Landscape ecology, EIA and sustainable landscapes

This paper explores how current approaches to EIA can be applied in the context of ideas about sustainable landscapes. The issues are illustrated by reference to golf course developments in the area around Freiburg, Germany, which appear to have taken place with little regard to the long-term significance of the changes they bring to the cultural landscapes of the area. An approach to landscape planning is presented which combines ideas about natural capital and the Leitbilder. We suggest that the term Leitbild can be used to describe the set of ecologically viable futures for a given landscape that are mediated through the idea of natural capital. An 'ecologically viable future' is not one determined solely by biophysical criteria. While natural laws may ultimately govern our actions, there is room to manoeuvre. We can arrange and design our landscapes in different ways, depending on what outputs (goods and services) the various stakeholders or interest groups in an area desire. Decisions about sustainability turn on what is possible ecologically, in terms of continuing ecological function, and what outputs Society is trying to maintain over time.