Abstract
The paper describes an approach to landscape design that focuses on bioenergy production systems and integrates the design with other components of the land, environment, social system, and economic system. Landscape design as used here refers to a spatially explicit, collaborative plan for integrated sustainable management of landscapes and supply chains. Landscape design can involve multiple scales, fit into existing land-use and resource-extraction practices, and maintain or enhance services. Appropriately applied, landscape design can guide choices toward provision of bioenergy and other services across a landscape so that envirionmental, social and economic benefits are optimized. The landscape design approach requires attention to site selection and environmental effects when making choices about locations, types of feedstock, transport of feedstock to the refinery, refinery processing, and distribution of bioenergy products and services. The approach includes monitoring and reporting measures of performance along the bioenergy supply chain that stakeholders have identified as being important. Examples of landscape design applied to bioenergy production systems are presented. Key barriers are that diverse landowner management objectives must be considered, up-front planning is required, coordination is complex and requires much effort, initial costs may be higher than they would be otherwise, and the process may be stymied by insufficient data and communication across the supply chain. An impetus for coordination is critical, and incentives may be required to engage landowners and the private sector. Hence devising and implementing a landscape design requires clear communication of environmental, social, and economic opportunities and concerns among stakeholders.
