Reaching a socio-ecological tipping point: Overgrazing on the Greek island of Samothraki and the role of European agricultural policies

Fetzel, Tamara; Petridis, Panos; Noll, Dominik; Singh, Simron; Fischer‐Kowalski, Marina

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.04.042

Cited by 29 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…We describe the stocks of the terrestrial ecosystem and their dynamics. We do not quantify these stocks, as by NPP for example, like in [32], but describe them qualitatively as landcover and forest. We build our analysis on data published by members of our team on the quantification of stocks of the core socioeconomic sectors (as livestock [33] and built infrastructures [34]), the natural resources required by these stocks for their reproduction/maintenance, and the impacts of this resource use on natural stocks.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Mediterranean Basin, intense grazing is a widespread phenomenon that can trigger severe soil erosion. Today it is clear that Samothraki's grazing system has also decoupled from its natural basis: A much too high number of undernourished and underutilized animals exploit and degrade pastures, thus magnifying natural soil erosion, and endangering the entire social-ecological equilibrium of the island [32]. This was lucidly demonstrated by a major weather event in September 2017 that triggered several landslides, demolished buildings, and covered large parts of the main town with rocks and debris.…”

Section: The Terrestrial Ecosystem and The Agricultural Sector (Livesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This comes as no surprise if one looks at the development of animal numbers on the island (Figure 8). According to the European compliance standards of 1.4 head/ha, the island could sustain about 23,500 grazing animals [32], but this number had already been surpassed in the late 1960s, and in 2002, the small ruminants reached a peak with almost 70,000 animals. Interestingly, we then observe a sudden decline, particularly of the goat population, to about 45,000 animals, a number that is nevertheless still almost twice as much as the cross-compliance recommendation by the EU.…”

Section: The Terrestrial Ecosystem and The Agricultural Sector (Livesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Still, current livestock numbers exceed the grazing capacity of the land [32], and the abandonment of labor-intensive management practices (e.g. [17,48]) determines to a large extent the composition of land cover.…”

Section: The Terrestrial Ecosystem and The Agricultural Sector (Livesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Samothraki in Transition: A Report on a Real-World Lab to Promote the Sustainability of a Greek Island

et al. 2020

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This is a case study on a small mountainous island in the Aegean Sea with the policy goal of preparing it to become member of UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves. While the local community opted for such an identity very early on, there are a number of obstacles to be overcome. The multidisciplinary research is based upon a sociometabolic approach and focuses on two issues: The transformation of agriculture, mainly herding of sheep and goats, and the shift to tourism. The degradation of the landscape caused by extensive roaming of goats and sheep constitute one of the major sustainability challenges of the island. We analyze farmers' opportunities and describe new initiatives to get out of this deadlock. The impacts of the transition to tourism are addressed from an infrastructural perspective: A shift from traditional stone buildings to bricks and concrete, the establishment of new roads and ports, and the challenges to water supply and wastewater removal, also with reference to the quality and amounts of wastes generated that need to be dealt with. The island has so far escaped mass tourism and attracts mainly eco-tourists who value its remoteness and wilderness. We discuss how to serve this clientele best in the future, and increase local job opportunities and income while maintaining environmental quality. Finally, we reflect upon emerging new forms of local collaboration and the impact of our research efforts on a sustainability transition that might be on its way.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Terrestrial Ecosystem and The Agricultural Sector (Livesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Terrestrial Ecosystem and The Agricultural Sector (Livesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Terrestrial Ecosystem and The Agricultural Sector (Livesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Samothraki in Transition: A Report on a Real-World Lab to Promote the Sustainability of a Greek Island

et al. 2020

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“…Two catastrophic flood events in the summer of 2017 [92], less than a year before our survey, were attributed by several respondents to "erosion" caused and/or aggravated by overgrazing. Additionally, the issue of overgrazing has occupied visiting researchers and environmentalists working on Samothraki for over a decade [57,58,93,94] and these efforts have promoted local discourse aiming at conservation and restoration initiatives on this subject in recent years [64]. It has been shown in other protected areas in Greece that the provision of information to local inhabitants significantly influences perceptions on conservation issues [95].…”

Section: Perceived Anthropogenic Pressures and Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residents’ Views on Landscape and Ecosystem Services during a Wind Farm Proposal in an Island Protected Area

et al. 2020

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Industrial wind farms are being developed within many protected areas, such as in EU Natura 2000 sites; this includes proposals on small Mediterranean islands, such as Samothraki in Greece. Scarce wild land areas on islands may be particularly vulnerable to landscape-scale degradation; this may have serious negative societal impacts. Samothraki’s resident perceptions were surveyed in the wake of such a proposal, in June 2018. Of 98 respondents, 48% reported they were against the wind farm plan, while 22% did not take sides. We compare for-and-against sub-group perceptions of the proposed wind farm with potential impacts on the landscape and explore residents’ opinions on ecosystem services and environmental pressures and threats. Conflict over the wind farm was prevalent; residents most frequently reported that the proposal threatens aesthetic and landscape qualities. Aesthetic qualities were also the second highest ranked ecosystem services, after freshwater provision. However, other threats, such as livestock overgrazing, top residents’ opinion of major environmental problems on the island. The questionnaire survey used provides a scoping assessment, which may assist in identifying "conflict hotspots" for wind farm development. A critical review of wind farm planning in protected areas is presented in light of insights gained from this survey and other relevant studies.

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Land parcellation reduced spatial redundancy resulting in grassland degradation

Jiao,

Li,

Wang

et al. 2024

People and Nature

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Degradation is the most immediate threat to biodiversity and sustainable livelihoods of global pastoral grasslands. However, we are still uncertain why grassland degradation is enhanced by the land policy of grassland parcellation. We hypothesized that spatial redundancy of the grazing system, that is, parcellation accelerates land fragmentation and reduces spatial redundancy, leads to land degradation. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between households, livestock and grassland management under the grassland contract policy, and to determine the causes and consequences of grassland fragmentation and degradation. We interviewed households who received land under the grassland contract policy in typical pastoral areas of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, and then, we employed binary logistic regressions, multinomial logistic regressions and fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analyses to examine the relationship between spatial redundancy and grassland–livestock balance. A very significant (p < 0.001) negative asymptotic exponential trend emerged between grassland area and stocking rate, but with regional differences. Grassland spatial redundancy and stocking rate displayed a significant (r2 = 0.96; p < 0.05) negative asymptotic exponential trend, that is, households with a lower spatial redundancy had a higher stocking rate. Based on our results, spatial redundancy can be used as one of the key indices to evaluate landscape stability of grazing systems. In any terrestrial ecosystem, the size of spatial redundancy reflects the carrying capacity of the land and determines the delicate relationship between land, animals and population, that is, in equilibrium or non‐equilibrium. Therefore, taking the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau as an example, we face the spread of grassland degradation caused by the gradual fragmentation of resources under the current grassland contract policy and parcellation in global pastoral areas. Determining the spatial redundancy size of grassland is an important prerequisite for understanding grassland degradation and formulating grassland management strategies. These novel findings have potential beneficial information for resource utilization, especially land management planning in pastoral areas worldwide. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Reaching a socio-ecological tipping point: Overgrazing on the Greek island of Samothraki and the role of European agricultural policies

Cited by 29 publications

References 25 publications

Samothraki in Transition: A Report on a Real-World Lab to Promote the Sustainability of a Greek Island

Samothraki in Transition: A Report on a Real-World Lab to Promote the Sustainability of a Greek Island

Residents’ Views on Landscape and Ecosystem Services during a Wind Farm Proposal in an Island Protected Area

Land parcellation reduced spatial redundancy resulting in grassland degradation

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