A new publication under the direction of Jérôme Dupras and Jean-Pierre Revéret from the CIRAIG at the Université du Québec Press.
Ecosystem services contribute as much to the well-being of individuals and communities as they do to economic activity. But what is the value of these non-market natural assets? There is a growing social, entrepreneurial and institutional demand for new economic indicators to measure and monitor changes in the state of ecosystems. This demand translates into the integration of ecosystem services into public or private decision-making processes, the development of public policies, or tools for implementing sustainable development and adapting to climate change. That is the context in which this book was developed, with the aim of sharing research on the value of ecosystem services specific to Quebec. Although the studies focus on this territory, the questions raised and the answers provided are nevertheless applicable to other contexts and scales. In addition to an overview of the concept of ecosystem services, the book offers a series of case studies on the economic valuation of these services. It also shows how economic indicators of ecosystem services can be integrated into decision-making processes. It is aimed at students as well as decision-makers and business analysts interested in the economic valuation of biodiversity and its benefits.