Scoping Study on Valuing Ecosystem Services of Forests Across Great Britain October 2011: Executive Summary

Summary

The study addresses four specific aims:

• Review estimated values for the economic, social and environmental benefits produced by Britain's forests from existing literature and categorise these values according to the ecosystem services framework.
• Identify gaps in the existing evidence base and recommend future research priorities to demonstrate the ecosystem service value of woodlands across the UK.
• Highlight key challenges and uncertainties that could arise in the valuation of ecosystem services and suggest how these could be addressed.
• Consider practical market opportunities for forest ecosystem services and their potential scale, using case studies, where possible.