Where Do Ecosystem Services Come From? Assessing and Mapping Stakeholder Perceptions on Water Ecosystem Services in the Muga River Basin (Catalonia, Spain)

Enrica Garau, Josep Vila-Subiros, Josep Pueyo-Ros and Anna Ribas Palom
Additional contact information
Enrica Garau: Department of Geography, Institute of Environment, IMA-UdG, University of Girona, 17071 Girona, Spain
Josep Vila-Subiros: Department of Geography, Institute of Environment, IMA-UdG, University of Girona, 17071 Girona, Spain
Josep Pueyo-Ros: Department of Geography, Institute of Environment, IMA-UdG, University of Girona, 17071 Girona, Spain
Anna Ribas Palom: Department of Geography, Institute of Environment, IMA-UdG, University of Girona, 17071 Girona, Spain

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 10, 1-21

Abstract: Reductions in water availability and increasing rainfall variability are generating a narrative of growing competition for water in the Mediterranean basin. In this article, we explore the distribution and importance of water resources in the Muga River Basin (Catalonia, Spain) based on key stakeholders’ perceptions. We performed a sociocultural evaluation of the main water ecosystem services in the region through stakeholder interviews and participatory mapping. The basin was generally perceived as a hotspot of ecosystem services, but we detected varying opinions and considerable differences in the perceptions of importance and spatial distribution of water ecosystem services. These discrepancies were linked to the varying levels of stakeholders’ dependence on water. Our findings are important for contributing to correct water planning and management in the river basin, which is a complex water social system marked by conflicts between different stakeholder groups vying for the same resource. This complex situation requires bottom-up strategies to create transparent, participatory decision-making models.

Keywords: socioecological systems; water ecosystem services; participatory mapping; stakeholder values; spatial analysis; river basin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (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)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/10/385/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/10/385/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:9:y:2020:i:10:p:385-:d:426421

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().