2.3: Ecosystems
To support the inclusion of an ecosystems and services perspective into the evaluation of present and future EU thematic policies
and sectoral development in international and regional policy arenas, and within the EEA's indicator frameworks, key reporting
exercises and integrated assessments such as SOER 2010 and Eureca 2012.
Other Information:
Analysis - Ecosystem services represent the transformation of a number of natural assets into products that people need, benefit
from and value. They include provisioning services — products obtained from ecosystems, including for example, genetic resources,
food and fibre, fresh-water; regulating services — benefits from the regulation of ecosystems processes, including flood and
disease control, climate, water and human health; cultural services — including non-tangible benefits such as recreation,
aesthetic values and spiritual enrichment; and supporting services — those that are necessary for the production of all other
ecosystems services, including biomass production, clear air, nutrient cycling, water cycling. These natural services are
not recognised adequately by economic markets, government policies and land management practices, and accordingly many ecosystems
services are in danger of being lost or are in serious danger of losing their resilience. Wider implementation of the ecosystem
services concept in Europe, linked to a follow-up of the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the G8+5 initiative for
the 2010 meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity on the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, will add strong
economic arguments that can both change policy priorities, action and financing within the environmental policy arena, as
well as capturing the attention of other stakeholders from different sectors to increase their awareness of the economic significance
of change. Action - We will achieve our objective by: • producing Eureca 2012, the first ecosystem assessment for Europe to
feed into the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment follow-up; • supporting The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB),
the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, and the UNEP Global Green New Deal initiative in relation to resource accounting, documenting
the resilience of ecosystems, and providing analyses of their valuation; • increasing awareness about the value and use of
natural resources through analyses of market‑based mechanisms for ecosystems services; • improving knowledge about thresholds
and resilience in Europe's ecosystems and in particular in relation to climate change e.g. carbon absorption, trophic dynamics,
provisioning and fragmentation of the landscape; • maximising the use of existing data and spatial modelling techniques to
support analysis of the health and resilience of ecosystem services within Europe and globally in terms of Europe's footprint
and emerging sectoral demands; • updating EEA indicator frameworks, including SEBI2010, using an ecosystems services approach
and integrate them into the EEA assessments; and • providing communications and educational material on ecosystem services
to the public, policy-makers and scientific experts via multi‑media channels including the EC Biodiversity Clearing House
Mechanism.
Indicator(s):
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