Before moving on, we need to state that there is a difference between what we call “environment” and what we identify as “natural environment”. Environment in general is the combination of factors (physical, chemical, and biotic) that act upon an organism or an ecological community determining its form and survival. Factors that are not a result of human activities represent the “natural environment”, whereas the rest of factors that are a result of human activities represent the “built environment”. This division although it might be helpful for implementing economic policies and industrial strategies, it allows us to separate our human selves from nature, the animals and the ecosystems.
However, humans and our surroundings are part of the “environment” in a broad sense and the link between the “built environment” and the “natural environment” is stronger than may look like. Indeed, our natural environment has an impact on society’s evolution, its historical and cultural aspects, including the way we talk, we introduce ourselves, our clothing, our traditional cuisines, the way we cultivate our lands, etc.
At the same time, the society’s evolution also affect the natural environment that determined it in the first place. In fact, human-based effects put major pressures on the natural environment and threaten the ecosystem services which are the benefits of the natural environment offered freely to humans. Based on Defra (2007), ecosystem services are separated in (a) provisioning, which include products obtained from the ecosystem, (b) regulating services, which are benefits obtained from regulation processes of the ecosystem, (c) cultural services, which are non-tangible benefits, and (d) supporting services, which are services necessary for the production of all the other ecosystem services. For example, in the case of a marine ecosystem, fish and raw materials are considered to be provisioning services. Climate regulation and water purification are regulating services. In addition, recreation, aesthetic and educational services are cultural services. Finally, nutrient cycling is a supporting service for the marine ecosystem.
Economists try to elicit values generated from these services to humans and express them in monetary terms. Afterwards, they use them for evaluation of different economic policies and environmental management plans. This refers to the ecosystem services approach, according to which the ecosystems’ structures and processes produce services that benefit humans. This means that changes in ecosystem services are translated to changes in human welfare and could be expressed in monetary terms. A brief introduction to the concept could be found in Demystifying Economic Valuation (E Ozdemiroglu, R Hails, 2016).
In this section, we examine human interactions with the natural environment, we introduce the concept of ecosystem services, as well as identifying major environmental pressures.
Activity 3.1 Environmental Changes
Activity 3.2 Ecosystem Services
DEFRA, U., 2007. An introductory guide to valuing ecosystem services. In Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, London.
Ozdemiroglu, E. and Hails, R., 2016. Demystifying Economic Valuation.
However, humans and our surroundings are part of the “environment” in a broad sense and the link between the “built environment” and the “natural environment” is stronger than may look like. Indeed, our natural environment has an impact on society’s evolution, its historical and cultural aspects, including the way we talk, we introduce ourselves, our clothing, our traditional cuisines, the way we cultivate our lands, etc.
At the same time, the society’s evolution also affect the natural environment that determined it in the first place. In fact, human-based effects put major pressures on the natural environment and threaten the ecosystem services which are the benefits of the natural environment offered freely to humans. Based on Defra (2007), ecosystem services are separated in (a) provisioning, which include products obtained from the ecosystem, (b) regulating services, which are benefits obtained from regulation processes of the ecosystem, (c) cultural services, which are non-tangible benefits, and (d) supporting services, which are services necessary for the production of all the other ecosystem services. For example, in the case of a marine ecosystem, fish and raw materials are considered to be provisioning services. Climate regulation and water purification are regulating services. In addition, recreation, aesthetic and educational services are cultural services. Finally, nutrient cycling is a supporting service for the marine ecosystem.
Economists try to elicit values generated from these services to humans and express them in monetary terms. Afterwards, they use them for evaluation of different economic policies and environmental management plans. This refers to the ecosystem services approach, according to which the ecosystems’ structures and processes produce services that benefit humans. This means that changes in ecosystem services are translated to changes in human welfare and could be expressed in monetary terms. A brief introduction to the concept could be found in Demystifying Economic Valuation (E Ozdemiroglu, R Hails, 2016).
In this section, we examine human interactions with the natural environment, we introduce the concept of ecosystem services, as well as identifying major environmental pressures.
Activity 3.1 Environmental Changes
Activity 3.2 Ecosystem Services
DEFRA, U., 2007. An introductory guide to valuing ecosystem services. In Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, London.
Ozdemiroglu, E. and Hails, R., 2016. Demystifying Economic Valuation.
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only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.