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Abstract:

The rapid development of near water recreation and the need for integrated coastal management have boosted new discussions on the assessment of cultural ecosystem services of water bodies. Experts state that the related theory and methodology are undeveloped because of few practical assessments available for theoretical generalization. In particular, there are no examples of evaluation of large inland regions, which are remote from seas and oceans, and where recreation opportunities are concentrated on numerous rivers and lakes. Obtaining the knowledge on spatial features of recreational ecosystem services is complicated because of scarcity of field data required for the analysis and impossibility to obtain them in situ. To minimize such a gap, we share our experience in assessing the recreational opportunities in the Upper Ob basin (Western Siberia, Russia). In its area of 2.99 million km², 300 thousand of lakes and 150 thousand of rivers are situated. We propose to consider the potential of recreational water use geographically as a spatial (valley-floodplain) phenomenon described by a minimum number of water and near water conditions, significant in recreation. Thus, this potential can be estimated qualitatively and quantitatively using landscape indication tools, a multi-criteria analysis and GIS. For evaluation, we use three integral criteria and a three-point scale of significance (insignificant, less significant, significant). Each of the integral criteria is a complex physical – geographical characteristic bound to the data from landscape, topographic and geological maps. An appearance criterion describes the types of shores and bottoms; a functional criterion – the flow rate, the length of rivers, the water area of lakes, the depth of water objects; a psychological criterion – near water and external landscape contacts through the vegetation. The performed assessment has provided territorial planning in the region with qualitative and quantitative descriptions of ecosystem services of water bodies, established their spatial regularities and specified probable points of growth in water recreation infrastructure.