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DELTARES, FEBRUARY 2015
27
HOW DO YOU CHOOSE BETWEEN
DIFFERENT NATURAL VALUES?
1
What are ecosystem services?
Ecosystem services are the goods and
services that ecosystems supply for
people. Drinking water, for example, or
medicines. But also regulating services,
such as the pollination of plants, and
pest prevention. And cultural services
such as leisure facilities. Mangrove
forests are a nice example: they en
courage biodiversity, they can reduce
emissions of greenhouse gases, they
appeal to tourists and they protect
coastal areas from flooding.
2
Why must policymakers be
willing to think about ecosystem
services?
Interventions in the landscape often
involve conflicting interests. Local
managers want to make the best
decision. However, that can be difficult
if specialists from different disciplines
stick to their own jargon and fail to
engage with one another. By adopting
ecosystem services as the basis,
describing them and assigning an
economic or social value for people to
them, specialists can speak the same
language.
3
How does this work in practice?
Planners and stakeholders list the goods
and services supplied by the ecosystem
and analyse the economic and social
value of those services. Then they work
together on exploring the benefits and
drawbacks of different versions of a
policy plan in both the long and short
terms. For instance: if we want to use
the water and soil system in a given
area for agriculture, that may have an
adverse effect on the value of that area
for leisure activities or as a source of
drinking water. The decision is then left
to the agencies managing the area.
4
Is the value of nature expressed
in cash terms?
In some cases, that is a possibility
but it is usually enough to define the
economic or social importance of the
goods or services delivered.
5
That sounds like a tough
challenge. Are there are no useful
tools?
That is certainly an appealing idea,
and people are thinking about it.
There is already a phased plan for the
identification of ecosystem services in
a given area, and we have fact sheets
describing how ecosystem services in
the subsurface interact. The on-line
calculation tool ‘The Economics of
Ecosystems and Biodiversity’ (teeb.
stad) shows the value of green areas
and water in cities. February saw the
publication in the Netherlands of the
Atlas of Natural Capital.
For more information:
Suzanne.vanderMeulen@deltares.nlDikes can provide protec
tion, but they can also
reduce biodiversity and
recreational appeal. Sub
merging an area can be
good for nature but it can
also lead to salinisation
in the neighbouring fields.
Local managers are in
creasingly wondering how
to strike the best balance
between these interests.
The ‘ecosystem services’
concept can help.
BY JOACHIM ROZEMEIJER
involved used the same contracting firm, and the same
timetable, on this project. The dike was built first in
2013, followed by the trench for the garage. Sand on
top; job done.
Feeling safe
As we walk through the village, the mayor says hello
to the locals. Are they happy? ‘Yes, I think they are. The
view is still fantastic, and the dike makes them feel safe.
The people who used to live outside the dike can now
take out insurance for flooding.’
Another benefit was that the season in 2014 wasn’t
affected. ‘Tourist numbers were hardly down at all.’ And
the people who did come were able to see how beautiful
things will be here: in the summer, the marram grass
covers the entire dune.
Katwijk has suddenly been propelled into the modern
age. Nostalgia meets high tech. The glass and metal
entrances to the parking garage form a contrast with
the sand. Cleanly designed furniture invites people to sit
down and relax. The neighbouring resort of Noordwijk is
jealous, explains Mayor Wienen. ‘They want a parking
garage, too. But that’s no longer an option.’
The Netherlands has got a little bit bigger again.
Literally and figuratively. The mayor has to get back to
his office in the town hall. It’s always busy, and there are
foreign guests to see. Several delegations from the USA
have already visited Katwijk’s coastal defences. ‘They
want what we have got here.’
FACTS & FIGURES, MULTIFUNCTIONAL DIKE IN KATWIJK
Width of dune: 120 metres
Height of dune: between 7.5 metres
(facing the village centre) and 11 metres
above NAP (north and south of the centre)
1
1
2
2
Length of dike: 900 metres
Length of parking garage: 500 metres
Total length of upgraded section: 1500 metres
a
b
c
Total amount of sand pumped in:
approximately 3 million cubic metres
Start of operations: April 2013 (in that
order: sand suppletion, construction of the
Dike-in-Dune, extension of drainage canal,
construction of parking garage, paths and
pavilions)
Completion of operations: spring 2015
Total cost: 78 million euros