Stakeholders' perspectives on the operationalisation of the ecosystem service concept : Results from 27 case studies

The ecosystem service (ES) concept is becoming mainstream in policy and planning, but operational influence on practice is seldom reported. Here, we report the practitioners' perspectives on the practical implementation of the ES concept in 27 case studies. A standardised anonymous survey (n = 246), was used, focusing on the science-practice interaction process, perceived impact and expected use of the case study assessments. Operationalisation of the concept was shown to achieve a gradual change in practices: 13% of the case studies reported a change in action (e.g. management or policy change), and a further 40% anticipated that a change would result from the work. To a large extent the impact was attributed to a well conducted science-practice interaction process (>70%). The main reported advantages of the concept included: increased concept awareness and communication; enhanced participation and collaboration; production of comprehensive science-based knowledge; and production of spatially referenced knowledge for input to planning (91% indicated they had acquired new knowledge). The limitations were mostly case-specific and centred on methodology, data, and challenges with result implementation. The survey highlighted the crucial role of communication, participation and collaboration across different stakeholders, to implement the ES concept and enhance the democratisation of nature and landscape planning. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Predicting bee community responses to land-use changes: Effects of geographic and taxonomic biases

Land-use change and intensification threaten bee populations worldwide, imperilling pollination services. Global models are needed to better characterise, project, and mitigate bees' responses to these human impacts. The available data are, however, geographically and taxonomically unrepresentative; most data are from North America and Western Europe, overrepresenting bumblebees and raising concerns that model results may not be generalizable to other regions and taxa. To assess whether the geographic and taxonomic biases of data could undermine effectiveness of models for conservation policy, we have collated from the published literature a global dataset of bee diversity at sites facing land-use change and intensification, and assess whether bee responses to these pressures vary across 11 regions (Western, Northern, Eastern and Southern Europe; North, Central and South America; Australia and New Zealand; South East Asia; Middle and Southern Africa) and between bumblebees and other bees. Our analyses highlight strong regionally-based responses of total abundance, species richness and Simpson's diversity to land use, caused by variation in the sensitivity of species and potentially in the nature of threats. These results suggest that global extrapolation of models based on geographically and taxonomically restricted data may underestimate the true uncertainty, increasing the risk of ecological surprises

Second opinion op ‘Compensatieplan Bloemendalerpolder te Weesp en Muiden’ : Specifiek met het oog op beschermde heikikkers en rugstreeppadden

specifiek met het oog op beschermde heikikkers en rugstreeppadde

Making a better case for biodiversity conservation: the BESAFE project

This Editorial to the BESAFE special issue introduces the project and its approach and case studies. The BESAFE (EC 7th Framework programme) project investigated how the effectiveness of different types of arguments for biodiversity conservation depends on the context in which they are used. Our results show that tailoring of argumentation to audience within the course of decision processes is the main factor determining effectiveness. We consistently found arguments linked to intrinsic value (e.g. moral or ethical obligation arguments) as shared and supported widely, and thus offering common ground between parties. Economic arguments are effective as additional ones, but not as replacements. Next generation biodiversity conservation strategies can probably improve their effectiveness by emphasizing and better explaining the synergies between traditional conservation and especially regulating and cultural services

Investeren in natuur : naar pilots voor een bredere vorm van habitatbanking

For the Dutch provinces it is especially a challenge to lift the contribution of private persons andbusinesses to Nature from margin to mainstream. There is interest from private parties to invest inNature, but this interest is turned into actual implementation far too little. Commissioned by theMinistry of Economic Affairs (EZ) we explored the possibilities for applying the habitat bankinginstrument, originally devised to facilitate the offset of damages to Nature, in three possible pilotareas. This explorative study was carried out between November 2015 and May 2016. Knowledgetransfer to the commissioner has meanwhile occurred, before publication date

Supply chain sustainability in the marine contracting industry : a qualitative assessment based on the integral conceptual framework for a circular climate-neutral society

Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contracters asked Wageningen Environmental Research for an assessment of their Supply Chain Sustainability Program, focused in particular on consistency with international environmental agendas and on possible, unforeseen effects. The Integral Conceptual Framework for a Circular Climate-Neutral Society has been used for the assessment. The assessment concludes that the program is adequate. It is well aligned with international agendas and will have a positive impact on air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and plastic use. However, the issue of biodiversity receives too little attention in the program. It is therefore recommended in the short term to include biodiversity indicators in the monitoring of the program so that long-term actions can be linked to this