Valuing tree and forest ecosystem services

Summary

Our research explores the value of different tree and forest ecosystem services and uses innovative methods to identify and capture those values. For example:

1. Seven high-level cultural ecosystem benefits have been identified from 56 studies across different European countries: health, learning, social connections, connections to nature, sensory benefits, cultural and symbolic, and economic benefits.

2. Shared values bring a new perspective to forest management decision-making. These are values that people hold as a group, community or as a society, and are different from individual values.

3. The first study on the flood-risk reduction benefits of the UK woodland estate estimated a value of approximately £6.5 billion per year (£2,600 per ha) based upon a replacement cost approach. A review of evidence on water quality improvement associated with planting trees found that creation of woodland buffers reduced nitrate concentrations by over 70% on average in oceanic climates such as the UK’s. The strength of the effect is strongly related to the width of the buffer.