Sustainable development in karst areas should be adapted to its specificities and take into account its vulnerability. The assessment of the development potential and management of karst areas is of ...great importance in Slovenia. This book presents the analyses of the impact of landscape features on the land use and sustainable development in a marginal Slovenian karst landscape ‒ Bela krajina. In order to draw attention to the combination of social perspectives with natural conditions for an integrative view of the karst landscapes, three approaches were used: 1. assessment of the degree of human disturbance to the karst landscape, 2. analyses of land use dynamics, and 3. quantitative and qualitative analyses of the sustainable development of Bela krajina. Karst landscape features affect sustainable development of the study region both positively and negatively. According to local stakeholders the positive effects are mainly connected with tourism, and the negative effects are mainly connected with hampered agriculture. The main message is that karst landscape features should not only be seen as limiting factors, but also for their development potential.
Garden-plot areas spontaneously developed and were distributed across the entire flat area of Ljubljana. Due to a new, more urban lifestyle and a policy change by the city authorities, the area of ...garden plots fell considerably at the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first centuries. The most recent analysis of plot gardening in the City of Ljubljana, which surveyed 302 plot gardeners, showed that the overall infrastructure available in garden-plot areas is relatively poor. This activity is mainly practiced by older and lower-income people, most of whom live in apartment buildings. Due to pesticide residues and heavy metals in the soil and produce, as well as groundwater contamination, plot gardening poses a threat to public health and the environment. The 2008 Draft Ljubljana Zoning Implementation Plan foresees a reduction in the total area of plot-gardening areas by nearly half~however, even the planned community garden plots include some that do not meet the minimum location standards. Some garden-plot areas are problematic primarily because they are located close to major traffic routes. In the future, plot gardeners will have to be more systematically informed and educated about proper and safe use of fertilizers and pesticides.
Ljubljansko polje is a juncture of numerous human activities. The source of drinking water for about 300,000 residents, it holds one of the most important bodies of groundwater in the country. ...Unfortunately, the influences of urbanization, agriculture and industry that threaten and burden it are reflected in the quality and quantity of the groundwater.
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