Portugal Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
ptMA
Geographical coverage
| Geographical scale of the assessment | National,Sub-national,Set of sites |
|---|---|
| Country or countries covered | Portugal |
| Any other necessary information or explanation for identifying the location of the assessment, including site or region name |
Europe The ptMA was a multi-scale assessment, undertaken at the national scale, and including case studies at the basin scale (Mondego) and the local scale (Sistelo, Quinta da França, Castro Verde, and Herdade da Ribeira Abaixo). |
Geographical scale of the assessment
National,Sub-national,Set of sites
Country or countries covered
Portugal
Any other necessary information or explanation for identifying the location of the assessment, including site or region name
Europe
The ptMA was a multi-scale assessment, undertaken at the national scale, and including case studies at the basin scale (Mondego) and the local scale (Sistelo, Quinta da França, Castro Verde, and Herdade da Ribeira Abaixo).
Conceptual framework, methodology and scope
Assessment objectives
Respond to the information needs of a group of users representing different sectors of the society, including national and local government, non-governmental organizations, agriculture and industry, and civil society.
Contribute information to the global MA.
Provide a critical assessment of the current state of knowledge concerning the consequences of ecosystem changes for human well-being.
Establish a scientific basis to enhance the management of ecosystems, in order to improve conservation and sustainability.
Mandate for the assessment
There was no formal mandate, though several stakeholders (representing national and local government, non-governmental organizations, private sector, and local development organizations) participated actively in the design of the assessment and prepared a User Needs and Response Options Report, which defined the scope of the assessment.
Conceptual framework and/or methodology used for the assessment
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA)
URL or copy of conceptual framework developed or adapted
http://www.ecossistemas.org/ficheiros/livro/Capitulo_1.pdf http://www.ecossistemas.org/ficheiros/livro/Capitulo_2.pdf
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2009. Estrutura Conceptual do Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. [Translation into Portuguese of: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2003. Summary. In: Ecosystems and Human Well-being: A Framework for Assessment. Island Press, Washington, DC. pp. 1–25.] In: Ecossistemas e Bem-Estar Humano: Avaliação para Portugal do Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, eds. Pereira, H.M., T. Domingos, L. Vicente, and V. Proença. Escolar Editora, Lisboa. pp. 20-42. Available from: http://www.ecossistemas.org/ficheiros/livro/Capitulo_1.pdf
ptMA_Relatorio_Final_Capitulo_1.pdf
Pereira, H.M., T. Domingos, V. Proença, L. Vicente, and P. Rodrigues. 2009. A Avaliação Sub-Global para Portugal. In: Ecossistemas e Bem-Estar Humano: Avaliação para Portugal do Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, eds. Pereira, H.M., T. Domingos, L. Vicente, and V. Proença. Escolar Editora, Lisboa. pp. 43-56. Available from: http://www.ecossistemas.org/ficheiros/livro/Capitulo_2.pdf
ptMA_Relatorio_Final_Capitulo_2.pdf
System(s) assessed
- Marine
- Coastal
- Island
- Inland water
- Forest and woodland
- Cultivated/Agricultural land
- Mountain
- Dryland
- Groundwater
- Montado
Species groups assessed
Spatial analysis: pteridophytes, gymnosperms, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. Non-spatial analysis: fish and mammals.
Ecosystem services/functions assessed
Provisioning
- Food
- Water
- Timber/fibres
Regulating
- Climate regulation
- Regulation of water flows
- Regulation of water quality
- Erosion prevention
Supporting Services/Functions
- Habitat maintenance
- Soil formation and fertility
- Primary production
- Biodiversity protection
Cultural Services
- Recreation and tourism
- Spiritual, inspiration and cognitive development
- Aesthetic enjoyment
- Cultural and historical heritage
Scope of assessment includes
Drivers of change in systems and services
Yes
Impacts of change in services on human well-being
Yes
Options for responding/interventions to the trends observed
Yes
Explicit consideration of the role of biodiversity in the systems and services covered by the assessment
Yes
Timing of the assessment
Year assessment started
2003
Year assessment finished
2009
If ongoing, year assessment is anticipated to finish
Periodicity of assessment
One off
Assessment outputs
Website(s)
Report(s)
[Appendix - color figures] Pereira, H.M., T. Domingos, L. Vicente, and V. Proença (eds.). 2009. Ecossistemas e Bem-Estar Humano: Avaliação para Portugal do Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Escolar Editora, Lisboa, Portugal. XXXII + 734 p. Available from: http://www.ecossistemas.org/pt/relatorios.htm
ptMA_Relatorio_Final_Appendix_color_figures.pdf
Pereira, H., L. Vicente, and T. Domingos (eds.). 2003. Relatório das Necessidades de Informação e Opções de Gestão dos Utilizadores. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Portuguese Sub-Global Assessment. Available from: http://www.ecossistemas.org/ficheiros/NecessidadesUtilizadores.pdf
ptMA_Necessidades_Utilizadores_pt.pdf
Pereira, H., L. Vicente, and T. Domingos (eds.). 2003. Report on the User Needs and Response Options. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Portuguese Sub-Global Assessment. Available from: http://www.ecossistemas.org/ficheiros/UserNeeds.pdf
ptMA_User_Needs_en.pdf
Pereira, H.M., T. Domingos, and L. Vicente (eds.). 2004. Portugal Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: State of the Assessment Report. Centro de Biologia Ambiental, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon. 68 pp. Available from: http://www.ecossistemas.org/ficheiros/ptMA_State_of_the_Assessment.pdf
ptMA_State_of_the_Assessment_Report.pdf
Pereira, H.M., T. Domingos, L. Vicente, and V. Proença (eds.). 2009. Ecossistemas e Bem-Estar Humano: Avaliação para Portugal do Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Escolar Editora, Lisboa, Portugal. XXXII + 734 p. Available from: http://www.ecossistemas.org/pt/relatorios.htm
ptMA_Relatorio_Final.pdf
Portugal Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2009. Ecossistemas e Bem-Estar humano. Avaliação para Portugal do Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Sumário Executivo. Available from: http://www.ecossistemas.org/ficheiros/SumarioExecutivo_ptMA.pdf
ptMA_Sumario_Executivo_pt.pdf
Portugal Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2009. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being. Portuguese Assessment of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Executive Summary. Available from: http://www.ecossistemas.org/ficheiros/Executive_Summary_ptMA.pdf
ptMA_Executive_Summary_en.pdf
Communication materials (e.g. brochure, presentations, posters, audio-visual media)
Marta-Pedroso, C., V. Proença, H.M. Pereira, T. Domingos. 2012. ptTEEB: building on the experience of ptMA. Sub-global Assessments Network Annual Meeting, Bilbao, Spain. [Poster]
ptTEEB-ptMA_Marta-Pedroso_etal_2012.pdf
ptMA. 2004. Brochura (Portuguese)
ptMA_Brochura_pt.pdf
ptMA. 2004. Brochure (English)
ptMA_Brochure_en.pdf
ptMA. 2010. Communicating Findings (English) [Presentation]
ptMA_Communicating_Findings_20100228_English.ppt
ptMA. 2010. Findings (Portuguese) [Presentation]
ptMA_Findings_2010_Portuguese.ppt
ptMA. 2010. Findings (Spanish) [Presentation]
ptMA_Findings_20100517_Spanish.ppt
ptMA. 2010. Findings Summary (English) [Presentation]
ptMA_Findings_Summary_20101012_English.ppt
ptMA. 2010. Findings Summary (Portuguese) [Presentation]
ptMA_Findings_Summary_20100113_Portuguese.ppt
ptMA. 2011. Impacts (Portuguese) [Presentation]
ptMA_Impacts_20111025_Portuguese.ppt
ptMA. 2012. Lessons Learned (English) [Presentation]
ptMA_Lessons_Learned_20120830_English.pptx
Journal publications
Pereira, E., C. Queiroz, H.M. Pereira, and L. Vicente. 2005. Ecosystem services and human well-being: a participatory study in a mountain community in Portugal. Ecology and Society. 10(2): 14. Online from: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol10/iss2/art14/
ptMA_Sistelo_Pereira_etal_2005.pdf
Training materials
Other documents/outputs
Pereira, H.M., T. Domingos and L. Vicente. 2006. Assessing ecosystem services at different scales in the Portugal Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. In: Bridging Scales and Knowledge Systems: Concepts and Applications in Ecosystem Assessment, eds. Reid, W.V., F. Berkes, T. Willbanks, and D. Capristano. Island Press, Washington, DC. pp. 59-79. Available from: http://www.maweb.org/documents/bridging/bridging.04.pdf
ptMA_Bridging_Scales_04_Pereira_etal_2006.pdf
ptMA. 2010. Press Release. Relatório Final. Ecossistemas e Bem-estar Humano. Avaliação para Portugal do Millenium Ecosystems Assessment.
ptMA_Press_Release_Relatorio_Final_2010.pdf
ptMA press DN 2010.01.13
ptMA_press_DN_20100113.pdf
ptMA press JN 2005.04.05
ptMA_press_JN_20050405.pdf
ptMA press Público 2005.02.23
ptMA_press_Publico_20050223.pdf
ptMA press Público.pt 2010.01.14
ptMA_press_Publico.pt_20100114.pdf
ptMA press Quercus Ambiente 2010.10-11
ptMA_press_QuercusAmbiente_201010-11.pdf
ptMA press review 2010.01.13-14
ptMA_press_review_20100113-14.pdf
ptMA press review 2010.01.25
ptMA_press_review_20100125.pdf
ptMA tv RTP2 2010.01.09
ptMA_tv_RTP2_20100109.mov
Tools and processes
Tools and approaches used in the assessment
- Modelling
- Trade-off analysis
- Geospatial analysis
- Indicators
- Scenarios
- Economic valuation
- Social (non-monetary) valuation
- Stakeholder engagement
- Identification of drivers of change
- Response options analysis
- Assessment of condition and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services
Pereira, H.M., T. Domingos, L. Vicente, and V. Proença (eds.). 2009. Ecossistemas e Bem-Estar Humano: Avaliação para Portugal do Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Escolar Editora, Lisboa, Portugal. XXXII + 734 p. Available from: http://www.ecossistemas.org/pt/relatorios.htm
ptMA_Relatorio_Final.pdf
Process used for stakeholder engagement in the assessment process and which component
Stakeholders participated in joint workshops with the scientific team to discuss the user needs and design the assessment.
Stakeholders contributed for the User Needs and Response Options Report.
Stakeholders participated in joint workshops with the scientific team where:
Accompanied and discussed the scientific work under development;
Contributed to the condition and trends qualitative evaluation;
Took part in the scenarios development.
Key stakeholder groups engaged
National government
Local government
Non-governmental organizations
Private sector
Local development organizations
The number of people directly involved in the assessment process
10-100
Incorporation of scientific and other types of knowledge
- Resource experts (e.g. foresters etc)
- Traditional/local knowledge
Supporting documentation for specific approaches, methodology or criteria developed and/or used to integrate knowledge systems into the assessment
Pereira, H.M., T. Domingos, L. Vicente, and V. Proença (eds.). 2009. Ecossistemas e Bem-Estar Humano: Avaliação para Portugal do Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Escolar Editora, Lisboa, Portugal. XXXII + 734 p. Available from: http://www.ecossistemas.org/pt/relatorios.htm
ptMA_Relatorio_Final.pdf
Assessment reports peer reviewed
Yes
Data
Accessibility of data used in assessment
Data available for download from public websites, by request to authors, and from bibliographic sources.
Policy impact
Impacts the assessment has had on policy and/or decision making, as evidenced through policy references and actions
The concept of ecosystem services and assessment findings were incorporated in several legal documents related to nature management and conservation:
Legal Regime of Nature and Biodiversity Conservation;
National Strategy for the Forest;
Management Plans of protected areas;
Strategic Environmental Assessments;
Environmental Strategic Evaluation of the Program for Rural Development;
Agro-environmental policies follow-up.
The concepts of ecosystem services and ecosystem services valuation and assessment findings were introduced and used in several fields:
Secondary school programs;
University courses;
Private sector (CONFAGRI): documents, website, agro-environmental policies follow-up.
Assessment team members were invited to participate in policy assessment and development in the fields of environment and education.
Independent or other review on policy impact of the assessment
No
Lessons learnt for future assessments from these reviews
Capacity building
Capacity building needs identified during the assessment
Ability to use and implement some tools and approaches.
Facilitation of communication between stakeholders and scientific team and among scientific experts from different areas.
Bridging knowledge systems: scientific team, decision makers, and local community.
Actions taken by the assessment to build capacity
Fellowships/exchanges/secondments/mentoring programmes, Network and sharing experiences, Sharing of data/repatriation of data, Workshops, Developing/promoting and providing access to support tools, Communication and awareness raising
How have gaps in capacity been communicated to the different stakeholders
Workshops
Reports
Reports release and findings presentation meetings
Knowledge generation
Gaps in knowledge identified from the assessment
Biodiversity data, namely for invertebrates and plants.
Biodiversity monitoring data in general (except birds).
Monitoring data on invasive species.
Historical land use data.
Economic value of non-provisioning services, namely regulating services.
Spatial models for ecosystem services.
How gaps in knowledge have been communicated to the different stakeholders
Workshops
Reports
Reports release and findings presentation meetings
