Ecosystem Services in the Baltic Sea

Download or read book Ecosystem Services in the Baltic Sea written by Heini Ahtiainen and published by Nordic Council of Ministers. This book was released on 2014-12-08 with total page 77 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report presents an overview of the ecosystem services and associated benefits provided by the Baltic Sea, including information on the approaches of assessing and valuing ecosystem services being applied in the Baltic Sea region. It also identifies the main challenges in ecosystem service assessments in the Baltic Sea, and outlines the way forward in applying assessment tools in regional and national policies. Valuation of the benefits provided by ecosystem services can aid in designing more efficient policies for the protection of the Baltic Sea. The existing studies on the value of improved marine environment are useful in assessing the importance and value of some marine ecosystem services, but further work is still needed on describing ecosystem services and their interactions, and evaluating how policy changes affect these services and human well-being.