Ecosystem services

Ecosystem services: the benefits that humans receive from nature

Since the publication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in 2005, researchers and policymakers alike have been trying to address the issues surrounding ecosystem goods and services (henceforth ecosystem services), and specifically how they should be managed.

At Landcare Research, we are undertaking specific, detailed ecosystem services research through two multi-disciplinary research projects.

Ecosystem services for multiple outcomes is a 4 year programme which involves the characterisation and mapping of ecosystems in New Zealand, as well as suggestions for how these should be dealt with and implemented at a policy level.

Managing for multiple ecosystem services uses current information on the state of ecosystem services to assess potential and actual trade-off in the management of these services. These trade-offs are being further explored with the use of two catchment scale case studies from the Manuwatu and Canterbury.