Ecosystem Services 1 (2012) 1–3

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Ecosystem Services
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecoser

Editorial

Ecosystem services—science, policy and practice: Introduction to the journal

1. The roots Robert Costanza, Felix Muller and Dolf de Groot, and discussed the
challenges outlined by the MA. TEEB was in the preparatory stages, a
In the wake of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), a precursor study of the European Commission ‘‘The Cost of Policy
study involving over 1300 scientists around the world under the Inaction (COPI): The case of not meeting the 2010 biodiversity target
umbrella of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), ’’ (Braat and ten Brink, 2008) had just been published and presented
published in 2005, a large number of initiatives were developed at the 9th CoP of the CBD in Bonn, and an ever increasing number of
from global to local scales, and across the science, policy, non- publications was being submitted to journals around the globe,
government and business communities, which addressed the especially Ecological-Economics, of which Costanza was the first
messages and questions launched by the MA. One initiative Editor-in-Chief.
stands out, as it involved the greater political powers of this The TEEB reports, several of them by now being polished into
world: the so-called Potsdam Initiative. The Environment Minis- durable books, cover the essence of the ambition of the Potsdam
ters of the G8 countries and of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and Initiative, with books on the Ecological and Economic Founda-
South Africa, the European Commissioner responsible for the tions, on the issues for National and International Policy Making,
Environment and senior officials from the United Nations and on issues in the Business world and on Climate and Cities.
the IUCN (The World Conservation Union) met in Potsdam in However great an effort it has been, and how admirable the
March 2007. The meeting resulted among others in the announce- results of the work may be, it clearly was only the beginning of a
ment of a course of action for the conservation of biological world-wide process of creating awareness of the challenges laid
diversity and for climate protection: ‘‘The clear message of this out in the MA and Potsdam, wherever it is not yet present, and of
meeting is that we must jointly strengthen our endeavours to curb creating knowledge and understanding where we have none or
the massive loss of biological diversity. It was agreed that we must not enough to act wisely, and of changing the economic policies
no longer delete nature’s database, which holds massive potential for where they have proven to lead to loss of ecosystems, biodiver-
economic and social development’’ (BMU-Pressedienst no. 077/07; sity, ecosystem services and the benefits human society derives
Berlin, 17.03.2007). The ‘‘Potsdam Initiative–Biological Diversity from these.
2010’’ set in motion specific activities for protection and sustain- To manage the ever growing flow of information on these
able use of biodiversity. The first of a list of 10 decisions under daunting issues and channel reliable information into government
this initiative reads as follows: ‘‘The economic significance of the offices, parliaments, business board rooms, local stakeholder meet-
global loss of biological diversity’’: We will initiate the process of ings and classrooms of higher education, Ms. Sandra Broerse of
analysing the global economic benefit of biological diversity, the costs Elsevier proposed to develop a new journal, the first issue of which
of the loss of biodiversity and the failure to take protective measures is now before you.
versus the costs of effective conservation.
This particular decision was subsequently turned into a research
program, which could be considered as the economic extension 2. Aims and scope
of the MA. The acronym chosen was TEEB: ‘‘The Economics of
Ecosystems and Biodiversity’’. The initiative was developed by the The wider ambition of the new journal is to contribute
German Government and the European Commission, but joined by significantly to integration of the large but fragmented body of
several other countries and sheltered under the umbrella of the information on ecosystem services as mentioned in the previous
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). If TEEB had to have paragraph. There are already journals which cover some of the
started from scratch, there would probably not have been much to relevant issues but they are not exclusively geared towards
show for at the 10th Conference of Parties (CoP) of the Convention of ecosystem services. A more focused set of aims has therefore
Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010. Luckily, been formulated for the present Journal which is to be an
the study leader, Pavan Sukhdev, could harvest from a large amount international, interdisciplinary journal that deals with the science,
of work done on the economics of ecosystems, their services and policy and practice of ecosystem services, bringing together many
biodiversity in the years since the mid-1960s (for an overview see disciplines and domains: ecology and economics, institutions,
Braat and De Groot, 2012, in this issue). planning and decision making, economic sectors such as agricul-
More or less independently from TEEB, a group of scientists, most ture, forestry and outdoor recreation, dealing with all types of
of them once active in the MA, got together in 2008 in Kiel, led by ecosystems.

2212-0416/$ - see front matter & 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2012.07.007
2 Editorial / Ecosystem Services 1 (2012) 1–3

The aims of the journal are: from studies limited in scope, or raise a critical issue or
question based on such results.
1. to improve our understanding of the dynamics, benefits and 3. Review Articles ( o12000 words)
social and economic values of ecosystem services; Reviews (including policy reviews) should address topics or
2. to provide insight in the consequences of policies and manage- issues of current interest.
ment for ecosystem services with special attention to sustain- 4. Views and Commentaries (o1000 words)
ability issues; Views and Commentaries are short pieces commenting on
3. to create a scientific interface to policymakers in the field of topics of interest to the wide readership or present a novel,
ecosystem services assessment and practice, and distinctive, or even personal viewpoint on any subject within
4. to integrate the fragmented knowledge about ecosystem the journal’s scope. The article should be adequately supported
services, synergies and trade-offs, currently found in a wide by citations but may focus on a stimulating and thought-
field of specialist disciplines and journals. provoking argument that represents a significant advance in
thinking about Ecosystem Services.
The rationale for this focus on economic, social and institu- 5. Letters to the Editor (o800 words)
tional aspects of ecosystem services science, policy and practice is Letters to the Editor are written in response to a recent article
in fact simple. There are many journals which cover the natural appearing in the journal. The authors of the article discussed
science aspects of ecosystem services, including the ecosystem will be given an opportunity to respond.
management questions, and the ecological consequences of pres- 6. Special issue Articles (o 8000 words)
sures like pollution, climate change, excessive resource use and The Journal is open to Special Issues.
introduction of ‘‘alien’’ biological agents. There are however very
few journals that integrate the economic, social, policy and
institutional aspects of ecosystem services.
TEEB has presented a review of the economic perspective on 3. The inaugural issue
ecosystem services to the MA, basically extending the MA
analysis of the ecological background of the ecosystem services Leon C. Braat and Rudolf S. de Groot open the first issue with
with analyses of economic benefits, values and applications in The Ecosystem Services Agenda: bridging the worlds of natural
policy and practice, including business, called ‘‘capturing the science and economics, conservation and development, and public
value’’ in the TEEB Synthesis report (2010). and private policy, in which the background, conceptual models,
Following the reasoning above, the papers published in Ecosystem history and research agenda of the concept of ecosystem services is
Services should address at least one of the following themes: presented. Robert Costanza and Ida Kubiszewski discuss in their
contribution. The authorship structure of ‘‘ecosystem services’’ as a
(a) the link between ecosystem services and social and economic transdisciplinary field of scholarship, which gives an interesting
benefits and associated values, including monetary values; i.e. overview of current participants in the field and their collaborative
what is the role of ecosystem services in developing and interconnections, based on an analysis of a major part of currently
sustaining benefits for humans and contributing to human available papers on ecosystem services.
well-being, and how are these benefits and values perceived In the TEEB approach (see Braat and De Groot in this issue for
by public and policy makers? explanation), one should start with identifying and assessing eco-
(b) the link between the levels of ecosystem services and eco- system services, including selection of indicators, which is discussed
nomic, environmental and land and marine use policies and by Felix Muller and Benjamin Burkhard in The indicator side of
practices; i.e. how is the sustainability of ecosystem services ecosystem services, and mapping the services, the challenges of
in natural, agricultural and urban systems affected by these which are presented by Joachim Maes and his group of co-authors
policies and what are the trade-offs in service provision, and (J. Maes, B. Egoh; L. Willemen; C. Liquete; P. Vihervaara; J. Schägner;
subsequent benefits and economic values, between different B.Grizzetti; E.G Drakou; A. La Notte; G. Zulian; F. Bouraoui; M. L.
policy schemes? Paracchini; L.C. Braat; G. Bidoglio, Mapping ecosystem services for
(c) the link between government and business strategies on the policy support and decision making in the European Union).
one hand and the sustainability of ecosystem services on the The next step in the TEEB procedure is estimating and demon-
other, i.e. the consequences of payments for ecosystems and strating the values of ecosystem services. This of course was the
other value-capturing arrangements, biodiversity-offset pro- core of the TEEB project, with some serious confrontations between
grams and multiple service land use planning. the neo-classical, mainstream, economists and the ecological
economists. Josh Farley, tackles the issues in Ecosystem Services:
Papers may address these topics from different (paradigmatic) The Economics Debate. Based on case studies collected before en
perspectives, including basic research, integrated assessment during the TEEB project a large database was developed and Rudolf
approaches and (ex ante and ex post) policy evaluations. They de Groot, Luke Brander, Sander van der Ploeg and Robert Costanza
may be inter-disciplinary or draw from specialized fields within assisted by a group of experienced scientists have analysed the
economic, ecological and political sciences, and systems addressed features and values of the studies in this database (De Groot, R.S., L.
may range from natural and semi-natural ecosystems to cultivated Brander, S. van der Ploeg, R. Costanza, F, Bernard; L.C. Braat, M.
systems and urban areas. The strategy to achieve the aims of the Christie, N. Crossman, A. Ghermandi, L. Hein, S. Hussain, P. Kumar,
Journal includes publishing the following types of articles: A. McVittie, R. Portela, L.C. Rodriguez, P. ten Brink, P. van Beukering,
Global estimates of the value of ecosystems and their services in
1. Original Research Papers (o8000 words) monetary units). A detailed analysis for mangrove systems is
Research papers, which may be policy assessments, report the provided by Luke Brander, with A. Wagtendonk, S. Hussein, A.
results of original research. Chapters of PhD dissertations McVittie, and P. Verburg in Ecosystem service values for mangroves
which are within the scope of the Journal are candidates. in Southeast Asia: A meta-analysis and value transfer application.
2. Short communications (o3000 words) Mike Christie closes this series of economic valuation papers with
Short communications report the results of preliminary stu- An economic assessment of the ecosystem service benefits derived from
dies, partial research results from an ongoing study, results the SSSI biodiversity conservation policies in Great Britain.
 Editorial / Ecosystem Services 1 (2012) 1–3 3

The third step in the TEEB procedure deals with capturing the Australia. In the next issue we expect papers on China, Latin-
values, involving policy instruments and management actions, America and Africa, as well as cases in Europe and North America.
stakeholders and related governance issues. Eeva Primmer and I would like to thank our Associate and Topic Editors and
Eeva Furman, introduce the reader in this world, where the Editorial Board, our authors and many manuscript reviewers for
social sciences are crucial, in Operationalising Ecosystem Service their invaluable help during the development of this inaugural
Approaches for Governance: Do Measuring, Mapping and Valuing issue. We look forward to your contributions and your assistance
Integrate Sector-Specific Knowledge Systems? Roldan Muradian and in making this journal a success.
Laura Rival focus on the merits of Market Based policy instruments
and the governance of ecosystem services in their contribution, and Reference
Sara Maestre Andrés with L. Calvet Mir, J.C.J.M. van den Bergh; I.
Ring, and P. Verburg examine some of the causes of the observed Braat L.C., ten Brink P. (eds.) (2008) The Cost of Policy Inaction: the case of not
ineffectiveness of biodiversity policies in Ineffective Biodiversity meeting the 2010 Biodiversity target. Report to the European Commission under
contract: ENV.G.1./ETU/2007/0044; Wageningen, Brussels; Alterra report 1718/
Policy due to Five Rebound Effects.
/http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/economics/index_en.htmS.
The issue is completed with a paper which is expected to be
the first of a series, and to be continued in the second issue, which
explores the ecology and economics of ecosystem services around Editor-in-Chief
the world. Jamie Pittock, Steve Cork and Simone Maynard criti- Leon C. Braat
cally review the The state of the application of ecosystems services in E-mail address: [email protected]