An Assignment

on
Understanding Ecosystem Services ensure Sustainable
Development and Biodiversity Conservation

Course Code: ENS 223

Course Title: Ecology and Biodiversity

Submitted to:
Dr Md Nurul Amin
Professor and Chairman
Department of Environmental Science
Faculty of Environmental Science and Disaster
Management Patuakhali Science and Technology University
Dumki, Patuakhali- 8602

Submitted By:
Md Parvez
ID No: 1806027
Reg. No: 08154
Session: 2018-19
Faculty of Environmental Science and Disaster Management

Submission Date: 20/07/2022

Patuakhali Science and Technology University

Dumki, Patuakhali- 8602
Understanding Ecosystem Services ensure Sustainable Development and
Biodiversity Conservation.
Introduction
An ecosystem service is any positive benefit that wildlife or ecosystems provide to people.
The benefits can be direct or indirect—small or large. There are four major categories of
ecosystem services: provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services [1]. The
Ecosystem Services approach can be used to support decision-making towards sustainable
development and biodiversity conservation. Besides the protection of nature and the
sustainable use of natural resources, understanding ecosystem services can achieve other
important socioeconomic goals, such as poverty reduction or employment.

Ecosystem Services for Sustainable Development

Ecosystem services are essential for cities and are key factors in achieving many of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Such services are best delivered through green
infrastructure, which works in resourceful, multifunctional, synergistic, and environmentally
sensitive ways to deliver ecosystem services and provide alternative cleaner pathways for the
delivery of multiple urban services [2].
Understanding ecosystem services can ensure sustainable development goals. It helps to
measure the true cost of industrial development. Often, the impact industrial development has
on the economy and job creation overshadows the cost it will have on surrounding lakes,
forests, keystone species, and so on. Assigning a dollar value to these lakes and forests, and
the Ecosystem Services they provide, helps adjust the cost benefit analysis by evaluating the
negative effects development will have on the natural environment.
Companies have also started to use Ecosystem Services in conservation offset planning,
where they can buy and sell credits to offset a development or set aside land to meet a
specific offset. Sustainable development supports the maintenance of a healthy economy
while also protecting the ecological process for future generations [3].

Ecosystem Services for Biodiversity Conservation

Understanding ecosystem services can ensure biodiversity conservation. Because ecosystem
services are provided by various elements and combinations of biodiversity that are important
to people, there are many ways in which ecosystem services approaches can contribute to
biodiversity conservation. There are three distinct ways in which ecosystem services
approaches are being and can be used to directly support biodiversity conservation: the
development of broader constituencies for conservation and informing decision-making;
opportunities to add or create new value to protected areas; and the opportunities to
sustainably manage ecosystems outside of protected areas [4].
 Figure: Ecosystem Services for Biodiversity Conservation

Conclusion
Biodiversity conservation and sustainable development are two inter-related branches
focusing on social progress, economic growth and environmental protection on one side, and
ecosystem conservation on the other. The key to sustainable development is achieving a
balance between the exploitation of natural resources for socio-economic development, and
conserving ecosystem services that are critical to everyone’s wellbeing and livelihoods. There
is no blueprint for obtaining this balance. However, an understanding of how ecosystem
services contribute to livelihoods, and who benefits and who loses from changes arising from
development interventions, is essential.

References

[1] J. L. K. a. B. S. Adams, "Environmental Protection Agency," Oxford University Press, New York,
2000.

[2] H. R. M. E. S. a. Z. Scott Hawken, "The SDGs, Ecosystem Services and Cities: A Network Analysis
of Current Research Innovation for Implementing Urban Sustainability," 2021.

[3] (. W. M. I. Matthew McCartney, "Sustainable development and ecosystem services," pp. 1-4,
2015.

[4] K. H. R. a. J. E. W. Jane Carter Ingram, "Applying Ecosystem Services Approaches for Biodiversity
Conservation: Benefits and Challenges," vol. 5, 2012.