New article by Danny Tröger and Andreas Braun on the planning evaluation of spatial planning in the Chilean region of Aysén in the journal Land Use Policy

Patagonia, the southernmost part of South America, is a rough place: storms, floods, volcanic eruptions... the list of natural hazards is long. At the same time, the region suffers from the consequences of slash-and-burn agriculture and overgrazing in the last century: Fertile soils are being lost due to erosion and landslides.

Spatial planning attempts to counter these problems. The study by Danny Tröger and Andreas Braun is the first to scientifically examine whether the proposed land zoning and categories are in line with these objectives and can increase landscape resilience (Fig. 1).

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837725001978

In principle, afforestation would be a sensible measure, as would agroforestry. However, the land use plan actually proposes the creation of exotic tree plantations with pine trees, which are not native to the whole of South America, as a form of agroforestry. However, these are detrimental to biodiversity (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235198941630155X), do not improve soil properties (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0341816222003502) and are in conflict with local identity (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420924003303). They also have an increased risk of forest fires, particularly in view of climate change.

In addition, these zones are located near existing pine forests (Fig. 2). This leads to the assumption that these are investment areas secured by the forestry industry rather than nature-based solutions for natural hazard management.
Three alternatives are proposed: 1. agroforestry with native species and regenerative agriculture. 2. the co-creation of spaces for natural hazard prevention with the civilian population and 3. the participation of local residents in decisions about forests and their management.

The study has already appeared as a preprint in Danny Tröger's dissertation, published as a book (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-658-47274-0 see news item https://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/nachhaltigkeit/nachhaltigkeitsforschung/kassel-institute-for-sustainability/infothek/meldung/2025/06/4/book-release-assessing-landscape-resilience-by-dr-danny-troeger.html?cHash=bf2580519173ce0dbccfaabed7fd41b4 ).