Residents’ Views on Landscape and Ecosystem Services during a Wind Farm Proposal in an Island Protected Area

Vassiliki Vlami, Jan Danek, Stamatis Zogaris, Eirini Gallou, Ioannis P. Kokkoris, George Kehayias and Panayotis Dimopoulos
Additional contact information
Vassiliki Vlami: Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Patras, 30100 Agrinion, Greece
Jan Danek: Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 60300 Brno, Czech Republic
Stamatis Zogaris: Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, 19013 Anavissos, Greece
Eirini Gallou: Institute for Sustainable Heritage, University College London, London WC1H 0NN, UK
Ioannis P. Kokkoris: Department of Biology, Laboratory of Botany, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece
George Kehayias: Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Patras, 30100 Agrinion, Greece
Panayotis Dimopoulos: Department of Biology, Laboratory of Botany, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Industrial wind farms are being developed within many protected areas, such as in EU Natura 2000 sites; this includes proposals on small Mediterranean islands, such as Samothraki in Greece. Scarce wild land areas on islands may be particularly vulnerable to landscape-scale degradation; this may have serious negative societal impacts. Samothraki’s resident perceptions were surveyed in the wake of such a proposal, in June 2018. Of 98 respondents, 48% reported they were against the wind farm plan, while 22% did not take sides. We compare for-and-against sub-group perceptions of the proposed wind farm with potential impacts on the landscape and explore residents’ opinions on ecosystem services and environmental pressures and threats. Conflict over the wind farm was prevalent; residents most frequently reported that the proposal threatens aesthetic and landscape qualities. Aesthetic qualities were also the second highest ranked ecosystem services, after freshwater provision. However, other threats, such as livestock overgrazing, top residents’ opinion of major environmental problems on the island. The questionnaire survey used provides a scoping assessment, which may assist in identifying "conflict hotspots" for wind farm development. A critical review of wind farm planning in protected areas is presented in light of insights gained from this survey and other relevant studies.

Keywords: public perception; wind turbines; landscape; ecosystem services; Natura 2000; Samothraki (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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