TEEB Manual for Cities

The TEEB Manual for Cities: Ecosystem Services in Urban Management1.3. A focus on ecosystem services: helping cities to achieve their goalsThis section examines how cities can benefit in various ways from a focus on ecosystem services, especially with regard to urbanplanning, budget allocations and municipal service delivery. The examples in this section show that such an approach can beeconomically viable and provide social benefits – arguments which are often vital in order to secure political commitment.A focus on ecosystem services cansupport the work of city authorities in atleast three ways:● Firstly, the benefits we derive from afunctioning environment becomevisible at the local level. If we adopt afocus on ecosystem services, theirrelation to municipal service deliverybecomes evident. For example, citiesare often responsible for the provisionof clean water to their citizens. A focuson the ecosystem services relevant towater provision can help identify thewater purification capacity of, forexample, nearby forests. Thepreservation of the forests cantherefore become an integral part ofthe strategy to provide clean water tolocal residents.● Secondly, focusing on ecosystemservices allows decision makers tobetter anticipate the consequences ofdecisions or policies. Ecosystemsgenerate multiple services and bylooking at ecosystem services thecosts and benefits of the choices canbe compared. For example, when aforested area that is valued by bothresidents and local decision makers forthe full range of services it provides, isthreatened by a new development, thiswill have to be considered in terms ofthe benefits which would be lost.● Thirdly, a focus on ecosystem servicesallows effective communication,between all line functions and with thegeneral public, about the environmentalconsequences and the wider economicand/or social implications of a decision.If a broad range of ecosystem servicesprovided is considered, in terms of thegain or loss of natural resources andbenefits, and these are communicatedeffectively to all stakeholders, it is likelythat the most desirable outcomes willbe achieved through effective decisionmaking.By focusing on ecosystem services, thevalue and multiple benefits of functioningecosystems will be recognized, and theconservation of natural resources will beimplicit as an effective means of creatingand maintaining sustainable and healthycities.An ecosystem services approach iscomplementary to other motivations toconserve nature, encouraging policyCity of Cape Townmakers to consider the connectionsbetween natural systems and humanwell-being through various policy andmanagement processes, includingplanning, budget allocations orinfrastructure. Focusing on ecosystemservices will help achieve abalance between developmental andenvironmental objectives. How doesthis focus on ecosystem serviceswork in practice? There is no ‘one-sizefits-all’solution, and it is criticalto develop a local approach, uniqueto each particular situation. The stepwiseapproach, outlined in Section 2,provides guidance on how to valueecosystem services in a city context.Ecosystem services are a cross-cuttingissue and there is often no need tointroduce new units or procedures, sincelocal management processes whichare in place could simply benefitfrom adopting an ecosystem servicesperspective. This can be a comprehensiveanalysis – as in the case of Cape Town(see case study section 2) – but maybe done with limited resources asa preliminary appraisal. Table 2 showsexamples of how a focus on ecosystemservices has helped cities invarious ways.City of Barcelona City of São PauloEnvironmental education will often contribute not only to a public understanding ofand appreciation for ecosystem services, but facilitate social upliftment as well.Alien plants threaten biodiversity and underpins many of the benefits of nature.6