Ecosystem services at the national level in Germany

Target 2, Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy stipulates that the member states will map and assess the state of the ecosystems and their services (ES) and promote the integration into the reporting systems at the EU and national level by 2020.

The aim of the project is the further development and implementation of methods for nationwide capture and assessment of ecosystem services. The indicators for monitoring ecosystems and ecosystem services should be specified and qualified, discussed with experts, calculated depending on the requirements and feasibility, implemented cartographically and evaluated statistically.

In addition to the mapping of ES at the federal level and the EU reporting obligations (state and development of ecosystems / ES), the inter-/multidisciplinary implementation and use (e. g., for planning regions of the federal states) should also be noted.

The project is divided into 6 work packages:

• WP1 (status quo/deficits) serves to compile the existing national and international knowledge about the ecosystem services indicators.
• WP2 (development of the indicator approach) serves to check and extend the indicator concept. Analyzing and modeling techniques are developed and tested.
• In WP3 (calculation and presentation of ES indicators), maps and statistics are created for selected indicators.
• In WP4 (discussion/interpretation), the calculated indicators are described and interpreted and critically discussed.
• WP5 serves to compile the results. This includes a discussion of the methodology as a whole, pointing out remaining gaps and weaknesses as well as indications for further developments.
• WP6 (integration/communication) ensures integration with other projects and activities at the EU level.