Assessing landscape features and ecosystem services of marine protected areas through photographs on social media: comparison of two archipelagos in Spain

Abstract

Marine protected areas provide cultural services including the aesthetic appreciation of the landscape and the performance of recreational activities. In this study, we use the photographs shared by users in a digital repository to describe the distinctive characteristics of two terrestrial-maritime natural parks in Spain. In total, 1041 photos and 2342 tags generated by 76 users were analyzed. The results show the greatest salience of the landscape values, followed by historical monuments and the sighting of fauna and flora. The methodology based on the extraction of digital data from Flickr facilitates the efficient comparison of a Mediterranean archipelago (Cabrera Island) with an Atlantic archipelago (Cíes Islands). However, some important limitations were also detected in the descriptive capacity of this method, in comparison with the content analysis by external observers. But, overall, the evaluation of the subjective experience of visitors to natural areas can be very useful for tourism management of the marine environment.