Ecosystem services assessment tool

In this week’s video we discussed the four families of ecosystem services (see below) and how their values are embedded in nature-based solutions. By re-internalizing the ecosystem and its services and showing their value in the society and economy, the reason and pressure for the mainstreaming and implementation of more and more nature-based projects increases.

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Ecosystem services categories

• Provisioning services (provision by nature like medicine and fibers by plants)

• Regulating services (regulating by nature like air purification, water purification, water regulation and crop pollinating)

• Supportive services (supportive functions of nature like photosynthesis, biodiversity, habitats and the soil)

• Cultural services (usage of nature for heritage, health and recreational purposes)

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But for nature-based solutions to grow in popularity, proof of its success is required. The assessment of nature-based solutions and the services of the ecosystem it operationalizes requires a series of new parameters which deals with the financialization of these ecosystem services. Ecosystem services assessment tools that process or assign monetary values to nature-based solutions and their ecosystem services were initially put forward by companies and public institutions. Some examples of ecosystem services assessment tools are ARIES (Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services), BeST (Benefits of SuDS Tool), Co$ting Nature, EcoServ-GIS, ESTIMAP, Green Infrastructure Valuation Toolkit, I-Tree Eco, InVEST, LUCI (Land Utilisation and Capability Indicator), Natural Capital Planning Tool, ORVal (Outdoor Recreation Valuation Tool), SENCE (Spatial Evidence for Natural Capital Evaluation), TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity), TESSA (Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment), Viridian.