Supply and demand assessment and mismatch analysis of ecosystem services to support sustainable land management

Abstract

Due to the land degradation, the land use conflicts have intensified, and there is an increasing necessity to adapt sustainable land management. Sustainable land management deals with the demands for land in terms of not only human society but also the nature conservation and biodiversity. To persue and realize sustainable land management, the indicators and evaluation system are necessary, and ecosystem services has emerged as the proper indicator for sustainable land management. This study focused on the balance between the demand and supply of ecosystem services. If the balance between them was maintained or supply exceeded demand, the land can be assessed to be managed sustainably. In this study, CO2 sequestration, Heat mitigation, and water provision were assessed as ecosystem service in South Korea. The supply of each ecosystem service was evaluated by using related models which had been developed and used widely in previous studies. The demand of each ecosystem service was defined based on specific figures which had already suggested as policy goals in South Kroea in purpose of drawing social consensus. Afterwards, the ecosystem services supply and demand ratio (ESDR) were calculated to show the balance between supply and demand quantified by region. As a result, the exessive demand for CO2 sequestration service was found compared to supply. The supply of heat mitigation service was found to be sufficient for the demand nationwide. However, in specific areas such as cities, the demand was higher than the supply. In the case of water provision service, the national demand was being met by some regional suppliers. Through these results, it is possible to find out the ecosystem services that need to be supplemented spatially and regionally, and ultimately, it is expected to support the establishment of urban space, green space, and environmental planning at the regional and national levels.