Ecosystem services are defined as the benefits that nature provides to humans, and consist of provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. These services are closely linked to each other, and their characteristics and functions change as the land use changes. This study quantitatively assesses ecosystem service interactions through trade-off and synergy analysis. This study aims to identify the optimal land use scenario for Sejong City, which is undergoing rapid urbanization, by evaluating current habitat quality and assessing trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services using scenarios based on the city's 2040 master plan. To this end, ecosystem services related to biodiversity and water supply were quantitatively evaluated using the InVEST Habitat Quality Model and the InVEST Annual Water Yield Model, respectively. In addition, by comparing and analyzing the current habitat environment evaluation results and the evaluation results according to the scenario application, the trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services were quantitatively evaluated and the optimal land use scenario was derived through Weight-based Multi-Scenario Decision-Making Framework. As a result of the study, trade-off occurred in all scenarios, and the dispersed green infrastructural land use scenario was evaluated as the optimal land use strategy with the highest integrated evaluation index when it was aimed at strengthening habitat quality, and the concentrated green infrastructural land use scenario was evaluated as the optimal land use with the highest integrated evaluation index when considering habitat quality and water production equally or minimizing water production loss. This study is of great significance in that it presents an optimal land use strategy suitable for the purpose of the policy in consideration of the interaction between ecosystem services. Ultimately, it contributes to efficient ecosystem management by proposing a new decision-making support framework that quantitatively integrates and analyzes different ecosystem services.

This study evaluates the potential for recognizing individual temple forests as Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) to support the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and the 2030 action targets adopted at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity. While previous studies have discussed the possibility of temple forests as OECMs, no site-level assessments have been conducted. Therefore, this study applies the Forest OECMs Guidelines to assess the designation potential of Beopheungsa Temple Forest. The results indicate that 1,077.16 ha (98.05 %) of Beopheungsa Temple Forest, excluding 21.40 ha (1.95 %) designated as a Landscape Reserve, qualify as potential OECM sites and meet most of the assessment criteria outlined in the Forest OECMs Guidelines. However, a comprehensive governance structure has not been established, and only partial cooperative relationships exist among institutions and organizations. Consequently, the essential requirements for OECMs recognition, such as stakeholder consensus and approval procedures, remain inadequate, posing challenges in ensuring governance equity. To expand the designation of temple forests as OECMs, it is necessary to develop guidelines at both the national and Buddhist order levels for stakeholder governance and approval procedures. Additionally, legal support, such as PES (Payment for Ecosystem Services) and institutional support, including refining the Forest OECMs Guidelines and conducting further case studies, are required to facilitate the recognition of private forests as OECMs. This study serves as a case study for applying the OECMs framework to an individual temple forest and is expected to provide fundamental insights for expanding forest OECMs and establishing conservation strategies for private forests.

Climate tipping points refer to critical thresholds in the Earth's system, beyond which abrupt and potentially irreversible changes occur. While much attention has been given to physical climate tipping points, human-centered tipping points, where climate-induced stressors lead to significant and potentially irreversible societal impacts, have been understudied. Extreme heat events pose severe threats to human health, labor productivity, and socio-economic stability, necessitating the identification of thresholds beyond which these impacts become disproportionate. To address these challenges, this study proposes a decision-support model that integrates human-centered climate tipping points defined by the relationship between extreme heat and mortality rates as adaptation targets. This model is designed to derive optimal green infrastructure-based adaptation plans within specified budget constraints. The model assists decision-makers in identifying scenarios where current adaptation strategies may fail to prevent threshold exceedance and iteratively refining their strategies through budget-adjusted simulations to mitigate heat-related risks effectively. By reframing climate tipping points from a human-centered perspective, this study advances the scientific understanding of climate risk thresholds and their policy implications.