A Conceptual Framework for Integrated Ecosystem Assessment

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Abstract

This short communication presents an ecosystem assessment framework developed within ESMERALDA; a Horizon2020-funded EU project aimed at delivering a ‘flexible methodology’ to assist towards pan-European and regional Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem Services (MAES).

The framework we present is closely aligned with assessment frameworks developed within the MAES (2014) and Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2010) initiatives. Mapping, fundamental to the work of MAES as well as ESMERALDA, is placed at the heart of a wider suite of activities carried out within ecosystem assessment. This enables flexibility in where and how integration takes place. Beyond the biophysical parameters at the core of the framework, emphasis is given to the inclusion of social and economic factors to ensure policy relevance.

Consultation, both internal to the ESMERALDA Consortium and external - amongst those already conducting ecosystem assessments across Europe - helped guide the development of the framework. Online consultation will provide information about the development of guidance around the framework and initiate the collation of good practice examples. The framework and accompanying guidance will contribute towards a final guidance tool due at the end of the ESMERALDA project lifetime.

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An operational framework for integrated Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES)

Benjamin Burkhard, Fernando Santos-Martín, Stoyan Nedkov … (2018)

Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) are central to the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020. Action 5 of the Strategy’s second target asks all EU member states to map and assess the state of ecosystems and their services in their national territories. Such comprehensive mapping and assessment builds on several individual tasks and their systematic integration. Therefore, an integrated and operational framework is needed, supporting and coordinating these activities. The presented framework builds on existing work done by the European Commission’s MAES Working Group and provides a clear nine-step approach including the identification of relevant questions or themes to be addressed, identification and mapping of ecosystem types, ecosystem condition and ecosystem services, their integration and dissemination of results. This framework can be used to set-up related research and development initiatives and to guide involved scientists, decision-makers and practitioners through the different steps and related tasks of the process.

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Which questions drive the Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services under Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy?

Joachim Maes, Inge Liekens, Claire Brown (2018)

Action 5 of the European Union's Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 asks that Member States map and assess the state of ecosystems and their services in their national territory. Policymakers and stakeholders of these countries frequently ask why this work is necessary. This article shows that this question can be broken down into a number of specific questions which, in turn, bring specific requests for knowledge and guidance to the surface. This paper develops a typology of questions and identifies the following five categories: knowledge requests, policy support questions, questions on resources and responsibilities, application questions and technical and methodological guidance questions. Next, this typology of questions is framed in an adaptive policy cycle and coupled to a set of available solutions.