Our March News!

BSI launch #nature market principles TA'd by eftec Director, Ian Dickie: webinar tomorrow

Water Commission launch consultation + our work evaluating improvements to Cornish Rivers

Watch Kerry ten Kate's #envecon keynote on #landuse in the UK

www.eftec.co.uk/post/nature-...
https://www.eftec.co.uk/post/nature-markets-principles-water-for-growth-land-use-transition-speech-from-kerry-ten-kate

My thoughts on 'Neoliberal peri‐urban economies and the predicament of dairy farmers: a case study of the Illawarra region, New South Wales' (Ren Hu & Nicholas J. Gill, 2022).

This paper includes a very thorough literary review and insights into the perceptions and experiences of Illawara dairy farmers as the region is urbanised.

The paper is perhaps worth a read if you are concerned with land-use issues in rural communities.

https://joesilver.micro.blog/2025/03/25/my-commentary-on-the-paper.html

Sprawl is one of the reasons I dislike living in the USA.

What does Maga-land look like? Let me show you America’s unbeautiful suburban sprawl | Alexander Hurst | The Guardian

#Sprawl #LandUse #USCulture #USPolitics #Aesthetics

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/19/maga-america-suburban-donald-trump

The Age of Solar Farms has truly arrived in Ireland!

…as have debates on land use, as farmers might want agricultural expansion, and villagers don’t like construction.

“However, the government hopes such misgivings might be eased by renewable energy community projects, in local ownership and control, with farmers involved as members or by leasing out land.”

https://www.irishexaminer.com/farming/arid-41595130.html

Developments like this block not only neighbours' views but also the prospect of adapting planning regulations to facilitate economic growth.

Nacton giant warehouse leaves neighbours 'in tears'

#UKPolitics #Planning #LandUse #Nacton #Megashed

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2kgvdgeq1yo

What People Do

Lovely bit of dappled sunlight on the mountains. Scots Pines of the Caledonian Forest growing on the slopes. River trickling through a gorge.

Path intruding.

Disused quarry a gaping wound on the hillside.

Full of refuse - 10 oil tanks, a caravan, farm slurry tanker and a boat amongst other things.

A year ago, the quarry floor was also full of rainwater with oil-slick rainbows.

Prints etc: https://shiny.photo/photo/What-People-Do-4e1d0c5874ff8168311b45e4a87de394

As we talk about energy, we need to talk about a decrease in *overall* energy use—especially as so-called AI is a topic of conversation. Moving to renewables alone will not cut it. We also CANNOT afford to count on technology that might, eventually exist (e.g. meaningful carbon capture with some device or facility).

The time to take real action for ourselves was yesterday. Let’s push for it now

#agriculture #building #climate #construction #energy #landUse #transportation

(Edited: hashtags)

Local Food

Can public institutions procure food locally? How do land grabs impact local food movements? What are the local food discourses in Canada? What are the ethical considerations of eating locally?

https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/search/index?query=%22Local+Food%22&dateFromYear=&dateFromMonth=&dateFromDay=&dateToYear=&dateToMonth=&dateToDay=&authors=

#Read all you want! #OpenAccess
#Share generously! #KnowledgeSharing
#Grow your understanding of #Food
#Repeat

The next paper I'm reading is 'Neoliberal peri‐urban economies and the predicament of dairy
farmers: a case study of the Illawarra region, New South Wales' (Hu & Gill, 2022).
Feel free to follow along at home and look for my commentary in about a week or so.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10372-9
#Agriculture #UrbanPlanning #LandUse #Neolibralism #LandUseConflict #Dairy

“Donald Trump has ordered that swathes of America’s forests be felled for timber,

evading rules to protect endangered species while doing so

and raising the prospect of chainsaws razing some of the most ecologically important trees in the US.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/trump-national-forest-executive-order

While I love cows, we gotta stop breeding so many and let the population come down.

A Methodology For The Multitemporal Analysis Of Land Cover Changes And Urban Expansion Using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Imagery - A Case Study Of The Aburrá Valley In Colombia
--
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17030554 <-- shared paper
--
#GIS #spatial #mapping #SyntheticApertureRadar #SAR #remotesensing #multitemporalanalysis #landcover #landcoverchange #clustering #kurtosis #fuzzylogic #kernelbasedmethod #machinelearning #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #geostatistics #model #modeling #AburráValley #Columbia #urban #urbanexpansion #population #growth #topography #monitoring #satellite #sentinel #valley #landuse #distribution #infrastructure #building #roads #naturalresources #environmental #conservation #monitoring #multitemporal

Reintroducing #wolves to Scottish Highlands could help expand native woodland and store a million tonnes of CO2 annually. Currently growing red #deer populations eat tree saplings and suppress natural regeneration of #trees & woodland: https://www.leeds.ac.uk/main-index/news/article/5734/reintroducing-wolves-to-scottish-highlands-could-help-address-climate-emergency #landuse #biodiversity #forests

#Diets are linked to GHG #emissions, water use & #landuse via food production. Analysing diets & their #environment impact is critical to know which should be promoted to enhance #sustainability. A life cycle assessment in #Ireland assessed primary impacts… (1/2) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2025.120974 #LCA

HT @rewildingmag

"Across Canada and the U.S., a growing number of shuttered #golf courses are being rewilded.

"At least four courses in California, and a handful of others in the U.S., U.K. and Australia, have been bought by non-profits, cities or land trusts and turned into #nature preserves or #parks in recent years, leading to an increase in #wildlife sightings, plant species and tree cover."

https://www.rewildingmag.com/when-golf-courses-go-wild/
#rewilding #ecology #landuse #SolarPunkSunday

"Across Canada and the U.S., a growing number of shuttered #golf courses are being rewilded.

"At least four courses in California, and a handful of others in the U.S., U.K. and Australia, have been bought by non-profits, cities or land trusts and turned into #nature preserves or #parks in recent years, leading to an increase in #wildlife sightings, plant species and tree cover."

#rewilding #ecology #landuse

https://www.rewildingmag.com/when-golf-courses-go-wild/

Al Rashid Mosque wants to rezone industrial land to accommodate growing Edmonton community
Al Rashid Mosque is working with the City of Edmonton to rezone 34 acres of land in the city's northwest, to help pave way for future facilities to meet the local Muslim community's growing needs.
#religion #politics #landuse #community #Edmonton #News
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/al-rashid-mosque-wants-to-rezone-industrial-land-to-accommodate-growing-edmonton-community-1.7444773?cmp=rss

1/3 of GHG #emissions are from #foodsystems. Substituting #meat with plant-based #proteins can reduce them by over 40%. #Organic farming is not better for the #environment: Lower #yields imply greater #landuse than conventional #farming & GHG emissions can be similar... (1/x) https://doi.org/10.1787/97c4041a-en