Mainstreaming ecosystem services into EU policy
Highlights
► Achieving biodiversity targets requires mainstreaming ecosystem services into policy. ► We synthesize an approach to map and assess ecosystem services at different scales. ► We make a case for water purification, recreation and pollination. ► We provide arguments to include ecosystem services in policy impact assessment.
Introduction
The concept of ecosystem services (ES) is integrated in current biodiversity policies at global and European level [1, 2•]. In particular, the global strategic plan for biodiversity for the period 2011–2020 of the Convention of Biological Diversity complements previous conservation based biodiversity targets with the addition of ecosystem services. Following the global agreement, the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 [2•] integrates the sustainable use of ES as underpinning element of human economies to complement the non-utilitarian conservation approach to biodiversity, thus contributing to the Europe 2020 target, in particular through the resource efficiency flagship. The Europe 2020 strategy [3] aims at building smart, sustainable and inclusive growth for the European Union. It establishes resource efficiency as the guiding principle for other EU policies. As a result, the EU water policy and the EU common agricultural policy (CAP) are now aligning their objectives with the target of the Europe 2020 strategy (Figure 1). Importantly, also the EU's regional and cohesion policy now recognizes the importance of investing in natural ecosystems, in particular urban green areas, floodplains and nature for recreation, as a source of economic development [4]. Both agriculture and regional development contribute to over 80% the annual EU budget, so the inclusion of ecosystem services in these policies is considered an important step towards a more sustainable economy.
Mainstreaming of ES into policies means ensuring that the positive or negative impacts of policies on ecosystems and their services are considered during both the policy design and the policy implementation phase [5, 6]. In particular, mainstreaming ES addresses those sectors that are authorised to make decisions about the use of natural resources. Bringing ES to the mainstream requires spatially explicit data and models [7••, 8, 9]. Therefore, the European Commission is setting up a common process towards the mapping and assessment of the state of ecosystems and their services in Europe, taking stock of on-going developments at global and European levels and within the Member States, also known as Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 [2•]. This common implementation requires a multi-scale mapping approach where ES are produced and the benefits are appreciated [10, 11]. Furthermore, a better understanding is needed of the ecological production functions, which define how ecosystem structure and function affect the flows of ES, and their specific relationships with biodiversity, which is at the basis of ES [12, 13, 14].
The PRESS initiative (PEER Research on EcoSystem Services; PEER: Partnership for European Environmental Research, www.peer.eu) contributed to the knowledge base developed under Action 5 by advancing methods to map, assess and value ES at multiple spatial scales. In so doing PRESS focused on first, the impact of EU water, agricultural and biodiversity policies on the delivery of ES across Europe at different spatial scales; second, policy impact assessment based on qualitative literature reviews, as well as quantitative, biophysical mapping, valuation and scenario analysis, and third, guidance and recommendations for biodiversity policy development and implementation at the scale of EU and its Member States (Figure 1).
This paper presents a synthesis of the main results of the PRESS initiative [15] and translates the findings into conclusions for mainstreaming ES into EU policies.
Section snippets
Mapping of ecosystem services for policy impact assessment
Figure 1 links the case study-based ES assessments to the policies that were addressed in the project. EU policies are currently in the process of aligning their objectives with the overarching, long-term Europe 2020 strategy [3]. The CAP [16] and the EU Water Policy [17] are thus under revision. Both policies directly impact the use of natural resources and both seek to integrate ecosystem protection and restoration to maintain or enhance the delivery of ES in their objectives or targets. The
Water purification services
Freshwater ecosystems and more specifically the biotic communities in lakes, rivers and wetlands have the capacity to retain, process and remove pollutants, sediments and excess nutrients [19, 20, 21]. This water purification service reduces the quantity of pollutants of downstream waters. To the human settlements in the region, water purification contributes to the availability of clean water for multiples uses [22].
Four cases covering different spatial scales were selected to illustrate how
Recreation services
Cultural ES are the non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems [33]. Recreation in particular, provides many important benefits, such as physical exercise, aesthetic experiences, intellectual stimulation, inspiration, and other contributions to physical and psychological well-being. Physical contact with ecosystems is essential for recreation in nature. Mapping recreation services thus depends to a great extent on mapping the accessibility of people to ecosystems.
Case studies covered
Pollination services
Crop pollination by animal pollinators is an important ecosystem service with high economic value [45]. The productivity of many agricultural crops depends on the presence of pollinating insects and the ecosystems that support insect populations. Insect pollination is necessary for 75% of the crops that are used directly as human food worldwide [46], and cultivation of pollinator-dependent crops has steadily increased between 1961 and 2006 [47]. An estimated 10% of the total economic value of
Conclusion
The EU has ambitious biodiversity and ES targets. Much of the ambition incorporated in the targets is dependent on mainstreaming biodiversity and ES into other policies that affect the use of natural resources. At the EU policy level, not only the agriculture policy (including forestry), but also regional and environmental policies should be the target for incorporating ES in their decisions. Achieving biodiversity targets requires demonstrating that changes in these policies are beneficial to
References and recommended reading
Papers of particular interest, published within the period of review, have been highlighted as:
• of special interest
•• of outstanding interest
Acknowledgements
We thank the following colleagues who have contributed to the second phase of the PRESS study: Leena Kopperoinen, Katri Rankinen, Jan Philipp Schägner, Peter Henrys, Iwona Cisowska, Marianne Zandersen, Kurt Jax, Alessandra La Notte, Niko Leikola, Eija Pouta, Simon Smart, Berit Hasler, Tuija Lankia, Hans Estrup Andersen, Carlo Lavalle, Tommer Vermaas, Mohammed Hussen Alemu, Paul Scholefield, Filipe Batista, Richard Pywell, Morten Blemmer, Anders Fonnesbech-Wulff, Adam J. Vanbergen, Bernd Münier,
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