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April Conference Examines Role of Ecosystem Services

SAC News Release Ref. No: 12N20
Published: 26 Jan 2012

Scotland has a finite amount of land and many potential uses for it. Debates over one choice against another are common, but the latest biennial SAC/SEPA Conference, planned for 3rd and 4th April, will take a far wider perspective on the issue. It is the 9th of these Agriculture and the Environment events.

Increasingly policy makers and land managers are being asked to take account of the impact any development can have on the whole ecosystem. Over two days in Pollock Halls, Edinburgh, scientists and the land use sector will discuss what that means and how to achieve it. The press are invited to attend.

The rich and diverse natural environment that is Scotland’s ecosystem includes water, woodland, soil and landscape. It supports key industries and provides many, often unrecognised, services. However while food production, forestry and tourism have well understood economies it has been far harder to establish a value for what other services the ecosystem provides, such as flood management or better air and water quality.

Over two days and four sessions the conference will look at the issue. A variety of invited speakers from home and abroad will consider how ecosystem services are currently understood, what ecosystem service delivery means at a practical level, what form of governance is most effective and how thinking and management practices need to change.

Organised jointly by the Scottish Agricultural College and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency the Conference, “Valuing Ecosystems: Policy, Economic and Management Interactions”, recognises the contribution of The James Hutton Institute, Forest Research and Scottish Natural Heritage.

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News Release Issued By

Mr Ken Rundle
Senior Communications Officer
SAC (Scottish Agricultural College) Work SAC, King's Buildings, West Mains Road,
Edinburgh
EH9 3JG
TelWork 0131 535 4196

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