Ethical considerations in on-ground applications of the ecosystem services concept

The ecosystem services (ES) concept is one of the main avenues for conveying society's dependence on natural ecosystems. On-ground applications of the concept are now widespread and diverse and include its use as a communication tool, for policy guidance and priority setting, and for designing economic instruments for conservation. Each application raises ethical considerations beyond traditional controversies related to the monetary valuation of nature. We review ethical considerations across major on-ground applications and group them into the following categories: anthropocentric framing, economic metaphor, monetary valuation, commodification, sociocultural impact, changes in motivations, and equity implications. Different applications of the ES concept raise different suites of ethical issues, and we propose methods to address the issues most relevant to each application. We conclude that the ES concept should be considered as only one among various alternative approaches to valuing nature and that reliance on economic metaphors can exclude other motivations for protecting ecosystems

Ecosystem Services Under Pressure

Three ‘megatrends’ have had a particular influence on ecosystem service provi-sion and trade-offs in Europe. These are (i) the globalization of industrial andagricultural production, (ii) the changing lifestyles of a post-industrial societyand (iii) the production of green energy. This chapter discusses the pressuresarising from these trends and employs land use/cover data to cluster Europeanlandscapes into regions with similar changes in land use and associated ecosys-tem services

Ethical considerations in on-ground applications of the ecosystem services concept

The ecosystem services (ES) concept is one of the main avenues for conveying society's dependence on natural ecosystems. On-ground applications of the concept are now widespread and diverse and include its use as a communication tool, for policy guidance and priority setting, and for designing economic instruments for conservation. Each application raises ethical considerations beyond traditional controversies related to the monetary valuation of nature. We review ethical considerations across major on-ground applications and group them into the following categories: anthropocentric framing, economic metaphor, monetary valuation, commodification, sociocultural impact, changes in motivations, and equity implications. Different applications of the ES concept raise different suites of ethical issues, and we propose methods to address the issues most relevant to each application. We conclude that the ES concept should be considered as only one among various alternative approaches to valuing nature and that reliance on economic metaphors can exclude other motivations for protecting ecosystems

Peri-urban Open Spaces and Sustainable Urban Development Between Value and Consumption

Current rates in population growth and urbanization are threatening sustainability. Increasing soil consumption and dwellings with inadequate characteristics need to be counteracted to ensure well-being of present and future populations. Urban planning is currently characterized by an approach based on standards and restrictions, and, as such, is unable to cope with the above problems. An Ecosystem Service (ES) approach can be valuable in assessing current quality of life in urban settlements and in planning for its improvement. Green open spaces and relationships between urban, peri-urban and rural areas are very important in the provision of Ecosystem Services (ESs) to built-up areas. While many authors focus on approaches aiming to provide a monetary value for ESs, others are more interested in how to operationalize ES use in planning, without having to assess ES monetary value. The authors propose an integrated AMCGIS approach aiming to improve planning by providing a three-dimensional spatial analysis of productive, protective and cultural-recreational ESs based on the integration of the three RGB channels. Resulting maps provide a spatial representation of the mix of the three ES categories and stress the multifunctional role of many open spaces. Although the model requires further refinement and testing, preliminary results show that this approach may represent an innovative tool both for urban planning and design and for monitoring and correcting urban projects that are already underway