Integrating spatial valuation of ecosystem services into regional planning and development

Abstract

The transition of the ecosystem service framework from academic discourse into practical land use management and policy guidance is in the making. Planners and decision makers seek spatial valuation data, comprehensive examples of which are few or hindered by sectoral research traditions. We present a case of linking land use to multimethod spatial ecosystem service valuation aiming at comprehensiveness and commensurability, based on a project run parallel to regional land-use planning in the Tampere region, Finland. A spectrum of ecosystem services was scrutinized, the annual value of which was estimated at €0.8–1B. Compared to land-use planning, core areas of ecological networks proved relatively poor in terms of valuation, but hot-spots of human–nature interaction such as recreational, groundwater and landscape areas immensely valuable. Strong urban-rural trends in ecosystem service value were found, emphasizing the importance of urban nature and the context-specificity of natural capital discourse. We argue that some mismatches exist between the ecosystem service framework and its practical applicability, and that the main problem is not necessarily the transferability of tools and indicators, but the transfer of valuation and the assumptions and choices behind it. Notwithstanding its problems, the applied framework proved valuable in evaluating and guiding future land use.