Not all green is good: eucalyptus plantations and residential landscape satisfaction in Galicia, Spain

Abstract

It is often assumed that more vegetation increases residential landscape satisfaction. We challenge this assumption and conjecture that contested land used, such as plantation forestry, can show negative impacts. To test our hypothesis, we assess in which ways do eucalyptus plantations influence households’ landscape satisfaction in Galicia (NW Spain), a hotspot of ‘eucalyptisation’. We predicate a series of beta-binomial mixed models upon household microdata on residential landscape satisfaction combined with municipal forest inventories. Our models stratify the sample according to quartiles of plantation cover and control for settlement type, age, education and income. Results show a non-linear and context-dependent impact of eucalyptus on landscape satisfaction. Satisfaction declines where eucalyptus is marginal and again where plantations dominate. Interpreted through a Plantationocene lens, these findings indicate that preferences reflect sociodemographic position and historically mediated landscape meanings. Regular monitoring of residential landscape satisfaction would provide planners with citizen-informed evidence on landscape change.