Presentation 5.5: Ecosystem Services

1. Presentation 5.5: Ecosystem Services

2. Outline • Defining Ecosystem Services • Key Ecosystem Services Provided by Forests • Ecosystem Markets and Payments for Ecosystem Services: Putting a Price on Natural Assets • Communicating “Nature’s Benefits and Values” to the Public

3. Section 1: Defining Ecosystem Services

4. Outline • Introduction • A Brief History • Common Defitions • The End Product is What Matters: An Economist’s Perspective • The Process Also Matters: An Ecologist’s Perspective • Summary

5. Introduction • Provide services critical to human well-being • Benefits provided to humans • Produce goods we purchase • Produce goods we consciously consume

6. History • Earliest record 400 B.C. • Field of ecosystem ecology emerged in 1940s • Term “ecosystem services” started late 1970s • Understand different perspectives

7. Common Definitions • The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment • Provisioning Services • Regulating Services • Cultural Services • Supporting Services

8. The End Product Is What Matters: An Economist’s Perspective • Developing approaches • Counting • Measuring • Assigning monetary values • Emphasize the end/final product

9. The Process Also Matters: An Ecologist’s Perspective • Wide range of conditions • Processes which ecosystems help sustain life • Intermediate Functions • End Product

10. Summary • Ecosystem services can have different meanings • Benefits ecosystems provide • Goods we purchase • Food and Fuel • “Free” Services • Waste decomposition and crop pollination

11. Section 2: Key Ecosystem Services Provided by Forests

12. Outline • Introduction • Provisioning Services • Regulating Services • Cultural Services • Aspects to Keep in Mind • Ecosystem Services and Disservices • Summary

13. Introduction • Ecosystems provide services that benefit • People • Communities • Business • Contribute to our well-being

14. Ecosystem Services of Southern Forests • Provisioning Services • Regulating Services • Cultural Services

15. Provisioning Services • Timber • Bioenergy • Nontimber forest products • Edible and culinary food • Arts and crafts • Medicine and dietary supplements • Floral and decorative • Landscape • Clean Water

16. Regulating Services • Reduced Flooding and Erosion • Air Quality • Climate Regulation

17. Cultural Services • Aesthetic, spiritual, and religious beliefs • Recreation

18. Aspects to Keep in Mind • Scale • Interrelationships • Double counting

19. Aspects to Keep in Mind • Economic Value • Different types of values

20. Aspects to Keep in Mind • Trade-offs • Co-benefits

21. Ecosystem Services and Disservices in the Wildland-Urban Interface • Ecosystem Disservices

22. Summary

23. Section 3: Ecosystem Markets and Payments for Ecosystem Services: Putting a Price on Natural Assets

24. Outline • Introduction • Ecosystem Service Valuation • Types of Ecosystem Markets and Payments for Ecosystem Services • Current Outlook • Summary

25. Introduction • Ecosystems provide essential benefits to society through tangible products with clear market prices

26. Ecosystem Service Valuation • Determining value • Market Development

27. Types of Ecosystem Markets and Payments for Ecosystem Services • Payment • Voluntary Markets • Compliance Markets • Public Payments • Voluntary Private Payments

28. Types of Ecosystem Markets and Payments for Ecosystem Services • Commodity • Carbon • Water • Biodiversity • Bundled Ecosystem Services

29. Current Outlook

30. Summary

31. Section 3: Communicating “Nature’s Benefits and Values” to the Public

32. Outline • Introduction • Nature’s Benefits • Nature’s Value • Communication Approaches • Summary

33. Introduction • Increase public understanding/support • Nature’s Benefits • Nature’s Value • Communication Approaches

34. Nature’s Benefits • Talk about “nature’s benefits” or “nature’s value” • Encourage people to think broadly about the benefits of nature • Focus on public health and safety as top benefits

35. Nature’s Benefits • Remind people of nature’s role in providing materials for medicines • Highlight the benefits of nature for providing food

36. Nature’s Value • Acknowledge the unquantifiable value of nature • Clarify the value of conservation • Highlight non-monetary ways of measuring nature’s value

37. Communication Approaches • Framing the Subject

38. Communication Approaches • Messengers and the Audience

39. Summary • Challenging to communicate ecosystem concepts • Resource professionals communicate information effectively is key • Important that audience understands

40. Credits