Social driving factors of landscape changes in the Great Hungarian Plain

Abstract

Our social life has a significant impact on the landscapes through complex mechanisms. We think that the governmental ideas, development policies, institutionalized structures, and our interests and activities are also manifested in these various geographical units. According to our assumption, cultural landscapes reflect the relationship of the society to the environment. So the processes related to the use of landscapes, in other words, the “landscape production” can be considered as indicator of the „new environmental paradigm”. (The new environmental paradigm is represents a "world view" and an era at the same time in which nature conservation and environmental protection become the ultimate goal.) In order to better understand these processes − relying on critical, structuralist approaches, qualitative and quantitative GIS analyses − we focus on land use conversions and the social driving forces and reactions behind land use patterns. We try to show how nature conservation and agriculture played a major role in landscape management, shaping the character of the Hungarian, lowland regions, and in connection with this, what were the key moments of each era during the past 50 years. In addition, we explore how the actors of these sectors value the ecological aspects and the importance of agriculture, as well as the interventions that affect them. With the help of the examples of Kunság and Bácska sample areas (differently influenced by nature conservation), we also would like to explore the conflicts and dilemmas of nature preservation and agriculture in the Danube-Tisza Interfluve. Based on the results, we find that the strengthening of the new paradigm is impeded by different social interests. Although environmental-conscious principles have emerged, there has not been comprehensive improvement in landscape management or landscape status in recent decades. Based on the historical events reviewed with the help of primary data and statistical analyzes, it can be seem that the attitude of society and the differing needs of land use play a decisive role on the land use changes and the landscape production. The new directions of ecological thinking and some elements of the new environmental paradigm appeared before the transition, and this has been manifested in the segments influencing land use, both in agriculture and nature conservation. It is also noticeable that environmentally conscious principles have been incorporated late and inefficiently into decision-making mechanisms, landscape development practices and rural planning. The agro-environmental and NATURA2000 schemes facilitated the cooperation between nature conservation and agriculture, but it’s based on subsidies instead of the consciousness of the producers. Our views coincide with our interviewees' remarks; that nature conservation should not be subordinated to economic goals, but at the same time, national parks must also accept the rationalisation of farming methods.