Relevant initiatives that are supported by and/or related to ESP are listed below. If you know of other practical toolkits, please contact the guidelines & toolkits lead team.
- ESMERALDA MAES Explorer – An online guidance tool created by the collaborative EU Horizon 2020 funded Coordination and Support Action for research and innovation “ESMERALDA – Enhancing ecosystem services mapping for policy and decision making”. The website provides directions on the process of mapping and assessment of ecosystem services as required by Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020.
- Ecosystem Services Toolkit: Completing and Using Ecosystem Service Assessment for Decision-Making – An Interdisciplinary Toolkit for Managers and Analysts. This toolkit is a technical guide to ecosystem services assessment and analysis that offers practical, step-by-step guidance for governments at all levels, as well as for consultants and researchers. The approach is fully interdisciplinary, integrating biophysical sciences, social sciences, economics, and traditional and practitioner knowledge.
- As part of ValuES: Methods for integrating ecosystem services into policy, planning, and practice, a GIZ project funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety through the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
- ValuES Methods Navigator, how to choose suitable assessment methods?, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GIZ – There are many ways of counting and of knowing. And there are many methods for examining ecosystem services. They differ in the questions they ask, in the way they work, and in the things they can show. Whether a method is suitable depends on the specific situation and aims. The Methods Navigator leads to profiles with advice and practical information about a broad range of methods. This inventory identifies ten purposes for examining ecosystem services, and provides examples from six policy areas. Case studies show experiences from different applications and study processes.
- Publications and tools of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) – The WBCSD has developed methodologies and tools in order to support companies in the design and implementation of practices and innovative tools in their pursuit of sustainable development solutions. The “publications and tools” section of this initiative provides tools, methodologies and principles for accompany companies in their journey towards sustainability.
- The Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment (TESSA) – TESSA is an alternative to sophisticated methods for assessing ecosystem services. The toolkit focuses on specific sites such as a wetland, a mountain or a reserve to bring assessments on an operational scale using information gathered locally. The toolkit provides different methods for assessing global climate regulation, flood protection, water provision, water quality improvement, harvested wild and cultivated goods and nature-based recreation. For getting a broader view of ecosystem service change, the toolkit provides guidance on how to pull together the service-by-service data into an ecosystem service overview of a site. The aim is to make assessments relevant for local decision-making and, when scaled up, for wider communication.
- Ecosystem Valuation Toolkit – Developed by Earth Economics and partners, the ecosystem valuation toolkit offers a database of ecosystem services values, resources on ecosystem services valuation and a web-based tool for calculating ecosystem services values.
- Ecosystem-Based Management Tools Network – includes methods and software that help practitioners incorporate scientific and socioeconomic information into decision making. It provides information about planning and management tools in the U.S. and internationally