Search Results (404)

Landscape aesthetic quality (LAQ) is a vital cultural ecosystem service in global forests, particularly in the subalpine forests across the Tibetan Plateau, which are considered popular tourist destinations due to their unique cultural services. However, the explicit spatial localization and spatial–temporal dynamics of LAQ in subalpine forests in the Tibetan Plateau remain largely unexplored. Herein, we introduced a method for assessing LAQ that integrates the species’ biophysical attributes with spatial landscape characteristics, allowing for a spatially explicit quantification of LAQ. We further employ this approach to project changes in LAQ under forest landscape dynamics (2016–2096) in Jiuzhaigou, eastern Tibetan Plateau. Most regions exhibited moderate or low LAQ, with high values ible, while over half of low-LAQ regions were not. The high-value zone of LAQ is projected to rise slightly by 2056 but decline sharply by 2096. These results reveal strong spatial heterogeneity in LAQ and indicate that future landscape dynamics will substantially reshape its distribution in the subalpine forests of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Our findings provide early evidence of declining cultural ecosystem quality in subalpine forests and offer guidance for adaptive management in similar mountain ecosystems worldwide. Full article

This study discusses the unique features of the rural park Parque Rural del Nublo (Gran Canaria) that resulted in the designation of this site as UNESCO’s Biosphere Reserve. Due to its indigenous flora and fauna, its mild climate and its farming lands, this park is considered as an outdoor “sustainable research laboratory”. This paper describes the main features (source, denomination, classification, municipality, year of declaration and hydro-chemical facies) of some of the many groundwater springs found in the park. The quality of the drinking water obtained from the spring “El Molinillo”, located in the basin of the municipality of Tejeda, is analysed by assessing its organoleptic, physico-chemical, chemical and bacteriological properties. Considering that it is described as “natural mineral water”, based on the taxonomy for mineral–medicinal waters, the water from “El Molinillo” is classified as hypothermal, alkaline and very soft water, with a low conductivity, a very weak mineralisation and a significant silica content. The water especially contains the following ions: bicarbonate, chloride, magnesium and calcium. The paper describes several pharmacological effects and therapeutic indications attributed to this water, analysing the impact of its silica content on human and plant health. The paper concludes that the park should be permanently protected as a World Heritage Site, and the water obtained from “El Molinillo” is classified as “drinking water”, “natural mineral water” and “mineral–medicinal water”. Full article

Amid continuous urban population growth and urbanization’s environmental and social challenges, livable cities have become a key priority for governments. Among the various factors influencing urban livability, architectural design integrating natural elements plays a critical role. Melbourne consistently ranks as one of the world’s most livable cities, with its Central Business District (CBD) serving as its core. Since a previous study has highlighted a research gap concerning the role of architecture in livable cities and indicated that the characteristics of biophilic architecture remain unclear, this study addresses the following question: What are the attributes of biophilic architecture in the CBD of the livable city of Melbourne? Subsequently, buildings exhibiting characteristics of Biophilic architecture were surveyed, and photographs capturing the most representative aspects of each building were documented. These characteristics were then coded and analyzed using statistics. The study found that Biophilic architecture is extremely rare in Melbourne’s CBD, with only four of 6375 properties (0.06%) identified as such. The most prominent attributes include connection to nature, natural color tones, and light modulation shaped by the city’s grid layout and strong sunlight. However, the dominance of concrete structures and heritage regulations constrains formal diversity. While Melbourne may not provide abundant examples, its context offers valuable insight into how urban form and policy shape biophilic expression. Future studies should extend this comparative approach to other cities to better understand context-specific adaptations of biophilic design. Full article

Given the complex financing challenges in marine conservation, this study examines common and digital finance mechanisms and recommends a hybrid finance model for Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP), a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site and an ecologically vital marine protected area in the Philippines [...] Full article

Prized since antiquity in Greek cultural heritage as a fountain of health and healing and nature’s golden nectar, honey remains one of the world’s most valued natural products. Celebrated for its nutritional, therapeutic, and antimicrobial virtues, honey is now faced with the emerging threat of microplastic contamination. Here, we present direct evidence of microplastic migration into honey, examining real honey samples packaged in flexible plastic pouches, which are commonly offered in cafes all around the world. Such honey samples were tested under different environmental storage conditions (common dry and dark outdoors) and prolonged refrigeration conditions at low temperature, which replicate consumer use. We have identified microplastics using filters and spectroscopic methods in honey from commercial honey pouches, which prove plastic packaging as a contamination source. Additionally, plasticizers were detected in honey that migrated from plastic packaging. The mere fact that microplastics were found in every single storage condition tested and at every time point examined (from day zero of this experiment), while increasing through time, is of great concern for the long-term safety of honey packaging. Our findings emphasize the urgency of reevaluating packaging for honey and other foods, and they open up new perspectives in the study of microplastic migration under real-world conditions. Full article

The 2026 opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, Canada and Detroit, Michigan, USA, with its multi-use trail for cyclists and pedestrians, is projected to catalyze cross-border trail tourism and help further revitalize these two border cities. Both Windsor and Detroit have unique, extensive trail systems with compelling destinations. However, cross-border trail tourism institutionalization needs improvement. Tourism, greenway, and destination partners should explore creating a boundary organization to foster and market cross-border trail tourism. Recommendations from a 2024 cross-border trail tourism conference include: develop strategies for community engagement and storytelling to enhance cultural connections between regions; strengthen ties between trail groups and environmental organizations to provide trail experiences that reconnect people with the river and other natural resources; support the region’s efforts to obtain a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation for the Underground Railroad and support the Canadian federal designation of Windsor’s Ojibway National Urban Park; strengthen collaborations between tourism and cycling partners to promote and market cross-border trail tourism; institutionalize greenway assessments (every 5–10 years) to evaluate trail segment completions, gaps, potential route improvements, safety improvements, equity considerations, etc., and to keep greenways in the public consciousness; and measure and broadly communicate the economic impact of cross-border trail tourism resulting from the bridge. Full article

Eight Views is a time-honored East Asian cultural-landscape paradigm in which eight emblematic natural—cultural scenes fuse regional character, historical memory, and aesthetic ideals into a coherent narrative. It encodes the collective memory and identity of a city (or garden/region), a premodern ‘mental map’ or proto- ‘city brand’. In China, the historic Urban Eight Views are rooted in local environments and traditions and constitute significant, high-value landscape heritage today. Yet rapid urbanization has inflicted severe physical damage on these ensembles. Coupled with insufficient holistic and systemic understanding among managers and the public, this has led, during development and conservation alike, to spatial insularization, fragmentation, and even disappearance, alongside widening divergences in cultural cognition and biases in value judgment. Taking Longmen Haoyue in Chongqing, one of the historic Urban Eight Views, as a case that manifests these issues, this study develops a holistic–relational approach for the urban, historical Eight Views and explores landscape-based pathways to protect the spatial structure and cultural connotations of the heritage that has been severely damaged and is in a state of disappearance or semi-disappearance amid modernization. Methodologically, we employ decomposition analysis to extract the historical information elements of Longmen Haoyue and its internal relational structure and corroborate its persistence through field surveys. We then apply the FAHP method to grade the conservation value and importance of elements within the Eight Views, quantitatively clarifying protection hierarchies and priorities. In parallel, a multidimensional corpus is constructed to analyze online dissemination and public perception, revealing multiple challenges in the evolution and reconstruction of Longmen Haoyue, including symbolic misreading and cultural decontextualization. In response, we propose an integrated strategy comprising graded element protection and intervention, reconstruction of relational structures, and the building of a coherent cultural-semantic and symbol system. This study provides a systematic theoretical basis and methodological support for the conservation of the urban historic Eight Views cultural landscapes, the place-making of distinctive spatial character, and the enhancement of cultural meanings. It develops an integrated research framework, element extraction, value assessment, perception analysis, and strategic response that is applicable not only to the Eight Views heritage in China but is also transferable to World Heritage properties with similar attributes worldwide, especially composite cultural landscapes composed of multiple natural and cultural elements, sustained by narrative traditions of place identity, and facing risks of symbolic weakening, decontextualization, or public misperception. Full article

Flooding events have increased in frequency and severity worldwide in recent years, a trend that has been made worse by human activity and climate change. Floods are one of the world’s most dangerous natural catastrophes because of the serious risks they represent to property, human life, and cultural heritage. The necessity for efficient flood management techniques to reduce the growing dangers is what motivated this study. It specifically examines the flood risk in the Garyllis River Basin in Cyprus, a region recognized for it high susceptibility to extreme weather conditions Adopting an integrates approach that combines modeling tools and techniques, such as remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and hydraulic modeling, along with multiple data types of data and in situ measures, this study evaluates flood risk and proposed shelters and escapes routes for the worst-case scenarios. The research utilizes the open-access software HEC-RAS to simulate the spatio-temporal progression of surface water depth and water velocity for different return periods. The vulnerability levels are enumerated through a weighted linear combination of relevant factors, in specific population density and age distribution, according to the last official government reports. Exposure levels were calculated in terms of land value. For each flood component, all factors are assigned equal weighting coefficients. Subsequently, flood risk levels are assessed for each location as the product of hazard, vulnerability, and exposure levels. The validity of the proposed methodology is assessed by comparing the critical points identified during in situ visits with the flood risk level estimates. As a result, escape routes and refuge areas were proposed for the worst-case scenario. Full article

The rise of digital platforms has transformed heritage interpretation from a single official narrative to multi-stakeholder participation. This study investigates how such platforms mediate the formation of a sense of place at the Kulangsu World Heritage Site (WHS). Data were collected from official narrative texts and user-generated content (UGC) on Dianping and Ctrip, and analyzed using high-frequency word statistics and semantic network analysis. The results reveal a clear divergence between official narratives, which emphasize Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), and tourist perceptions, which focus on visual landmarks and “check-in” practices shaped by the “digital gaze.” Moreover, the sense of place is shown to be a dynamic process, co-constructed through pre-visit expectations, on-site experiences, and post-visit reflections. The findings also highlight a transformation in tourists’ roles, shifting from passive cultural consumers to active participants in the co-construction of heritage values, with digital platforms serving as critical mediators. Theoretically, the study advances digital heritage scholarship by clarifying the mechanism of the digital gaze and the dynamic nature of sense of place. Practically, it underscores the importance of integrating official narratives with UGC to strengthen OUV communication, foster broader public engagement, and support the sustainable development of WHSs. Full article

There is a widespread belief that koala conservation measures should be focused on ending forestry operations in native forests and that plantations should be the alternative source for timber. While advocates for conservation continue to promote this strategic approach, they overlook the fact that hardwood plantations also provide important habitats. Ongoing operations in both natural and planted forests continue to threaten the viability of the koala species, and populations in one of the koala’s core habitats in northern New South Wales (NSW) continue to decline. To improve conservation outcomes for this species in the wild, the Great Koala National Park (GKNP) has been proposed. While the process of establishing this park continues, ongoing forestry operations exert continuous pressure on koalas and their habitat within the proposed area of the park. This paper investigates how community stakeholders are collaborating with scientists to identify areas of high koala habitat value within the hardwood eucalypt plantations inside the proposed GKNP that are currently excluded from conservation and will be subject to ongoing timber extraction. Investigations of Tuckers Nob State Forest, which is inside the proposal area, confirmed the presence of both koalas and original forest inside the plantations which were excluded from conservation by the state government. Original trees and remnants were identified using historical aerial photography, which were orthorectified and matched against current NSW government imagery (SIX Maps); composite mosaics of photographic sheets and closeups (Quantum GIS) were imported into Google Earth Pro. Koala drone surveys, habitat ground-truthing, and on-ground scat and koala surveys of 120 ha involving various community stakeholders were conducted in December 2024 and revealed 25 koalas records, necessitating the reclassification of this area from plantation to prime koala habitat. Here, as in many other plantations in NSW, the findings of this study indicate significant numbers of original trees that are part of highly diverse nutrient-rich sites attractive to koalas. This leads to the conclusion that the exclusion of specific areas of the proposed park from conservation to allow for ongoing logging is inconsistent with recognized koala protection strategies. Hence, koala protection strategies need to consider the integrity of the reserve system in its entirety, and the whole area of the GKNP should be accorded the requisite status of a World Heritage Site. Full article

In the era of big data, the rapid proliferation of user-generated content enriched with geolocations offers new perspectives and datasets for probing the spatiotemporal dynamics of tourist mobility. Mining large-scale geospatial traces has become central to tourism geography: it reveals preferences for attractions and routes to enable intelligent recommendation, enhance visitor experience, and advance smart tourism, while also informing spatial planning, crowd management, and sustainable destination development. Using Mount Huangshan—a UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage site—as a case study, we integrate GPS trajectories and geo-tagged photographs from 2017–2023. We apply a Density-Field Hotspot Detector (DF-HD), a Space–Time Cube (STC), and spatial gridding to analyze behavior from temporal, spatial, and fully spatiotemporal perspectives. Results show a characteristic “double-peak, double-trough” seasonal pattern in the number of GPS tracks, cumulative track length, and geo-tagged photos. Tourist behavior exhibits pronounced elevation dependence, with clear vertical differentiation. DF-HD efficiently delineates hierarchical hotspot areas and visitor interest zones, providing actionable evidence for demand-responsive crowd diversion. By integrating sequential time slices with geography in a 3D framework, the STC exposes dynamic spatiotemporal associations and evolutionary regularities in visitor flows, supporting real-time crowd diagnosis and optimized spatial resource allocation. Comparative findings further confirm that Huangshan’s seasonal intensity is significantly lower than previously reported, while the high agreement between trajectory density and gridded photos clarifies the multi-tier clustering of route popularity. These insights furnish a scientific basis for designing secondary tour loops, alleviating pressure on core areas, and charting an effective pathway toward internal structural optimization and sustainable development of the Mount Huangshan Scenic Area. Full article

Buffer zones are essential for the protection of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of World Heritage properties. In China, to address the limitations of the prevailing “two-line” delineation system for architectural heritage protection, this study introduces the concept of buffer zone as a new perspective on heritage management. Focusing on the Cao Family Compound—a representative residence of Shanxi Merchants—this research situates the site within a broader cultural network to fully articulate its historical and social values. The methodology unfolds in three phases: (1) comprehensive identification of 47 spatial elements contributing to the compound’s significance, through field investigation, literature review, analysis of historical imagery and architectural drawing, and oral history interview; (2) systematic evaluation of each element’s value contribution to the compound based on six criteria across two dimensions, employing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Weighted Sum Method (WSM); (3) spatial visualization and hierarchical buffer zone delineation conducted via ArcGIS-based data modeling and the Natural Breaks classification method. This integrated approach establishes a holistic and structured framework that bridges architectural heritage with its setting, providing practical guidance for policymakers and conservation practitioners. Full article

The Wanning Bridge is a critical component of Beijing’s Central Axis World Heritage site and the only Yuan Dynasty heritage bridge in Beijing still in service. Investigating its structural response under complex traffic conditions is therefore essential for ensuring the longevity of this ancient structure and the safety of the urban transport system. However, the application of traditional research methods, such as direct sampling, is often constrained by the cultural relic characteristics of heritage bridges. This study first conducted a macroscopic on-site survey to document its current appearance and global geometry. Subsequently, more accurate geometric and material parameters of the bridge were acquired through non-destructive testing techniques including 3D laser scanning, ground-penetrating radar, and ultrasonic testing. Subsequently, using a combined approach of experimental and numerical simulation, this study reveals key structural responses and damage conditions of the bridge through static, dynamic, and metro-induced vibration tests. Dynamic tests show a maximum deformation of 0.26 mm and a natural frequency of 10.547 Hz, indicating shear strain accumulation as the primary damage driver. Subway-induced vibrations are well within the safety limits for stone relics, and the structure’s current load-bearing capacity complies with Class-II highway standards. Full article

Freshwater environments of large protected areas such as national parks and biosphere reserves concentrate a significant amount of natural heritage. An active release of mercury (Hg) to the global environment may challenge the state of this heritage. The present work synthesizes tentatively the information on Hg-enrichment in freshwater environments of large protected areas. A major bibliographical database was used to find the related literature (articles in international journals), which then was filtered to leave only the most relevant sources. Their content was analyzed to extract the necessary information. This bibliographical survey permitted us to find a few dozen examples of protected areas with freshwater environments enriched in mercury and methylmercury. These areas are present in the different parts of the world, and most commonly the Americas. The researchers paid more attention to mercury in biota than in water and sediments. The reported factors of Hg-enrichment differ, with the prevalence of those anthropogenic. The role of volcanism and long-distance dispersal of mercury by air and water is also significant. Interpreting the examples faces various uncertainties, but it is generally clear that Hg-enrichment can be regarded as a potential threat to natural heritage of protected areas on the global scale. It is proposed that Hg-hotspots (e.g., in Nova Scotia in Canada and Patagonia in Argentina) are rare phenomena constituting a new category of heritage. This interpretation extends the vision of the overall natural heritage of national parks and biosphere reserves. Several recommendations to natural heritage management in large protected areas with Hg-enriched freshwater environments are specified. Full article