Ecosystem services and multifunctional agriculture: Unravelling informal stakeholders' perceptions and water governance in three European irrigation systems

Abstract

Multifunctional agriculture (MFA) and ecosystem services (ES) are two important concepts in the ongoing debate on sustainable resource use. The aim of the paper is to test the ES and MFA nexus by analyzing the perception and predefined attitudes of key stakeholders in three Southern European irrigation systems. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, and the interview transcripts were codified using the Atlas.ti © qualitative analysis software. Our results illustrate that perceptions of ES go beyond those included in literature, and this provides valuable information about how key stakeholders interact with the environment in MFA systems. Second, most key stakeholders claim to be moving from anthropocentric agriculture to ecocentric rural development in order to ensure the sustainability of agricultural activity and to preserve common pool resources. Finally, the results show that bottom-up tools could identify the nexus between ES and MFA. Given our results, we provide a series of recommendations to managers be able to (a) improve comprehension of environmental services and functions, (b) enhance water user experiences and interests, and (c) encourage pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors in farmers. The paper also provides the research community with a codifying process they can use to define and improve informal and indirect references to MFA and ES standards.

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