method is useful for identifying different measures, prioritizing these measures and planning them over time. | |
