Fonte: Journal of Tourism & Development; v. 3, n. 21/22 (2014); 351-361
Palavras-chave:
Resumo: Forested landscapes are able to fulfil many different functions, that is, they have the capacity to provide different goods and services for the society. As a consequence, local governments have to face explicit demand for services from stakeholders, which frequently hold different perceptions of the benefits that landscapes must deliver to society. Forest based recreation demand is increasing. Therefore, there is a need to supply policy making with spatial explicit in- formation about the capacity of the landscape to provide this cultural service. In this paper we present a methodological framework to map and quantify landscape recreational potential and to make their spatial variability explicit. A set of primary evaluation dimensions were determined and a suitability ranking for each of them was established. Dimensions were then aggregated in a multi-criteria framework using different decision rules. The proposed methodology was tested in a rural landscape located in central Portugal with an area of 395 km2. Recreation suitability maps resulting from our work provide valuable information about the local capacity to fulfil recreational demand and can support policy makers and spatial planners in the development and assessment of several land-use strategies in order to improve the overall value of the landscape.
