Integrating social perceptions into spatial planning for conservation and restoration in the Colombian Coffee Region

Identifying effective conservation and restoration priorities in agricultural landscapes is a key challenge for environmental governance. While scientific assessments often guide these decisions, local perceptions provide valuable insights into how communities experience environmental change and prioritize ecosystem protection. This study integrates social perceptions with spatial locations to identify socially perceived conservation and restoration priorities among a sample of inhabitants of the Colombian Coffee Region, a biodiversity-rich agricultural landscape facing increasing pressures from land-use change, urban expansion, and tourism development. We applied a mixed-methods approach by analyzing social survey data through frequency analyses and integrating the spatial locations of identified priority areas. Stakeholder interviews complemented the survey results by providing deeper insights into the perspectives of key stakeholders. Survey responses were coded and linked to spatial land-cover categories to assess how perceived priorities are distributed across the landscape. Frequency analyses were used to examine differences in perceptions between urban and rural residents and between landowners and non-landowners. Rivers and associated riparian ecosystems emerged as the most frequently identified priorities for both conservation and restoration, reflecting their central role in water provision and ecosystem functioning. Rural residents and landowners prioritized rivers and forests, whereas urban residents and non-landowners more frequently identified urban ecosystems as priority areas. Spatial analysis revealed substantial overlap between areas perceived as priorities for conservation and restoration. Respondents most frequently identified agriculture, pollution, and urban expansion as environmental threats, while interviews highlighted governance challenges, economic inequality, and poorly regulated tourism as key drivers of environmental degradation. These findings highlight the importance of integrating social perceptions into spatial planning to better align restoration strategies with local priorities and strengthen environmental governance in socio-ecological landscapes.