Ecosystems provide a range of benefits to humankind known as Ecosystem Services (ES). Yet, the rate at which we consume and exploit resources is increasing so rapidly that ecosystems are threatened with loss of function. Although the adoption of ES concepts is increasing, there is a wide gap between ecosystem science and practice. OPERAs (FP7) aims to bridge this gap enabling stakeholders to apply these concepts. Several ‘case studies’ were selected to test in practice tools and instruments. The montado is one of the selected case studies, profiting from existing databases assembled in the LTSER montado.
Our main goal within this research is to test decision-support tools and instruments to better capture and represent the concepts of ES and to validate the best practices to maintain their sustainable flow, while preserving biological diversity in the montado.
FP7-ENV-2012-two-stage (ENV.2012.6.2-1).
General coordination: Mark Rounsevell, University of Edinburg, Scotland;
The OPERAs project is a collaborative project between 27 partners (http://operas-project.eu/partners).
