Since media attention to the concept of ecosystem services (ES) by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) in 2005, the ES have become an important policy framework when addressing development and planning issues at a territorial level. Moreover, many studies dealing with the role of local resources in territorial economic development have led to the emergence of a territorial development model based on the activation of specific resources by local actors. Our research aims to combine qualities from both of the ES and territorial development research communities. We will develop and test an operational research framework based on a new concept, the ES basket, and demonstrate the relevance of developing a non-monetary valuation approach based on multi-criteria indicators and perceptions. Our scope is to better characterise the potential valuation of agricultural ES through emblematic products. The ES basket aims at facilitating the recognition of ES through these products, and consequently collective action and the appropriation of changes towards better sustainability in agriculture. This methodological framework has been applied to a rural territory, the Karaburun Peninsula (Turkey), where ES baskets have been developed through the farming of two emblematic products, olives and narcissus. Our results may help to identify the perspectives of territorial development and the supporting policies to be implemented for the valuation of ES baskets.
Valuing ecosystem services within the territorial development approach: the ecosystem services basket in the Karaburun Peninsula, Turkey
28 November 2022