Aesthetic valuation of agricultural landscapes in the Swiss Alps by the public: Effects of ecological compensation areas

The conservation and maintenance of cultivated landscapes and the conservation and promotion of biodiversity are important aims of the multifunctional agriculture in Switzerland. Direct payments support non-commercial services of agriculture (public goods), for example the maintenance of the cultivated landscape and conservation of natural resources. However, compensation payments for services in landscape management should not only result in a diversified, but also in an aesthetically attractive landscape. This requires knowledge about the contribution of various forms of agricultural management to the appearance of a landscape. With the help of a photo survey we investigated the visual preferences of Swiss residents for cultivated landscapes in the Swiss Alps. The photos showed landscapes with different types of land-use (grassland, arable land, mixtures of both) containing various proportions of ecological compensation areas (ECAs) such as extensively managed grasslands, single trees, hedges and stone walls. A set of 16 different landscapes (derived from two digital-processed photographs) was shown to 200 randomly selected people, who were asked to rate each landscape by attractiveness on a six-step scale, and to indicate their most and least preferred one. Our results show that in the Swiss Alps diverse landscapes with a high proportion of ECAs were liked best, whereas landscapes without ECAs were liked least. Study participants described their preferred landscape as diverse, species-rich and worthy of preservation, whereas they described their least preferred landscape as productive and boring. ECAs are powerful landscape elements to enhance the public’s appreciation of agricultural landscapes in the Swiss Alps. This might increase the attractiveness of certain regions in the Alps and in consequence have a positive impact on tourism. Our results support increasing direct payments to farmers to increase the proportion of ECAs and enhance both the diversity of a landscape and its aesthetic value.