Les services écologiques des forêts: Définition des concepts, origine et typologies

Abstract

The concept of ecological services today raises a genuine interest in the forestry world. After having proposed a general definition of a service as a flow of matter, energy or information captured by humans and used to contribute to their well-being, we examine what characterizes an "ecological" service, namely the fact that this flow is produced by the biological functioning of one (or more) ecosystems while "environmental" services also cover the products of purely physicochemical processes. In theory therefore, ecological services stand in contrast with "anthropogenic" services produced mainly by human activity, although in practice, especially in the areas where human settlement goes back the farthest, most services are "hybrid" services involving both natural processes and human activities. The concepts of "market services" and "economic services" are also introduced to show that they do not cover a particular type of service but rather a mode of assessment and management for certain services that varies from one society to another. In Part 2, we first describe the relevance of switching from the conventional conceptualisation that strongly differentiates "producer" ecosystems and their "user" socio-systems, to an integrated conceptualisation of "socio-ecological" system, in which the abiotic, biotic and social and economic components, while they do not overlap, interact to produce those services. We then emphasize the fact that, in particular for dialogue with managers at various territorial levels, it may be advisable not to limit the analysis to forest ecosystem services alone and consider wider territorial mosaics, where synergy between forests and other elements in the mosaic may exist. Finally, we present the different typologies available for these services, starting with the now classic Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. The usefulness but also the limitations of the latter are described and two alternative classifications are proposed: one that considers the "status" of goods and services produced, from private goods to "pure" public goods, and another that takes into account the respective locations of "producers" and "users" of services. We conclude by recalling that there is no single "right approach" but instead that for an analysis of services to have concrete impact, it must be part of an explicit project that is known to the stakeholders. It is the project that determines the choices relevant to that particular analysis.