**4. Conclusions**

The landscape transition and transformation of Goriˇcko Landscape Park is due, in part, to its endurance, the slow transition of evolutionary change over time, and the ecological transformation of materials, most of which are biodegradable, from one form to another. The biotic components of the landscape have blurred boundaries. Ecologically, the abandoned houses offer the possibility of habitat restoration for wildlife species. The social and cultural impact of objects, rural dwellings, or the items they contain is not limited only to their preservation or persistence, but also their destruction, which facilitates the circulation of matter through the energy pathways of ecosystems and landscapes. These natural processes dichotomise nature and culture as they decay, and can reinforce different associations through action, closure and continuity. The three sites studied represent empty places in the process of returning to nature after the retreat of human activities. No general conclusions can be drawn from these three specific cases, but they may provide suggestions for future research.

At the end of the 20th century, some of the world's most progressive environmental protection legislation was passed in Europe, based on the concept of human-induced environmental degradation and the need to restore a 'natural state'. This has led to a neglect of the diverse resources that rural landscapes provide. Although it is beyond the scope of this study, future studies could analyse the difference between the biodiversity of traditional rural landscapes (associated with agricultural biodiversity) and the biodiversity of abandoned rural landscapes. This would help to define the appropriate strategies for European landscape development.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, J.E.B.; Data curation, W.L.; Formal analysis, D.R. and W.L.; Funding acquisition, D.R.; Investigation, J.E.B., D.R. and W.L.; Methodology, J.E.B.; Writing—original draft, J.E.B.; Writing—review and editing, D.R. and W.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** Primary financial support was provided by the TransEcoNet (Transnational Ecological Networks) project, Central Europe Programme, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This research was also supported by the Slovenian Research Agency, grants number P6-0101 and Z7-1885.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors wish to extend special thanks to the anonymous reviewers for reviewing the previous version of this manuscript, which greatly contributed to its improvement.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
