Land Use Policy 99 (2020) 105094 Available online 29 September 2020 0264-8377/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Recreation vs conservation in Natura 2000 sites: a spatial multicriteria approach analysis Rocchi L., Cortina C., Paolotti L.*, Boggia A. Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Perugia, Borgo XX Giugno 74, 06121, Perugia, Italy A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Natura 2000 Nature-based Tourism multicriteria analysis conficting management recreational ecosystem services ABSTRACT Because of its high naturalness and biodiversity, Natura 2000 network (N2K) is becoming increasingly important for recreational opportunity, providing benefts in terms of physical and mental health through outdoor expe- riences. Nature-based tourism (NBT) is tourism based on the natural attractions of an area: the greater the recreation opportunities, the greater the attractiveness to people. N2K sites are suitable places to favour the development of the NBT, as N2K is not a system of strict nature reserves from which all human activities would be excluded. The approach to conservation and sustainable use of N2K areas is much wider, largely centred on people working with nature rather than against it. To do this, a balance between nature-based tourism devel- opment and ecological protection should be reached. In this work, we propose the application of spatial mul- ticriteria analysis, in order to analyse multiple conficting dimensions interacting over time, considering in particular both criteria related to NBT development and ecological protection. The aim of the work was to analyse the opportunities of Nature-based tourism development in N2K in Umbria, one of the Regions of central Italy, which consists of 102 sites. In particular, the work considered the conditions of biodiversity conservation, fora and fauna, as well as the leisure opportunities provided by the sites and the pressure produced by human activities on them. A spatial multicriteria analysis has been carried out to understand the potentiality of the N2K at territorial level. In particular, the proposed methodology would like to support decision makers in the identifcation of N2K sites in which NBT activities could be improved and developed, in a balanced way ac- cording to biodiversity conservation. Results show, according to preferences set by three different kinds of ex- perts, that only a small bunch of N2K sites could be suitable for an increase of the NBT. 1. Introduction The Nature-based tourism (NBT) has been defned as the segment in the tourism market in which people travel with the primary purpose of visiting a natural destination (Kuenzi and Mcneely, 2008). The literature about NTB is often referred to large extensions of uncontaminated na- ture with unique habitat (Priskin, 2001) where live endangered species (Kim et al., 2019; Kuenzi and Mcneely, 2008). Many countries have become popular destinations for NBT because they harbor extraordinary levels of ecosystems and magnifcent natural scenery. For example, in the Southeast Asia region, NBT is a sector that is rapidly growing (An et al., 2019); in the north Europe the demand for NBT has steadily grown and has created opportunities for developing economic diversifcation tools within Regions rich in natural amenities (Fossgard and Fredman, 2019; Fredman and Tyrv¨ ainen, 2010). Natura 2000 Network (N2K) is a form of nature conservation in the European Union focused on species and habitats, on both land and sea areas, established under the unifed regulatory framework of the Habitat (Directive 92/43/EEC) and Birds (Directive 2009/147/EC) Directives. N2K sites are suitable places to favor the development of the NBT, as “Natura 2000 is not a system of strict nature reserves from which all human activities would be excluded. While it includes strictly protected nature re- serves, most of the land remains privately owned. The approach to conser- vation and sustainable use of the Natura 2000 areas is much wider, largely centered on people working with nature rather than against it. However, Member States must ensure that the sites are managed in a sustainable manner, both ecologically and economically” 1 . N2K represents not only one of the world’s most ambitious approaches for halting the loss of * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: lucia.rocchi@unipg.it (L. Rocchi), carla.cortina@unipg.it (C. Cortina), luisa.paolotti@gmail.com (L. Paolotti), antonio.boggia@unipg.it (A. Boggia). 1 https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/index_en.htm Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Land Use Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/landusepol https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.105094 Received 1 June 2020; Received in revised form 11 September 2020; Accepted 11 September 2020