Articles from Science for Environment Policy

Does preservation of biodiversity also protect ecosystem services?
Measures to protect biodiversity can also improve carbon storage and water flow regulation, research indicates. In a Spanish protected area, researchers mapped biodiversity, carbon storage and water flow regulation, and found there was substantial overlap between the three.
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Ecosystem-based adaptation can support food security
Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) to climate change could help avoid future food crises in Africa, a new review suggests. By examining United Nations EbA projects implemented across Africa, the authors demonstrate that such approaches help improve the climate change resilience of production systems and the communities dependent upon them.
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Linking mitigation and adaptation could make forest projects more effective
Forests play an important role in both mitigating and adapting to climate change, although current policies tend to isolate the two approaches. A recent study suggests that mitigation and adaptation are complementary and linked, and that forestry management that integrates the two can successfully provide both of these important services.
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Mangroves provide both climate change mitigation and adaptation services
Rates of carbon storage by mangroves are substantially higher than previously thought, research suggests. Using new data, researchers have estimated that worldwide, mangroves bury 26.1 megatonnes of organic carbon per year, which is 42% more than the estimations made in 2008.
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Constructing wetlands for multiple ecosystem services
Constructed wetlands can regulate stormwater flows and improve water quality, helping humans to adapt to a changing climate. New research has now shown that, if carefully designed, they can also be used for climate change mitigation by storing carbon, while also providing biodiversity and cultural ecosystem services.
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Can ecosystems protect Europe's coastline?
Nearly a third of the EU's coastline has insufficient protection from erosion and flooding, according to recent research. The study presents a method for assessing coastal ecosystems' capacity to provide vital protection from these threats, and highlights the need to protect key habitats which safeguard coastal resilience.
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Accuracy needed for economic valuations of ecosystem services
Economic valuation of ecosystem services, from good quality water supplies to cooling cities in the face of climate change, can provide vital information for policy decisions. However, the definition and interpretation of ecosystem services need to be clarified to ensure accurate valuations, suggests new research.
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Green jobs created by restoring blue infrastructure
Investment in restoring coastal habitats is an effective way of creating new jobs, recent research has found. The US study analysed 44 'blue infrastructure' restoration projects and found that, on average, 17 jobs were created for every US$ 1 million (EUR0.76 million) spent on these developments. This is more jobs than are created in the coal, gas or nuclear energy industries, where the same investment only results in 4-7 jobs.
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Market framework not appropriate for most ecosystem services
Ecosystem services, such as coastal protection or water supply, form an integral part of ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change. However, preserving and restoring ecosystems and their services relies on the economic system that supports these efforts. Ecosystem services will not be best protected by the classic market framework, new research suggests.
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