Abstract Economic activities in coastal wetlands are often perceived as incompatible with nature conservation. This negative perception stems from the visible impacts resulting from a continuous process of coastal wetland reclamation, as human pressure increases significantly in global coastal areas. The largest coastal wetland area in southern Portugal, the Ria Formosa, shares a similar perception, where current nature protection status often conflicts with the needed economic development. Here we explore how the economic activities influenced the wetland reclamation process in Ria Formosa, addressing namely aquaculture identified as an activity with a significant compatibilization potential. Different datasets were merged in a Geographical Information System, tracking land use change in Ria Formosa wetlands over the last 130 years at decadal intervals. Our results show that since the end of the 19th century nearly 2000 ha of wetlands were converted to anthropic environments, resulting in a 20 % natural area reduction. From 1885 until the mid-20th century, land use policy was influenced by the significant regional seafood preservation industry, with large swaths of wetlands diked, drained and excavated to give place to traditional salt farms. The following economic downturn gave place for the late industrialization of salt farms, further increasing the reclaimed wetland areas, later stalling with the recognition of the environmental importance of Ria Formosa in 1978. Aquaculture only gained momentum in 1980’s with the support of European funding, resulting in the conversion of many unproductive diked areas. However, late 20th century and current land use policy shifted to a nature conservation focus, therefore limiting the use of previously reclaimed areas, a challenge that influenced the abandonment of the modified areas. By studying the long-term change of land use in Ria Formosa, we argue that in high conservation value areas new policies should be considered that stimulate the development of an ecosystem approach to economic activities, namely aquaculture, improving simultaneously the regional environmental status and socioeconomic sustainable development.

中文翻译：

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追踪葡萄牙 Ria Formosa 130 年的沿海湿地开垦：保护和水产养殖的机会

摘要 沿海湿地的经济活动常常被认为与自然保护不相容。这种负面看法源于沿海湿地开垦的持续过程所产生的明显影响，因为全球沿海地区的人类压力显着增加。葡萄牙南部最大的沿海湿地地区 Ria Formosa 也有类似的看法，目前的自然保护状况往往与所需的经济发展相冲突。在这里，我们探讨了经济活动如何影响 Ria Formosa 的湿地开垦过程，即解决水产养殖被确定为具有显着增容潜力的活动。不同的数据集在地理信息系统中合并，以十年为间隔跟踪过去 130 年来 Ria Formosa 湿地的土地利用变化。我们的研究结果表明，自 19 世纪末以来，将近 2000 公顷的湿地转变为人类活动环境，导致自然面积减少了 20%。从 1885 年到 20 世纪中叶，土地利用政策受到重要的区域海鲜保鲜产业的影响，大片湿地被围成堤防、排水和挖掘，以给传统的盐田让位。随后的经济衰退让盐场的后期工业化成为可能，进一步增加了开垦湿地面积，后来随着 1978 年对 Ria Formosa 环境重要性的认识而停滞不前。 水产养殖仅在 1980 年代在欧洲资金的支持下才获得动力，导致许多非生产性堤防区域的转换。然而，20 世纪后期和当前的土地利用政策转向了自然保护重点，因此限制了以前开垦地区的使用，这一挑战影响了改造地区的放弃。通过研究 Ria Formosa 土地利用的长期变化，我们认为在高保护价值地区应考虑新政策，以刺激经济活动的生态系统方法的发展，即水产养殖，同时改善区域环境状况和社会经济可持续发展。