Diana Surová

Landscape preferences in the cork oak Montado region of Alentejo, southern Portugal: Searching for valuable landscape characteristics for different user groups

Abstract The Montado is the open savannah-like landscape predominant in southern Portugal. This landscape results from an extensively managed agro-silvo-pastoral system and has for a long time been appreciated for a variety of other uses. Research is needed in relation to the links between the various intensities of use, the resulting landscape patterns and new societal functions. In this study the preferences of user groups representing these functions are surveyed in relation to these diverse landscape patterns. Interviews with land users and also landowners were carried out using photograph preference techniques relating to the management options of the cork oak Montado. The results showed divergences among hunters, mushroom pickers, beekeepers, landowners, Portuguese walkers and foreign walkers. The content analysis of qualitative data revealed preferences relating to landscape characteristics. In particular, walkers were receptive not only to objective features, but particularly perceived the importance of subjective experiences in landscape.

The fuzziness of Montado landscapes: progress in assessing user preferences through photo-based surveys

The European Landscape Convention (2000) states that landscape is an important contributor to the quality of life for people everywhere and that landscape is a complex of natural and cultural factors, as they are seen by the observer. Landscape preference, i.e. the degree to which people like a landscape and variations in the same type of landscape pattern, is an emerging field of knowledge, still under development. Moreover, knowing how preferences of rural landscapes differ among stakeholders can help define and support management responses to the changing demands of modern society. There is a need to understand this demand for new uses and activities, such as hunting, leisure, recreation, life quality support, and aesthetic appreciation. In Mediterranean extensive land use systems, such as the Montado, where agricultural production is under threat, but where the demand for amenity functions is increasing, assessing preferences and thus what the public is looking for, is particularly relevant. This papers demonstrates how photo based surveys can be an suitable tool for assessing landscape preferences in Montado landscapes, and also that, in order to cope with the underlying fuzziness of these landscapes, the images need to be edited (manipulated) so that the variations shown to respondents are adequately controlled in the study. The methodological approach as well as the results, of two different studies on the users preferences for Montado landscapes, applied to case-study areas in the region of Alentejo, Portugal, are presented. The issues concerned with photo manipulation are a particular focus of discussion.

Integrating differentiated landscape preferences in a decision support model for the multifunctional management of the Montado

A great part of the Alentejo region in Southern Portugal is covered by an agro-silvo pastoral system, the Montado. This traditional land-use system is specific, inter alia, in its ability to join production with favorable conditions for non-production functions. At the present time, as society positively evaluates and even demands cultural and amenity functions from the countryside, the Montado management faces the challenge of integrating production with non-production functions in a way which will result in suitable multifunctionality, and a more sound viability of the whole system. The decision support tool (DST) for the cork oak Montado management, the CORKFITS, based on the single-tree growth model and working at the stand level, is oriented primarily to the management of the production functions, but it is able to integrate also other data that can contribute for a more multifunctionality oriented management. In this exploratory study, the integration in the DST, of the preference distribution, as expressed by landscape users is investigated. The aim was to test a more comprehensive functioning of this tool, where non-production functions are also integrated. The described integration intended to communicate to decision-makers how the change in management practices at tree and under cover level, might alter the satisfaction of expectations of different user groups, as such changes affect the composition of the Montado, at both levels. The users considered are those practicing non-production functions in the Montado. Preferences were assessed through a questionnaire survey applied in the region of Alentejo, in the area of dominance of the cork oak, in the Montado system. The non-production functions are, in this context, related particularly to hunting, aesthetic appreciation related to walking and other leisure activities, to life quality, and to tradition and identity, as well as bee-keeping and mushroom picking. This paper focuses on the description of the specific methodological steps applied for the successful integration of the landscape preferences of different user groups into the DST for the cork oak Montado. Integration has proved to be possible, even if some methodological challenges still need to be faced for a more consistent use of the proposed tool.

Visual complexity and the montado do matter: landscape pattern preferences of user groups in Alentejo, Portugal

Abstract• ContextThe current paradigms for the sustainable development of forests and agriculture involve territorial organization of these activities as well as the multifunctionality of the related landscapes. Accordingly, the new management strategies need to take into account the suitability of the resulting landscapes to produce the goods and services expected by society.• AimsThe aim of the study was to assess the preferred landscape patterns by different groups of users. In focus were the relations between the landscape metrics of preferred patterns and the individual characteristics of respondents.• MethodsA regional quantitative survey of both production and different consumption landscape users was conducted in the Alentejo region, southern Portugal. Respondents composed their preferred patterns on a block diagram representing an area of landscape seen from a single view according to the existing topographic conditions in the study area.• ResultsIn general, the visually complex landscape patterns were preferred more than the homogeneous ones. However, the metrics of preferred patterns varied between the user groups. The montado was the only land cover class that was present in the majority of preferred patterns.• ConclusionFor landscape users in southern Portugal, the visually complex landscapes including the montado are essential to satisfy their expectations. This may be an important fact to be taken into account for policy and landscape management in the future.

Contributions of Iberian Silvo-Pastoral Landscapes to the Well-Being of Contemporary Society

ABSTRACT Assessments of societys perceptions of rangeland systems offer insights into the motivations, cultural beliefs, and values that can support landscape conservation and the everyday decisions of landowners. Silvo-pastoral landscapes, the grazed oak woodlands known as montado in Portugal and dehesa in Spain, are the main rangelands of southwestern Iberia. At the interface of complex interactions between natural processes and human activities, they have potential to deliver multiple services at the ecosystem level. However, the actual rendering of their potential to the well-being of contemporary society has not been comprehensively documented. This paper aims to enrich research perspectives and identify benefits and challenging aspects of silvo-pastoral landscapes through the lens of society well-being. An integrated socioecological perspective is used to examine one case study in Portugal and one in Spain. To better understand their context, montado and dehesa are assessed relative to other landscape types in the studied areas. A qualitative approach assesses tangible but also intangible aspects. The interviewed stakeholders include members of rural communities, public authorities, land managers, and researchers. Results reveal similar benefits and challenges in montado and dehesa. Interviewees considered them to have numerous sociocultural and environmental benefits. These were mainly regulatory services but also intangible benefits such as cultural identity, aesthetic qualities, and local knowledge. Nevertheless, a rendering of their full potential to society well-being has numerous challenges. These systems were believed to struggle economically, due to the low prices for the goods produced and a high dependence on subsidies. Their environmental vulnerability was also highlighted. Critical challenges for future research and policy interventions are identified for both case studies. Moreover, we encourage the wider application of approaches to rangelands focusing on well-being, as they provide a complement to ecological and economic perspectives that can improve understanding of social-ecological systems.