Understanding human-nature connections through value networks: the case of ancient wood-pastures of Central Romania

Scattered woody vegetation generates multiple socio-economic and environmental benefits to the rural communities. Disregarding values associated with woody vegetation on pastures can decouple individuals from traditional management practices, resulting in the loss of biodiversity-rich farming landscapes. Here we employ semi-structured interviews and network analysis to understand the value networks attributed to scattered mature and large old trees in traditional wood-pastures of Central Romania. In our approach, values connect people to trees as well as other people when all share the same appreciation for trees. Farmers assigned 18 values to the scattered mature and large old trees on wood-pastures. Mature trees were appreciated mainly for their tangible benefits. The removal of a single value (i.e., shade value for livestock) decoupled a large proportion of farmers from the mature tree value network. Conversely, large old trees were appreciated for their socio-cultural values (e.g., identity, history). For these trees, the removal of individual socio-cultural values decoupled a relatively small number of people from the network. We suggest that the adoption of a value network approach to understanding multifunctional farming landscapes such as wood-pastures is important because it allows for (1) the understanding of the connections between people and landscape features (e.g., trees) as well as between people (i.e., through sharing the same values for trees), (2) the inclusion of values in the social-ecological monitoring projects and the understanding of the role of various local initiatives and land ownership forms in shaping the value network, and (3) facilitating the understanding of the circumstances of how formal regulatory policies may influence the multifunctional farming landscape as a social-ecological system.