EXAMPLES

Classifications at the spatial level of landscapes are a complex aspect of inventory, assessment and management. The challenge lies in the fluid and multidimensional concept of landscape. The landscape also includes the recognition of characteristics and values “as viewed by humans”, the perceptual approach. The perceptual dimension of the landscape is important because it is in itself a transcendence beyond the familiar spatial polygons and geographical patches relatively easily mapped using satellite images. Often in surveys and mapping there is a need for evaluation (or prioritization) and this is a form of classification as well. The use of tools related to cultural ecosystem services (CES) is often combined in such cartographical analyses. Many cultural ecosystem values offered by landscapes must also include the perceptual dimension of the landscape, and this also refers to the aesthetic value and various other intangible values (Vlami et al. 2019; Song et al. 2020).

Cultural landscapes with agroforestry systems have various geographical and topographic features that can help their identification, classification and evaluation at the spatial level of landscapes. These usually include the following examples:

Existence of small settlements where agricultural and livestock activities are practiced in ways and methods that are or resemble traditional land uses. In many cases, human activities in active rural villages form heterogeneous agricultural and forest lands or landscapes with a dynamic multifunctional agroforestry character.

Agricultural practices that support high levels of native biodiversity (including High Nature Value Farming). Important criteria are the proximity of agricultural land to natural formations (wetlands, hedgerows, thickets) and/or the fragmentation of agricultural land by natural areas or natural formations (e.g. streams with natural riparian zones, well-developed hedgerows, forest patches, etc.).

Livestock grazing in coexistence with the local fauna and a variety of natural/ semi-natural vegetation patterns. The positive presence and intensity of animal husbandry is evaluated in relation to its effects on natural habitat features and a range of species of flora and fauna (e.g. coexistence with large fauna species, grazing-dependent habitats, etc).

Natural stands of trees, natural vegetation patches and wild patches or even wilderness areas in proximity to small agricultural settlements, pastures and agricultural areas.

The abandonment of traditional agroforestry can have serious negative implications for biodiversity conservation in Europe (Halada et al. 2011). After abandonment there is often an abrupt regeneration of woody vegetation; this is not always beneficial to local biodiversity. In the Natura 2000 network in Greece, the low scrub and grassland habitats that are important for biodiversity constitute a rather low percentage of cultural formations, i.e. about 17.5% of all cultural formations in the Natura 2000 network before 2017 (Vlami et al. 2017). Due to the reduction of livestock grazing and farming, the area of woody scrubland has expanded at the expense of various grassland and meadow habitats. Furthermore, with the abrupt abandonment of traditional land uses, the chances of mega-wildfires and “exploitation” initiatives may increase (including pressures from industrial wind farms, tourism, road construction, etc.).

Interpreting change in cultural landscapes is sometimes complicated: abandonment has favored many “forest” elements of biodiversity, but the bioculturally rich mosaic of many landscapes has been significantly degraded due to the rapid and widespread trend of rural abandonment throughout much of Greece.