ESMERALDA – Enhancing Ecosystem Services Mapping for Policy and Decision Making

To facilitate the implementation of Action 5 of The EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 – national mapping and assessment of the state of ecosystems and their services, assessment of their economic value and integration of these values into accounting and reporting systems at EU and national level – the ESMERALDA project developed a methodology for integrated mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services (MAES). The methodology was tested in 13 case studies on various spatial scales across European biomes and regions, including the EU Outermost Regions and Overseas Countries and Territories, which addressed diverse themes, from policy- and decision-making, to business and society.
One of the major outcomes of the project is the ESMERALDA MAES Explorer, an online guidance tool which explains the MAES implementation process: (1) understanding the questions that stakeholders ask; (2) identification of relevant stakeholders; (3) network creation and involvement of stakeholders; (4) the mapping and assessment process; (5) MAES case study applications; (6) dissemination and communication; and (7) implementation. The tool also includes the MAES Methods Explorer, which provides detailed documentation of the various biophysical, social and economic mapping and assessment methods and links them to specific ecosystem types and specific ecosystem services, and a searchable database of case study literature.
The main beneficiaries are academics, policy makers and practitioners.