On the week between the 19th to the 23rd September, many members of the Mediterranean Ecosystem services working group met at European Ecosystem Services 2016 conference celebrated in Antwerpen, Belgium. In addition from presentations in other sessions and symposia, the working group had its own working session on Tuesday afternoon. During this session, we worked on identifying the unique ecosystem services linked to Mediterranean systems and discussed about the challenges of quantifying these services using various applied methods. We particularly looked at the unique Mediterranean characteristics of food production, of soil erosion regulation and of cultural services. In addition, we´ve got an overview of the different case studies, disciplines, systems and methods represented by partners.
Part of the work initiated in September will continue at the next meeting of the working group at the MEDECOS conference 31st of January – 4th of February 2017. We hope to see you all there! (We are organizing a symposium on Mediterranean Ecosystem Services, don’t miss it out!)