GIZ ValuES - Paper on Increasing the Policy Impact of Ecosystem Service Assessments and Valuations - Insights from Practice

This report gives an overview about requirements and options for enhancing the practical usefulness and political relevance of ecosystem service assessments and valuations (ESAVs). It focuses on practical aspects of the ESAV process: How can potential users of ecosystem service knowledge draw practical benefit from engaging in an ESAV exercise? With a growing number of assessments for different purposes and in diverse contexts, there are lessons to be drawn from practical experience. This is our objective: to document, synthesise and draw from these experiences.

Marina Kosmus

Sectorial and Global Projects, Division 330 – Climate, Environment and Infrastructure, Head of ValuES Project

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Postfach 5180 / P.O. Box 5180, 65726 Eschborn, Deutschland / Germany

T  + 49 6196 79-1321, E  Marina.kosmus@giz.de

• Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
• Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF)
• Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) of the Federal Republic of Germany (Funder)

This report was produced as a collaborative exercise between a number of conservation and development researchers, planners and practitioners, based on their own experience with stud-ying, conducting and/or commissioning ESAVs. It also draws on a review of cases studies from the literature, research, as well as from various on-the-ground initiatives (TEEB, ProEcoServ, CSF, ValuES). The structure, format, content and illustrative case studies to be included in the paper were discussed and agreed at a workshop on the requirements and options for increasing the policy impact of ESAVs, held in Frankfurt in November 2014 and, hosted by the ValuES project.