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Common Cultural Ecosystem Service (CES) Frameworks and Categories - Expanding and Deepening the Application of Cultural Ecosystem Services in Estuary Stewardship and Management

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About the project

Ecosystem service assessments are a top priority at many reserves in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. However, within ecosystem services research, there is a critical gap surrounding the equitable representation of cultural ecosystem services (CES) — one of four main categories of ecosystem services (the others being supporting, provisioning, and regulating services). In collaboration with Reserve partners in Heʻeia and Kachemak Bay, this project aims to advance the equitable representation of CES in estuary stewardship and management within and beyond the NERRS. To do so, the project team implemented an interdisciplinary and mixed methods approach, including the development of informational materials for diverse end users.

About this resource

This factsheet provides a brief overview of CES frameworks and categories to complement the information contained in the factsheet “Expanding and Deepening the Application of Cultural Ecosystem Services in Estuary Stewardship and Management”. The list, which draws from research encountered during the broader project literature search, aims to provide a substantive picture of the types of CES that can be measured, but should not be seen as exhaustive. Expanded details and information about the frameworks and categories will be made available in Sterling et al. in prep.