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Wilderness has proven to provide a wide range of ecosystem services (ES). Wilderness have been shown to play an important role in preserving biodiversity and providing ES, which is indispensable to both nature and people. It is essential to integrate ES quantification into wilderness conservation and management. This study presents a method that combines the wilderness mapping and ecological indicators to measure ES of wilderness. The method was applied in 155,800 km2 of Shandong province in China, across 23 types of land use. First, relative wilderness value (RWV) and ecosystem service capability (ESC) were quantified according to Weighted Linear Combination (WLC). Then, spatial autocorrelation between RWV and ESC were tested and analyzed using GeoDa software. Finally, the Redundancy analysis was used to investigate the primary drivers of RWV and ESC in different landscape types. The findings showed that, there were 27,263 km2 of wilderness in Shandong province, of which 6,294 km2 were high-quality wilderness. The region with the highest RWV was the Yellow River Delta (RWV = 0.82), and the area with the highest ESC was Laoshan Mountain (ESC = 0.76). Spatial autocorrelation analysis showed a positive correlation between RWV and ESC (Pearson’s r = 0.637), both of which had significant spatial relevance (Moran’s I = 0.589, P

With urbanization accelerating, preserving and utilizing urban wilderness is crucial for sustainable development. This study focuses on Shenzhen, China, developing a framework to identify and manage urban novel wilderness areas. Using the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) method, MaxEnt model, and Geoda for spatial autocorrelation, it assesses wilderness value and recreational potential. High-value wilderness areas cover 693.14 km2, while recreational potential areas cover 149.26 km2. Key factors influencing these areas include water proximity, wildlife activities, residential density, and camping site accessibility. The study proposes strategies to integrate ecological and recreational values into urban planning and management.