PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Assessments of ecosystems help inform environmental protection and management, policy-making, and have been incorporated into a range of EU planning documents, including the Biodiversity Strategy 2011 – 2020, which requires Member States to identify, map and assess ecosystems and their services. In many EU countries, monetary assessments of ecosystems and their services are widely carried out, and the decision-making process is based on these results – but in Latvia, such practices have not yet been introduced. Negative environmental impacts often result from inadequate management and evaluation approaches, particularly in largely populated areas. In order to explain the importance of natural capital to decision makers, entrepreneurs and the general public, it is essential to assess the monetary value of ecosystems.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE EcosystemServices project planned to introduce an innovative approach to the conservation of natural values, while balancing social and economic considerations. It would achieve this objective by providing knowledge for selecting development scenarios for different regions of Latvia and the entire country, as well as other EU countries. This innovative approach would be developed according to EU best practices and the use of environmental economic indicators (including the economic assessment of the ecosystems). In this way, the project would help update existing practice for the implementation of spatial development plans, nature conservation plans and other related planning documents in Latvia, and in the selected pilot target areas in particular.
The specific aims of the project were to:
- Adopt international practices for assessing the economic value of ecosystems and their services for different scenarios in Latvia, creating a clear, comprehensive evaluation system;
- Pilot the implementation of the developed assessment system in two areas;
- Map the ecosystems and their services in the selected pilot areas in order to determine the current situation;
- Carry out an economic evaluation of the identified ecosystem services by applying various existing methods integrated into an innovative methodological approach;
- Draw up and evaluate development scenarios for the selected areas;
- Incorporate the results and recommendations of the scenario evaluations into municipal planning documents;
- Update the Nature Conservation Plans for the Ķemeri National Park and the Piejūra Nature Park by including new areas into the protected territories and updating the ecological planning of the existing areas;
- Update the Spatial Development Plan of the Municipality of Saulkrasti, based on the results of the new methodological approach; and
- Make recommendations for applying the new approach in municipal decision-making and spatial-planning processes.
RESULTS
The LIFE EcosystemServices project developed a methodology for assessing and mapping ecosystems and their services, including their economic value, in accordance with the EU’s Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) recommendations. The project’s activities at the Jaunkemeri and Saulkrasti pilot areas included the assessment of 23 Ecosystem Services (ES) classes based on the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES). Other projects implemented in Latvia have applied the project’s assessment and mapping methodology, and it has potential for replication around the Baltic and in other European coastal regions.
The project’s Ecosystem Services Economic Valuation Model carried out an evaluation of three development scenarios with a view to informing planning decisions that consider the social, economic and nature aspect of ecosystem services. It produced a Web-based interactive Toolkit that allows users to assess the supply, potential and monetary value of ecosystem services, as well as the value changes under the different development scenarios.
Another outcome of the project was the updating of the development programme for Saulkrasti municipality (2014 – 2020). Recommendations for an ES approach were also incorporated into nature management plans, such as the Nature Management Plan of Nature Park “Piejūra”, that was approved by the Ministry of Environment in 2020. Moreover, the project also proposed changes to regulations on content and drafting of nature protection plans for protected nature territories. At the end of the project, the Ministry of Environment was drafting a final version of the regulations and the beneficiary is continuing to assist this process.
The project also led to the creation of the Nature Design Park, White Dune – Saulkrasti. Monitoring has shown improvements to the coastal habitat conservation status and a diminishing of the erosion of the coastal dunes. The beneficiary reported that, as a result of the action, visitors to the park are now more respectful of its natural value, enhancing its appeal.
Finally, recommendations were also drawn up for municipal decision makers and spatial planners. These promote the use of the new methodological approach in Latvia, as well as facilitate integration of this approach into spatial planning. They also explain the historical development and classification of ecosystems and their services approach, describe the experience of other countries and provide various tools for evaluating ecosystem services. Furthermore, they are designed to integrate the ecosystem services approach into decision-making at national, regional and local level.
Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).
