Mapping Ecosystem Services in a Mediterranean Watershed in the Context of Socio-ecological Restoration Actions, Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change

Abstract

Human prosperity and well-being of Mediterranean watersheds are underpinned by their natural capital, which among others, provide clean water and multi-functional landscapes, today jeopardized. Historically, water demand for irrigation and industrial use, along with increased population density and land-use changes, has altered the landscape of Mediterranean basins. Mapping Ecosystem Services (ES) is thus key to understanding how basins depend on biodiversity, the effects of shortcutting ES functions, and the consequences to its societies. Based on land-use data and well-known relationships between ES, together with key spatial information for management purposes, we provide maps of a Mediterranean watershed placed in Eastern Spain called El Mijares, aimed at raising awareness about areas of ecosystem goods and services to watershed stakeholders. These outputs will then be used as the point of departure from which to identify ES priorities and discuss potential actions to promote ES with watershed stakeholders, in a participatory way. Lastly and based on the previous steps, different socio-ecological models will be constructed for assisting local actions for sustainable use of El Mijares ES. The methodology developed for El Mijares may be replicated in other Mediterranean watersheds which face similar challenges in water management and desertification. The up-scaling of this pilot study may promote nature conservation, climate protection, and disaster risk reduction in the Mediterranean by considering the scientific literature and the know-how of the local societies. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024