Cultural ecosystem services evaluation in a coastal city of China using social media data

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The coastal and marine ecosystem provides many ecosystem services, including provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services, which are all significant to human well-being. The value of Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) has yet to be fully recognized due to the inability to quantify and monetize, which brings to the overall ignorance except for the recreational and tourism value. Based on CES-related social media data (Weibo) posted in Xiamen within the 12 months in 2021, this study maps the spatiotemporal distribution of CES in Xiamen using a combined approach consisting of GIS spatial analysis and Social Network Analysis (SNA). The comprehensive and qualitative evaluation conducted in this study reveals that; 1) the highest CES values and the most diverse CES types were found in Gulangyu Island, which is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site; 2) among all habitats, the beaches have the highest CES value, accompanied by wetland parks, and islands; 3) for CES types, the spiritual services have higher values than other CES types particularly ecotourism which has become the priority in previous studies, and with educational services exhibiting the lowest value. This study provides constructive suggestions for the coordination and management of coastal resources and demonstrates a feasible new approach using social data to evaluate the coastal CES more comprehensively, and provides science-based recommendations for the local governments to improve social well-being through the contribution of the coastal CES.