Decision support systems to improve the provision of forest ecosystem services: Stakeholders' opinions and expectations in Italy and North-Macedonia

In recent decades, Decision Support Systems (DSSs) have become increasingly relevant for supporting decision-makers in forest planning and management. In the literature, several studies have developed DSSs to optimize the provision of certain ecosystem services (ESs) such as timber production, biodiversity conservation and recreation, but there is a knowledge gap on the users' perspective. This study investigates stakeholders' opinions on the role and usefulness of DSSs in forest management planning and the importance of different ESs provided by forests to be considered in DSSs development. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 55 stakeholders from Italy (32) and North-Macedonia (23) to gather their points of view. Results highlighted that 43.8 % of Italian stakeholders and 30.4 % of North-Macedonian stakeholders are familiar with DSSs concept, while only a minority regularly uses these tools in their work (6.3 % and 13.0 % respectively). Despite limited direct use, respondents demonstrated strong expertise in ESs and in assessing the effects of forest management on ESs. On this topic, stakeholders of both countries converge in considering the regulating services (natural hazards protection and climate change mitigation) as the most important ESs provided by forests, followed by provisioning services (timber and bioenergy production). Regarding forest management strategies, “combined objective” and “close-to-nature” approaches were identified as having the most positive impacts on ESs. The “combined objective” strategy is considered most effective for enhancing climate change mitigation, timber and bioenergy production, while close-to-nature management is preferred for improving biodiversity and genetic resources.