STRATEGY

In this landscape design project, a sequence and network of peatland landscape parks will be implemented to deal with the above problems. The basic strategy of the project is regenerative succession of degraded peatland, which is promoted by creating ecological corridors and patches, improving pasture landscape and low-carbon tourism. The existing landform fabric originates from natural or intense activities or long evolution and is also closely related to the activities of social human beings. The landscape formed under the historical background of human activities and the landscape formed by nature are intertwined, and the transformation and protection of this dual subject requires careful analysis and trade-off.

In the first strategy, I was primarily inspired by the theory of landscape ecology, focusing on ecological corridors and patches, and prioritizing spatial conservation. The idea of ecology network can be traced to the work of Ian McHarg, which showed that analysis and assessment of natural resources (geology, soils, water, habitat, etc.) could inform the best places and ways to develop land for social occupation.Peatlands lying between Serra de Santa Bárbara and Pico Alto are highly disturbed, mainly by agricultural use. It is important to evaluate the peatland ecosystems located between the two natural patches and eventually create conditions to establish connectivity between them by peatland restoration. This strategical plan of ecological network is intended to define priority areas for restoration.

The second and third strategies incorporate social dynamics, focusing on the human-land relationship.

Peatland restoration formed an ecosystem approach to the alignment of biodiversity conservation with landscape management and sustainable use. The tension between farming/stock raising and peatland on Terceira is evident. I think the challenge is about the combination of pasture and peatland. Combine the production and living activities of residents and the required space, exploring targeted agrirewilding methods will not only improve the stability of the environment, but also take measures in advance for predicted future environmental changes. The proposed low-carbon tourism strategy based on the peatland network help promote wellbeing for humans and create economic interests to negotiate the rewilding of agricultural and pastoral land.

I believe that my projects so far have been heavily weighted towards the natural dimension and have lacked research and site studies related to the social structure of the context. Because there is no way to go to the site and research it, I can only build my mental image of the site through information gathered remotely, which often carries a high risk of being wrong. Also, as I focused on a specific landscape type (peatland) and chose the central natural area of Terceira Island as my scope, which is far from the human habitat (urban, residential area), this left the site less connected to the local population. The physical and cognitive distance makes it difficult for me to make an accurate analysis and interpretation based on the historical social culture and the collective memory of the local population. This has led me to be on the side of conservatism and will not to intervene too much in this area.

Apart from the limitations due to objective factors, this stems from the viewpoint oflandscape anthropology: it does not support the analysis of the environment in terms of culture, which is considered a homogeneous and static concept. The anthropology of landscape practice values the diversity of inhabitants and the temporary, fluid nature of the relationship between inhabitants and the landscape. The landscape constructed through the cultural intentions of the other (the external landscape) is often in conflict with the landscape spontaneously formed by the local inhabitants (the internal landscape).

The site is confronted with unfamiliar, diverse groups of people, so instead of putting an othering emphasis on existing human elements, I turn to creating new landscapes that interact with people. I therefore plan to experiment with the human-social aspect of the project, where the strategy of tourism is another layer of network superimposed on the existing natural social system, based on design proposals that explore its impact on the social aspect. What I want to do is to design landscapes for people, but at the same time allow them to understand nature beyond the usual perspective.