The role of agroforestry areas in the potential provision of ecosystem services: the case of the Molise Region

Changes in land use and land cover represent the main cause of the loss of natural capital and the ecosystem services supply. Analyzing the dynamics and impacts of these changes is also important with respect to the implementation of the D.lgs 34/2018, which recognizes ecosystem services generated by forests and identifies payments for ecosystem services as innovative tools for sustainable forest management. mapping, quantification, and economic valuation of ecosystem services. In our study, we analyzed the change in the supply of ecosystem services in relation to land use and land cover dynamics that occurred between 1960 and 2018 in the Molise Region. To do this type of analysis, we employed a methodology based on the GIS analysis of the agroforestry landscape transformation processes and qualitative matrices of potential supply of ecosystem services linked to land cover. The results obtained could be functional to the prediction of future scenarios and to the identification of adaptive strategies for the mitigation of impacts due to land cover changes at regional and national scales.