Regional Mountain Conference

Orchard Meadows (OM) are traditional agroforestry systems that provide multiple ecosystem services. By enhancing regional resilience and preserving social heritage, they can hold significant potential as Nature-based Solutions (NbS). However, they have experienced a sharp decline due to the agricultural intensification on valley bottoms and abandonment on less accessible, marginal slopes. While this general trend is known to affect Orchard Meadows in Central Europe, the specific extent of this loss remains unclear on the local scale, especially in mountain regions. This work presents a comparative, spatially explicit data set assessing the change in Orchard Meadows distribution in the Alpine region of South Tyrol (Italy) over a 70-year interval. By comparing historical orthophotos (1954-56) with current imagery (2020-25), it quantifies areas of persistence, loss, and current distribution patterns. This enables the localization of areas where they resisted despite the dramatic loss, and crucially, areas where management remained feasible and valued by stakeholders. Hence, it can provide land managers, planners, and policymakers with a spatially explicit baseline to identify priority areas for conservation, restoration, and sustainable management, supporting evidence-based planning of Nature-based Solutions at local and regional scales.