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The aim of this paper is to assess the economic value of recreation as an ecosystem service enjoyed by hikers in Hungary’s forests. The assessment is carried out in the framework of a national undertaking to map and assess the state of ecosystems and their services in Hungary under the EU’s biodiversity strategy. As is common in the policymaking co...
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... is an area of low mountains (with the highest peaks reaching just over 700m) covered mainly by oak and beech forests, located about 30 km North of the capital Budapest. The total area of the PBR is 38,600 hectares, with its strictly protected core zone of 1400 hectares and buffer zone of 24,000 hectares consisting entirely of state-owned forests, while the so-called transition zone of 13.4 hectares also comprises settlements and agricultural areas (see Figure 2) [53]. The PBR offers beautiful views on the scenic Danube Bend and is home to a wide variety of plants and animals, including several protected species. ...
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Citations
... Nine articles were published in this Special Issue. Two papers [20,21] focused solely on the assessment of ESs at a national scale, five [22][23][24][25][26] covered only regional scale assessments, and one paper [27] showed the results of a valuation at two scales (regional and national). There was an article [28] that analyzed the possibility of using the ES concept in environmental impact assessments. ...
... Also, within the MAES-HU, Széchy and Szerényi [27] provided a value estimate for recreation (more specifically hiking) as a cultural ecosystem service in a specific forest ecosystem and for all Hungarian forests. First, they conducted an economic valuation based on the travel cost method for the Pilis Biosphere Reserve using the results of a previous questionnaire survey. ...
Natural and semi-natural ecosystems are under large anthropogenic pressure and degrading at an alarming speed [...]
... Researchers estimated that in Hungary in 2020, the value of forest recreation services alone corresponded to approximately~20% of the monetary value of wood production nationally. This ratio can be even higher in popular tourist destinations [117]. ...
Human well-being needs healthy ecosystems, providing multiple ecosystem services. Therefore, the assessment of ecosystems on large scales is a priority action. In Hungary, this work (MAES-HU) took place between 2016 and 2022. Twelve ecosystem services (ES) were mapped and assessed along with several ecosystem condition (EC) indicators. Their integrated spatial analysis aimed to identify patterns of ES multifunctionality, reveal relationships between EC and ES and delineate ES bundles. The results show outstanding multifunctionality of natural ecosystem types compared with the more artificial types, emphasizing the importance of natural areas in order to fulfil human needs. Native forests provide the most varied range of services, which underlines the importance of forest management to consider multiple services. There is a positive correlation between condition and multifunctionality in forests; areas in better condition (in terms of species composition and structure) provide more services at an outstanding level. ES bundles mainly reflect the major ecosystem types, topography and forest condition. Our analysis represents an example of synthesizing national MAES results with a combination of methods. Finding ES hotspots on a national scale and connecting them with an assessment of EC may help in finding optimal strategies to balance conservation targets and competing land uses.
