A participant from the Department of Water Resources presents the Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA or green measures) processes.
Oxygen and water are crucial elements for life and ecosystems deliver these services for free. Additional services from ecosystems such as provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services are four pillars that man can use, yet ecosystem services, their benefits and their economic value are never explicitly acknowledged. For instance, obvious ecosystems in rural areas are down-valued compared to urbanised land values.
Ecosystem Services
People all over the world are gradually suffering from the effects of climate change and these are deteriorating because of the unsustainable use of natural resources and land. An economic evaluation of ecosystems, their functions and services could raise awareness of their multiple benefits and give them a tangible value. This approach might motivate the public to be aware of the importance of sustainable ecosystems.
In this context, the ECOSWat project recently organized the workshop “Economic Evaluation of Ecosystem-based Adaptation Measures” to encourage better understanding of ecosystem values. During the three-day workshop, participants from public sector agencies, namely the Department of Water Resources (Central and Regional Offices), the Royal Irrigation Department and the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning learnt the background of the Valuation of Ecosystem Services. Moreover, the proposed Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA or green measures) in the project pilot sites were economically evaluated and compared to grey infrastructures. The results of the evaluation indicated that EbA measures achieve higher economic benefits even within a relatively short period. The longer the time frame, the higher the economic advantages of EbA measures. The benefit-costs ratio of EbA measures is up to five times higher than the ratio of traditional infrastructure. Furthermore, in general the investments in EbA are lower than the financial needs for grey infrastructure.
“I am always threatened by the word “economic”. I thought it would be more complex and very technical. However, after the training, I now know how to apply the method with my budget request process.”
“I can show this graph to my supervisors and even to the river basin committee. It is very simple and easy to understand.” – Participant from the workshop.