Abstract:
The quest for a balance between sustainable development and nature conservation
remains a challenge for scientific and spatial planning. This balance is especially
complex in social-ecological structures focused on conventional rural practices and
correlated with protected areas. The purpose of this study is to suggest concrete ways to
enhance the management of the Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve. To achieve this goal,
the research will explore the supply side of ecosystem services in the biophysical
dimension, across different landscape units in Jabal Moussa. Tackling the supply side
shows how the features of the environment determine the status of an ecosystem service.
The supply side will be quantified by mapping the biophysical values of provisioning
services focusing on agriculture production in the biosphere reserve's various zones, and
the assessment will help to evaluate any bad management practices occurring in any of
these zones. The indicators used for the biophysical assessment will rely on the LULC
categories defined by the ArcGIS software and models from the INVEST tool. These
value dimensions will be useful in evaluating the trade-offs of environmental resources
affected by land management in Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve. Moreover, these
findings can help identify areas where services are deteriorating, or conservation priority
areas based on improving ecosystem services and will be useful in pinpointing problems
associated with new planning and management practices.
