Urban wetlands provide cultural ecosystem services (CES) that are essential to human well-being. However, their study remains limited in Colombia and across Latin America, particularly in terms of quantitative assessments of CES in urban ecosystems. This research examines the perception and valuation of CES among visitors to three urban wetlands designated as Ramsar sites in Bogotá, Colombia—Santa María del Lago, Juan Amarillo, and Córdoba. We assessed how sociodemographic profiles influence the appreciation and valuation of CES employing a mixed-methods approach that combined structured surveys, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and principal component analysis (PCA). Results revealed notable differences among the wetlands: Santa María del Lago attracts younger visitors and is characterized by strong appreciation for landscape aesthetics and spirituality; Juan Amarillo exhibits a mixed visitor profile with lower appreciation for spirituality; and Córdoba receives older visitors with higher education levels, who prioritize recreation and tourism. HCA and PCA identified distinct visitor segments: “passive visitors,” oriented toward contemplation and learning, and “active visitors,” focused on recreation and tourism. Across all sites, the most valued services were aesthetic appreciation of the landscape and knowledge of nature. This study provides empirical evidence to support the integration of CES into decision-making and environmental policy for urban planning, recommending differentiated governance strategies, targeted environmental education programs, and low-impact tourism initiatives aligned with Ramsar principles and nature-based solutions.

Urban wetlands are strategic socio-ecological systems that provide diverse cultural ecosystem services, including recreation, environmental education, and spiritual connections with nature. At the same time, they can generate ecosystem disservices, undermine human well-being, and challenge urban sustainability. This study investigates visitors’ perceptions of such disservices in three Ramsar-designated wetlands in Bogotá, Colombia (Santa María del Lago, Juan Amarillo, and Córdoba) to assess their influence on tourist experiences and their potential role in fostering urban peace. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining structured surveys, quantitative analysis, and qualitative coding. The results reveal that pollution, insecurity, and unpleasant odors significantly reduce visitors’ willingness to return, with notable variations across gender groups and wetland sites. Visitors also emphasized the need to strengthen infrastructure, surveillance, and environmental education. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating disservice analysis into wetland governance as a strategy to advance regenerative tourism, promote environmental justice, and support peacebuilding in Latin American metropolitan contexts, with broader implications for global urban sustainability.

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.