Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Annex 2
(
Continued
)
Case study
Key findings
Mayes Brook
restoration in
Mayesbrook Park
(Planned)
The Mayes Brook restoration is part of wider landscape enhancement in Mayesbrook Park which
will create new habitat for wildlife and public enjoyment in this deprived area of east
London. In contrast to rural case studies, the dense urban setting will result in no increase in
provisioning services. However, significant benefits were projected for regulatory, cultural and
supporting services which, cumulatively, yielded a significant benefit-to-cost. Many of the
more significant benefits are expressed through social and health services as a well as urban
regeneration. 'Ecosystem service' assessment also helped identify a range of potentially
cost-beneficial improvements for the restoration scheme, including improved hydrological
functioning of the park landscape and infrastructure, improved water purification through
management of semi-natural wetland treatment systems, improved climate regulation
through energy-efficient design of buildings, installation of renewable energy sources and
re-use of tree and other park trimmings as biomass fuel (or mulch), and the optimization of
park restoration to provide health and educational resources to the local community.
Options for coastal
defence
development at
Wareham
Ecosystem service assessment of different ways of replacing a coastal defence bank at the
western end of Poole Harbour included estimates of the economic value arising from a range
of options. However, involvement of stakeholders and use of the Defra (2007a) weighting
system proved helpful in selecting or ruling out options, as well as directing attention towards
the most important data gaps and uncertainties that may have a bearing on the results of
appraisals. Stakeholder consensus based on weightings proved adequate for decision-making
about the favoured management realignment option.
Linked set of five
ecosystem services
assessments in the
east of England
This linked set of studies in the east of England found that ecosystem services provided a more
useful means of looking at the outcomes of cross-habitat processes than using a narrower
habitat-based approach, and that it related more directly to the ways people access and use
their services. An ecosystem services approach was also found helpful in addressing problems
associated with many or just a few services, breaking down cross-sectoral barriers, forcing
individuals to consider issues and values which may have previously been overlooked, and
promoting wider stakeholder participation which may be lost if the approach eventually
becomes systematized into an inflexible 'top down' method. Although economic values were
assigned to a number of the ecosystem services identified as the most significant, the report
recognized that using them to assess preferred outcomes from the selected 'scenarios' would
skew conclusions in favour of options with current market advantages while obscuring
outcomes for other ecosystem services for which markets were not readily found. Conclusions
were therefore drawn using the Defra (2007a) weighting scheme.
The proposed
Pancheshwar Dam
Marginal changes likely to arise from the proposed dam project were weighted at both local
and wider catchment scales, recognizing potential impacts on a wide range of beneficiaries. A
principal conclusion of this non-valued ecosystem services study was that only benefits to
influential communities are reflected in formal project documentation, whereas the dam
would inundate or seriously damage significant ecological, cultural, spiritual and tourist sites.
It would also impair ecosystem services and associated livelihoods along the affected river
valleys of very large numbers of people who are excluded from the planning and
decision-making processes. Outcomes from the ecosystem services assessment were used to
address compliance with the seven 'strategic priorities' identified by the World Commission on
Dams (WCD, 2000); none was compliant. Also, major factors such as the potential impacts of
earthquakes on dam integrity seem to have been overlooked. This challenges the
sustainability, fairness, net economic viability and likely reputations issues for India and Nepal
stemming from the proposed dam scheme.
