Key Social Economic Aspects of Sustainable Land Management in the - PDF document

Key Social Economic Aspects of Sustainable Land Management in the Baltic Countries Armands Auziņš MSc.oec., MSc.ing., PhD student, assistant professor Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management, Riga Technical University Jānis Vanags Dr.oec., associate professor Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management, Riga Technical University Abstract The paper explores primarily social economic aspects of sustainable land management that vary among the Baltic countries. Land and associated to it valuable resources form the basis for any land use, land development and land protection activities, and thus – provide social economic benefits. The study is related to supervision of enforcement of the normative acts that should be suitable to both the particular social economic distinctions and traditions. Political, ecological and technological aspects also influence sustainable land management, but in this study the social economic aspects are emphasized. Various research methods are employed. Statistical, historical and logical approach, comparative analysis and synthesis methods are selected in the research. Finally, findings of the study show comparable key social economic indicators, as well as prerequisites and proposals for sustainable land management activities within the framework of the Baltic countries. The cross – border discussions lead to applications of comparative advantage theory. Keywords: sustainable land management, social economic development, ecological footprint, criteria, indicators Introduction „ Land ‟ is characterised as a physical object in space with set value and attributed specific rights in land management. Land can be seen as most significant matter for both the transactions in real property market with social, economic, ecologic and cultural value (ownership rights) and the specific purpose of land use (land-use rights). Land management is concerned with long-term activities for efficient use and protection of land resources . Land management is not dependent on the position of neither an individual nor organisation, but on their mutual interaction for achievement of land use goals in appropriate territory. In the framework of land management, the legal regulations and organisational structures (institutions) for land use administration are established according to set social economic and environmental development goals within a country. Thus, land management shapes as interactive co-operational 1

process of many participating parties (Auziņš A., 2009). The concept of sustainable land management (SLM) was discussed in different conferences and publications. The professor of Technical University of Munich Holger Magel argued and stressed topicality and challenges of sustainable land development and management in relation to society needs in N airobi‟s conference, 2001 (Magel H., 2001). Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations emphasizes reduction of land degradation and promotion of optimal land use, as well as defines principles of sustainable land management (UNFAO, 2008). In publication of the World Bank about agriculture and rural development (World Bank, 2006) SLM is characterised as „knowledge - based‟ process, which simultaneously has to ensure: the needs of growing population; diminishing of land degradation; and preservation of revive ability of the land resources. World Bank also contributed in establishment of main indicators for assessment and supervision of rural development (World Bank, 1997). Framework for evaluation of sustainable land management (FESLM) is developed for assessment of operation and efficiency increase of farm-stead system on the basis of integrated approach (Smyth A.J., Dumanski J., 1993). Social economic criteria and indicators are one of the most frequently surveyed in order to get a notion about the level of development in a territory, and execute a comparative analysis. Selected sets of indicators and included indicators serve for the purpose to evaluate social economic environment and identify – how equitable the appropriate policy is; what social economic aspects explain it; and how much the particular processes are influenced? Thus, the trade-off of both pillars, that are included into „Brundtland model‟ (United Nations , 1987), could be specified. For instance, a government for the purpose to balance both the governmental revenues and expenditures decides to diminish budget deficit to 3% of GDP and achieve economic growth – 4.5% in 2012. Accordingly, it is considered to promote lower rates for governmental bonds and lower interest rates for investments that will enhance the trustiness of inhabitants and investors to the state on the whole, and result to the predictability of social economic development. This study focuses on social economic aspects of sustainable land development exploring three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The research hypothesis : assessment of key social economic aspects in relation to valuable land resources lead to comparative analysis of the selected countries and foresee its future development trends and challenges. Thus, the aim of the study is to make analytical and comparative assessment of both the social economic indicators and the stocks of significant land resources in the context of sustainable land management in the Baltic countries. The following tasks are addressed to achieve the set aim: 1) assessment of both the conceptual considerations of sustainable land management and effect of ecological footprint; 2) identification and assessment of changes of valuable land resources and main social economic indicators; 3) making proposals for future sustainable land management on the basis of cross border comparative analysis. Analytical assessments are burdened due to the limitations of comparable data in national account systems and official databases. The problems aroused, because the particular data were determined 2

using different methodologies by the countries, and the descriptions of the methodologies were available abstract. Statistical, historical and logical approach, comparative analysis and synthesis methods are employed in the research. Results and discussion 1. Assessment of sustainable land management Working group, which developed FESLM, identified land quality indicators as „biophysical component‟ for evaluation of sustainable land management (Smyth A.J., Dumanski J., 1993). „ Land quality indicators (LQI) are a key requirement for sustainable land management ‟ , is stated in the report. These indicators are developed under the guidance of World Bank. „ The LQI program addresses the dual objectives of environmental monitoring and sector performance monitoring for managed ecosystems (agriculture, forestry, conservation, and environmental management). It is being developed for application at national and regional scales, but it is also part of a larger, global effort on improved natural resources management ‟ (Pieri C. et al. , 1995). However, Dumanski and Pieri in LQI program stated, that „ a core set of land quality indicators is available to describe the state of biophysical resource, but similar progress has not been made for the economic and social indicators ‟ (Dumanski J., Pieri C., 1998). As evidently indicate the results of former investigations in this area, this approach is binding and considerable for evaluation of SLM. FESLM approach is related to identification of evaluation factors and development of criteria, and based on understanding of cause and effect for the purpose to determine the likely status of different evaluation factors at future times. This approach provides definition of specific indicators and thresholds. Indicators are concerned with environmental attributes that measure or reflect environmental status or condition of change, but thresholds – levels of environmental indicators beyond which a system undergoes significant change, in other words, points at which stimuli provoke significant response. FESLM approach provides two „ levels ‟ – action (local framework) and master (reference framework). Thus, the first refers to a procedure for evaluating the sustainability of a specific kind of land use, in a specific location, over a specific period of time; using the pathway, aims, approaches and actions identified in the master framework expressed in terms of selected indicators, criteria and thresholds. It follows that the second refers to sustainability evaluations of land management package expressed in general terms and not tied to any specific land use goal (Smyth A.J., Dumanski J., 1993). However, for the purpose to make comparisons with the official indicators of the countries, one has to take into consideration the accessibility to data administration systems and availability of actual data within the systems. Along with quantitative indicators the qualitative indicators also exist, which are not unambiguously comparable without additional study. Furthermore, for more complete analysis, besides resulting indicators, the indicators of influence (impact) should be identified. 3