Municipal-Scale Mapping of Health-Related Ecosystem Services in Italy

Abstract

Introduction: Ecosystem services (ES) are the benefits people derive from ecosystems and are increasingly recognised as important determinants of human health and well-being. ES flow represents the services actually delivered and used, while demand reflects societal needs. Spatial information on ES is essential to support land management and prioritise interventions where services are most needed.

Objectives: We mapped municipal-scale flow and demand for health-related ES in Italy, analysed geographic patterns, and developed a dataset to support targeted interventions.

Methods: We selected eight health-related regulating ES, i.e., regulation of local climate, air quality, waste, erosion, water flow, pest and disease control, natural hazard protection, and water purification. We used the matrices from Burkhard et al. (2014) [1] to assign expert-based estimated levels of ES flow and demand to 44 Land Cover classes across Italy using the 2018 CORINE dataset. We assessed ES distribution at the municipal scale using two approaches: 1) percentage of municipal areas with high ES flow (or demand) based on 2021 census tract boundaries; 2) a population-weighted measure using the 2023 Global Human Settlement (GHS) dataset, estimating for each municipality the average percentage of areas within 300 m of GHS grid centroids with high ES flow (or demand).

Results: Nationwide, the percentage of municipal areas with high ES flow was generally low, with median values ranging from 19% (air quality regulation) to 47% (pest and disease control), decreasing to 3–27%, respectively, when weighted for the population. The lowest flows occurred in lowland, coastal, and urban areas. In contrast, ES demand was high across most municipalities, with a median of 67–68% of municipal areas showing high demand (31% for water purification), rising to 94% (78% for water purification) when weighted for the population. High-demand municipalities were predominantly in urban areas and lowlands.

Conclusions: This study provides the first national-scale mapping of health-related ES flow and demand in Italy. Results highlight low ES availability and high demand in most municipalities, particularly in urban and lowland areas, underscoring the need for planning strategies to improve ecosystem services and population well-being.