Food and electricity self-sufficiency trade-offs in Reunion Island: Modelling land-use change scenarios with stakeholders

• Russeil, Valentin ^[1] ; Lo Seen, Danny ^[2] ; Broust, François ^[3] ; Bonin, Muriel ^[2] ; Praene, Jean-Philippe ^[1]
  1. [1] Laboratoire PIMENT, Université de La Réunion, Le Tampon, France
  2. [2] TETIS, Univ Montpellier, AgroParisTech, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, Montpellier, France
  3. [3] BioWooEB, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, Montpellier, France

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• Localización: Land use policy: The International Journal Covering All Aspects of Land Use, ISSN 0264-8377, ISSN-e 1873-5754, Nº. 132, 2023
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Reunion Island, a French overseas region in the Indian Ocean, has endorsed policies targeting food and electricity self-sufficiency. This objective implies balancing different land-uses (food, feed, bioelectricity, urbanisation, etc.) which we explore in a set of scenarios towards 2035. Through participatory structural analysis, we modelled drivers of change as processes using Ocelet, a spatially explicit and dynamic modelling platform. We built a detailed land-use map for our initial state and calibrated relevant processes through four scenarios ranging from “business-as-usual” to “implementation of ambitious territory planning policies”. To improve local self-sufficiency, our results support the need for large-scale land planning policies, suggesting partial sugarcane conversion into food crops, urbanisation control, farmlands expansion onto fallows and photovoltaic increase. Our context-specific approach addresses food and electricity self-sufficiency as a whole and understands its inner dynamic and spatial processes from stakeholders’ viewpoint. Moreover, our model recognizes small-scale spatial heterogeneity and contributes to mediate controversial issues related to territory foresight and land-use planning.