Le aree protette come sistemi socio-ecologici: l’approccio dei servizi ecosistemici nell’analisi dei rapporti natura società

Despite the conceptual evolution, which has integrated Protected Areas (PA) from "isolated units" to "node" of a network in relation to the territory, many Italian Parks today struggle to integrate in their conservation policies the multiple benefits offered to society. The study conceptualizes PA as socio-ecological systems, whose ecological and social components are analyzed through the lens of Ecosystem Services (ES). The framework is applied to the Circeo National Park, through the analysis of the Plan documents and the survey of local populations. The results show a poor consideration of the PA social values, with the prevalence of objectives related to the intrinsic value of nature. Moreover, the survey detected trade-offs between ES linked to conservation objectives and the negative perception of the Park inhabitants. In this way, the study highlighted the limits of traditional conservation models, showing possible approaches to integrate socio-economic objectives in PA conservation policies.