Visibility analysis in wetland protection processes

Wetlands are ‘areas of high naturalness’ essential for the survival of a large number of animal and plant species. The preservation of the biological diversity of wetlands is implemented through various protection regimes, such as parks, reserves, SCIs, SPAs and Ramsar sites. However, in some cases, protection initiatives are insufficient in reducing anthropogenic pressures on wetlands threatened by the widespread urbanization and anthropization of the landscape, also their presence effectively affects, from a perceptive point of view, the landscape of wetlands. The introduction of the perception analysis in wetland conservation processes could guarantee the integral protection of landscape. The visibility analysis method is based on the visual perception: intervisibility maps are created using GIS tools that measure how much a portion of land is visible from previously identified points, thus highlighting visual existing interactions between wetlands and the surrounding. The maps of the most visually exposed areas could be additional tools to protect wetland landscape, anticipating potential impacts on it. The proposed methodology has been applied to the case study of the southeastern Sicilian wetlands.