Da Costa Gomes, Eduardo Jonas

High Nature Value farmland (HNVf) represents a rural landscape characterized by extensive farming practices. These lands not only deliver vital ecosystem services (ES) but also serve as significant harbors of biodiversity, underscoring their critical conservation status. Consequently, European Union countries have prioritized the identification, monitoring, and enhancement of HNVf systems in their policies. As governments and international organizations increasingly lean on green subsidies to promote sustainable environmental practices, the valuation of ecosystem services (VES) emerges as a crucial tool. This valuation offers both an economic rationale for conservation and aids in determining the optimal allocation of these subsidies for maximum environmental and economic return on investment. Given the potential for such valuations to shape and justify conservation subsidies, there is a growing imperative to understand the research trends and knowledge gaps in this realm. This article, through a bibliometric review, seeks to illuminate the size, growth trajectory, and thematic tendencies within HNVf and VES literature. Bibliometric analysis is recognized as promising in identifying research trends; thus, this article consists of a bibliometric review of HNVf and VES research. The objective is to identify the size, growth trajectory, and geographic distribution of HNVf and VES literature between the first publication until 2022, while assessing the critical publishing journals, authors, documents, and conceptual structure of the research fields (e.g., economic, social, and environmental). The analysis revealed a predominant concentration of research on HNVf in Europe, with limited studies conducted outside this continent. The primary focus of these studies revolved around subject areas such as environmental science, agriculture, and biological sciences. Conversely, regarding research on VES, there was no clear regional concentration. VES research publications mainly covered the interdisciplinary fields of economics, biology, and policymaking. As the fields of HNVf and VES have evolved, it is evident that there has been a stronger push towards data-driven approaches, emphasizing the need for tangible assessments and precise understanding. In examining the overlap between topics, the analysis revealed a gap between methodologies for HNVf monitoring and conservation and VES, highlighting the need for further development in crafting an integrated approach encompassing both areas.

Assessing preferences of recreational activities related to cultural ecosystem services (CES) in urban areas is essential for decision-making and urban green space (UGS) management. This work aims to assess the preferences and factors (based on socio-demographic and motivation variables) influencing CES-related activities in Vilnius, Lithuania, to provide scientific knowledge to support more efficient UGS design and management. Participatory mapping was reported as relevant for urban park planning and decision-making and was applied to identify spatially explicit CES. We assessed the perceived relevance of five CES-related activities groups (Social activities, Inspirational activities, Cultural activities, Spiritual activities, and Physical activities) via participatory mapping through an online survey (n = 1.114). The users selected one preferred geographic location for each CES-related activities group and attributed relevance (using a 5-point Likert scale) for a set of motivation items. The results showed that Physical and Social activities were the respondents' most important CES-related activity groups, while Spiritual activities were the less popular. Factor Analysis showed that the respondent's recreation experience preferences, or motivations, were the most relevant variables influencing all the groups except for the Social activities group. Regarding Cultural activities, preferences for understanding things & learn about history were the most relevant variables. For Inspirational activities, the variables developing knowledge & to learn were the most important. Enjoying nature's quietness & frequency was the most relevant for Physical activities. Regarding Spiritual activities, the most important variables were related to the development of spiritual activities and the reflection on personal religious values. Finally, socio-demographic variables mainly influenced social activities, namely education level, gender and age group. The spatial distribution was different between activity groups. Inspirational activities showed the highest dispersion, and Spiritual activities the highest concentration. The results of this work are relevant to municipal managers, as they allow for a better understanding of users' interactions with the territory, its multifunctionality, and potential areas of conflict between conservation and recreation.

Mapping and assessing landscape aesthetic quality (LAQ) at the national level can provide valuable insights to scientists and policymakers about the general condition of targeted cultural ecosystem service (CES). A generalised view based on unified methodological standards allows comparing LAQ between countries, thus facilitating international environmental management policies. LAQ can be assessed by combining subjective and objective metrics. This approach makes it challenging to map and assess the LAQ at national scale since it requires consensus-based methodologies to be reliably applicable in a broader geographic region. The national-scale studies related to LAQ are not common since they require high computational resources and differ in data accessibility. However, it is crucial to conduct broader LAQ studies to reveal the more general picture of LAQ condition and support (adjust) policy implementation at the national scale. More studies are needed to assess LAQ at the national level. This study aims to map and assess LAQ in Lithuania on the national scale. To achieve this aim, we adapted a LAQ mapping and assessment approach previously applied in Germany at the national scale. Based on previous work, we tested the methodology's transferability by applying it in a different geographical region by using local datasets. In this study, we partially modified sub-indicators calculation methods and performed an additional in-depth analysis to gather more information on LAQ accessibility and condition in Lithuania. Geographic Information Systems modeling and spatial statistics analysis allowed for achieving this aim. The results revealed that agricultural and urban areas had the lowest landscape diversity, naturalness, uniqueness, and LAQ in general, while areas with high ruggedness, forests, protected areas, natural monuments, and heritage sites had the highest LAQ scores. Viewshed analysis showed that a significant part of Lithuanian territory with the highest LAQ values have limited visibility due to terrain energy and undulation. Curonian spit and Nemunas riverbanks are few of high LAQ areas with high visual accessibility potential. The patches with high LAQ were clustered in protected areas, while the lowest LAQ values were observed in agricultural lands and urbanised areas. LAQ CES assessment is critical for higher quality environmental management regulation practices. High LAQ areas may need a better protection and provide wellbeing for the population, while low LAQ areas may require additional restoration effort. It also provides a better understanding of the LAQ condition and contributes to achieve national, European, and global goals related to landscape planning, management, and sustainable development.