The role of enabling actors in ecosystem service accounting
When accounting for ecosystem services, it is important to distinguish between the flow of services and the flow of benefits (which can be part of economic accounts or not) generated by those services. To disentangle services and benefits, particular attention has to be paid in allocating each categ...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Pensoft Publishers
2017-12-01
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| Series: | One Ecosystem |
| Online Access: | https://oneecosystem.pensoft.net/article/20834/ |
| _version_ | 1819117092449812480 |
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| author | Alessandra La Notte Alexandra Marques |
| author_facet | Alessandra La Notte Alexandra Marques |
| author_sort | Alessandra La Notte |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | When accounting for ecosystem services, it is important to distinguish between the flow of services and the flow of benefits (which can be part of economic accounts or not) generated by those services. To disentangle services and benefits, particular attention has to be paid in allocating each category of flows in the use table to those institutional sectors that generate the need for the services and have the power to modify them - the enabling actors - and to final beneficiaries. The general concept of use, without specifying whether services or benefits are referred to, could in fact lead to misinterpretations. This paper discusses the issue of the allocation of ecosystem services and the role of enabling actors through a practical example of water purification accounts in the Netherlands. In particular, the role of the agricultural sector as an enabling actor is disentangled from the cleaned water as benefit and from water supply companies as beneficiaries. The proper allocation of the flow of the service can in fact facilitate the establishment of a causal relationship between the actions of economic actors and ecological consequences and vice versa. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T05:27:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e15a4d365a8c440b8befac1e0f4d5112 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2367-8194 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T05:27:29Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | Pensoft Publishers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | One Ecosystem |
| spelling | doaj.art-e15a4d365a8c440b8befac1e0f4d51122022-12-21T18:37:33ZengPensoft PublishersOne Ecosystem2367-81942017-12-01211410.3897/oneeco.2.e2083420834The role of enabling actors in ecosystem service accountingAlessandra La Notte0Alexandra Marques1European Commission- Joint Research Centre, Directorate for Sustainable Resources, Land Resources UnitEuropean Commission- Joint Research Centre, Directorate for Competences, Modelling, Indicators and Impact Evaluation UnitWhen accounting for ecosystem services, it is important to distinguish between the flow of services and the flow of benefits (which can be part of economic accounts or not) generated by those services. To disentangle services and benefits, particular attention has to be paid in allocating each category of flows in the use table to those institutional sectors that generate the need for the services and have the power to modify them - the enabling actors - and to final beneficiaries. The general concept of use, without specifying whether services or benefits are referred to, could in fact lead to misinterpretations. This paper discusses the issue of the allocation of ecosystem services and the role of enabling actors through a practical example of water purification accounts in the Netherlands. In particular, the role of the agricultural sector as an enabling actor is disentangled from the cleaned water as benefit and from water supply companies as beneficiaries. The proper allocation of the flow of the service can in fact facilitate the establishment of a causal relationship between the actions of economic actors and ecological consequences and vice versa.https://oneecosystem.pensoft.net/article/20834/ |
| spellingShingle | Alessandra La Notte Alexandra Marques The role of enabling actors in ecosystem service accounting One Ecosystem |
| title | The role of enabling actors in ecosystem service accounting |
| title_full | The role of enabling actors in ecosystem service accounting |
| title_fullStr | The role of enabling actors in ecosystem service accounting |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of enabling actors in ecosystem service accounting |
| title_short | The role of enabling actors in ecosystem service accounting |
| title_sort | role of enabling actors in ecosystem service accounting |
| url | https://oneecosystem.pensoft.net/article/20834/ |
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