Abstract
This paper reports key results of representative surveys of farmers (n=343) and the general population (n=1020) in the autonomous province of South Tyrol (Italy), conducted for the purpose of exploringperceptions of non-commodity functions of mountain farming. Results show a generally high acceptance of the non-commodity functions of mountain farming in South Tyrolean society, with the cultural landscape function being the most widely accepted throughout the population. Differences within the population can be identified for functions of cultural heritage, which is ranked highest by farmers and nature protection, ranked highest by the Italian-speaking population. Farmers give a lower ranking to those functions, which are connected with a stronger influence of society on the allocation of land.