Ecosystem services and bioremediation of polluted areas

The study discusses a new approach to land use change (LUC) assessment based on environmental and socio-economic factors, evaluated through GIS tool and decision support software (ArcGIS/ILWIS). Literature data have been used to assess the current value of the ecosystem services (ES) provided by such crops (€/ha/year) and the benefits that people obtained from ecosystems. Three scenarios have sorted out and compared through multicriteria analysis. Moving from the deep knowledge of the environmental condition of the territory the study shows the alternative ES values of the land use change starting from no-change scenario to energy crops (Poplar and Giant reed), to abandonment. Results show that is possible to asses an increase of the ES value, both in case of a private and public action, also referring to the opportunities for farmers income in the short and medium-long period.