Abstract
Fragmentation is a complex issue and the way it is framed will impact on policy decisions. The Czech Republic has adopted several strategic policy documents in spatial planning and environmental domains that address fragmentation. However, these documents differ in how they frame fragmentation. Our goal was to evaluate the differences in 1) framing the problem of fragmentation and 2) suggested solutions. We performed a content analysis of the strategic policy documents by coding text using the key fragmentation aspects - biological organization, land cover, and connectivity. Next, we categorized data either to species-oriented, pattern-oriented, or ecosystem service frames and suggested criteria to evaluate the quality of the framing. This method was useful to show the divergence in the framing of fragmentation as a problem between two policy domains. The results show that the pattern-oriented frame and mitigation solutions are the most prominent aspects, and also fragmentation is not well framed.
Acknowledgements
Anna M. Hersperger was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation ERC TBS Consolidator Grant BSCGIO 157789. The study which formed the basis of this paper was supported by the Czech Science Foundation by project Individual and organizational decision-making in environmental risk reduction: determinants, motivations and efficiency (DeMaRisk, no. 16-02521S). We are grateful to Keith Edwards for language proofing. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for the valuable and constructive feedback which helped improve the quality of the manuscript.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).