Spatial Planning and Monitoring of Landscape Interventions: Maps to Link People with their Landscapes: A Users' Guide (SPMLI)

The Spatial Planning and Monitoring of Landscape Interventions (SPMLI) publication is one of the training manuals developed as part of the TerrAfrica program. It is designed to stimulate the use of maps in cross-sectoral collaborations to locate, design and monitor interventions in rural landscapes. The manual provides guidance on (1) composition, tasks and time requirements of a spatial planning team; (2) selecting, accessing and tailoring maps that form the crucial basis of this spatially explicit multi-stakeholder planning process; (3) training in spatial literacy; (4) an eight-step approach to guide key stakeholders through a spatially explicit landscape planning process aimed at integrating goals for agricultural production, biodiversity conservation and livelihood security. The eight steps are: (1) identify benefits and their specific locations in the landscape; (2) identify areas where change for improved benefit supply is desired; (3) identify who currently manages these areas where change is desired; (4) define what indicators and data collection methods to use to measure change; (5) assess how changes in future benefit flows in different parts of the landscape may impact on different stakeholders; (6) design desirable landscape interventions at selected locations; (7) implement landscape changes according to the agreed management plan; (8) monitor and evaluate changes and develop a strategy for adaptive management. A case study from Tigray, Ethiopia, is presented to illustrate the challenges encountered in the use of maps for sustainable land management.