 |
|
EPA teams with National Geographic Society and World Resources Institute to map ecosystem services
October 30, 2008The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is collaborating with the National Geographic Society and the World Resources Institute to develop tools that will help to fully account for the value of ecosystem services.
Ecosystem services are the goods and services people obtain from natural systems. These benefits include clean air and water, erosion and flood control, soil enrichment, food, and fiber.
EPA's Ecological Research Program in the Office of Research and Development will collaborate with the National Geographic Society to develop better ways to map ecosystem services and communicate these maps to the public. Researchers will create maps displaying those services to help decision makers in communities, states, regions, and tribes understand the total costs and benefits of proposed land uses.
EPA will also team with the World Resources Institute to gain a better understanding of the ways in which decision makers in the private and public sectors use tools and information on ecosystem services. As part of the partnership, EPA scientists will share scientific tools to help businesses quantify ecosystem services and develop economic and environmental solutions.
"These partnerships will help transform the way we respond to environmental issues by illuminating the links between our own actions and the impacts on nature's services," said George Gray, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Research and Development. "With this improved understanding, decision makers can better plan for a healthy, sustainable future."
EPA relies on quality science as the basis for sound policy and decision-making. EPA's laboratories and research centers, and EPA's research grantees, are building the scientific foundation needed to support the Agency's mission to safeguard human health and the environment.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EPA will also team with the World Resources Institute to gain a better understanding of the ways in which decision makers in the private and public sectors use tools and information on ecosystem services. As part of the partnership, EPA scientists will share scientific tools to help businesses quantify ecosystem services and develop economic and environmental solutions.
"These partnerships will help transform the way we respond to environmental issues by illuminating the links between our own actions and the impacts on nature's services," said George Gray, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Research and Development. "With this improved understanding, decision makers can better plan for a healthy, sustainable future."
EPA relies on quality science as the basis for sound policy and decision-making. EPA's laboratories and research centers, and EPA's research grantees, are building the scientific foundation needed to support the Agency's mission to safeguard human health and the environment.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ecosystem Services Current Events and Ecosystem Services News RSSTEEB report released on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity for policy makers
Policy makers who factor the planet's multi-trillion dollar ecosystem services into their national and international investment strategies are likely to see far higher rates of return and stronger economic growth in the 21st century.
What are coral reef services worth? $130,000 to $1.2 million per hectare, per year: experts
Experts concluding the global DIVERSITAS biodiversity conference today in Cape Town described preliminary research revealing jaw-dropping dollar values of the "ecosystem services" of biomes like forests and coral reefs - including food, pollution treatment and climate regulation.
World will miss 2010 target to stem biodiversity loss, experts say
The world will miss its agreed target to stem biodiversity loss by next year, according to experts convening in Cape Town for a landmark conference devoted to biodiversity science.
UA scientists seek new emphases in Arctic climate change research
Much of circumpolar Arctic research focuses on the physical, direct changes resulting from climate warming such as sea ice retreat and temperature increases.
Time to tap climate-change-combating potential of the world's ecosystems
Investing in restoration and maintenance of the Earth's multi-trillion dollar ecosystems - from forests and mangroves to wetlands and river basins - can have a key role in countering climate change and climate-proofing vulnerable economies.
Scientists demonstrate importance of niche differences in biodiversity
Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have found strong evidence that niche differences are critical to biodiversity. Their findings are published online in this week's issue of the journal Nature.
Humans
Mounting evidence that human activity is changing the world's oceans in profound and damaging ways is outlined in a new scientific discussion paper released today.
UC Scientists Determine That Ancient Maya Practiced Forest Conservation - 3,000 Years Ago
As published in the July issue of the "Journal of Archaeological Science," paleoethnobotanist David Lentz of the University of Cincinnati has concluded that not only did the Maya people practice forest management, but when they abandoned their forest conservation practices it was to the detriment of the entire Maya culture.
Climate change to spur rapid shifts in wildfire hotspots
Climate change will bring about major shifts in worldwide fire patterns, and those changes are coming fast.
No joy in discoveries of new mammal species -- only a warning for humanity, Paul Ehrlich says
In the era of global warming, when many scientists say we are experiencing a human-caused mass extinction to rival the one that killed off the dinosaurs, one might think that the discovery of a host of new species would be cause for joy.
More Ecosystem Services Current Events and Ecosystem Services News Articles
 |
The Law and Policy of Ecosystem Services by J.B. Ruhl (Author), Steven E. Kraft (Author), Christopher L. Lant (Author) The Law and Policy of Ecosystem Services is a groundbreaking look at the question of whether and how law and policy can shape a sustainable system of ecosystem service management. It is an accessible and informative work for faculty, students, and policy makers concerned with ecology, economics, geography, political science, environmental studies, law, and related fields. |
 |
Conserving and Valuing Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity: Economic, Institutional and Social Challenges by K. N. Ninan (Editor), Achim Steiner (Editor) This is the most comprehensive book to address the economic, social and institutional difficulties in conserving biodiversity. It covers a wide range of issues such as biodiversity, ecosystem services and valuation in the context of diverse ecosystems such as tropical forests, marine areas, wetlands and agricultural landscapes, non-timber forest products, incentives and institutions, payments for ecosystem services, governance, intellectual property rights and the protection of traditional knowledge, management of protected areas, and climate change and biodiversity. It also covers the application of environmental economics and institutional economics to different cases and the use of techniques such as contingent valuation method and game theory. The book spans the globe with... |
 |
Nature's Services: Societal Dependence On Natural Ecosystems by Gretchen Daily (Editor), John Peterson Myers (Editor), Joshua Reichert (Editor), Sandra Postel (Editor), Kamaljit Bawa (Editor), Les Kaufman (Editor), Charles H. Peterson (Editor), Stephen Carpenter (Editor), David Tillman (Editor), Paul Dayton (Editor), Susan Alexander (Editor), Kalen Lagerquist (Editor), Larry Goulder (Editor), Pamela Matson (Editor), Harold Mooney (Editor), Rosamond Naylor (Editor), Peter Vitousek (Editor), John Harte (Editor) Life itself as well as the entire human economy depends on goods and services provided by earth's natural systems. The processes of cleansing, recycling, and renewal, along with goods such as seafood, forage, and timber, are worth many trillions of dollars annually, and nothing could live without them. Yet growing human impacts on the environment are profoundly disrupting the functioning of natural systems and imperiling the delivery of these services. Nature's Services brings together world-renowned scientists from a variety of disciplines to examine the character and value of ecosystem services, the damage that has been done to them, and the consequent implications for human society. Contributors including Paul R. Ehrlich, Donald Kennedy, Pamela A. Matson, Robert Costanza, Gary... |
 |
Payment for Ecosystem Services (Ecological Economics and Human Well-Being) by Pushpam Kumar (Editor), Roldan Muradian (Editor) The management of environmental services is an urgent requirement given the declining natural ecosystems worldwide. Transaction between provider and beneficiaries of ecosystem services known as payment for ecosystem services (PES) has emerged as one of the innovative and cost effective responses to management of ecosystem and ecosystem services. Payments have been successfully designed and executed for carbon, watershed services, genetic material, and various other nutrients. More than 30 leading experts in the field of ecological economics address a large range of issues dealing with the valuation of ecosystem services, as well as the design and performance of compensation schemes as effective tools that may considerably reduce the cost of such management. The contributors also... |
 |
Biodiversity Change and Human Health: From Ecosystem Services to Spread of Disease (Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) Series) by Osvaldo E. Sala (Editor), Laura A. Meyerson (Editor), Camille Parmesan (Editor) Biodiversity Change and Human Health brings together leading experts from the natural science and social science realms as well as the medical community to explore the explicit linkages between human-driven alterations of biodiversity and documented impacts of those changes on human health. The book utilizes multidisciplinary approaches to explore and address the complex interplay between natural biodiversity and human health and well-being. The five parts examine health trade-offs between competing uses of biodiversity (highlighting synergistic situations in which conservation of natural biodiversity actually promotes human health and well-being);relationships between biodiversity and quality of life that have developed over ecological and evolutionary time;the effects of changing... |
 |
Valuing Ecosystem Services: The Case of Multi-Functional Wetlands by R. Kerry Turner (Author), Stavros Georgiou (Author), Brendan Fisher (Author) Ecosystem services can be broadly defined as the aspects of ecosystems that provide benefits to people. The aim of this book is to provide guidance on the valuation of ecosystem services, using the case of multi-functional wetlands to illustrate and make recommendations regarding the methods and techniques that can be applied to appraise management options. It provides a review of ecosystem service valuation rationale, including its importance from both a policy and project appraisal perspective, and a useful reference when considering policy and appraisal of ecosystem management options. It shows how legal obligations and other high-level management targets should be taken into account in valuation exercises, thus giving important policy context to the management options. The authors... |
 |
Brainbow Ecosystem (Primary Contributor) |
 |
Nature and the Marketplace: Capturing The Value Of Ecosystem Services by Geoffrey Heal (Author) In recent years, scientists have begun to focus on the idea that healthy, functioning ecosystems provide essential services to human populations, ranging from water purification to food and medicine to climate regulation. Lacking a healthy environment, these services would have to be provided through mechanical means, at a tremendous economic and social cost. Nature and the Marketplace examines the controversial proposition that markets should be designed to capture the value of those services. Written by an economist with a background in business, it evaluates the real prospects for various of nature's marketable services to "turn profits" at levels that exceed the profits expected from alternative, ecologically destructive, business activities. The author: describes the... |
 |
Nature Parks CANADIAN ROCKY MOUNTAINS Canada Directed By: TravelVideoStore.com Also With: TravelVideoStore.com (Producer) |
 |
Valuing Ecosystem Services: Toward Better Environmental Decision-Making by Committee on Assessing and Valuing the the Services of Aquatic and Related Terrestrial Ecosystems (Author), National Research Council (Author) Nutrient recycling, habitat for plants and animals, flood control, and water supply are among the many beneficial services provided by aquatic ecosystems. In making decisions about human activities, such as draining a wetland for a housing development, it is essential to consider both the value of the development and the value of the ecosystem services that could be lost. Despite a growing recognition of the importance of ecosystem services, their value is often overlooked in environmental decision-making. This report identifies methods for assigning economic value to ecosystem services even intangible ones and calls for greater collaboration between ecologists and economists in such efforts. |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |