By Kyrre Groven, Inger Auestad, Karen Richardsen Moberg, and Liv Norunn Hamre

The loss of biodiversity caused by land development in and around urban areas is a problem not just in the big cities. A study of Norwegian towns and villages in nature-abundant areas, such as Sogndalsfjøra in Western Norway, shows a significant loss of natural and agricultural areas over three decades, demonstrating the need for new planning principles. Photo: Leif Hauge.

Read the full paper here

Development of natural areas is the most important reason for loss of biodiversity, and we need new, so-called “nature positive” planning principles to prevent further degradation. The need is particularly strong in urban areas since urban expansion leads to considerable land use changes. However, scientists have mainly studied these processes around large cities, and we know less about land use changes around smaller settlements.

We mapped land use changes from 1990 to 2017 for eight Norwegian towns and villages, focussing on natural areas, farmland and built-up areas. We also studied how the local decision-makers changed their environmental attitudes during the same period.

We found that the politicians, planners, and NGOs grew more supportive of nature-friendly planning over 27 years. Nevertheless, a considerable number of natural areas as well as farmland were developed into built-up areas over the same period.

Our findings show a strong need for new land use strategies to better protect biodiversity. Nationally, one in five municipalities has shown interest in adopting a principle of “land area neutrality” – avoiding development on natural areas and offsetting degradation through local restoration. However, international experience suggests that achieving genuine biodiversity protection through the current, nature positive planning principles is challenging, as these principles can be misused to justify unnecessary land use change and habitat destruction. To encourage municipalities to plan in ways that respect the limits of the planet, we make the following recommendations for what we regard sustainable nature positive planning:

  1. Assess development needs: Systematically evaluate whether a development is needed, or could be minimised, before allowing land use change that will demand restoration or offsetting measures.
  2. Coordinate planning efforts: Make nature positive planning mandatory and ensure regional coordination of land use to avoid competition between municipalities.
  3. Implement land use fees: Develop and introduce economic incentives, such as fees on land use changes in pristine natural areas and farmland, to encourage transformation of already built-up areas.