Carbon farming from a land use dynamics perspective

Adapting to and mitigating the various climate effects in a catchment through interventions like nature-based solutions (NbS) requires changes in land use. Changes in the spatial distributed activities over time within the catchment are a key part of these land use dynamics. These dynamics are influenced by natural processes (e.g. soil-water system) and human activities (e.g. farming, stream flow measures). The land is used by a variety of stakeholders (tenants, farmers, nature organisations), while interventions in the form of nature-based solutions are planned and implemented by water managers and spatial governments. It is crucial to understand these changes and their impact on land use dynamics when designing and implementing nature-based solutions in a catchment. In this study, we test how hydrological models (used by water managers) coupled with soil carbon models can help this discussion. The study tests the spatial effects of hydrological interventions on carbon sequestration in agriculture in a cross-border catchment (Aa of Weerijs, SE Breda, NL / BE).During the design stage, stakeholder meetings were organised to gather the different perspectives on hydrological interventions and carbon farming. Coupling relatively simple models makes the interaction between planning nature-based solutions on soil carbon transparent, and helps the discussion on future land use dynamics on NbS and carbon farming.