Initiatives Related to Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and Their Services in EECCA and SEE Countries
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Initiatives related to mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services in EECCA and SEE countries Scoping Document January 2015 This document was prepared by ECNC–European Centre for Nature Conservation under a Small-Scale Funding Agreement with UNEP. Citation Burbidge, T., K. Civic, B. Delbaere and A. Schrauwen (2015) Initiatives related to mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services in EECCA and SEE countries – Scoping Document. ECNC, Tilburg, the Netherlands. Copyright © 2015 ECNC Available from: ECNC–European Centre for Nature Conservation PO Box 90154 • 5000 LG Tilburg • the Netherlands [email protected] • www.ecnc.org Disclaimer: ECNC is solely responsible for the content of this publication. It does not represent the opinion of UNEP, nor is UNEP responsible for any use that might be made of information appearing herein. 2 Contents Summary ............................................................................................................................................. 4 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Situation overview in the EU Member States ........................................................................... 5 2. Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 7 3. Results ............................................................................................................................................. 9 3.0 Key findings ............................................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Albania ..................................................................................................................................... 15 3.2 Armenia ................................................................................................................................... 17 3.3 Azerbaijan ................................................................................................................................ 19 3.4 Belarus ..................................................................................................................................... 19 3.5 Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) ................................................................................................. 20 3.6 FYRoMacedonia ....................................................................................................................... 21 3.7 Georgia .................................................................................................................................... 21 3.8 Kazakhstan ............................................................................................................................... 21 3.9 Kyrgyzstan ................................................................................................................................ 22 3.10 Moldova ................................................................................................................................. 22 3.11 Montenegro ........................................................................................................................... 23 3.12 Russian Federation ................................................................................................................ 24 3.13 Serbia ..................................................................................................................................... 24 3.14 Tajikistan ................................................................................................................................ 26 3.15 Turkmenistan ......................................................................................................................... 26 3.16 Ukraine .................................................................................................................................. 27 3.17 Uzbekistan ............................................................................................................................. 28 3.18 General .................................................................................................................................. 28 4. Annexes ......................................................................................................................................... 30 Annex 1 Example of survey questionnaire .................................................................................... 30 Annex 2 respondents to the survey questionnaire ....................................................................... 34 Annex 3 received filled in questionnaires ..................................................................................... 35 Annex 4 Detailed description of individual projects in different countries .................................. 58 5. References ..................................................................................................................................... 71 3 Summary In April 2013, 30 countries from the European and Central Asian region met in Batumi (Georgia) for the 6th Biodiversity in Europe Conference. Following the Conference it was clear that there is a need for capacity building and support to improve the way biodiversity and ecosystem services, concerns and requirements are reflected in sectoral, economic and development policies of the countries. None of the countries has completed the mapping of ecosystem services at the national level. Also the ongoing initiatives across the Pan-European region apply a variety of approaches and methodologies to map and assess ecosystems and their services and use different classifications and conceptual models (e.g. market-based tools in environmental management such as Payment for Ecosystem Services-PES). Some of them focus only on a certain ecosystem (e.g. forest), or cover only a part of the country (e.g. a region or a province). Both in terms of mapping of ecosystems and assessing the services, the biggest challenge seem to be finding the right indicators and measuring of the services delivered. This scoping document provides an overview of ongoing initiatives related to the mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services in EECCA countries (Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia) and five South East European countries. The results presented in this document will be used to identify priority areas for capacity building and cross-border cooperation in the target regions. The extent to which mapping of ecosystems and their services is being carried out appears to be very variable between countries. None of the countries has completed a national level mapping of ecosystems and assessment of ESS, while the majority of the NBSAPs integrate the ESS concept and recognize their value to various extents. Based on the gathered information there is a need for capacity building in the field of ESS work in all reviewed countries in the form of general awareness raising, organising training workshops for appropriate personnel and preparing appropriate information and training materials. More specifically this includes: general capacity building - increased understanding and awareness - on the basic concept and applicability of ESS (including linking to already ongoing work indirectly contributing to the ESS agenda) importance of ESS for various sectors and their integration into economic and development planning; sharing of best practice experiences (in the form of case studies) from more advanced countries, preferably EU Member States; methodologies for valuation of ecosystem services (e.g. developing and approving methods of cost estimate of ecosystems services and cost estimate of biological diversity); capacity to apply and utilize valuation in practical economic forecasting, planning and budgeting; development of ESS indicators. 4 1. Introduction In April 2013, 30 countries from the European and Central Asian region met in Batumi (Georgia) for the 6th Biodiversity in Europe Conference. The Conference Outcomes Document1, in line with the global Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, the Pan-European 2020 Strategy for Biodiversity, decisions made during CBD COP11 and the interests and responsiveness from Central Asian countries, among other things, highlights the need for: Support to improve the way biodiversity and ecosystem services, concerns and requirements are reflected in sectoral, economic and development policies, including through TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity). Countries have highlighted the need for support to develop national targets and indicators linked to Aichi Targets 1, 2 and 4 under strategic goal A of the global Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-20202 and Action 7 of the Pan-European 2020 Strategy for Biodiversity3. Sub-global ecosystem assessments and TEEB studies have been initiated at different scales during the last years. Although national activities (e.g. TEEB scoping study for Georgia) are being developed in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) a countries and South East European (SEE)b countries there is currently no overview of knowledge on the subject for the entire region. In Central Asia there is a request from countries to build capacity for a better understanding of ecosystem services (ESS) and their values and how to integrate these values into policy making through their NBSAPs. The ongoing