Photo simulation of a river restoration: Relationships between public perception and ecosystem services

Evaluating the ecosystem services (ES) of rivers is a challenging process. We chose to evaluate photo simulations of a river restoration effort using two different approaches. The first approach was an expert evaluation based on the assessment of individual river restoration elements. The second was an evaluation of public perception, which was implemented by collecting 150 respondent replies through an internet questionnaire. Participants in both methods worked with the photo of the original site and three adjusted photos (i.e., with added river restoration elements or recreational amenities). The original photo was taken in P?íbor, Czechia, displayed a heavily channelized gravel‐bed river in an urban area. For this reason, the design of the river restoration effort was spatially limited. In the expert evaluation, we obtained an ascending trend; the highest score was achieved by photo simulation which had the highest number of added restoration elements. In the public perception trial, the respondents evaluated the photo simulations based on four ES categories: (a) ecological and hydromorphological function, (b) aesthetics and landscape function, (c) flood protection and (d) recreational function. It was found that the respondents differed original state from the final restoration state in the category (a), (b) and (c). The final state achieved a better score in these categories. The main findings from both approaches were that even a small restoration effort could significantly improve the perception of ES as well as their services itself provided by the restored river. This conclusion could encourage the planning and construction of river restoration projects in even densely inhabited urban areas.