This paper attempts to identify and assess the distinct stakeholders’ perspectives regarding Five Finger Mountain Forest Ecosystem Services (MFESs) at the landscape scale in Kyrenia Region of the Northern Cyprus. The objectives of the study were (1) to identify and assess the stakeholders’ perspectives of MFESs and (2) to record the non-wood forest products harvested and associated traditional ecological knowledge. The Q-methodology and focus group discussions were used to collect the qualitative and quantitative data on the objectives of the research. [Read more…] about Using a combination of Q-methodology and survey-based approach for assessing forest ecosystem services of Five Finger Mountains in Northern Cyprus
Publications
Highlights and policy implications of new economic report: “Protecting 30% of the planet for nature: costs, benefits and economic implications”
Released on July 8, the independent report “Protecting 30% of the planet for nature: costs, benefits and economic implications” represents the most comprehensive global assessment of the financial and economic impacts of protected areas ever completed. Based on work from over 100 experts, the report found that protecting 30% of the world’s land and ocean provides greater benefits than the status quo, both in terms of financial outcomes and non-monetary measures like ecosystem services. These benefits outweigh the costs by a factor of at least 5:1.
You can download the full report here.
Ecosystem services mapping and assessment for policy- and decision-making
Lessons learned from a comparative analysis of European case studies
This paper analyses and compares a set of case studies on ecosystem services (ES) mapping and assessment with the purpose of formulating lessons learned and recommendations. Fourteen case studies were selected during the EU Horizon 2020 “Coordination and Support Action” ESMERALDA to represent different policy- and decision-making processes throughout the European Union, across a wide range of themes, biomes and scales. The analysis is based on a framework that addresses the key steps of an ES mapping and assessment process, namely policy questions, stakeholder identification and involvement, application of mapping and assessment methods, dissemination and communication and implementation. [Read more…] about Ecosystem services mapping and assessment for policy- and decision-making
Past and Future Grand Challenges in Marine Ecosystem Ecology
Frontiers in Marine Science launched the Marine Ecosystems Ecology (FMARS-MEE) section in 2014, with a paper that identified eight grand challenges for the discipline (Borja, 2014). Since then, this section has published a total of 370 papers, including 336 addressing aspects of those challenges. As editors of the journal, with a wide range of marine ecology expertise, we felt it was timely to evaluate research advances related to those challenges; and to update the scope of the section to reflect the grand challenges we envision for the next 10 years. This output will match with the United Nations (UN) Decade on Oceans Science for Sustainable Development (DOSSD; Claudet et al., 2020), UN Decade of Ecosystems Restoration (DER; Young and Schwartz, 2019), and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; Visbeck et al., 2014).
Find the full article here.
It’s about time: Advancing spatial analyses of ecosystem services and their application
In October 2019 the Ecosystem Services Partnership (ESP) held its 10th World Conference in Hannover, Germany. An event attended by around 800 participants, quite a difference from the first ESP meeting in 2008, when a small group of ecosystem services experts gathered. This tenth ESP anniversary was good moment to take stock of what the international ecosystem services community has achieved during these years. The author of this commentary has made many, and written a lot about, ecosystem service maps.
The author of this commentary, Louise Willemen, has worked on ecosystem services and rural development issues since 2003. [Read more…] about It’s about time: Advancing spatial analyses of ecosystem services and their application