Cultural ecosystem services: Linking landscape and social attributes to ecotourism in protected areas

•We used a combination of GIS-based methods with interviews to identify spatial hotspots, stressors, and preferences of users in a marine protected area in Brazil.•Aesthetic values and social relations were the most identified cultural ecosystem services by the users.•Scariness and unpleasantness were the main stressors.•Hotspots serve the purpose of mapping recreational and jeopardized sites, which can support actions to improve the provision of CES, including ecotourism.•Acknowledging the relationship of local communities with CES can provide a more holistic understanding of land-use while providing information for local conservation. Assessment of cultural ecosystem services (CES) and the negative impacts humans can have on them can provide essential information toward conservation and management strategies. Globally, tourism and recreational CES are among the most relevant economic and social activities, with ecotourism in particular growing rapidly in places with high cultural heritage and high biodiversity, such as many protected areas. This study used a combination of GIS-based methods and interviews in a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Brazil called Extractive Reserve Acaú-Goiana to investigate whether its users (i.e., visitors and local residents) prefer some CES over others and whether recreational coastal activities can be affected by different factors and human-caused stressors, such as 'scariness', 'unpleasantness', and 'noisiness'. All assessed CES were identified by respondents to be provided in the MPA. ‘Aesthetic values’ and ‘social relations’ were the most commonly identified CES, whereas ‘scariness’ and ‘unpleasantness’ were the main stressors. Respondents also showed a preference for specific areas within the MPA, such as beaches and mangroves. Relying on users to identify hotspots themselves, in addition to assessing the ecotourism potential of recreational coastal activities, can support the development of innovative public strategies targeting not only tourists, but also local communities.