Mainstreaming ecosystem services into EU policy

Hauck, Jennifer; Paracchini, Maria Luisa; Ratamäki, Outi; Hutchins, Michael; Termansen, Mette; Furman, Eeva; Pérez‐Soba, Marta; Braat, L.C.; Bidoglio, G.

doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2013.01.002

Cited by 90 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Although valuing ecosystem services in monetary terms can be complex and controversial, many economists are working on such a project (Costanza et al, 1997;Gios et al, 2006;Liu et al, 2010;Maes et al, 2013). In general, the evaluation method may be direct if a market value exists or indirect, which is generally defined as willingness-to-pay, i.e.…”

Section: The Need To Assess the Ecosystem Services Offeredmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Sustainability of Alpine Livestock Farms

Battaglini

Bovolenta

Gusmeroli³

et al. 2014

Italian Journal of Animal Science

117

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The 2006 FAO report concerning the environmental impact of the livestock sector has generated scientific debate, especially considering the context of global warming and the need to provide animal products to a growing world population. However, this sector differs widely in terms of environmental context, production targets, degree of intensification and cultural role. The traditional breeding systems in the Alps were largely based on the use of meadows and pastures and produced not only milk and meat but also other fundamental positive externalities and ecosystem services, such as conservation of genetic resources, water flow regulation, pollination, climate regulation, landscape maintenance, recreation and ecotourism and cultural heritage. In recent decades, the mountain livestock, mainly represented by dairy cattle, has been affected by a dramatic reduction of farms, a strong increase of animals per farm, an increase in indoor production systems, more extensive use of specialised non-indigenous cattle breeds and the increasing use of extra-farm concentrates instead of meadows and pastures for fodder. This paper firstly describes the livestock sector in the Italian Alps and analyses the most important factors affecting their sustainability. Secondly, it discusses the need to assess the ecosystem services offered by forage-based livestock systems in mountains with particular attention to greenhouse gas emission and its mitigation by carbon sequestration. In conclusion, comparison between the different elements of the environmental sustainability of mountain livestock systems must be based on a comprehensive overview of the relationships among animal husbandry, environment and socio-economic context.

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Section: The Need To Assess the Ecosystem Services Offeredmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Sustainability of Alpine Livestock Farms

Battaglini

Bovolenta

Gusmeroli³

et al. 2014

Italian Journal of Animal Science

117

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Finally, the recreation potential was calculated by aggregating the values of the five features described above giving equal weights to all of them [53]. In general, ecosystems with the highest naturalness are more attractive for recreation activities [54][55][56][57], in the same way as for protected areas. Moreover, the presence of water bodies, SGI in the landscape, and mountain summits are related to a higher recreational value, as people can perform different recreational activities in them.…”

Section: Recreation Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The delivery of services strictly depends on the presence of people in the ecosystems. In general, good accessibility and good infrastructure networks help facilitate more recreational activities [56,57]. So, Forests 2018, 9, 22 7 of 20 accessibility was mapped considering: (1) the accessibility of the site; and (2) natural and constructed infrastructures that were in place to guide or be enjoyed by visitors.…”

Section: Recreation Potentialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying Green Infrastructure as a Basis for an Incentive Mechanism at the Municipality Level in Biscay (Basque Country)

Rodríguez-Loinaz

Peña

Palacios-Agúndez

et al. 2018

Forests

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The contributions of green infrastructure (GI) to human well-being have been widely recognised; however, pathways for its systematic implementation are missing. Local governments can play a crucial role in the conservation of GI, and a formal recognition of this role in budgeting systems would foster the inclusion of GI in their agenda. The aim of this study is to identify the principal components of GI at the local level to form a basis for a compensatory economic scheme. We identified the principal components of GI based on the mapping of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provision. Furthermore, we analysed the potentiality of an incentive mechanism to promote GI based on the protection status of GI. Finally, an incentive mechanism to promote GI at the municipality level was proposed. The results showed that the GI of Biscay is mainly composed of the natural forests presented in the area, and that 50% of the principal components of the GI are not protected. Furthermore, one third of the protected principal components of the GI only has protection at the municipality level. So, we propose a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES)-like scheme at the municipality level based on the cover of natural forests, where the objective is the conservation and promotion of the GI.

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“…This concept is increasingly used in both theoretical and applied research [5,6] such as spatial planning [7,8], environmental economics [9] and risk management [10]. ES play a crucial role for supporting ecosystem-based management and decisions [11,12] and the mismanagement of ES can potentially have large economic impacts and may affect thousands of people [13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem Services Mapping Uncertainty Assessment: A Case Study in the Fitzroy Basin Mining Region

Wang

Lechner

Baumgartl

2018

Water

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Ecosystem services mapping is becoming increasingly popular through the use of various readily available mapping tools, however, uncertainties in assessment outputs are commonly ignored. Uncertainties from different sources have the potential to lower the accuracy of mapping outputs and reduce their reliability for decision-making. Using a case study in an Australian mining region, this paper assessed the impact of uncertainties on the modelling of the hydrological ecosystem service, water provision. Three types of uncertainty were modelled using multiple uncertainty scenarios: (1) spatial data sources; (2) modelling scales (temporal and spatial) and (3) parameterization and model selection. We found that the mapping scales can induce significant changes to the spatial pattern of outputs and annual totals of water provision. In addition, differences in parameterization using differing sources from the literature also led to obvious differences in base flow. However, the impact of each uncertainty associated with differences in spatial data sources were not so great. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of uncertainty assessment and highlight that any conclusions drawn from ecosystem services mapping, such as the impacts of mining, are likely to also be a property of the uncertainty in ecosystem services mapping methods.

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Mainstreaming ecosystem services into EU policy

Cited by 90 publications

References 41 publications

Environmental Sustainability of Alpine Livestock Farms

Environmental Sustainability of Alpine Livestock Farms

Identifying Green Infrastructure as a Basis for an Incentive Mechanism at the Municipality Level in Biscay (Basque Country)

Ecosystem Services Mapping Uncertainty Assessment: A Case Study in the Fitzroy Basin Mining Region

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