BESAFE (KB-14-003-028)

In order to protect biodiversity, policy makers increasingly require demonstration of its value. BESAFE has used case studies to investigate how much importance people attribute to alternative arguments for the protection of biodiversity and in particular how this relates to ecosystem services. It focussed on the arguments used by policy makers at different governance levels and in different ecological, socio-economic, spatial and temporal contexts. BESAFE has examined the interactions of environmental protection policies between governance scales. This has led to an assessment of the transferability of arguments across scales.

BESAFE will consider the contribution that valuing ecosystem services can make in demonstrating the value of biodiversity. The results will be used to produce a framework that will give guidance on the effectiveness of alternative arguments and protection strategies in various contexts. The framework will be made accessible through a web-based public access database with associated toolkit. To ensure practical usability, the toolkit and database interface will be developed in cooperation with stakeholders