DISCUSSING INDICATORS FOR SOME LESS STUDIED CULTURAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES PROVIDED BY FORESTS: EXAMPLE FROM LATVIA

Abstract

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are as important for human well-being as other ecosystem service groups, but they are underrepresented in the current evaluation frameworks that mostly include a limited set of CES, typically focusing on recreation and aesthetic experiences derived from nature. Thus, several significant CES are routinely omitted, especially those unsuitable for mapping and evaluation in pre-defined spatial units. In this paper we discuss four categories of forest CES, three of them related to the visual representation of forest and one – to the use of forest ecosystems in education. Drawing on examples from Latvia, we propose indicators for their evaluation, provide examples of possible application and briefly discuss challenges and uncertainties. We conclude that: 1) services pertaining to visual representation of forest ecosystems and forest ecosystem use in education are highly relevant in our region, 2) creativity-related ecosystem services present classification challenges, 3) quantification of CES, despite evaluation uncertainties, helps to highlight their importance, and 4) further work and interdisciplinary collaboration in the field of CES is needed to encompass stakeholder involvement and representation, as well as the complex relationships between the ecosystem services themselves.