Following the long-term effort and preparations, the National Platform for Ecosystem Services (NPES) was established in the Czech Republic. NPES evolved within the Integrated Project LIFE, LIFE-IP: N2K Revisited – Integrated LIFE project for the Natura 2000 network in the Czech Republic, called One Nature. NPES was established as a scientific-political body with a vision to support and coordinate the creation of policies and strategies focused on ecosystem services in the field of nature conservation and biodiversity, as well as other departmental policies. The goal of NPES is to support the exchange of information and the sharing of experiences in the area of assessment and use of ecosystem services in decision-making. The activity of the platform will also facilitate international cooperation and support the development of a national network of institutions cooperating in the field of ecosystem services and further developing individual key themes.
The first official meeting of NPES took place on October 4, 2022 in the premises of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Prague. The event was organized within One Nature project and under auspices of the Ministry of Environment and Global Change Research Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CzechGlobe). The meeting was attended by over fifty nominated representatives across the spectrum of nature protection, state and local government, academic institutions, organizations operating in the field of water management, agriculture and forestry, as well as non-profit organizations.
The establishment of NPES was preceded by extensive consultation process, inter alia interviews and workshops with key stakeholders relevant for nature conservation, including Natura 2000 management, and ecosystem service assessments and policy uptake of results. Therefore, NPES represents diverse stakeholders from various sectors and policy areas.
The first NPES meeting was focused on introducing the One Nature project and communicating the theme of ecosystem services from methodological, policy, practise and international perspectives. In the introduction, the objectives of the platform and its organizational aspects were presented. This was followed by a block of presentations on the current state of evaluation and implementation of ecosystem services in the Czech Republic and abroad (especially from the point of view of the international practice of the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services – IPBES).
After a short discussion and a break, the thematic section focused on biophysical and economic approaches to the assessment of ecosystem services in the One Nature project continued. The final part of the session was dedicated to spreading awareness about ecosystem services. The participants were presented with a sample from the forthcoming film document on ecosystem services, followed by an interactive discussion in the Mentimeter online platform.
The next NPES meeting is planned for June 2023. In the meantime, the thematic focus of the platform will be further discussed in cooperation with the participants and registration will be prepared for the Ecosystem Services Partnership, where NPES will represent the national network for ecosystem services.
Picture: First meeting of the Czech National Platform for Ecosystem Services (NPES) in the Czech Academy of Sciences. Alexandra Tamchynová/One Nature.