Protected Area management: Fusion and confusion with the ecosystem services approach

Linking biodiversity, ecosystem function, and Nature's contributions to people: a macroecological energy flux perspective

At macroecological scales, the provision of Nature's contributions to people (NCP) is mostly estimated with biophysical information, ignoring the ecological processes underlying them. This hinders our ability to properly quantify the impact of declining biodiversity and the provision of NCP. Here, we propose a framework that combines local-scale food web energy flux approaches and large-scale biodiversity models to evaluate ecosystem functions and flux-related NCP at extensive spatiotemporal scales. Importantly, this approach has the potential to upscale ecosystem functions, assess the vulnerability of flux-related NCP to the climate crisis, and support the development of multiscale mitigation policies.

Mapping ecosystem services in protected areas. A systematic review

Protected areas (PAs) supply ecosystem services (ES) essential for human wellbeing. Mapping is a critical exercise that allows an understanding of the spatial distribution of the different ES in PAs. This work aims to conduct a systematic literature review on mapping ES in PAs. In order to carry out this systematic review, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses method was applied. The results showed an increase in the number of works between 2012 and 2023, and they were especially conducted in Europe and Asia and less in North America, South America, and Oceania. Most studies were developed in terrestrial areas, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified them into types II and IV. Most of the works followed the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment classification and were mainly focused on the supply dimension. Regulating and maintenance and cultural ES were the most mapped dimensions in PAs. The most frequent provisioning ES mapped in PAs were Animals reared for nutritional purposes and Cultivated terrestrial plants grown for nutritional purposes. In regulating and maintenance, Maintaining nursery populations and habitats and Regulation of the chemical composition of the atmosphere and oceans were the most analysed. For cultural ES, Characteristics of living systems that enable activities promoting health, recuperation, or enjoyment through active or immersive interactions and Characteristics of living systems that enable aesthetic experiences were the most mapped ES in PAs. Most works followed a quantitative approach, although the number of qualitative studies is high. Finally, most of the works needed to be validated, which may hamper the credibility of mapping ES in PAs. Overall, this systematic review contributed to a global picture of studies distribution, the areas where they are needed, and the most popular dimensions and sections as the methodologies were applied.

Impacts, Potential Benefits and Eradication Feasibility of Aquatic Alien Species in an Integral Natural State Reserve

Riverine wetlands are stepping-stone environments for the protection of local biodiversity, but they are particularly vulnerable to biological invasions. In order to take action against biological invasions, it is crucial to assess the impacts of alien species. However, it is also important to assess the potential benefits on ecosystem services that alien species could have. Once it has been verified that negative impacts are higher than potential benefits, it is important to propose feasible actions to contrast them. In this study, we assessed eight freshwater alien species recorded in an integral protected wetland using the Invasive Species Effects Assessment Tool (INSEAT) to quantify their negative impacts and potential benefits on ecosystem services. Moreover, for each species, we evaluated the feasibility of the main eradication techniques currently proposed in the literature using the Non-Native Risk Management scheme (NNRM), with the final aim of suggesting effective actions for their management. The INSEAT results indicated that all the assessed species had more impacts than benefits while NNRM provided useful indications on the best practical conservation actions to use for reducing the density, and therefore, the negative impacts on ecosystem services and the local biodiversity of the assessed alien species.

Protected area management effectiveness and COVID-19: The case of Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

The decline in economic activities and tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the pressure on the environment and protected area (PA) systems to some extent. However, the financial losses within nature-based tourism due to travel restrictions and park closures will negatively impact tourism income-dependent PAs' management effectiveness. This exploratory study incorporates a risk-assessment framework to investigate and provide first insights into the pandemic's influence on the delivery of management outputs in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia.

Although in 2020, this PA faced a 75% decline in overall revenue compared to the year before, analysis suggests that, in the short term, conservation-related outputs are least affected. Visitor management and PA efforts to support the local community's sustainable development are the most severely impacted first-order outputs. Third-order nature-based tourism-related outputs face average to high risks.

This study's risk-assessment framework provides a starting point for a post-pandemic reassessment of the delivery of PA management outputs and decision-making about output prioritisation and resource allocation. Results suggest several new avenues for research.

Management implications

Post-pandemic recovery of PA requires prioritisation risk framework to identify specific objectives that should be addressed first and which require additional effort or funding. Facing a crisis PA will allocate financial resources in a way that sustains primary functions such as conservation until negative trends change, or at least until financial resources become available. PAs require a paradigm shift, which includes tailoring of financial mechanisms to practical and policy purposes, effective allocation of financial resources, and responsible tourism recovery plans that capture the value and efforts of conservation through tourism and investments in nature-based solutions for sustainable tourism within PA.

The application of landscape character classification for spatial zoning management in mountainous protected areas - A case study of Laoshan national park, China

National parks provide a considerable number of co-benefits to society, including the balance of ecosystems, conservation of heritage values, and tourism. However, studies on zoning approaches for the management of national parks are lacking. The landscape characterization approach is a holistic method for identifying regional landscapes and helps improve zoning management, thus promoting sustainable planning. Here, we propose a landscape character classification (LCC) approach for national parks by integrating a k-means clustering algorithm and geographic information system (GIS). We used Laoshan National Park (LNP) as a case study and aimed to (1) quantify the major landscape factors (altitude, topography relief, soil type, and heritage impact intensity) that influence the landscape classification of mountainous protected areas; (2) create a map of landscape character types and areas to guide a zoning boundary; and (3) further examine how decision makers assign different conservation strategies to each landscape character area. Our results indicate that different landscape character areas reflect distinct ecological environments and heritage values and that differentiated zoning management can effectively mitigate the impact of natural disasters and human activities. Our study suggests that national parks require scientific landscape character zoning, rational descriptions of landscape character types, and targeted management measures to achieve the dual objectives of zoning and landscape conservation.

Mapping and assessment of recreational cultural ecosystem services supply and demand in Vilnius (Lithuania)

This work aims to map and assess the recreational culture ecosystem services (CES) supply and demand in Vilnius. A novel framework individually assessed natural recreational CES supply and cultural recreational CES supply dimensions. So far, the previous works did not consider both CES components individually. Also, the validation of CES models is scarce and challenging. This work aims to map and assess natural recreational supply CES, cultural recreational CES supply, natural + cultural recreational CES supply, and cultural recreational CES demand. The results showed that the natural recreational CES supply dimension was the highest in protected areas. In contrast, the cultural, recreational CES supply dimension had the highest scores in the city centre. Natural + cultural recreational CES supply was high in the areas where the previous models had the highest values (e.g., protected areas and the city centre). The natural + cultural recreational CES supply model was validated using an online survey. Recreational CES demand was the highest in the areas near the city centre. There was a mismatch between the natural recreational CES supply and recreational demand. Nevertheless, we identified a match between cultural recreational CES supply dimension, Natural + cultural recreational CES supply and recreation CES demand. All the studied parameters had a clustered pattern. The natural recreational CES supply dimension had a hot spot in the northern part of the city. In contrast, cultural recreational CES supply dimension, Natural + cultural recreational CES supply and recreational CES demand were clustered in the city centre. Overall, it is vital to preserve the areas with maximum natural recreation CES supply and limit the urban expansion in these areas. Also, it is essential to reduce the car traffic to the centre and improve public transport accessibility to increase air quality and the impact of pollutants on cultural heritage sites.

Connecting Recreational Service to Visitor's Well-Being: A Case Study in Qianjiangyuan National Park

Natural ecosystems provide service value to people in the region; especially in some nature reserves and national parks, the ecosystem recreational service function is more significant. It is worth paying attention to whether the recreational service function of this ecosystem can serve tourists outside the region and improve their well-being. Taking Qianjiangyuan National Park in China as the research site, based on the Spatially Explicit Ecosystem Services Comprehensive Assessment Model (ESTIMAP), we used the ecosystem services mapping tool to propose a comprehensive assessment framework for ecosystem recreational services and to explore the relationship between recreational services and the well-being of tourists. As a result, we identified the spatial distribution of the supply and demand flow paths of ecosystem recreational services and estimated that the actual flow of ecosystem recreational services was about 12.1 persons/km² per year. In terms of personal well-being, ecosystem recreational services have a significant positive impact on tourists' well-being. The service value is concentrated in amusement places and recreational activities, and dynamic recreational activities have a greater impact on tourists. The research results suggest that to improve the well-being of tourists and the value of ecosystem recreational services, national parks and nature reserves should improve accessibility and the participation of tourists in recreational activities.

A System of Indicators for Socio-Economic Evaluation and Monitoring of Global Change: An Approach Based on the Picos de Europa National Park

National Parks are spaces that are of great interest for evaluating and monitoring global environmental change as these parks encompass natural, cultural, and rural features, along with ecological processes, which are subject to social or economic changes that are much more difficult to track outside of these spaces. To do this, it is necessary to have a sufficient set of data and indicators to monitor the effects of global change in the short, mid, and long term. The majority of indicators have been developed to monitor the bio-geophysical environment; socio-economic indicators of global change for National Parks are much more limited. The aim of this paper is to present a system of indicators for socio-economic evaluation and monitoring of global change for the Picos de Europa National Park. This park has two unique features: it has one of the two systems of socio-economic indicators developed for the Spanish National Parks, and it is practically the only one of Spain’s 16 National Parks with human populations living within its boundaries. Many of the indicators specifically developed for this park can be used for other national parks that have similar characteristics.

Assessing change in habitat composition, ecosystem functioning and service supply in Latvian protected stony reefs

Healthy and diverse marine ecosystems are a source of a whole range of ecosystem services (ES) and social, and economic benefits. To preserve and restore biodiversity, and sustain service supply, an international goal was set to protect at least 10 % of the global coastal and marine area by 2020. The goal has been achieved mainly through the designation of marine protected areas (MPAs). Whilst activities within the MPAs can be restricted to manage local pressures, the protected habitats and species are still exposed to stressors that originate outside MPA borders (e.g., non-native species, eutrophication). This study investigates the change in the protected stony reef habitat composition using underwater video observation in the coastal area of the eastern Baltic Sea known to be under the pressure of a non-native fish species. Further, assesses what the observed changes have meant for ecosystem functioning and ES supply adopting a tailor-made, expert judgement-based ES supply assessment method developed during the BONUS BASMATI project. The results suggest that the quality of the protected habitats in the case study sites has deteriorated and the transformation in species composition has altered ecosystem functioning and ES supply. The study highlights the importance of rich and diverse habitats for human wellbeing and livelihoods. Further, emphasises the need for more stringent MPA management plans, as well as a wider ecosystem-based approach to decision making in order to limit the impacts of stressors on marine ecosystems and secure ES supply.

Integrating ecosystem services modeling into effectiveness assessment of national protected areas in a typical arid region in China

Protected areas (PAs) are essential for biodiversity conservation and for the delivery of ecosystem services (ESs). However, little is known about their effectiveness in providing ESs and contribution to species richness, especially in arid regions. Effectiveness evaluation is fundamental to understanding the extent of management enhancement required to fulfill conservation targets. In this study, we analyzed the supply of six ESs (water yield, nutrient retention, soil retention, sand fixation, carbon storage, and biodiversity richness) by landscapes in China's arid region of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (hereafter Xinjiang). The aim was to identify distribution of ESs hotspots and the extent of hotspots located within or outside national PAs. The results showed significant spatial heterogeneity and coverage differences in six types of ESs hotspots. Hotspots coverage of six ESs on average accounted for 10.45 % of the total area, distributed mainly in mountains and oases covered by vegetation and wetlands. Among these ESs hotspots, over 50 % fell within PAs. This suggested that although PAs delivered moderately well outcomes in preserving ESs and biodiversity in Xinjiang, conservation gaps needed to be addressed. Our study also revealed substantial differences in ESs supplied by different PAs, and serious deficiency existed in some PAs in protecting either biodiversity or key ESs outlined in their conservation objectives. Our study illustrated the priority areas for future conservation expansion and stressed the urgent shift toward broadening the goals of PAs from a dominant focus to ones that encompass multiple ESs for human well-being.

The ecosystem service value of maintaining and expanding terrestrial protected areas in China

Maintaining and expanding protected areas (PAs) can benefit humans and the rest of nature, but also has direct management and opportunity costs. Assessing this trade-off can benefit from valuing ecosystem services (ESs). The gross value of a subset of ESs provided by China's existing terrestrial PAs, which cover 18% of China's land, was conservatively estimated at $2.64 trillion/yr (US$₂₀₁₇). This is 15 and 14 times the basic conservation costs (for preventing current ESs and biodiversity from deteriorating) and optimised conservation costs (for potentially improving ESs and biodiversity), respectively. China is committed to drawing an 'eco-redline' (the natural terrestrial space that has important ESs, biodiversity, vulnerable and sensitive ecosystems, and enforced strict conservation) to protect 25% of its lands. If the 'eco-redline' was to conserve 25% of China's terrestrial water retention, soil retention, sandstorm prevention, carbon sequestration and oxygen release, the gross value of those conserved regulating ESs would be $4.83 trillion/yr. This is 20 and 18 times the basic and optimised conservation costs, respectively. These results indicate that, the arguments that conservation constrains economic development and increases ecosystem disservices are not tenable. The results make clear the interconnections between conservation and the economy, and that true economic development is improvement of sustainable wellbeing - not merely growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Spatiotemporal Changes of Ecosystem Service Value Determined by National Land Space Pattern Change: A Case Study of Fengdu County in The Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China

Exploring the spatiotemporal change characteristics of ecosystem service value (ESV) under the influence of national land space pattern (NLSP) changes is of great significance for promoting the rational use of land resources and the optimization of ecosystems. In this study, Fengdu County in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area was selected as a case study. We analyzed the changes in NLSP using land use data from 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2018. Then, we used the equivalent factor method and exploratory spatial data analysis method to explore the spatiotemporal change characteristics of the ESV of Fengdu County. The results show that: (1) From 1990 to 2018, the changes in NLSP in Fengdu County generally manifested in the transformation of agricultural space into urban space and ecological space; (2) The spatiotemporal change of ESV is a process that positively responds to the increase in ecological space and negatively responds to the expansion of urban space. From 1990 to 2018, the total ESV of Fengdu County showed a trend of continuous growth, with a total increase of CNY 11.10 × 10⁸, and the change rate was 9.33%. The ESV gain area is mainly located along the Yangtze River and the southernmost part of the county, and the loss area is mainly located near the south bank of the Yangtze River; (3) ESV and its changes in Fengdu County have a significant positive spatial autocorrelation. The cold and hot spots of ESV change are mainly distributed along the Yangtze River and to the south of the Yangtze River. Therefore, it is suggested to integrate ESV as an important indicator into the decision-making of national land space planning. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the intensive use of urban space and protect the important ecological space from decreasing. Our study results provide useful insights for the development of regional NLS management and environmental protection policies. However, it is worth noting that the results of this paper are more applicable to areas where the terrain is dominated by mountains.

Objective indicators contribute more than subjective beliefs to resident willingness to pay for ecosystem services on the Tibetan Plateau

Effective ecosystem management on the Tibetan Plateau will contribute to regional environmental sustainability, and these efforts need broad public support, especially that of residents, over the long run. Although residents' subjective perceptions often directly influence practices, the interactive effects of subjective and objective indicators at the individual level often interfere with resident participation in ecosystem management. With the objective of decoupling the effects of multiple variables on resident participation in environmental sustainability, we launched a questionnaire survey on the topic of willingness to pay (WTP) on the Tibetan Plateau, and explored the effects of single variables and pairwise variables on WTP via dummy regression and proposed specific management suggestions. The results showed that objective indicators were the key drivers of WTP. First, it not only had strong direct effects on WTP (2770.32 CNY/year) but also interacted with subjective beliefs (3805.92 CNY/year); second, it had indirect effects on participation attitudes (R = 0.79) through subjective beliefs (R = 0.38). Put differently, the challenge of achieving sustainable management in the TP is how to enhance and satisfy the sociodemographic and socio-economic attributes of indigenous residents.

From ecosystems to socio-economic benefits: A systematic review of coastal ecosystem services in the Baltic Sea

Seagrass meadows, algal forests and mussel beds are widely regarded as foundation species that support communities providing valuable ecosystem services in many coastal regions; however, quantitative evidence of the relationship is scarce. Using the Baltic Sea as a case study, a region of significant socio-economic importance in the northern hemisphere, we systematically synthesized the primary literature and summarized the current knowledge on ecosystem services derived from seagrass, macroalgae, and mussels (see animated video summary of the manuscript: Video abstract). We found 1740 individual ecosystem service records (ESR), 61% of which were related to macroalgae, 26% to mussel beds and 13% to seagrass meadows. The most frequently reported ecosystem services were raw material (533 ESR), habitat provision (262 ESR) and regulation of pollutants (215 ESR). Toxins (356 ESR) and nutrients (302 ESR) were the most well-documented pressures to services provided by coastal ecosystems. Next, we assessed the current state of knowledge as well as knowledge transfer of ecosystem services to policies through natural, social, human and economic dimensions, using a systematic scoring tool, the Eco-GAME matrix. We found good quantitative information about how ecosystems generated the service but almost no knowledge of how they translate into socio-economic benefits (8 out of 657 papers, 1.2%). While we are aware that research on Baltic Sea socio-economic benefits does exist, the link with ecosystems providing the service is mostly missing. To close this knowledge gap, we need a better analytical framework that is capable of directly linking existing quantitative information about ecosystem service generation with human benefit.

Integrating Spatial Valuation of Ecosystem Services into Protected Area Management: A Case Study of the Cangshan Nature Reserve in Dali, China

Given the importance of protected areas (PAs) in promoting the balance between conservation and sustainable development, it is crucial for planners and decision-makers to focus attention on the core areas that are of priority to PAs. However, few studies have addressed the balance between ecosystem service provision in PAs and regional development demands based on spatial valuation data. Herein, we present an integrated approach using the Cangshan Nature Reserve as a case study with the aim of identifying the core conservation areas of the reserve—the only national nature reserve in the 18-creek watershed of Cangshan—under different urbanization scenarios. The results show that the overall farmland in the watershed decreased and the architectural area increased, but the land use in the nature reserve remained stable from 1995 to 2035. With the increase in demand for water in the watershed, at least 24.3% of the Cangshan Nature Reserve should be designated as core conservation area to ensure the maintenance of sufficient water quantity and quality. This study can be used as a reference for the sustainable management of PAs based on our example of balancing ecosystem service provision and demand in a single watershed.

Land-Cover and Elevation-Based Mapping of Aboveground Carbon in a Tropical Mixed-Shrub Forest Area in West Java, Indonesia

Carbon sequestration and storage are among the most important ecosystem services provided by tropical forests. Improving the accuracy of the carbon mapping of tropical forests has always been a challenge, particularly in countries and regions with limited resources, with limited funding to provide high-resolution and high-quality remote sensing data. This study aimed to examine the use of land-cover and elevation-based methods of aboveground carbon mapping in a tropical forest composed of shrubs and trees. We tested a geostatistical method with an ordinary kriging interpolation using three stratification types: no stratification, stratification based on elevation, and stratification based on land-cover type, and compared it with a simple mapping technique, i.e., a lookup table based on a combination of land cover and elevation. A regression modelling with land cover and elevation as predictors was also tested in this study. The best performance was shown by geostatistical interpolation without stratification and geostatistical interpolation based on land cover, with a coefficient of variation (CV) of the root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.44, better than the performance of lookup table techniques (with a CV of the RMSE of more than 0.48). The regression modeling provided a significant model, but with a coefficient of determination (R2) of only 0.29, and a CV of the RMSE of 0.49. The use of other variables should thus be further investigated. We discuss improving aboveground carbon mapping in the study area and the implications of our results for forest management.

Land use trade-offs associated with protected areas in China: Current state, existing evaluation methods, and future application of ecosystem service valuation

This review paper is aimed at providing decision makers and researchers with information on applying ecosystem service valuation (ESV) to better manage land use trade-offs associated with China's protected areas (PAs). PAs are a key source of ecosystem services (ESs) and therefore crucial to human wellbeing and sustainable development. The Chinese government is now improving PA management but faces several land use trade-offs, including the expansion of PAs, and balancing conservation with tourism and local livelihood development. The benefits and costs of conservation have not been comprehensively weighed up on environmental, socioeconomic and cultural aspects, so it is unclear if expanding nationwide PAs and enhancing tourism development would generate greater benefits or costs. While cost-based payment for ESs schemes have been developed to address the trade-off between conservation and local livelihoods, current schemes often neglect financial compensation for the local people's loss of non-marketable cultural ESs. To further address these trade-offs, ESV is integral as it allows for a better understanding of the production and value of ESs provided by PAs. Research is needed to value the ESs of PAs, especially non-marketable cultural ESs to local people, and to comprehensively assess costs and benefits of tourism development in PAs.

Decolonising Conservation Policy: How Colonial Land and Conservation Ideologies Persist and Perpetuate Indigenous Injustices at the Expense of the Environment

The livelihoods of indigenous peoples, custodians of the world’s forests since time immemorial, were eroded as colonial powers claimed de jure control over their ancestral lands. The continuation of European land regimes in Africa and Asia meant that the withdrawal of colonial powers did not bring about a return to customary land tenure. Further, the growth in environmentalism has been interpreted by some as entailing conservation ahead of people. While this may be justifiable in view of devastating anthropocentric breaching of planetary boundaries, continued support for “fortress” style conservation inflicts real harm on indigenous communities and overlooks sustainable solutions to deepening climate crises. In reflecting on this issue from the perspective of colonial land tenure systems, this article highlights how ideas—the importance of individualised land ownership, cultivation, and fortress conservation—are intellectually flawed. Prevailing conservation policies, made possible by global non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and statutory donors, continue to harm indigenous peoples and their traditional territories. Drawing from the authors’ experience representing the Batwa (DRC), the Ogiek and Endorois (Kenya) and Adivasis (India) in international litigation, this paper examines the human and environmental costs associated with modern conservation approaches through this colonial lens. This article concludes by reflecting on approaches that respect environmental and human rights.

Integrating MAES implementation into protected area management under climate change: A fine-scale application in Greece

Increasing anthropogenic pressures often jeopardize ecosystem integrity and policy-relevant conservation management in protected areas. To harmonize nature conservation with human well-being, EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 suggests Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) as the key concept for environmental planning and management in EU Member States. Applying this procedure is challenging due to its data-demanding and multidisciplinary nature, resulting in the ecoystem services (ES) approach being scarcely used in protected areas management. Increased data availability under EU biodiversity-related inventories and monitoring projects, as well as theoretical and empirical research advances developed during the last decade, should be put into practice to guide Member States towards local management frameworks and scenario building under the ongoing changes in the EU socio-economic environment. This study aims at filling this gap by embodying into the MAES operational framework a scenario-based approach and demonstrates this in a challenging case study of a Natura 2000 site, Lake Stymfalia, in Greece. The present management strategy, an ecological-friendly management practice, a water-efficient management practice and a non-environmentally friendly option (e.g. ecosystem destruction) are examined for current and future water demand under current and future climatic scenarios. The proposed methodological framework for ES operationalization is based on the available data (derived by EU Directives and/or modelling), expert judgment and stakeholder involvement. Therefore, this work applies and tests the importance of the MAES approach as a management and coordination platform.

The National Parks in the Context of Tourist Function Development in Territorially Linked Municipalities in Poland

The article is divided into two parts. Its first part analyses the functions of environmental education and land sharing performed by national parks in Poland. The second part presents the transformations of both tourist and nature protection functions of 117 municipalities (gminas), territorially linked with 23 national parks in Poland. For this purpose, a statistical analysis was carried out, applying linear ordering methods—synthetic development measures (SDM) were used. Subsequently, a comparative analysis of municipalities in each of the defined areas was carried out, along with an assessment of the correlation between the level of the nature protection function and the tourist function development. The research covers the years 2001–2016. SDM of nature protection function and tourist function in the municipalities linked with national parks indicate stability of the nature protection function as well as dynamic changes in the tourist function. It allows rejecting the research hypothesis that national parks intend to block the tourist function of municipalities. The research findings indicate the need for cooperation between municipalities and national parks not only for the sake of nature protection, but also for the purpose of area economic activation.

Landscape Conservation Planning to Sustain Ecosystem Services under Climate Change

Sustainable conservation aims to ensure the sustained conservation of landscape multi-functionality which in turn requires ensuring ecosystem service (ES) and habitat quality (HQ) sustainability with inclusive landscape-scale conservation planning. This study proposes a landscape conservation planning (LCP) framework for landscape-scale ES-HQ conservation and sustainability. Spatially explicit hotspots for five ESs and HQs are identified via InVEST and LISA software. Spatiotemporal changes in ES-HQ hotspots, in terms of stability and resilience, are delineated. The Zonation technique is applied to prioritize areas for conservation based on ES-HQ hotspot stability and resilience maps. High priority conservation areas are identified and are used as reserve area inputs for land use modeling with CLUE-S software to simulate future land use change under climate change scenarios. This study reports that varied rainfall and climate are major driving factors of ES-HQ sustainability disturbance in the study area. Furthermore, our proposed conservation Strategy 2 demonstrates that a larger extent of landscape multi-functionality can be sustained when the existing conservation area includes the total area of identified ES-HQ resilient hotspots. This study effectively identifies the stability and resiliency of ES-HQ hotspot areas affected by disturbances for high priority landscape conservation requirements to ensure ES-HQ sustainability and landscape multi-functionality in the study area.