Enhancement of forest ecosystem services: a case study in the Italian Alps

Abstract

The values of goods and services by natural resources are not included in the political decision making process concerning natural resources management. This gap is due to the fact that many ecosystem services are not marketed. In order to overcome this gap in the management of natural resources, it is necessary to apply some environmental economic methods to capture the total economic value of marketed and non-marketed ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are not homogeneous across landscapes but they are heterogeneous in space. Consequently, mapping ecosystem services is considered as a fundamental requirement for landscape planning. The aim of this paper is to show a method for the economic valuation and mapping of the forest ecosystem services. The method was applied to a case study characterized by a high importance of ecosystem services and involved in the recharge.green project (Alpine Space Programme): the Gesso-Vermenagna valley in Italy. Results show that the highest economic values are for regulating services (from 11 € ha^-1 to 4.300 € ha^-1 per year) and for provisioning services (from 6 € ha^-1 to 1.980 € ha^-1 per year), while the lowest values are for cultural services (from 6 € ha^-1 to 627 € ha^-1 per year). This study can provide useful information to decision makers in order to improve the management of natural resources at local level.