Assessing the Cultural Ecosystem Services Value of Protected Areas Considering Stakeholders’ Preferences and Trade-Offs—Taking the Xin’an River Landscape Corridor Scenic Area as an Example

Abstract

Improving the accuracy of cultural ecosystem services (CESs) value assessment and paying more attention to the preferences and trade-offs of stakeholders in the administration of CESs are of vital importance for achieving resilient ecosystem management. Combining methodologies from sociology (Q method) and economics (choice experiment), an assessment framework of CESs is introduced to examine stakeholders’ preferences and willingness to pay to participate in CESs in protected areas so as to explore how the value of CESs in protected areas can be optimized. The results show that the selection of CESs by stakeholders reflects certain synergies and trade-offs. Visitors can be classified as preferring humanistic–natural recreation, aesthetic–sense of place, or environmental education according to the factor ranking of the Q method. Visitors have a higher willingness to pay for humanistic heritage and a lower willingness to pay for sense of place experience, which can be measured at $6.55 per visit and $0.96 per visit, respectively. This indicates that the local customs and characteristics should be further explored and promoted through traditional festival celebrations and farming activities in further development of protected areas, apart from protecting local cultural heritages such as Huizhou ancient villages and halls. Furthermore, it is also necessary to actively explore the synergistic development of CESs, promote social participation, raise stakeholders’ awareness of available services, manage visitors and stakeholders from a demand perspective, and promote the realization of the value of ecological products in protected areas.

Exploring Factors Influencing Recreational Experiences of Urban River Corridors Based on Social Media Data

“…Simultaneously, to bolster the connectivity of urban river corridors, optimizing public transportation routes and installing bike lanes are necessary measures to enhance user mobility. Through the collaborative efforts of government departments, urban planners, community organizations, and the public, a more pleasant, convenient, and sustainable environment for urban river corridors can be created, providing residents and tourists with enhanced leisure experiences [139,140].…”

Measuring the Perceived Heterogeneity of Cultural Ecosystem Services in National Cultural Parks: Evidence from China

“…We have found that heterogeneity in the perception of heritage destination CESs is quite complex, with differences in user identity and attitudes influencing the extent to which the landscape environment is perceived [32]. Previous studies have focused on tourists [33,34] and ignored the critical role of residents [35]. Residents living within the service radius of a national cultural park are the primary users.…”