Abstract
Effective integration of ecosystem services (ESs) into spatial planning and decision-making processes has been advocated as an opportunity to improve current practices and to promote sustainable development. However, the actual uptake of ecosystem services is still challenging, in part due to the complexity of ES studies, data scarcity, and ES compartmentalization, and so on. This chapter presents a case of mapping and characterizing coastal ecosystem services in a way that deals with these issues in order to facilitate its integration in the decision-making and planning process. It gives an insight into which ESs are currently provided in Ria de Aveiro coastal region (Portugal), how are they distributed in space, and identifies multifunctional areas. We argue that the use of existing and available data, as well as tools and approaches that are similar to those used in spatial planning, notwithstanding its limitations, has the potential for bridging science and decision-making spheres. ES-related information could be thus gradually incorporated in the design of local strategies towards sustainable and transparent planning and management processes.
Highlights
Coastal and transitional regions are complex social-ecological systems in the interface of marine, terrestrial, and freshwater environments
Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) V4.3 no longer includes abiotic materials and renewable abiotic energy, abiotic outputs were considered in this study
We argue that ecosystem services (ESs) characterization and mapping, as well as the identification of multifunctional areas, is only the beginning of the integration of ES in the environmental planning process
Summary
Coastal and transitional regions are complex social-ecological systems in the interface of marine, terrestrial, and freshwater environments. They are characterized by providing numerous ecosystem services that contribute to the economic growth and human well-being [1–3] and, are regions where human presence and activity is especially intense. Considering that decisions are frequently interdisciplinary and involve multiple services, a compartmentalized approach might not be enough to inform decision-makers [7, 28] These aspects, together with the complexity involving ES studies and assessment tools, are among the reasons why ES integration into planning and decision-making processes is still limited, despite the broadly recognized potential for contributing to environmental management [27–29]. Its landscape is characterized by the presence of the coastal lagoon, plain and open territories, with few vertical elements, extensive areas of agriculture (both open fields and smallholdings), dunes, and pine forests fixing the dunes along the extensive coastline that separates the lagoon from the ocean [30]
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