Assessing public perceptions of ecosystem services in peri-urban mediterranean wetlands: a case study for a restorative NBS in Catalonia, Spain

Recent research has assessed public perceptions of Mediterranean rivers, but there are limited investigations into the public perceptions of Mediterranean wetlands, especially in urbanized spaces like peri-urban parks. This study addresses this gap by assessing public perceptions across different sociodemographic groups for their level of awareness of different ecosystem services in a peri-urban park located in the Mediterranean region of Catalonia, Spain. Parc del Falgar is the site of a fluvial restoration project aimed at improving water quality by retaining and transforming nutrients through the park’s nature-based solution. A two-part survey was organized using a 5-level Likert scale, and a multiple-choice sociodemographic questionnaire followed by semi-structured interviews with local actors. Regression models and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to analyze the gathered data and evaluate differences between groups, incorporating Bonferroni adjustments to account for multiple comparisons. The findings revealed that age significantly affects perceptions of the park’s ecosystem services, resulting in a greater awareness of the park’s biodiversity and wetland restoration. Visitors living closer to nature and those with higher incomes were more aware of the park’s cultural ecosystem services including recreational and leisure activities. Through interviews with local actors, this study discusses the juxtaposition of traditional environmental learning with modern digital technology for ecosystem service awareness and highlights different learning preferences across social groups for the uptake of ecosystem service awareness. Management proposals from interviewees stress involving scientific and non-scientific experts to capture the full range of the park’s ecosystem services.