Handbook for recognising and planning green infrastructure
2.1.2
Ecosystem services
Based on the current practice, there are many definitions and various international ES classifications, such as, for example, The Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services – CICES, The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment – MEA, etc. The latter, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Board (MEA), from 2005, is the one that is the most established internationally, and divides the ES into four categories [17.]: ΐ PROVISIONING SERVICES: they provide food, water, wood and fibres as material or fuel, etc. ΐ REGULATING SERVICES: they affect the climate (e.g. carbon sinkhole), floods, diseases, the amount of waste and the quality of water (e.g. filtration of pollutants in surface waters), etc. ΐ CULTURAL SERVICES: they provide recreation, aesthetic and spiritual benefits, research and education, tourism potential, etc. ΐ SUPPORTING SERVICES: the generation of the soil, photosynthesis and the circulation of nutrients, etc. There are no preservations of populations and habitats in the listed services which do, in fact, occur in some other classifications, like the RESI project classification [18.]. In general, we are proceeding from the viewpoint that a high biodiversity means higher inventories and ES diversity in a certain area, and vice versa. Because the GI includes areas in which we can recognise the function of preserving the endangered populations and habitats (nature conservation areas, etc.), and because biodiversity serves as the guarantee for certain, not yet recognised ES (medicines, research, balancing the number of certain species, etc.), we also included the preservation of populations and habitats into ES due to the recognition and planning of GI. The division into four main ES categories in MEA has been checked in several studies. We often come across a critical assessment regarding the inclusion of the supporting services as a special category, mainly because supporting ES are more like consequential ES than directly used ES. This is why the standardised CICES classification omits this category, but the corresponding ES are adequately discussed in regulating services, which have been named “Regulation and maintenance services” in this case. Table 2 shows the aforementioned division of ES into three main categories. Table 2: Categorisation of the ecosystem services
ES CATEGORIES
ECOSYSTEM SERVICE
Provisioning services
Cultivating cultivated plants, pasture farming/grass as fodder, fishing and aquaculture, raw biotic materials (wood, fibres, etc.), water supply (drinking water/irrigation, process water, etc.), biomass for obtaining energy (from cultivated plants, forests), etc.
Regulation and maintenance services
Retention of nutrients/substances, water purification, reduction in greenhouse gasses, alleviating drains and flood hazards, alleviating drought conditions, soil generation, regulating the local climate, improving air quality, preserving populations and habitats, etc.
Cultural services
Landscape value, natural and cultural heritage, education and science, recreation and tourism (fishing, sailing, bathing, cycling, hiking), etc.
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