Worldwide network to enhance the science, policy and practice of ecosystem services for conservation and sustainable development

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Italy

Welcome to the official webpage of the Italy ESP national network (IESP). If you would like to visit this network’s discussion board, please click here (members only).

Lead team

If you are interested in becoming a member of the lead team please contact the current lead team members.

If you are interested in becoming a member of this national network please click here.

Introduction & Objectives

ESP National Networks aim to improve decision making on ecosystem services by providing a platform for researchers, government, non-government, business, industry and communities to exchange information and experiences on the theoretical and practical application of ecosystem services at local to national scales.

IESP aims at developing a platform for researchers, practitioners and public officers interested in ecosystem services, and their applications. Our objective is to promote collaborations across institutions active in this field, and design nation-wide initiatives that might be relevant for the Italian context. Our activities will be demand-driven, and reflect the interests and motivation of the members.

Activities & Outputs

1. Survey of the ecosystem services research in Italy

Coordinator: Planes (University of Trento)

The purpose is to generate a database of Italian research groups active in the field of ecosystem services, highlighting their specific focus and areas of interest. The database contains general information about the research groups and their ES studies, classified according to scale and type of analysis. A short description of the most representative studies of each group completes the database. The survey represents a first step towards building a strong and motivated ESP National Network, which can actively promote ES-related initiatives in Italy. The content of the database will be periodically updated. If you are interested to include/update information about your research group, please contact Blal Adem Esmail.
Provisionally, the results are presented in documents:
2. Observatory of Payment for Ecosystem Services schemes in Italy

Coordinators: Davide Marino (University of Molise; Life+ MGN) and Davide Geneletti (University of Trento)

The Observatory will collect and monitor PES schemes currently embedded in legislations or regulations in Italy at any administrative level, from local to national. PES schemes are highly context-specific, and embedded in specific legislation, governance and decision-making framework. Hence, we believe it is important to establish a nation-wide Observatory, with the purpose of:
  • Taking stock of existing efforts, and enhance their visibility;
  • Monitoring the evolution and implementation
  • Promote the exchange of experiences and best practices;
  • Promote scientific debate on PES effectiveness.
We plan to launch the Observatory in October 2015. If you are interested to contribute, please contact the coordinators.