Ecosystem services: The key to human well-being

Since the publication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), the global interest in “ecosystem services” has rapidly grown in scientific studies and policy-makers’ agendas. At international level, many initiatives—i.e., the Economics of Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity (TEEB), the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES), and the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)—have analyzed and incorporated the ecosystem services framework in the environmental and forestry policy targets. In urban, peri-urban, and forestry systems, the main ecosystem services provided by natural ecosystems are wood and non-wood forest products (provisioning services), protection against natural hazards, reduction of pollutants emissions, water cycle, and climate change mitigation (regulating services), habitat and biodiversity (supporting services), recreational opportunities, spiritual and historical values (cultural services). Forest planning and management influence the supply of all ecosystem services categories (provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services) both in the short and in the long term. In order to assess the effects of forest management on ecosystem services supply, three domains must be considered, i.e., the biophysical, socio-cultural, and economic domains. The biophysical assessment focuses on the biological and ecological relationships between ecosystem services and effects of forest management on their provision, while the socio-economic assessment addresses market and non-market priced ecosystem services to uncover socially desirable levels for their provision. The biophysical and socio-economic assessments of ecosystem services—which aim to quantify the importance of ecosystems for human well-being—serve as a support for designing better policies aimed at conserving and ensuring Sustainable Forest Management (SFM).