The effect of restoration of rural depopulated villages on ecosystem services

Abstract

Rural areas provide most ecosystem services (ES) to the whole territory. Depopulation poses an enormous socioeconomic and environmental challenge due to the multiple consequences of rural abandonment on social cohesion, territorial structure, the sustainable use of natural resources, adaptation to climate change, and the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems. However, the impact that the population restoration of abandoned villages can have on ecosystems and the services they provide to society has not been investigated.

In Spain, the situation of mountain areas is particularly problematic, having experienced severe depopulation in the last century, mainly as a result of the demographic decline and the sale and expropriation of land for massive afforestation. This study investigates the effects of restoring abandoned villages on eight ES in rural mountain areas, comparing these types of villages with those that remain depopulated and with those that have been permanently inhabited, in the Central System and the Pyrenees.

This work provides the first evidence on the effects of restoring and repopulating rural areas on a wide range of ES, including provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. Restored villages showed higher levels of regulation and supporting services than permanently inhabited villages, while significantly recovering (compared to abandoned ones) cultural services and, to a lesser extent, some provisioning services. These results can contribute to the design of land-use planning tools and public policies that combine social and environmental sustainability with a balanced provision of ES in rural mountain areas.