Recreational and aesthetic values of forest landscapes (RAFL): Quantifying management impacts and trade-offs with provisioning and regulatory ecosystem services

Abstract

Cultural ecosystem services (CES), which encompass recreational and aesthetic values, contribute to human well-being and yet are often underrepresented in forest management planning due to challenges in quantifying these services. This study introduces the Recreational and Aesthetic Values of Forested Landscapes (RAFL) index, a novel framework combining six measurable recreational and aesthetic components: Stewardship, Naturalness, Complexity, Visual Scale, Historicity, and Ephemera. The RAFL index was integrated into a Linear Programming (LP) Resource Capability Model (RCM) to assess trade-offs between CES and other ecosystem services, including timber production, wildfire resistance, and biodiversity. The approach was applied in a case study in Northern Portugal, comparing two forest management scenarios: Business as Usual (BAU), dominated by eucalyptus plantations, and an Alternative Scenario (ALT), focused on the conversion to native species: cork oak, chestnut, and pedunculate oak. Results revealed that the ALT scenario consistently achieved higher RAFL values, reflecting its potential to enhance CES, while also supporting higher biodiversity and wildfire resilience compared to the BAU scenario. Results highlighted further that management may maintain steady timber production and wildfire regulatory services while addressing concerns with CES. This study provides a replicable methodology for quantifying CES and integrating them into forest management frameworks, offering actionable insights for decision-makers. The findings highlight the effectiveness of the approach in designing landscape mosaics that provide CES while addressing the need to supply provisioning and regulatory ecosystem services.