Regional Mountain Conference

The Ecosystem Services (ES) field is advancing towards more holistic and inclusive understandings of the benefits that humans derive from nature and the human-nature interactions, yet knowledge on cultural ecosystem services -especially heritage and identity- remains limited. This study examines residents’ and tourists’ pluralistic values towards characteristic landscapes in South Tyrol (Italy), capturing the diverse range of human-nature imaginaries that emerge from the convergence of cultural and natural diversity in a common context, and explores the influence that changes on ecosystems may have on the perception of valued landscapes. Mixed-method surveys were conducted online and in person with residents and tourists of South Tyrol, yielding a total of 318 questionnaires. We also analysed the interdependence of these landscape perceptions with demographic and ecological factors that could affect these cultural landscapes in the future, using statistical and text analysis. Preliminary evidence suggests that some landscape types, such as alpine pastures, are more strongly perceived as regionally meaningful. However, the heritage values expressed by respondents appear only weakly dependent on landscape type, indicating that landscape meaningfulness stems primarily from shared practices, memories and identities rather than from specific landforms. For instance, arable land with hedges was selected least often as an important landscape yet was attributed high cultural and historical value. Moreover, respondents anticipated that the importance of landscapes in the future would increase with higher biodiversity, although this expectation was species dependent.