Quali-quantitative models for the analysis of Cultural Ecosystem Services: investigation on the recreational functions of the agro-forestry territory.

Cultural ecosystem services (CESs) are a particular type of intangible benefits that derive from ecosystems and contribute to human well-being. Due to their intangibility, the evaluation of CESs is particularly challenging. Therefore, this is a topic that can be further explored in the current literature. On the one hand, there is no real market for these services to easily estimate their monetary value; on the other hand, their intangible effects make investigations very complex. The research project comes from the idea of developing a support model for the public administration, in order to provide a useful tool to highlight the potential and resources provided by the territory. The purpose of this thesis is to explore different methods for the assessment of CESs: quantitative models for an economic estimation; and qualitative models for the study of contents related to the use of CESs. Within the category of CESs, the tourist-recreational function for outdoor activities was selected as the object of study, with particular reference to the agro-forestry area. This function has been declined according to two specific thematic strands in the field of outdoor recreational activities: the recreational hunting function; the visit to the protected areas. For the first research line, the territory of the province of Siena in Tuscany (Italy) was chosen as the study area. The choice to develop part of the investigation in Tuscany is firstly due to the fact that in this region hunting is very relevant as a recreational activity. Secondly, the regional administration is promoting both: a sustainable hunting model to help manage the high load of ungulates that has negatively impacted on agricultural and forestry productions; and a slow tourism policy to reduce the tourist flow to the big cities, creating new job opportunities in the rural area thanks to the enhancement of CESs. In this perspective, the Tuscan territory will be transformed into a tourist product, where the evaluation of CESs can represent a useful tool for combining territorial development and protection. The model for the economic assessment of the recreational hunting function was developed in the following steps. Initially, a series of meetings were held with local and national sector associations and regional administration offices responsible for the management of hunting activity. Sector associations and regional offices collaborated to: develop a questionnaire to determine hunting habits; and disclose the survey through their social channels. The investigation was addressed to all hunters resident in Tuscany, who during the 2018-2019 hunting season had hunted in the province of Siena. In the next step, based on the data collected, the hunters’ consumer surplus was estimated using the travel cost method. In addition, a detailed analysis of the annual expenditures for hunting activities was performed. The findings show that hunting has now become an elitist and almost exclusively recreational activity, and that it is no longer seen as an income supplement for rural communities. Moreover, by economic estimation of the recreational hunting function, the financial importance of this type of CES can be easily communicated to non-experts. Indeed, it has been found that the annual recreational hunting value for the entire territory of Tuscany is approximately between a minimum of EUR 68 million and a maximum of EUR 170 million. This value far exceeds that of the current Tuscan forest production, which is around EUR 25 million each years. In conclusion, knowledge of the economic value of CESs provides an essential foundation for planning effective management and development policies for the local territory. As regards the second research line, i.e. visit to protected areas, the Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia) was chosen as the study area. The Plitvice Lakes National Park is one of the most important naturalistic areas for international flows in Central Europe. At the same time, it is attracting increasing interest from the local population. The aim of the research project was to develop a flexible methodology for the analysis of the demanding management of protected areas, taking into account the perspective of visitors. The main reason for this complexity lies in the trade-off that exists between conserving natural ecosystems and promoting tourist visits for economic reasons. Methodologically, a complex system of several tools was implemented. First of all, TripAdvisor reviews on “Plitvice Lakes National Park” were scraped. Second, a sentiment analysis was performed, assigning each review a score. After that, a rapid automatic keyword extraction (i.e. a particular type of natural language processing procedure) was applied to extrapolate the main keywords from the reviews. Based on former results, the analysis of definitely positive and decidedly negative reviews made it possible to identify strengths and weaknesses of the tourist destination studied on the basis of visitors’ opinion. In parallel, the multidimensional scaling method and cluster analysis were used to explore potential combinations or groups of words that share similar schemes of appearance. In this way, it was possible to derive the main elements perceived by the reviewers that should be considered for an effective and rational management of the protected areas. Based on previous results, it is clear that visitors are especially sensitive to management aspects. For this reason, an online questionnaire was designed to determine how visitors perceive certain topics related to the theme of the visit system. In the survey, visitors were invited to indicate their level of priority on a variety of management issues. Subsequently, the results achieved were compared to the priorities assigned by the managers in the current Plitvice Lakes National Park Management Plan 2019-2028. The findings of the study proved that visitors to nature-based destinations are interested in discussing and contributing to the management of these places, and not only to appreciate the natural landscapes and beauties. Consequently, it seemed appropriate to involve visitors as protected area stakeholders to obtain their views on management issues. Briefly, social media data analysis combined with online questionnaires for visitors proved to be a comprehensive survey method. This methodology has made it possible to collect useful and practical information for those involved in the management and planning of protected natural areas. In conclusion, this thesis sought to explore a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods for assessing recreational functions within the CES category. Actually, a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis would lead to building a more accurate framework for CESs. Furthermore, relying on different sources of investigation, a solid foundation of knowledge can simplify and improve the efficiency of natural heritage management, taking human activities into account as well. For this reason, it is essential that those who manage the natural resources linked to CESs invest in preliminary studies, in order to make effective investment and planning efforts.