Acta geographica Slovenica

Common lands, shared futures: The importance of ecosystem services, justice, and sustainability through community land management

Daniela Ribeiro — 2025-12-09

This editorial article introduces the special issue "The importance of common lands' management for sustaining ecosystem services". This special issue explores the dynamics of common lands and their role in providing ecosystem services, highlighting the interplay between local management and the environmental and social benefits they engender at both local and regional scales. It addresses an underexplored field through conceptual and empirical studies on provisioning and regulating ecosystem services of common lands. Effective management relies on the integration of local knowledge and participatory decision-making, yet faces challenges such as lack of recognition in policy, institutional silos, technical capacity and data gaps, cadastral uncertainty and conflict management.

The nexus of common lands and ecosystem services: A systematic review and thematic insights

Sai-Leung Ng — 2025-12-09

Common lands are vital for sustaining ecosystem services that support human well-being. This study systematically reviews 53 empirical articles to examine the nexus between common lands and ecosystem services. Results show that management is fundamental in determining the provision of these services. Both traditional and innovative collective approaches are essential for maintaining ecosystem services across spatial scales. These services support biodiversity conservation and generate economic opportunities. The study highlights the need for integrated strategies to enhance the resilience and sustainability of common lands.

Groundwater recharge as a basis for the assessment of ecosystem services on common land: The case of the Primorska region in Slovenia

Nevenka Bogataj — 2025-12-09

The objective of this analysis is to assess groundwater ecosystem services and collect available data, with a particular focus on the supply side of their provision in common lands. The assessment of the state and trends of its recharge is conducted using the water balance model mGROWA. The study focuses on the period from 1972 to 2023 and the Primorska region due to the availability of both, spatial and temporal data for groundwater recharge and for forests on common lands. Based on the findings, we propose to recognise and support agrarian communities as large land proprietors practising the sustainable management of natural resources, underpinned by a benefit-sharing paradigm as stakeholders in groundwater management.

Assessing the contribution of communal lands to ecosystem services: A quantification of carbon sequestration in a case study from Portugal

Pedro Gomes — 2025-12-09

The sustainable management of communal lands in Portugal faces significant challenges, due to the decline of traditional agricultural and pastoral activities, low economic returns and increasing risk of large fires. The aim of this study was to assess the perceived contribution of Portuguese communal lands to ecosystem services and investigate their potential for carbon sequestration. We selected a case study and identified the main ecosystem services provided by these areas by surveying local stakeholders. We also quantified carbon sequestration, using MODIS satellite images. We concluded that many community members do not fully recognise the contributions of communal lands in providing ecosystem services. Nevertheless, their carbon sequestration capacity in 2023 was estimated at a total of 92,351 tons.

The contribution of common lands to carbon sequestration: A case study from Triglav National Park in Slovenia

Mateja Šmid Hribar — 2025-12-09

In this article, we explore the role of the Slovenian common lands managed by agrarian communities in providing ecosystem services. The study focuses on the Triglav National Park area with a fairly high proportion of common lands. We assessed the ecosystem service carbon sequestration, using MODIS Net Primary Production as a proxy, downscaled to a spatial resolution of 10 m. Despite the moderate overall carbon sequestration capacity of common lands, their forests and scrublands, which cover 14% of Triglav National Park and are characterised by higher productivity, play an important role due to their spatial extent. However, as Slovenia’s forests have experienced a decline in carbon sequestration capacity since 2014, improved management by private owners, including agrarian communities, supported by national and EU funds, is key to strengthening this vital ecosystem service.