Challenges related to stakeholder involvement in the assessment of ecosystem services in protected areas in Slovenia

This study assesses the process of developing and testing a protocol that integrates a participatory approach for selecting, ranking and assessing ecosystem services (ES), to enhance their integration into the management of protected areas in Slovenia. Through five participatory workshops across ten pilot sites in both protected and non-protected areas, stakeholders have selected and ranked ES relevant to them. In parallel, we developed a typology of (sub)ecosystems and assessed the availability of their geospatial data with a panel of representatives from the participating protected areas and other nature conservation institutions. In assessing ES, we focused on three specific ES: forage provision, pollination and recreation and leisure, which we assessed using different methods. Our findings highlight the critical role of stakeholder involvement in the ES framework, particularly in accurate mapping and assessment processes facilitated by GIS technologies. A comparative analysis of three ES supply revealed generally higher capacities for pollination and recreation and leisure in protected areas, in contrast to provisioning services, such as forage provision, which did not show a similar pattern; however, exceptions were noted. A significant challenge identified was the scarcity of relevant geospatial data, which reduces the potential of generating precise and reliable assessments and maps necessary for uptake into concrete management of protected areas.