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An ecosystem services-based SWOT analysis is proposed in order to identify and quantify internal and external factors supporting or threatening the conservation effectiveness of protected areas. The proposed approach concerns both the ecological and the social perspective. Strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats were evaluated based on 12 selected environmental and socio-economic indicators for all terrestrial Italian protected areas, belonging to the Natura 2000 network, and for their 5-km buffer area. The indicators, used as criteria within a multi-criteria assessment, include: core area, cost-distance between protected areas, changes in ecosystem services values, intensification of land use, and urbanization. The results were aggregated for three biogeographical regions, Alpine, Continental, and Mediterranean, indicating that Alpine sites have more opportunities and strengths than Continental and Mediterranean sites. The results call attention to where connectivity and land-use changes may have stronger influence on protected areas, in particular, whereas urbanization or intensification of agriculture may hamper conservation goals of protected areas. The proposed SWOT analysis provides helpful information for a multiple scale perspective and for identifying conservation priorities and for defining management strategies to assure biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provision.

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The ability of agricultural areas to produce non-commodity outputs in addition to food and fiber, i.e. multifunctionality, is increasingly at the core of policies promoting sustainability. Assessing the potential benefits for biodiversity and understanding tradeoffs among multiple ecosystem services (ES) from agricultural areas remain key challenges, especially in mountainous landscapes. Through a case-study approach, we assess the tradeoffs and synergies between the ES associated with agricultural areas. We map and assess the ES provided by seven study areas in northern Italy, aiming to provide guidance on the relationship between the agricultural land use intensity and provision of ES. In total, we performed a quantitative evaluation of 10 ES indicators, followed by their thematic aggregation and correlation analyses to gain a better understanding of the spatial ES tradeoffs. Our findings highlight that the transition to intensive forms of agricultural exploitation, in addition to the loss of habitats, also involves a reduction in cultural services.