Mallorca keeps an age-old biocultural heritage embodied in their appealing landscapes, largely exploited as an intangible tourist asset. Although hotel and real estate investors ignore or despise the peasant families who still persevere in farming amidst this worldwide-known tourist hotspot, the Balearic Autonomous Government has recently started a pay-for-ecosystem-services scheme based on the tourist eco-tax collection that offers grants to farmers that keep the Majorcan cultural landscapes alive, while a growing number of them have turned organic.

Effective ownership, management and access to land are central for sustainable development and can impact significantly on the opportunities for local enterprise. In 1998, Scotland’s Land Reform Policy Group concluded that ‘Land reform is needed on the grounds of fairness and to secure the public good’ Consequently, Scotland has introduced various schemes that facilitate or compel the transfer of land from an existing landowner to a community body.

Exploiting the full potential of the realizable triple cropping system (RTCS) is one of the most effective methods for increasing land productivity, thus promoting food security. However, insufficient attention is paid to the spatial distribution of the RTCS in China. Here, a method is developed to assess the RTCS in China, considering terrain, climatic conditions, crop climatic-ecological suitability, and the spatial changes in the RTCS between 1951 and 2010.