Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network

Identify existing and needed information about the
landscape. Information should enable analysis of the
demographic, political, and governance situation of the
landscape, as well as its physical, biological, and ecological
conditions, to determine the current condition and future
trends. However, a lack of perfect information should not
indefinitely delay progress with planning processes. Data
gathering should be viewed as an ongoing process and new
information should feed back into the adaptive management
aspect of the landscape plan.
Processes for data gathering should include asking stakeholders
to identify their existing resource use and interests on
the landscape; threats, opportunities, or conflicts related to
the landscape; and why and how the landscape is important
to them. In addition to information within the landscape,
planning teams should look at influences outside the landscape.
Examine what is occurring outside the landscape that
could affect the important values of the landscape. For example,
are there plans to develop any infrastructure (roads,
dams, and the like) that could affect values within the landscape?
Is there potential for immigrants settling in the landscape
because of displacement from another area?
An important step in the landscape planning process is
identifying and evaluating existing applicable laws or any
existing management plans associated with the landscape.
Understanding legislation applied to any land unit in the
landscape will help guide management decisions. It is important
to monitor legislative changes throughout the landscape
planning process so that adjustments to the planning process
can be made if necessary. For example in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, landscape planning teams need to monitor
the forest concession conversion process because it can
affect both the landscape land-use plan and the subsequent
macro-zone management plans.
Define why the particular landscape was delineated,
and what features make it a priority. The objective of
this description is to provide a focus for the planning
process. This description should remain brief and focus on
the key features that contributed to its designation as a priority
landscape.
Characterize the landscape, including the existing uses
of the landscape and the different groups involved in those
uses; the legal boundaries delineated within the landscape;
and a general inventory of the resources and any information
regarding their condition. This characterization should
describe the physical, ecological, and socioeconomic conditions
in a simple manner and identify influences outside the
landscape that could affect the important values of the landscape,
identify and evaluate applicable laws within the landscape,
and identify key information gaps. This information
will assist the planning team to define landscape vision and
objectives, help inform zoning decisions and management
strategies, and identify any knowledge gaps (see box 4.9).
Box 4.9
The following information is helpful in characterizing
landscapes:
a. Physical
i. Boundaries of landscapes
ii. Topography, water courses, and other
unique physical features
iii. Maps and satellite imagery
iv. Maps of boundaries of existing protected
areas, community-based natural resource
management areas and extractive resource
use zones, and information on current status
b. Ecological—identify landscape features in
regard to
i. key wildlife resources
ii. wildlife migration corridors
iii. rare and under-represented plant communities
iv. other floral and faunal resources that are of
key importance to the landscape and its
population
v. forest standing stock
vi. species composition within forests
c. Socioeconomic
i. Identify villages, foot paths, transport
routes, key economic centers within and
around the landscape, agricultural activities,
hunting and fishing areas, areas of subsistence-level
timber extraction
ii. Identify all stakeholders of the landscape
(including populations outside the landscape)
iii. Identify those resources and regions of the
landscape used for subsistence purposes versus
commercial trade
iv. Map locations of economically desirable
timber species or mineral deposits not currently
in any concessions
d. Assess government management authority
presence on the landscape and capacity to play
a role in the planning process
e. Outline budget and timeline
Source: USFS 2006.
Baseline Data Needed on Aspects of the
Forest Landscape
134 CHAPTER 4: OPTIMIZING FOREST FUNCTIONS IN A LANDSCAPE