Mutualising territorial issues in the context of field crops - INSPA: a GIS tool coupling hydrology and ecology.

Abstract

For many years, the land has undergone land use planning aimed at promoting agricultural productivity, sometimes to the detriment of the environment, particularly in the context of field crops. Aquatic environments have been degraded, resulting in a decline in water quality and loss of ecological habitats. To apply the regulations related to the Water Framework Directive and achieve the objectives of good status, actions must be undertaken. It is within this context that the Brie'EAU research project fits in, which among several ecological engineering actions or, more broadly, nature-based solutions (abbreviated SFN in French), develops the concept of Artificial Wetland Buffer Zone (ZTHA). These ZTHAs help improve water quality, maintain or even strengthen local biodiversity, contribute to the terrestrial and aquatic ecological network and diversify the agricultural landscape. Initial studies have shown that ZTHAs address these environmental issues and thus guarantee various ecosystem services. A spatial analysis tool, INSPA (French acronym for INsertion SPAtiale or "SPatial INsertion") allows proposing sites for new ZTHAs by conciliating the hydrological and ecological functions of a territory. The multi-criteria geomatic analysis is therefore based on the combination of hydrological and ecological layers characterized with buffer distances. The tool makes it possible to adapt these distances according to the priority issues of a territory in order to serve as a tool for spatial and temporal planning.