Fig. 1.

Conceptual framework on the link between socio-demographic factors, ecosystem services perception and the ACM. This study hypothesized that people’s gender, age, and the level of urbanization of the place they live in are associated to their awareness of each category of ecosystem service. The awareness was measured by whether a person acknowledges or not that the ACM provide a particular service. How people use and prioritize the different ecosystem services provided by the ACM is determined by their perception of these services. The perception of the ecosystem services and the use of these services can affect the biophysical characteristic of the ACM and therefore its importance and its long-term ability to provide services. For instance, if people are not aware of the role of mountain trees in carbon stock and the local climate, they will tend to cut trees for various uses without given the required attention to the long-term effect of deforestation on the climate and carbon stocks