Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Zhang, Wei; Dulloo, Ehsan; Kennedy, Gina; Bailey, Arwen; Sandhu, Harpinder; Nkonya, Ephraim

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-812134-4.00008-x

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Biodiversity, in terms of variety of plant and animal species, in Area A and Area B was compared by determining the number of different crops; this information was collected during interviews with farmers and municipal staff. High biodiversity is an indication of a healthy environment [35]. Area A had 20 species and Area B had 5.…”

Section: N2: Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Framework for Assessing Benefits of Implemented Nature-Based Solutions

et al. 2019

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Nature-based solutions (NBS) are solutions that can protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems in urban and rural areas, while providing many benefits and co-benefits including stormwater mitigation, biodiversity enhancement, and human well-being. As such, NBS have the potential to alleviate many of the environmental, social, and economic issues that we face today. Grey infrastructure, such as lined trenches and catch basins, pipes, and concrete dikes are frequently used for stormwater management and flood protection, but they do not provide many of the co-benefits that are common with NBS. Grey infrastructure is designed to quickly collect and remove rainwater, whereas NBS keep rainwater where it falls, and where it can be used by the environment. Many stakeholders lack knowledge of the capabilities and benefits of NBS, and as a result, they continue to rely on grey infrastructure in their projects. When information is made available on the benefits and how they can be quantitatively measured, it is hoped that NBS will be promoted to a mainstream infrastructure choice. A valuable way to quantify and highlight the benefits of NBS is by using an evaluation framework. There are several evaluation frameworks that qualitatively assess the potential benefits of possible NBS, however there is a need for quantitative frameworks that can assess the actual benefits (or performance) of implemented (or existing) NBS. This article presents an evaluation framework that aims to quantify the benefits and co-benefits of implemented NBS. The framework involves five main steps: (1) selection of NBS benefit categories, (2) selection of NBS indicators, (3) calculation of indicator values, (4) calculation of NBS grade, and (5) recommendations. The outcome of the framework is a single numerical grade that reflects the benefit functioning for an NBS site and values for each performance indicator. This information may be used by decision makers to determine their budget allocations to expand or construct a new NBS site, to update maintenance plans that will improve the benefits of that site, to set up programs to monitor the NBS benefits and co-benefits over time, and to schedule labour and resources for other NBS projects. The framework was tested and validated on a case study of NBS in Thailand. Through conversations with stakeholders and knowledge of the case study area, relevant categories and indicators were chosen. Using data and information obtained through various means, values for each indicator and the overall NBS grade were calculated. The values revealed which benefits were pronounced, those that were weak, and where improvements were required.

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Section: N2: Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Framework for Assessing Benefits of Implemented Nature-Based Solutions

et al. 2019

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“…Urban areas face a range of pressing environmental and societal problems, such as the urban heat island (Arnfield, 2003;Richards and Edwards, 2017), poor air quality (Shi et al, 2020), elevated flood risk (Chadwick et al, 2006), and a lack of public access to nature (Cox et al, 2018). There is an increasing awareness that humans need to make better use of ecosystem services in order to regulate and sustain a healthy planet (Zhang et al, 2019), particularly in urban areas (Bolund and Hunhammar, 1999;Gómez-Baggethun and Barton, 2013;Elmqvist et al, 2015;Richards and Thompson, 2019). Through designing greener urban areas with contrasting types of green spaces, it may be possible to provide nature-based solutions to some of the challenges of urbanization (Depietri and McPhearson, 2017;Babí Almenar et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Sustainability: An Ecosystem Services Assessment of Plans for Singapore’s First “Forest Town”

Tan

Gaw

Masoudi

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Rapid urbanization in many parts of the world has increasingly put the environment under pressure, with natural landscapes cleared to make way for built infrastructure. Urban ecosystems, and the services that they provide, can offer nature-based solutions to the challenges of urbanization. There is increasing interest in better incorporating ecosystems into urban planning and design in order to deliver greater provision of ecosystem services and enhance urban liveability. However, there are few examples of built or proposed urban developments that have been designed specifically with ecosystem services in mind–partly because there are few modeling tools available to support urban planners and designers by informing their design workflows. Through using Singapore’s latest nature-centric town as a case study, this article assesses the impacts of nature-based solutions in urban design on ecosystem services performance, through a spatially explicit modeling approach. The proposed future scenario for the nature-centric town was projected to result in substantial declines in the provision of all ecosystem services, as a result of the removal of large areas of natural vegetation cover. However, the future scenario compared favourably against three older towns that have been constructed in Singapore, showing the best performance for four out of six ecosystem services. This simulation exercise indicates that designing towns with ecosystem services in mind, and incorporating nature-based solutions into urban design, can help to achieve enhanced performance in providing ecosystem services. The models developed for this study have been made publicly available for use in other tropical cities.

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“…Obtaining natural resources for fulfilling human needs has been made at the expense of environmental degradation (Foley et al 2005, MEA 2005, Zhang et al 2019a. Based on the current trends in land use and land cover (LULC) changes worldwide, humans can obtain goods and services to improve their quality of life only by diminishing the capacity of global ecosystems to sustain the provision of such benefits (Foley et al 2005, MEA 2005.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights for policy-based conservation strategies for the Rio de la Plata Grasslands through the IPBES framework

et al. 2020

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The Río de la Plata Grasslands (RPG) are one of the most modified biomes in the world. Changes in land use and cover affect the RPG’s rich biodiversity. In particular, the expansion of crops, overgrazing, afforestation, and the introduction of exotic species pose a major threat to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES). In this study, we applied the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) conceptual framework as a new lens to approach biodiversity conservation enactments in the RPG. First, we systematically reviewed published scientific literature to identify direct and indirect drivers that affect the RPG’s BES. Further, we conducted an extensive analysis of management policies affecting the BES directly in the region, at a national and international level. We conclude by offering recommendations for policy and praxis under the umbrella of the IPBES framework.

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Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Cited by 11 publications

References 65 publications

A Framework for Assessing Benefits of Implemented Nature-Based Solutions

A Framework for Assessing Benefits of Implemented Nature-Based Solutions

Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Sustainability: An Ecosystem Services Assessment of Plans for Singapore’s First “Forest Town”

Insights for policy-based conservation strategies for the Rio de la Plata Grasslands through the IPBES framework

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