Integrated assessment and valuation of ecosystem services - Guidelines and experiences

EU FP7 OpenNESS project deliverable D33 & D4

Puzzling Out Ecosystem Services Values: A Participatory Framework to Support Decision- Making

Ecosystems are the support of our lives, with their goods and services backing up human wellbeing. The concept of ecosystem services was advanced as a metaphor to demonstrate the importance of nature and its processes to the existence of our societies. Since the early stages of its adoption, this concept has been seen as a promising way to emphasise the importance of nature conservation. This research field is growing fast, with a strong focus on research-society interfaces. However, as much worldwide attention as the ecosystem services concept has recently received, value reductionism and monistic approaches, still surface in many debates. Looking only into one value dimension brings several associated risks and biases. This calls for adoption of more integrative perspectives where multiple values attached to ecosystem services are considered. Once these multiple values are recognized, the ensuing question is how to promote their articulation in the context of policy and decision-making processes. Ecosystem services is a value-laden concept that carries in itself potential controversies about the values it translates. On the other hand, it is also seen as a platform to promote participation and to search for new paths of collaborative action. Based on these assumptions this dissertation started from the focal question “how to structure a participatory process for the integration and articulation of multiple values of ecosystem services to inform decisionmaking?”. A three stage participatory conceptual framework was developed and subsequently tested in the Arrábida Natural Park, a Portuguese coastal and marine protected area. The proposed approach starts with a “set the scene” stage, where a new methodology to implement a collaborative scoping process of ecosystem services was developed. Scoping tasks combine an institutional and stakeholder analysis that allows to identify key stakeholders, their interdependencies and institutional rules governing the study area, with a participatory workshop, where the ecosystem services provided by the area are identified by participants. Such workshop also provides a platform to scope ecosystem services threats, linkages with wellbeing elements, as well as a preliminary assessment of ecosystem services ecological, economic and social importance. The second stage aims to “deepen understanding” regarding the structure underlying the provision of a sustainable flow of selected ecosystem services. In the case study, this stage was developed through a participatory systems mapping approach. Inter-organisational stakeholder groups collaborated in the conceptualization of feedback processes characterizing ecosystem services during a group modelling workshop, which allowed to share insights on the underlying cause-effect mechanisms and leverage points, supporting the identification of interrelationships among different ecosystem services and the selection of key indicators for management processes. The framework ultimately envisages to engage stakeholders in the “articulate values” stage. A third participatory workshop is proposed to integrate multiple ecosystem services values in the context of a real world decision-making process. In the Arrábida Natural Park, participants were asked to deliberate on social, biophysical and economic criteria associated to different alternative policies for the protected area, as well as to define decision rules that foster integration of different value dimensions to inform decision-making processes. Using participation as a value articulating institution, stakeholders were engaged in a process to select, discuss and articulate several and distinct ecosystem services value dimensions regarding two decision contexts – a land use conflict and a project evaluation process. The empirical results and participants’ evaluation support the conclusion that the developed conceptual framework is able to provide a coherent platform to engage stakeholders in ecosystem services scoping, assessment and decision support tasks. Ultimately, the proposed framework offers structured guidelines for puzzling out multiple value dimensions of ecosystem services, which may be further applied to different types of ecosystems and decision processes

Bridging the gap between policy and science in assessing the health status of marine ecosystems

Human activities, both established and emerging, increasingly affect the provision of marine ecosystem services that deliver societal and economic benefits. Monitoring the status of marine ecosystems and determining how human activities change their capacity to sustain benefits for society requires an evidence-based Integrated Ecosystem Assessment approach that incorporates knowledge of ecosystem functioning and services). Although, there are diverse methods to assess the status of individual ecosystem components, none assesses the health of marine ecosystems holistically, integrating information from multiple ecosystem components. Similarly, while acknowledging the availability of several methods to measure single pressures and assess their impacts, evaluation of cumulative effects of multiple pressures remains scarce. Therefore, an integrative assessment requires us to first understand the response of marine ecosystems to human activities and their pressures and then develop innovative, cost-effective monitoring tools that enable collection of data to assess the health status of large marine areas. Conceptually, combining this knowledge of effective monitoring methods with cost-benefit analyses will help identify appropriate management measures to improve environmental status economically and efficiently. The European project DEVOTES (DEVelopment Of innovative Tools for understanding marine biodiversity and assessing good Environmental Status) specifically addressed t hese topics in order to support policy makers and managers in implementing the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Here, we synthesize our main innovative findings, placing these within the context of recent wider research, and identifying gaps and the major future challenges

Editorial: Bridging the gap between policy and science in assessing the health status of marine ecosystems

Human activities,both established and emerging, increasingly affect the provision of marine ecosystem services that deliver societal and economic benefits. Monitoring the status of marine ecosystems and determining how human activities change their capacity to sustain benefits for society requires an evidence-based Integrated Ecosystem Assessment approach that incorporates knowledge of ecosystem functioning and services).Although,there are diverse methods to assess the status of individual ecosystem components, none assesses the health of marine ecosystems holistically, integrating information from multiple ecosystem components. Similarly,while acknowledging the availability of several methods to measure single pressures and assess their impacts, evaluation of cumulative effects of multiple pressures remains scarce.Therefore,an integrative assessment requires us to first understand the response of marine ecosystems to human activities and their pressures and then develop innovative, cost-effective monitoring tools that enable collection of data to assess the health status of large marine areas. Conceptually, combining this knowledge of effective monitoring methods with cost-benefit analyses will help identify appropriate management measures to improve environmental status economically and efficiently. The European project DEVOTES (DEVelopment Of innovative Tools for understanding marine biodiversity and assessing good Environmental Status) specifically addressed these topics in order to support policymakers and managers in implementing the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Here, we synthesize our main innovative findings, placing these within the context of recent wider research, and identifying gaps and the major future challenges

Mapping and modelling multifunctional landscapes

De maatschappij profiteert van een grote verscheidenheid van diensten die door het landschap geleverd worden. Deze zogenaamde ‘landschapsdiensten’ omvatten onder andere de productie van voedsel en hout, de levering van drinkwater, klimaatregulatie, landschapsbeleving en recreatiemogelijkheden. Landschapsdiensten zijn ongelijk verdeeld over het landschap, sommige plekken leveren meer of andere diensten dan andere plekken. Om het landschap zo goed mogelijk te gebruiken is het voor beleidsmakers belangrijk te weten waar en hoeveel landschapsdiensten geleverd worden. Het probleem is dat er op dit moment geen kaarten zijn die deze informatie voor volledige regio’s laten zien. Daarbij is ook de kennis beperkt over in hoeverre landschapsdiensten veranderen als hun omgeving verandert. Met name op multifunctionele locaties waar mensen het landschap veranderen om de levering van één specifieke landschapsdienst te versterken, spelen keuzes in landschapsmanagement een belangrijke rol, aangezien veranderingen in het landschap elke aanwezige landschapsdienst op een andere wijze zal beïnvloeden. Om deze twee problemen aan te pakken richt dit proefschrift zich op het ontwikkelen van methoden om de huidige en toekomstige staat van een aantal landschapsdiensten van Gelderse Vallei regio te kunnen kwantificeren en karteren. In proefschrift focussen we ons voornamelijk op methoden die ruimtelijke patronen en processen die deze ontwikkelingen in de tijd en ruimte kunnen beschrijven. De kaarten en het verbeterde begrip van landschapsdynamieken, die resulteren uit dit proefschrift, kunnen helpen om in de toekomst het ruimtelijk beleid voor multifunctionele gebieden beter te ontwerpen en te evalueren

Nature like setting. Cultural ecosystem services and disservices of French urban green spaces

International audienceSociety has a growing interest for urban nature. The decision-makers have to take this concern into account but they need to know the fallouts of nature for their municipalities, their citizens and the tourists. It was the purpose of our research programs, which were funded by the French region Centre-Val de Loire. How urban nature is perceived by users? What kind of nature is more appreciated? How explain the increasing interest for urban nature? What users research in green spaces? The study was conducted in six green spaces, which belong to different categories (forest and semi-natural, ornamental and allotment gardens) and are located in the six main cities of the region Centre-Val de Loire. 321 users were interviewed from a semi-supervised manner. To complete this study, 12 green spaces managers (elected representatives, heads and technicians) were questioned on the representation of nature by urban-dwellers. To put the results into perspective, we also analyzed tourists’ point of view in the Center Parcs site, which is located in the same region and can be assimilated to urban space, with its cottages, facilities and shops. Here, the study considered an innovative method, basing on 2.118 comments posted by customers on a sharing website (TripAdvisor). The first conclusion is that nature is unanimously appreciated and sought-after, according to the accounts of green spaces users as well as Net surfers. But the green spaces managers moderate this idea. City-dwellers complain to them about nature: it has also disservices (pollen, weeds). If we analyze further the point of view of green spaces users, considering the perspective offered by Center Parcs customers, we can observe that French citizen appreciated only one kind of nature, the managed one. Moreover, this nature appears only like a setting. Indeed, users come first in nature spaces for peace and quiet, before coming for the closeness with nature