Beyond ecosystem services : valuing the invaluable

Gunton, RM; van Asperen, E; Basden, A; Bookless, D; Araya, YH; Hanson, DR; Goddard, MA; Otieno, G; Jones, GO

Abstract

The ecosystem services framework (ESF) is advantageous and widely used for itemising and quantifying ways in which humans benefit from natural places. However, it suffers from two important problems: (i) incoherence of definitions and (ii) a narrow approach to valuation, inadequate to represent the full range of human motives for conservation and the diverse interests of different stakeholders. These shortcomings can lead to a range of problems including doublecounting, blind spots and unintended consequencest. Here we propose an ecosystem valuing framework (EVF) as a broader and more rigorous way to deliver the benefits currently sought from the ESF, without the conceptual problems.

Citation

Gunton, R., van Asperen, E., Basden, A., Bookless, D., Araya, Y., Hanson, D., …Jones, G. (2017). Beyond ecosystem services : valuing the invaluable. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 32(4), 249-257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2017.01.002

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 1, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Feb 16, 2017
• Publication Date: Feb 16, 2017
• Deposit Date: Feb 6, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 16, 2018
• Journal: Trends in Ecology & Evolution
• Print ISSN: 0169-5347
• Electronic ISSN: 1872-8383
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Volume: 32
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 249-257
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2017.01.002
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2017.01.002
• Related Public URLs: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/trends-in-ecology-and-evolution/