Carbon sequestration and land-taking processes. A study concerning Sardinia

Achieving the no-net-land-take goal by 2050 implies giving maximum priority to the ecological profile in the context of current planning practices, which are characterized by other major issues, such as regulating land uses and values, real estate markets and related spatial rent. Urban expansion and related land-taking processes not only entail an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide emissions, but also a decrease in the areas suitable to capture and store carbon, due the increase in land take. New ecological-oriented approaches are needed, which should define innovative spatial taxonomies of land uses. Under this perspective, land-take should either be limited or taken completely out. This study discusses the relationship between land-taking processes and the provision of the ecosystem service of carbon sequestration. A theoretical framework to assess this relationship is proposed, which is implemented into the spatial context of Sardinia, an insular region of Italy. Land cover features are analyzed by using the CORINE Land Cover dataset, made available for different time series by the European Environment Agency. Carbon sequestration is assessed by the spatial taxonomy of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) related to natural and semi-natural areas. The NDVI allows to approximate carbon capture and storage, and to identify a relationship between the availability of this ecosystem service and land take. The results entail important implications in terms of the definition of planning policies aimed at limiting land-taking processes and, by doing so, at conserving and enhancing the capacity of carbon sequestration.