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.

• 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/