Dear Colleagues,

Land is a life-supporting system which plays an important role in human wellbeing. However, lands have been continuously degraded as a result of anthropogenic activities such as deforestation, agriculture, mining and urbanisation. This degradation has an impact on the different dimensions of sustainable development (environmental, economic and social) and contributes to the loss of productivity and services provided by ecosystems (ecosystem services). A person’s needs for the various types of ecosystem services (ES) often vary, and are differ from those of other people. Thus, if the use of one type of service is maximised it can result in the decline in the provision of other types of ES. This implies that trade-offs between ES must be made. However, making these trade-offs is often a daunting task that must be addressed in ecosystem planning and the management of natural resources. There is a need for a comprehensive assessment of the provision of ES under various types of land use for making informed decisions in the management of ecosystems. As land use type influences ecological processes, and consequently the type and level of ES supplied, appropriate land use management has the potential to improve the capacity of land to provide different types of ES. However, the impact of different types of land use on the provision of ES are not well understood. There is a need for more research to understand the complexities associated with the impact of land use on the provision of ES.

Several international policy commitments such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and the Ecosystem Services Partnership have reiterated the need for the integration of ESs into decision making as a way to address the issues associated with the loss of ES from different uses of land. However, the complexities associated with the integration of ES in decision making processes especially on the relationships between landscape characteristics and ES, the impact of resource management on the provision of ES and the economic values of ES are not well understood. There has been a growing body of literature on ES, but the trade-offs associated with the provision of ES to support land use management decisions on different uses of land are poorly understood. In order to develop an effective ecosystem management strategy, it is important to have a greater understanding of both the supply and demand sides of ES—that is, the biophysical, sociocultural and economic aspects of the provision of ES. This Special Issue contributes to this understanding by inviting contributions from authors on the subject.

The aim of the Special Issue is to contribute to a greater understanding of:

• The complex relationships between land use and the provision of multiple ES and how it can be incorporated in natural resource management decisions.
• Strategies that can be used to manage conflicts of interest associated with different land uses.
• Ecosystem management strategies that can be used to consider both the supply and demand sides in the provision of ES.

• Relationship between different land use alternatives and the provision of ES (e.g., forest management alternatives and the ES provided).
• Conflict management associated with different land uses. This includes agriculture versus biodiversity conservation; human versus wild animal conflict; and timber versus game for hunting.
• Land use decision-support tools for making informed decisions.
• Trade-offs in the provision of different ES.
• Economic value of ES. This can cover preferences and demand for ES using various valuation methods such as contingent valuation, choice experiment, travel cost and hedonic pricing.

Dr. Eugene Ezebilo
Dr. Patrice Savadogo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• biodiversity conservation
• decision support
• economic value of ecosystem services
• ecosystem services
• land use planning
• natural resource management