Peri-urban traditional agroforestry systems are considered a priority at an international level, as they serve as a link connecting cities and rural areas, providing local food and ecosystem services for people living in the cities. The mulberry-dykes and fishponds system (MFS), located near Huzhou city (Zhejiang province, China), also has a key role in protecting the city from floods, as it developed as a consequence of the ancient flood control system created to protect local cities and villages from recurring floods. This system is recognized for its sustainability and for the strong functional interlinkages between the different components (mulberry trees, fishes, silkworms) by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which included it into the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Programme in 2017. The research intends to measure landscape transformation in the last 12 years and to evaluate the effectiveness of the inclusion into the GIAHS Programme for land use changes mitigation. In addition, an accurate discussion focusing on the analysis of local planning has been done to evaluate its capacity in protecting and valorizing the site. Results demonstrated that MFS has undergone major land use changes in the last years due to urban sprawl, the spread of solar panels (+7% in 2018–2021), and abandonment of the traditional mulberry-based system (−75% in 2009–2021). Other changes are related to the overall number of traditional fishponds (−81% in 2009–2018 and −33% in 2018–2021) and to their shape and size. Local planning tools are too sectorial, not enough integrated one another, and they do not consider the MFS as a single system. The study demonstrated that the inclusion in the GIAHS Programme is not sufficient itself to stop negative trends in the absence of adequate planning tools, even if it can contribute to slowing them down, but it would be crucial to integrate the GIAHS action plan and vision into local planning tools.

Protected areas have a key role in preserving biodiversity at different scales, as well as in providing ecosystem services to rural communities. Natura 2000 is the primary conservation network at the EU level, with the aim of protecting the most valuable species and habitats; it covers around 18.6% of the EU’s land area. The aim of this study is to assess the evolution of forest cover in EU Natura 2000 sites in the period 2012–2018 through GIS-based spatial analyses of the High-Resolution Layers produced in the framework of the Copernicus initiative. In 2018, fifteen EU countries had more than 50% of their surface covered by forests, with the top three countries being Slovenia (71.9%), the Czech Republic (70.5%), and Slovakia (69.3%). In 2012–2018, the net forest cover increase in EU Natura 2000 areas was equal to 105,750 ha/year (+1.7%). France, Bulgaria, and Germany recorded the greater net forest cover increase: 303,000 ha, 267,000 ha, and 150,000, respectively. France also recorded the highest yearly rate of forest gain (+51,491 ha/year). Most of the forest gain in EU Natura 2000 areas was found to be located between 0 and 200 m a.s.l. The study demonstrated that forest cover in EU Natura 2000 areas is increasing, with a consequent reduction of open spaces, homogenization of rural landscapes, and loss of landscape-scale biodiversity. The management and design of EU protected areas should consider the importance of preserving biodiversity-friendly land uses and practices, instead of promoting a diffuse “rewilding” with negative consequences for the landscape complexity and heterogeneity, as well as for biodiversity.

Cultural landscapes are often characterized by a complex landscape structure providing different habitats, nesting place, food reservoirs and ecological networks, for different fauna and flora species. Edges between different land uses can be assimilated to ecotones, and land uses changes over the years also affect ecotones characteristics and associated biodiversity. This study intends to contribute to the understanding of the relation between land use changes and ecotone characteristics and changes in two Italian cultural landscapes inscribed in the UNESCO WHL and in the FAO GIAHS (Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems) Programme, applying a GIS-based methodology. In the last six decades, in both study sites, agricultural areas decreased with consequent increase of forests and shrublands. This trend affected ecotones presence and density, but in different ways depending on the characteristics of the study areas. In the Prosecco Hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene UNESCO site the analyses recorded an overall reduction of ecotones total length (− 6.4%), in particular of the first level ecotones (the ones between forests and agricultural areas) due to the loss of high altitude pastures that have been recolonized by forests, and of the second level ecotones (the ones between different types of cultivated areas) due to the agricultural mosaic simplification caused by the reduction of mixed cultivations and the spread of monocultures. In the Olive Groves of the Slopes between Assisi and Spoleto GIAHS site, similar land use trends caused an increase of the total length of first (+ 53.7%) and second level ecotones (+ 13.5%). This different behavior highlighted for the two sites, demonstrates that the relation between land use changes and ecotones changes is site-specific. The average density of first level ecotones decreased in both the study sites (− 20.2% in the UNESCO site and − 30.3% in the GIAHS site), while the maximum density remains high (424 m/ha in the UNESCO site and 794 m/ha in the GIAHS site). The applied methodology and the classification of ecotones according to a hierarchical system demonstrated to be effective in their identification and assessment. The study demonstrated that cultural landscapes are characterized by important ecotones networks and that preserving landscapes of recognized cultural value also means protecting ecotones, and associated habitats and biodiversity. Instead of only focusing on increasing protected areas number and surface, EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 should consider traditional cultural landscapes as a pillar for biodiversity conservation.