Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Publication
    Mobilising Finance for Biodiversity: A policy and institutional review of finance arrangements for biodiversity conservation in Ireland
    (University College Dublin, 2020-03) ;
    This Policy and Institutional Review (PIR) for Ireland is intended to characterise biodiversity spending and the context in which it is made. It examines direct spending and indirect spending in areas of environmental protection. It also looks at the extent to which Government Departments and Agencies consider biodiversity in their core policies, whether the sectors for which they have responsibility are supported by biodiversity and ecosystem services, and whether some of their policies conflict with biodiversity. The PIR complements the national biodiversity expenditure review (NBER) undertaken in 2017 and will inform the financial needs assessment now being undertaken to determine thetype of expenditure needed to implement the National Biodiversity Action Plan 2021-2025, along with the question of how to mobilise these resources.
      492
  • Publication
    Eco-Health: Ecosystem Benefits of Greenspace for Health
    (Environmental Protection Agency, 2020-07) ; ; ;
    The Eco-Health project explores the health benefits of ecosystems services as a means to supply evidence and tools for developing health promoting environments or ‘healthy places’.
      225
  • Publication
    ESManage Programme: Irish Freshwater Resources and Assessment of Ecosystem Services Provision
    Freshwater is vital for all forms of life and it is a key requirement in almost all human activities. The societal importance of water has been highlighted by the United Nations, with access to clean water and sanitation regarded as a universal human right. Consequently, the sustainable management of freshwater resources has gained importance at regional, international and global scales. However, the activities of humankind affect freshwater resources extensively, in terms of both quantity and quality, through a variety of activities ranging from abstraction of water for drinking and irrigation to waste disposal. Today, worldwide freshwater ecosystems are undergreat pressure and are one of the most endangered ecosystems. Furthermore, climate change, especially in relation to precipitation patterns and flooding, will result in the traditional norms being replaced with increased variability and unpredictability, with knock-on effects for human societies and well-being.
      2751
  • Publication
    Quality of life and the environment : final report
    The study examines objective indicators associated with quality of life in Ireland. As noted above, these include indicators of environmental quality, income, house prices, health, education and crime. The analysis then moves on to compare these objective indicators with subjective indicators as revealed through the use of a public survey and further qualitative analysis based on focus-group discussions. The intention, therefore, was to compare the objective measures with peoples perception of these indicators and their own subjective assessment of personal well-being. This comparison is not performed as often as it should be in discussions of quality of life. A factor analysis of subjective indices of quality of life based on public survey data and incorporating measures of income/employment, family status, domestic environment, subjective well-being and planning/infrastructure. This report has been prepared as part of the Environmental Research Technological Development and Innovation (ERTDI) Programme 2000-2006. Available At: Secure Archive For Environmental Research Data managed by Environmental Protection Agency Ireland
      514
  • Publication
    Incorporation of Ecosystem Services values in the Integrated Management of Irish Freshwater Resources - ESManage
    The ESManage project tested an eight-step methodological framework to help embed ecosystem services and the ecosystem services approach into policy and decision-making for the sustainable management of water resources, as required by the Water Framework Directive (WFD). It involved identification of relevant freshwater ecosystem services, prediction of how they change when management measures are implemented and economic valuation of those changes. The focus of the research was on ecosystem services from rivers, engaging stakeholders in three case study catchments to explore the ecosystem services derived from these very different rivers and undertake economic valuation of the benefits that people obtain from enhancements to ecosystem services in those rivers. Modelling, using both a hydrological and a nutrient load apportionment model, was used to quantify changes in flows and inputs of pollutants (nutrients and sediment) associated with the alternative catchment management scenarios (e.g. intensification, extensification and riparian measures such as tree planting), whereas Bayesian belief network modelling was used to predict the resulting changes in ecological responses and their effects on selected ecosystem services (e.g. clean water, angling, wildlife). The focus was on managing diffuse pollution from agriculture, assuming unchanged inputs from domestic septic tanks and point sources, e.g. wastewater treatment plants, that also contribute to water quality problems in the study catchments. The intensification scenarios considered potentially pro rata changes in nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment inputs assumed to arise from an increase in stocking density, whereas extensification related to the corresponding effects as a result of reductions in stocking density. The “choice experiment” valuation technique was then used to quantify the economic benefits that people obtained from enhancements to river ecosystem services. In addition, data were collected on the cost of wastewater treatment to demonstrate the benefits of natural regulating ecosystem services.
      128
  • Publication
    Red deer culls, Scots pine and the stalking client
    (Scottish Natural Heritage, 2001)
    1. This study examines the prospects for changes in deer management which meet the needs of both the stalking fraternity and conservationists. 2. We approach the problem from a less familiar angle, namely that of the needs of people who pay for stalking and of deer managers. 3. The study applied an economic method called choice experimentation to establish the weight and the monetary value that stalkers attach to attributes of their stalking trip. Attributes include such factors as “numbers of stags“, “trophy value“ and “the stalking landscape“. Their respective parameters can be combined to arrive at paying amateur stalkers’ valuation of alternative stalking packages, including such factors as higher quality stags typical of better deer management or more forested environments.
      367