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Approaches to determining Final Ecosystem Goods and Services: Benefits and Beneficiaries
Citation:
Landers, D. AND S. Maynard. Approaches to determining Final Ecosystem Goods and Services: Benefits and Beneficiaries. Presented at Ecosystem Services Partnership - Bali Conference, NA, INDONESIA, August 25 - 30, 2013.
Impact/Purpose:
Benfits and Beneficiaries are at the leading edge of developing robust classification systems for Final Ecosysem Goods and Services. This international workshop is designed to bring North American and European scientist together to delve into the substantive issues remaining to move this concept foward. The international community involved with implementing ecosystems services will likely find the planned published results from this effort useful and imformative in implementing ecosystem sevices approaches to inform policy decisions.
Description:
By nature, the concept of ‘Final’ Ecosystem Goods and Services (FEGS) poses the question; to what or to whom are these goods and services final? We identify two main approaches theoreticians and practitioners are using to define and perceive FEGS (note: we recognize there are others as well). One approach identifies the ‘final’ EGS to a ‘benefit’; another approach identifies the ‘final’ EGS to specific ‘beneficiaries.’ Common to both approaches and fundamental to the concept of ecosystem services is that the interests of humans (i.e. beneficiaries) are required for ecosystem services to exist. We will deliver two presentations focused on the ‘benefits and beneficiaries’ of FEGS that will serve as the background for the workshop: “Who Cares About Ecosystem Services Anyway?: Defining the beneficiaries – what is needed and can we deliver?”. The first presenter begins by identifying and exploring the issue and impacts of inconsistent classifications and methodologies for ecosystem service assessments locally to globally. Then, we describe key drivers that ultimately have lead to the development of different assessment methodologies and the FEGS concept. The second presentation continues the exploration of the FEGS concept and the different dimensions and attributes of benefits and beneficiary approaches. Building on these presentations, the interactive workshop itself will bring participants together to focus on the inherent and contextual needs, explore the limitations and opportunities offered by these two approaches when identifying, classifying, analyzing, spatially scaling and applying data and information on FEGS, benefits and beneficiaries. An important question for social and natural scientists is; what minimal set of information specific to the beneficiary and benefits approaches is necessary for adequate valuation to be performed? Given this defined need, how might the required information be measured, estimated or modeled? Through active discussion and idea formulation with workshop participants, our goal is to develop a synthesis that can help guide the quantification and valuation of FEGS which is needed to use and apply FEGS to their fullest extent.