Land Degradation, Cultural Ecosystem Services, and Ecosystem Disservices in the Sumapaz Páramo, Colombia: An Integrated Socioecological Assessment

Understanding the relationships among land degradation, ecosystem functioning and human well‐being is essential for conserving tropical high‐mountain ecosystems. This study examined the relationships among land degradation, Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES), ecosystem disservices (EDS) and visitor perceptions at Laguna Colorados in the Sumapaz Páramo, Colombia, by integrating visitor‐perception data with complementary ecological evidence derived from multitemporal remote sensing. Perceptions were assessed through structured questionnaires administered to 92 adult visitors selected using simple random sampling. Responses were analysed in relation to sociodemographic characteristics using Spearman's rank correlations, hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis. Knowledge of Nature and Landscape Appreciation were the most highly valued CES, whereas Religion and Spirituality received comparatively lower ratings and emerged as a distinct perceptual dimension. Tourism, Knowledge of Nature, Recreation and Sports, and Landscape Appreciation were positively associated and were perceived as an interconnected CES bundle. Soil contamination and insufficient surveillance and control were the most frequently reported EDS, each identified by 32% of respondents. These perceptions were broadly consistent with multitemporal remote‐sensing evidence, suggesting increasing vegetation heterogeneity, localised declines in vegetation vigour, moisture loss and greater soil exposure between 2003 and 2025. Integrating social‐perception data with complementary ecological evidence provides a more comprehensive understanding of land degradation as a socioecological process and can inform ecological restoration, adaptive visitor management and evidence‐based conservation planning in tropical high‐mountain ecosystems.