Biodiversity under pressure
In search of sustainable planning strategies
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19582686 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kyrre Groven (0000-0002-7957-2831, Vestlandsforsking, corresponding author), Inger Auestad (0000-0001-6321-0433, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences), Karen Richardsen Moberg (0000-0002-0658-5922, Vestlandsforsking), Liv Norunn Hamre (0000-0002-9033-4260, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pages | 2451-2464 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | People and Nature (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2575-8314 • E-ISSN: 2575-8314 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/pan3.70132 |
| OpenAlex | W4414065061 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 56 |
Land use change in and around urban areas is a major driver of biodiversity loss. Such processes have mostly been studied in large cities, and to a much lesser extent in towns and villages. There is an urgent need for nature positive planning principles that recognize the planetary boundaries and are anchored among decision‐makers. We mapped land cover transitions from aerial photos of eight Norwegian towns and villages and their immediate surroundings over three decades. In two questionnaire surveys that covered the same study area and period, we mapped the attitudes of decision‐makers towards environmental problems and planning measures. We found a substantial increase in built‐up areas at the expense of natural and agricultural areas. During the same period, we found increased support among decision‐makers for environmentally friendly planning measures. We propose three recommendations for sustainable, nature positive planning, aimed at fostering planning practices in towns and villages that respect planetary boundaries, thus contributing to transformative change and mitigating biodiversity decline: (1) Planning measures relying on biodiversity offsetting should contain strong mechanisms to ensure compliance with the mitigation hierarchy, emphasizing the reuse of degraded areas; (2) Measures that may distort competition between municipalities should be mandatory to ensure a predictable planning framework; (3) Economic instruments, such as charges for the use of pristine natural areas and agricultural land, should be developed, tested and implemented with the aim of incentivizing landowners, developers and municipal authorities to base land use on the mitigation hierarchy. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog
Agriculture · Biodiversity · Land use · Land-use planning · Natural resource · Spatial planning · Sustainability · Sustainable development · Zoning · Economic and Environmental Valuation · Environmental Conservation and Management · Land Use and Ecosystem Services
Increasing impacts of land use on biodiversity and carbon sequestration driven by population and economic growth
Taming a Wicked Problem
The New Geography of Contemporary Urbanization and the Environment
Future urban land expansion and implications for global croplands
Biodiversity in cities needs space
Urbanization as a major cause of biotic homogenization
Biodiversity impacts and conservation implications of urban land expansion projected to 2050
Safe and just Earth system boundaries
Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries
Global Change and the Ecology of Cities
Planetary boundaries
The Potential of Post-Growth Planning
Urban planning and degrowth
Urban sustainability responsibilities of the European planning profession in the next decades
Environmentally friendly urban development
Integrating green infrastructure, ecosystem services and nature-based solutions for urban sustainability
No net loss of biodiversity, green growth, and the need to address drivers
City-size bias in knowledge on the effects of urban nature on people and biodiversity
The occupation of cropland by global urban expansion from 1992 to 2016 and its implications
Trends in urban land expansion, density, and land transitions from 1970 to 2010
Research gaps in knowledge of the impact of urban growth on biodiversity
Safe and just operating spaces for regional social-ecological systems
Limits to local democracy in practice? The case of governing sustainable land use in Norwegian municipalities
Urban ecology and sustainability
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |