•MaxEnt modelling identified distribution factors of Korea’s village groves.•The probability of grove occurrence had a unimodal relation with population density.•The probability of grove occurrence was low when forest cover was high (>80%).•Climatic factors also affected the probability of grove occurrence.•Conservation efforts should address human effects on community-based landscape. Our study aims to understand the spatial context of community-based landscape systems for conservation planning. To this end, the present study analyzes the factors affecting spatial distribution of Korea’s traditional village groves, which form a distinctive component of Korea’s traditional community-based landscape. Using maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modeling, we identified four strongest contributory factors that affect the current occurrences of village groves. First, the probability of occurrences declined with increasing human population density within a 300 m radius, and, second, it was lower where there was high forest cover (>80%) within a 500 m radius. Third, we found a unimodal pattern for the occurrence probability for precipitation during the coldest quarter with the probability peaking in areas where mean precipitation is 118 mm, while the occurrence probability for mean diurnal temperature range was generally positively correlated. Based on the assumption that spatial analysis could highlight priorities and implications for conservation, our results reveal the importance of understanding the grove landscape as a manifestation of the linkages between nature and humans as well as the importance of modern scientific approaches to manage the spatial elements of traditional landscape systems.