WHY MAPPING ECOSYSTEMS SERVICES IS A MUST IN EU BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY FOR 2020?

Abstract

Technological and industrial evolution generated an increased demand for natural resources as well as destruction of the global biodiversity at unprecedented rates. Worldwide projections evaluate an extinction ratio of species up to10 times higher than the current rate Up to 2020 EU has establish targets for mapping and assessment of the ecosystem services including all the main stakeholders, covering forests, agro-ecosystems, freshwater and marine ecosystems, urban, arid zones and wetlands. The general mapping approaches for the EU member states involved in the process consist in using GIS instruments and work flows on land cover/land use data through ESRI’s ARCGIS Platform. About 80% of the EU member states have started the MAES process (Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem Services) at national, regional or case-study level. The essence of the MAES process is to maximize the use of scientific knowledge and technology available in order to make a significant contribution for the ecosystem services and policy decisions to improve and protect biodiversity and life quality, as well as getting an accurate evaluation of the associated costs. The paper integrates scientific data over the MAES targets using Geographic Information Systems by the evaluation of multiple ecosystems types and services, on different temporal stages and synergies in different layers of information. Ecosystems services provide to the human kind nutrition, clean air, water, safety and healthy environment. This is why, mapping and assessing these services would allow determining the direct connections and dependency on biodiversity and its functions.