From Flood Control System to Agroforestry Heritage System: Past, Present and Future of the Mulberry-Dykes and Fishponds System of Huzhou City, China

Antonio Santoro (), Qingyi Yu, Francesco Piras, Beatrice Fiore, Alessandra Bazzurro and Mauro Agnoletti
Additional contact information
Antonio Santoro: Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Florence, Italy
Qingyi Yu: Department of Landscape Architecture, Huazhong Agricultural University, No.1 Shizishan Street, Hongshan District, Wuhan 430070, China
Francesco Piras: Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Florence, Italy
Beatrice Fiore: Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Florence, Italy
Alessandra Bazzurro: Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Florence, Italy
Mauro Agnoletti: Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, Via San Bonaventura 13, 50145 Florence, Italy

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-22

Abstract: Peri-urban traditional agroforestry systems are considered a priority at an international level, as they serve as a link connecting cities and rural areas, providing local food and ecosystem services for people living in the cities. The mulberry-dykes and fishponds system (MFS), located near Huzhou city (Zhejiang province, China), also has a key role in protecting the city from floods, as it developed as a consequence of the ancient flood control system created to protect local cities and villages from recurring floods. This system is recognized for its sustainability and for the strong functional interlinkages between the different components (mulberry trees, fishes, silkworms) by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which included it into the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Programme in 2017. The research intends to measure landscape transformation in the last 12 years and to evaluate the effectiveness of the inclusion into the GIAHS Programme for land use changes mitigation. In addition, an accurate discussion focusing on the analysis of local planning has been done to evaluate its capacity in protecting and valorizing the site. Results demonstrated that MFS has undergone major land use changes in the last years due to urban sprawl, the spread of solar panels (+7% in 2018–2021), and abandonment of the traditional mulberry-based system (−75% in 2009–2021). Other changes are related to the overall number of traditional fishponds (−81% in 2009–2018 and −33% in 2018–2021) and to their shape and size. Local planning tools are too sectorial, not enough integrated one another, and they do not consider the MFS as a single system. The study demonstrated that the inclusion in the GIAHS Programme is not sufficient itself to stop negative trends in the absence of adequate planning tools, even if it can contribute to slowing them down, but it would be crucial to integrate the GIAHS action plan and vision into local planning tools.

Keywords: agroforestry; flood control; agricultural heritage; GIAHS; landscape; land use changes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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