An Approach for Managing Landscapes for a Variety of Ecosystem Services in Prespa Lakes Watershed

Abstract

The main goal of this research was to evaluate how well existing and emerging land management practices may be used to manage landscapes for various ecosystem services. By employing a mixed methods approach and conducting a case study in the Prespa Lakes watershed in southeast Europe, this goal was achieved. The necessary information was initially gathered using a semi-stratified survey. Following that, the primary ecosystem services and land management practices present in Prespa Lakes watershed were determined via a workshop and a Delphi survey. The identified ecosystem services were ranked using the multi-criteria analytical hierarchy process method. The most important ecosystem service topics included tourism and recreation, maintenance of healthy water bodies, wildlife habitats, healthy food production, natural and heritage values, and biodiversity. Finally, a set of primary priority land management practices for meeting production and ecosystem service goals in the current conditions of the Prespa Lakes watershed was produced utilizing a ranking framework. The very high priority land management practices include livestock breeding to meet both production and conservation objectives, organic farming, diversified crop rotation, crop and tree diversity, restored wetlands, and planning at landscape level. This study provides an important tool for assessing changes in ecosystem service provision under alternative land management practices.