标题：Navigating overgrazing and cultural values through narratives and participatory mapping: a socio-cultural analysis of sheep grazing in the Faroe Islands
摘要：Long-term livestock grazing has shaped landscapes, biodiversity, societies, cultures, and economies in the North Atlantic over time. However, overgrazing has become a major environmentalsustainability challenge for this region, covering the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway,and Scotland. The objective of this study was to elicit narratives and spatial patterns of localpeople’s management preferences for sheep grazing in the Faroe Islands through a sociocultural lens. We collected data via a Public Participation Geographic Information Systems(PPGIS) survey with an open question about hopes and concerns for sheep management inthe Faroe Islands and a mapping exercise for expressing spatial preferences for sheep management. Four distinct narratives emerged from a qualitative analysis of responses to the openquestion (n = 184): (1) Sustainable sheep management, (2) Nature without sheep, (3) Sheep aspart of Faroese culture, and (4) Sheep as nuisance. Visual inspection of narrative-specific mapswith locations where either no or fewer sheep were preferred indicated that sheep management is not simply a ’sheep vs. no sheep’ issue but embedded in a more nuanced considerationof the place of sheep in the landscape and society. For example, for some residents sheepfarming is not a commercial enterprise but a social activity and local source of food. Ourcombined methodological approach using qualitative and spatial data can help researchers inother fields identify the interplay between place-specific areas of grazing management concernand socio-cultural values, enabling more targeted land-use management policies or plans.
