- Email: [email protected]
Forests and landscapes—linking ecology, sustainability and aesthetics
Landscape and Urban Planning 59 (2002) 125±127
Forests and landscapesÐlinking ecology, sustainability and aesthetics S.R.J. Sheppard, H.W. Harshaw (Eds.), IUFRO Research Series 6, CABI Publishing in Association with IUFRO, 2001, 294 pp., ISBN: 0-85199-500-4. Jan Bogaert Geography Department, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215-1401, USA
The current book is the reproduction of `The Peter Wall Institute Exploratory Workshop', held in 1999 at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Sponsors were The Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia, and some other organizations, alike IUFRO. The objective of the workshop was to gather an interdisciplinary group of ecologists, forest resource scientists, landscape architects, computer scientists, philosophers, sociologists and perceptual psychologists. A debate between this variety of scientists can deservedly be denoted as unique. The goal was to explore and discuss ecology and public preferences, and their interaction and to evaluate and study in depth the combination of sustainability and aesthetics for forest management. To cross disciplinary boundaries in research on perceptions of sustainability, the topic of computer visualization of forested landscapes was also debated. The objective was to link forest resource modelling approaches to state-ofthe-art virtual reality displays. This could enable to test perceptions of controlled sustainability levels and future management scenarios. One of the book's primary objectives is to deal with two opposite views. One is that of those considering
E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Bogaert). 0169-2046/02/$20.00 # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 9 - 2 0 4 6 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 0 9 - 9
sustainability as too complex to be related directly to visual (scenic) landscape indicators, or to be assessed by a visual analysis. Can, e.g., aesthetic quality be related to nutrient cycli, species population numbers, subterranean soil processes, or gap dynamics? On the other hand, some forest scientists and resource managers believe in a strong association between ecological health and visual quality. Forest design literature reports that initiatives and applications to improve aesthetic qualities do also improve ecological conditions, and vice versa. In the current volume, a range of views are presented and examined on the research needs and activities, on practical approaches and applications, and on the underlying theories with regard to the combination of ecological and aesthetic values in landscape and forest management. Also the dif®culties and uncertainties dealing with the knowledge, perception, and preferences of the public are dealt with. By linking ecological functioning, sustainability, and biodiversity to visual perception, scenic beauty, and public appreciation, the human dimension issues of forestry and landscape management are brought into the spotlight. Often, these issues do not receive many attention of scienti®c and academic circles dealing with landscape and forest science. And, although the participants of the workshop already went far to advance our knowledge to fathom the `ecological aesthetic', new questions can be put
126
J. Bogaert / Landscape and Urban Planning 59 (2002) 125±127
forward, and applications of the contributor's ideas and suggestions remain appealing. Some key terms are used copiously, and a correct comprehension of their meaning is essential to appreciate the novelty of the contributions. With `sustainability' (only) ecological sustainability is referred to, and not its socio-economic variants. The term `aesthetics' is used in the sense of the full range of aesthetic and perceptual qualities received by the senses and appreciated by the mind, including the meanings to be found in the landscape; this hence exceeds just visual quality. With `perception', both sensory observation by vision and the formation and/ or expression of an opinion or preference are referred to. `Preference' re¯ects the degree to which a person chooses a situation over an other situation. Note that also the term `landscape' can have different meanings, according to the user of the concept. For a forester, it is the scale level between the forest stand and the region, and is thus, more a technical concept. For a landscape architect it also covers aspects of visual characteristics of the environment, sometimes combined with biophysical conditions. The book is structured in 6 parts, and starts with a Foreword by P.H. Gobster, that was also inspiring for the current review, because it succeeds in placing the context and the signi®cance of the theme, and the workshop preceeding the volume. In the Foreword, Aldo Leopold's `ecological aesthetic' is referred to, i.e. to behold the landscape in a way that reconciles landscape scenery and sustainability. His `ecological aesthetic' expands our goal of identifying and protecting the landscapes denoted as `the most scenic', to one aimed at discovering the beauty that lies `within each landscape'. The ideas of ecological integrity and health can be key parameters to aesthetic appreciation, and requires much understanding about science and nature function, as well as our visceral reaction to the sights, sounds and smells experienced. Without a clearer resolution of these dilemmas, public perception constraints and other dif®culties may hamper the development of sustainable forestry. The book contains 17 papers authored by 17 scientists, from the UK, the US, Canada and Finland. All papers are characterized by harmonious and explanatory titels, clearly describing which aspect of the intersection between aesthetics and sustainability is tackled.
Part I `Linking ecological sustainability to aesthetics: do people prefer sustainable landscapes?' contains one single paper authored by S.R.J. Sheppard and H.W. Harshaw, with title `Landscape aesthetics and sustainability: an introduction'. This general contribution provides information with regard to the scope of the volume, de®nitions of terms, the workshop preceding the volume, and describes brie¯y all the remaining parts. Part II `Seeing and knowing: approaches to aesthetics and sustainability' focuses on the relationship between aesthetic consideration and ecological sustainability of the forest. Four papers are included: `Aesthetic preference and ecological sustainability' (T.C. Daniel), `Aesthetic preferences for sustainable landscapes: seeing and knowing' (A. Carlson), `Visible and non-visible indicators of forest sustainability: beauty, beholders, and belief systems' (J.P. Kimmins), and `Why do you think that hillside is ugly? A sociological perspective on aesthetic values and public attitudes on forests' (D.B. Tindall). Part III `Perspectives on forest sustainability' contains four papers, intending to offer new perpectives and suggestions for a sustainable management: `Criteria and indicators of sustainable forestry: a systems approach' (C.D. Oliver, J.P. Kimmins, H.W. Harshaw and S.R.J. Sheppard), `International initiatives for the sustainable management of forests' (J. Burley), and `The Tloo-qua-nah principle in forest sustainability: a First Nations perspective' (Umeek, E.R. Atleo). Part IV `Theories relating aesthetics and forest ecology' collects contributions with emphasis on relevant aesthetic theories on preferences for forested landscapes, as they relate to ecological conditions. Four papers are included: `An ecologist's ideas about landscape beauty: beauty in art and scenery as in¯uenced by science and ideology' (D.B. Botkin), `Can a fresh look at the psychology of perception and the philosophy of aesthetics contribute to the better management of forest landscapes?' (S. Bell), `Beyond visual resource management: emerging theories of an ecological aesthetic and visible stewardship' (S.R.J. Sheppard), and `What is essential is invisible to the eye: understanding the role of place and social learning in achieving sustainable landscapes' (L. Kruger). In Part V, the contributions of modern computerassisted and generated visualization, and of interactive visual simulations of forested landscapes are discussed.
J. Bogaert / Landscape and Urban Planning 59 (2002) 125±127
Also their role in gaining knowledge on how the public perceives sustainability is explored. Four papers are present: `The rhetoric of visual simulation in forest design: some research directions' (D. Luymes), `Immersion in a virtual forest ± some implications' (B. Orland and J. Uusitalo), `Considerations for digital visualization of landscape' (J. Danahy), and `Predicting preferences for scenic landscapes using computer simulations' (J.R. Wherrett). Part VI `Reconciling forest sustainability and aesthetics' concludes the volume, including one single paper `Priorities for reconciling sustainability and aesthetics in forest landscape management' (S.R.J. Sheppard, H.W. Harshaw, and J.R. McBride). The volume is very interesting to those remotely or closely involved in (sustainable) forestry, forest and landscape ecology, landscape design, architecture, planning or evaluation, and environmental management. It touches a topic often avoided by scientists, but dominant by the public: landscape perception. Some questions related to the interplay of aesthetics and sustainability are: how do we look at the landscape, how do we experience or perceive the landscape, and, how do we evaluate the landscape? And: is our
127
judgement or perception related to ecosystem functioning, to ecosystem health, to sustainability? In science, generally an objective approach and methodology is aimed at, to avoid any bias associated with human action or decision. By including the human observation, perception, appreciation, and evaluation, a new dimension is added to landscape evaluation, and new impulses can be given to landscape design activities. It should be noted that, although the book focuses on forested landscapes, many of the arguments can be transferred to other ecosystem types. The consequences for forest landscape management are also intended with an international point of view, and are not restricted to the North American continent. The International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) is organized into nearly 300 research units that anually hold approximately 60 conferences, and workshops. The forthcomings of these meetings are often published in a wide array of journals and other types of publication. The IUFRO Reseach Series attempts to offer a single, uniform outlet for high quality publications arising from the major IUFRO meetings and other products of IUFRO's reseach units.
Forests and landscapesÐlinking ecology, sustainability and aesthetics S.R.J. Sheppard, H.W. Harshaw (Eds.), IUFRO Research Series 6, CABI Publishing in Association with IUFRO, 2001, 294 pp., ISBN: 0-85199-500-4. Jan Bogaert Geography Department, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215-1401, USA
The current book is the reproduction of `The Peter Wall Institute Exploratory Workshop', held in 1999 at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Sponsors were The Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, the Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia, and some other organizations, alike IUFRO. The objective of the workshop was to gather an interdisciplinary group of ecologists, forest resource scientists, landscape architects, computer scientists, philosophers, sociologists and perceptual psychologists. A debate between this variety of scientists can deservedly be denoted as unique. The goal was to explore and discuss ecology and public preferences, and their interaction and to evaluate and study in depth the combination of sustainability and aesthetics for forest management. To cross disciplinary boundaries in research on perceptions of sustainability, the topic of computer visualization of forested landscapes was also debated. The objective was to link forest resource modelling approaches to state-ofthe-art virtual reality displays. This could enable to test perceptions of controlled sustainability levels and future management scenarios. One of the book's primary objectives is to deal with two opposite views. One is that of those considering
E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Bogaert). 0169-2046/02/$20.00 # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 1 6 9 - 2 0 4 6 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 0 9 - 9
sustainability as too complex to be related directly to visual (scenic) landscape indicators, or to be assessed by a visual analysis. Can, e.g., aesthetic quality be related to nutrient cycli, species population numbers, subterranean soil processes, or gap dynamics? On the other hand, some forest scientists and resource managers believe in a strong association between ecological health and visual quality. Forest design literature reports that initiatives and applications to improve aesthetic qualities do also improve ecological conditions, and vice versa. In the current volume, a range of views are presented and examined on the research needs and activities, on practical approaches and applications, and on the underlying theories with regard to the combination of ecological and aesthetic values in landscape and forest management. Also the dif®culties and uncertainties dealing with the knowledge, perception, and preferences of the public are dealt with. By linking ecological functioning, sustainability, and biodiversity to visual perception, scenic beauty, and public appreciation, the human dimension issues of forestry and landscape management are brought into the spotlight. Often, these issues do not receive many attention of scienti®c and academic circles dealing with landscape and forest science. And, although the participants of the workshop already went far to advance our knowledge to fathom the `ecological aesthetic', new questions can be put
126
J. Bogaert / Landscape and Urban Planning 59 (2002) 125±127
forward, and applications of the contributor's ideas and suggestions remain appealing. Some key terms are used copiously, and a correct comprehension of their meaning is essential to appreciate the novelty of the contributions. With `sustainability' (only) ecological sustainability is referred to, and not its socio-economic variants. The term `aesthetics' is used in the sense of the full range of aesthetic and perceptual qualities received by the senses and appreciated by the mind, including the meanings to be found in the landscape; this hence exceeds just visual quality. With `perception', both sensory observation by vision and the formation and/ or expression of an opinion or preference are referred to. `Preference' re¯ects the degree to which a person chooses a situation over an other situation. Note that also the term `landscape' can have different meanings, according to the user of the concept. For a forester, it is the scale level between the forest stand and the region, and is thus, more a technical concept. For a landscape architect it also covers aspects of visual characteristics of the environment, sometimes combined with biophysical conditions. The book is structured in 6 parts, and starts with a Foreword by P.H. Gobster, that was also inspiring for the current review, because it succeeds in placing the context and the signi®cance of the theme, and the workshop preceeding the volume. In the Foreword, Aldo Leopold's `ecological aesthetic' is referred to, i.e. to behold the landscape in a way that reconciles landscape scenery and sustainability. His `ecological aesthetic' expands our goal of identifying and protecting the landscapes denoted as `the most scenic', to one aimed at discovering the beauty that lies `within each landscape'. The ideas of ecological integrity and health can be key parameters to aesthetic appreciation, and requires much understanding about science and nature function, as well as our visceral reaction to the sights, sounds and smells experienced. Without a clearer resolution of these dilemmas, public perception constraints and other dif®culties may hamper the development of sustainable forestry. The book contains 17 papers authored by 17 scientists, from the UK, the US, Canada and Finland. All papers are characterized by harmonious and explanatory titels, clearly describing which aspect of the intersection between aesthetics and sustainability is tackled.
Part I `Linking ecological sustainability to aesthetics: do people prefer sustainable landscapes?' contains one single paper authored by S.R.J. Sheppard and H.W. Harshaw, with title `Landscape aesthetics and sustainability: an introduction'. This general contribution provides information with regard to the scope of the volume, de®nitions of terms, the workshop preceding the volume, and describes brie¯y all the remaining parts. Part II `Seeing and knowing: approaches to aesthetics and sustainability' focuses on the relationship between aesthetic consideration and ecological sustainability of the forest. Four papers are included: `Aesthetic preference and ecological sustainability' (T.C. Daniel), `Aesthetic preferences for sustainable landscapes: seeing and knowing' (A. Carlson), `Visible and non-visible indicators of forest sustainability: beauty, beholders, and belief systems' (J.P. Kimmins), and `Why do you think that hillside is ugly? A sociological perspective on aesthetic values and public attitudes on forests' (D.B. Tindall). Part III `Perspectives on forest sustainability' contains four papers, intending to offer new perpectives and suggestions for a sustainable management: `Criteria and indicators of sustainable forestry: a systems approach' (C.D. Oliver, J.P. Kimmins, H.W. Harshaw and S.R.J. Sheppard), `International initiatives for the sustainable management of forests' (J. Burley), and `The Tloo-qua-nah principle in forest sustainability: a First Nations perspective' (Umeek, E.R. Atleo). Part IV `Theories relating aesthetics and forest ecology' collects contributions with emphasis on relevant aesthetic theories on preferences for forested landscapes, as they relate to ecological conditions. Four papers are included: `An ecologist's ideas about landscape beauty: beauty in art and scenery as in¯uenced by science and ideology' (D.B. Botkin), `Can a fresh look at the psychology of perception and the philosophy of aesthetics contribute to the better management of forest landscapes?' (S. Bell), `Beyond visual resource management: emerging theories of an ecological aesthetic and visible stewardship' (S.R.J. Sheppard), and `What is essential is invisible to the eye: understanding the role of place and social learning in achieving sustainable landscapes' (L. Kruger). In Part V, the contributions of modern computerassisted and generated visualization, and of interactive visual simulations of forested landscapes are discussed.
J. Bogaert / Landscape and Urban Planning 59 (2002) 125±127
Also their role in gaining knowledge on how the public perceives sustainability is explored. Four papers are present: `The rhetoric of visual simulation in forest design: some research directions' (D. Luymes), `Immersion in a virtual forest ± some implications' (B. Orland and J. Uusitalo), `Considerations for digital visualization of landscape' (J. Danahy), and `Predicting preferences for scenic landscapes using computer simulations' (J.R. Wherrett). Part VI `Reconciling forest sustainability and aesthetics' concludes the volume, including one single paper `Priorities for reconciling sustainability and aesthetics in forest landscape management' (S.R.J. Sheppard, H.W. Harshaw, and J.R. McBride). The volume is very interesting to those remotely or closely involved in (sustainable) forestry, forest and landscape ecology, landscape design, architecture, planning or evaluation, and environmental management. It touches a topic often avoided by scientists, but dominant by the public: landscape perception. Some questions related to the interplay of aesthetics and sustainability are: how do we look at the landscape, how do we experience or perceive the landscape, and, how do we evaluate the landscape? And: is our
127
judgement or perception related to ecosystem functioning, to ecosystem health, to sustainability? In science, generally an objective approach and methodology is aimed at, to avoid any bias associated with human action or decision. By including the human observation, perception, appreciation, and evaluation, a new dimension is added to landscape evaluation, and new impulses can be given to landscape design activities. It should be noted that, although the book focuses on forested landscapes, many of the arguments can be transferred to other ecosystem types. The consequences for forest landscape management are also intended with an international point of view, and are not restricted to the North American continent. The International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) is organized into nearly 300 research units that anually hold approximately 60 conferences, and workshops. The forthcomings of these meetings are often published in a wide array of journals and other types of publication. The IUFRO Reseach Series attempts to offer a single, uniform outlet for high quality publications arising from the major IUFRO meetings and other products of IUFRO's reseach units.