The TerraForm project aims to explore the human modification of landscapes as a fundamental nexus between humans and the environment. It will use the Maltese Archipelago as a model case study for the evolution and impacts of agricultural terracing. Human-modified landscapes modulate the effects of climate change on human societies. For example, concrete surfaces increase flood risks and dense cities exacerbate the effects of warming. However, urbanisation is not the only major form of landscape modification. Agricultural terraces represent one of the largest-scale human modifications of the planet, and have many positive effects for cultivation, soil retention, carbon and water storage, and biodiversity. TerraForm will therefore use Malta as a model system for understanding the evolution and consequences of terracing, from inception to abandonment, alongside societal feedback over time. Through its small size, remote location, and limited soil development, Malta offers controlled conditions for such a study. Using Malta as a model system is therefore timely, and as the most intensive single-locus study of terracing ever conducted, TerraForm will generate multidisciplinary data and transferable methodologies to ultimately inform sustainable land use policies and improve planetary health.
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[Website University of Malta]