Which ecosystem services are being used?

Ecosystem services are the benefits nature provides to society such as crop pollination, climate regulation and the opportunities for recreational activities in nature. They form the foundation of our well-being and economy, with nature contributing to our daily needs in numerous ways.

These services can be divided into three main categories:

• Provisioning services are those ecosystem services representing the contributions to benefits that are extracted or harvested from ecosystems, such as food harvesting, timber production etc.
• Regulating services are those ecosystem services resulting from the ability of ecosystems to regulate biological processes and to influence climate, hydrological and biochemical cycles, and thereby maintain environmental conditions beneficial to individuals and society. Examples include water purification, coastal protection, capture of airborne particulate matter, and storage of carbon in soil and vegetation.
• Cultural services are the experiential and intangible services to humans related to the perceived or actual qualities of ecosystems. They provide both tangible and intangible value through recreation, aesthetic pleasure (such as the experience of happiness through a beautiful sunset or beautiful landscape) and cultural enrichment. Examples include recreation and tourism in nature areas, but also education on nature sites and other forms of nature experience.

Ecosystem services can be expressed in physical quantities, for example m3 of wood, Mt of greenhouse gases or hours of walking in nature, but also in monetary terms (euros).

On Statline, you can find an overview of all the ecosystem services calculated by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), both in physical and monetary values.