Identificazione di compromessi tra conservazione del valore culturale e sfruttamento di servizi ecosistemici nella riserva della biosfera di Cần Giờ (Vietnam) con strumenti di osservazione della terra

This thesis focuses on understanding the presence of tradeoffs between ecosystem service provision and conserving natural land cover in the Cần Giờ Mangrove Biosphere Reserve (South Vietnam). The research exploits the most recent satellite data and thematic mapping techniques to capture both the fragmentation and the connectivity from natural to built-up units that characterize the continuum of ecosystem structures and functions in a rapidly changing landscape where natural mega deltas (e.g., Mekong) and built-up megacities (e.g., Ho Chi Minh City) are co-existing along and across complex coastal systems with an extreme rate of land use (LU) change that is strongly driving and driven by social and demographic developments. The hypotheses is related to the opportunity offered by Earth Observation based biophysical products to assess the spatial pattern of Ecosystem Services delivery. The study provides a set of estimates for each category of Ecosystem Services including provisioning (aquaculture/agriculture), regulating (mangrove carbon sequestration), cultural (tourism) and supporting (naturality/Habitat provision/ primary production) services for the Cần Giờ Mangrove Biosphere Reserve (South Vietnam) protected area and the surrounding rural to urban landscape and on the base of these estimations a set of tradeoff maps is calculated. The major novelty is not only in the use of remote sensing techniques and geospatial analyses but in the ecosystem – driven approach to the natural capital analyses. As understanding deepens about human dependence on natural processes across varying natural to anthropogenic gradients, it is deepening the need to measure and value these ‘ecosystem services’ within economic and management frameworks.