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.
Highlights
ESMERALDA aims to support EU member states to achieve Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020; 'Improve knowledge of ecosystems and their services in the EU'
The framework has three key elements: 1. it identifies assessment activities that are not part of traditional biophysical ecosystem assessments; 2. it provides an improved structure for how these activities best fit sequentially with respect to biophysical assessments; and 3. it provides a flexible approach in terms of its application so that users can select, and integrate, only those activities most appropriate to their needs
The ESMERALDA integrated ecosystem assessment (IEA) framework (Fig. 1) builds on this approach by placing elements related to mapping and assessing ecosystem condition and ecosystem services within a broader set of activities that an assessment practitioner might want to undertake depending on the mandate and scope of the ecosystem assessment being undertaken
Summary
ESMERALDA aims to support EU member states to achieve Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020; 'Improve knowledge of ecosystems and their services in the EU'. The ESMERALDA integrated ecosystem assessment (IEA) framework (Fig. 1) builds on this approach by placing elements related to mapping and assessing ecosystem condition and ecosystem services within a broader set of activities that an assessment practitioner might want to undertake depending on the mandate and scope of the ecosystem assessment being undertaken. During the development of the ESMERALDA IEA framework presented here, extensive stakeholder consultation was undertaken to broadly capture the breadth of how 'integration' has been interpreted within ecosystem assessment.
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