Survey on grassland
ecosystem services in the CR
Exchange on TEEB Processes in European Countries
12 October 2011, Isle of Vilm
Ecosystem services of grasslands
in the CR
• survey conducted 2010–2011
• consortium:
Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the
Czech Republic (ANCLP): 2010–2011
Charles University Environment Center: 2010–2011
Umweltbundesamt GmBH (UBA): 2011
• incentive and financial support from European Topic Centre on
Biological Diversity
• seminar in May 2011 – UBA (Austria), BfN (Germany), FOEN
(Switzerland), ILE SAS (Slovakia), ETC-BD
AGENCY FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPE PROTECTION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Objectives of the survey
• to explore relationships among ecosystem services and biodiversity
literature review
• to assess of ecosystem services provided by grasslands
quantitative calculations
qualitative assessment
• to explore methods and options to assess trade-offs among ecosystem
services provided by grasslands under various use
literature review of trade-offs as a result of land use change,
differentiation of ES provision levels among natural and degraded
grassland ecosystems (literature review),
comparison of costs and benefits of grassland ecosystem services
(costs based on conservation spending)
mapping of grassland ecosystem services (application of quantitative
calculations),
AGENCY FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPE PROTECTION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Focus of the survey
• ecosystem services provided by grasslands
• habitat approach: services distinguished (when possible) for 8
categories of (semi-)natural habitats + pastures & managed grasslands
dry grasslands, alluvial meadows, mesic grasslands, seasonally wet
and wet grasslands, alpine and subalpine grasslands, forest fringe
vegetation, salt marshes, heathlands
• spatial focus originally on the CR, however, results could be generalized
to the Central European countries with respective habitats
• ecosystem services in terms of Millennium Ecosystem Assessment,
services classification adopted to TEEB in 2011
AGENCY FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPE PROTECTION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Quantitative assessment
• ecosystem services accounting framework:
ecosystem asset = habitat type (h),
biophysical quantities of services described by biophysical indicators
(B),
benefits to human society from flows of ES expressed by an economic
Ecosystem
Economic value
Biophysical service
value
(p) asset
quantity
Grassland habitat area (ha)
Biophysical indicator
Monetary value/price
kg/ha, Mg/ha,…
CZK/ha, EUR/ha,…
t
ES h = ∑ B i pi
t
• quantification based on estimates derived from literature review and
available valuation surveys by benefit and value transfer
AGENCY FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPE PROTECTION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Services being quantified
Service category
Provisioning
Regulating
Ecosystem service
Food provision
Climate regulation
Invasion regulation
Erosion regulation
Water flow regulation
Waste treatment
Cultural
Recreation and tourism
Indicator
Economic valuation
Livestock numbers
Carbon sequestered
method
Market price
Marginal abatement
Level of Invasion/Invasibility
Soil loss prevented
Water infiltration
cost (MAC)
Maintenance cost
Damage cost (D)
Replacement cost
Nitrogen removal
(RPC)
Substitute market
Value per hectare
approach
Willingness to pay
(WTP)
AGENCY FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPE PROTECTION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Economic value of ecosystem
services per area
4 500
4 000
EUR/ha per year
3 500
3 000
Invasion regulation
Recreation
2 500
Nitrogen removal
2 000
Carbon sequestration
Erosion regulation
1 500
Max livestock number
Water regulation
1 000
500
0
Seasonally
wet and
wet
grasslands
Alluvial
meadows
Mesic
grasslands
Forest
fringe
vegetation
Alpine and
subalpine
grasslands
Dry
grasslands
Pastures
and
managed
grasslands
Salt
marshes
Heathlands
AGENCY FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPE PROTECTION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Benefits and costs
• calculated by Net Present Value
3 500
3 000
2 500
AM Alluvial meadows
2 000
MG Mesic grasslands
WG Seasonally wet and wet grasslands
AG Alpine and subalpine grasslands
1 500
FF Forest fringe vegetation
SM Salt marshes
1 000
HT Heathlands
500
100
94
97
88
91
85
79
82
73
76
70
64
67
58
61
55
49
52
43
46
40
34
37
28
31
25
19
22
13
16
10
4
7
0
1
Net Present Value (EUR/ha)
DG Dry grasslands
AGENCY FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPE PROTECTION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Ecosystem services mapping
AGENCY FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPE PROTECTION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Future perspectives
Goal: ecosystem services taken into account in decision making
• Strengths:
Long tradition in nature oriented research
Academic community interested in further research
• Weaknesses:
High barrier for new approaches on the side of government
Stress on executive rather than on strategic planning (government)
Science policy interface not flexible, limited flow of innovation
Low awareness among public, limited public debate
• Opportunities:
Possible encouragement from EU initiatives
Threats:
Methods of ES quantification/valuation underdeveloped, reliable outcomes not
available
High temptation to prefer strightforward solutions understandable to public rather than
complicated innovations
AGENCY FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPE PROTECTION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Czech Habitat Mapping
2001–2004 first run, 2007–2013 update
•
Mapping districts – defined by fixed lines (roads, railways, streams etc.)
•
The area of one mapping district is 1500–3000 ha
•
3500 mapping districts in the CR (the mapping base 1:10 000 map,
orthophotograph)
•
Mapping approx. 10 % of the whole area each year (12 yr period planned)
•
Data collected through on-line form with implemented GIS tool
AGENCY FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPE PROTECTION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Thank you for your attention
Iva Hönigová
Agency for Nature Conservation of the CR
Prague, Czech Republic
[email protected]
AGENCY FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND LANDSCAPE PROTECTION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC