Mapping cultural ecosystem services: Connecting visual landscape quality to cost estimations for enhanced services provision

This paper presents a methodology to map demand for cultural ecosystem services assessed via a visual choice experiment approach aimed to estimate the contributions of different landscape elements to the overall landscape preference in a case study region in North-East Germany. The levels of four landscape attributes, i.e. green linear elements, green point elements, livestock and crop diversity are mapped over 100m regular square grid, which allows identifying priority areas for local landscape management from an aesthetic perspective. Taking into account local conditions, target thresholds were set in terms of optimal probability of occurrence for linear and point elements in order to enhance cultural services supply. For the whole area an average potential increase in attractiveness of nearly 24% was estimated, resulting from the increase of both point and linear elements. Likewise, an average potential loss of 23% in attractiveness results from the removal of landscape elements down to the reference median thresholds. As the increment in linear element probability was mapped, the associated density increase and preference score were calculated. The related costs were estimated and mapped as well. Setting local reference thresholds equal to the observed median frequencies results in an estimated increase in linear elements of ca. 43km. Depending on the element types, total costs are estimated between 389 and 842k€, respectively 15–30€ha−1. Costs in terms of increased landscape attractiveness, expressed in utility class score, are estimated as well. The findings are discussed in a planning and policy intervention context.