Benefits from nature

Foto: Håvard Boge

The natural environment in coastal zones is valuable to us, not only as the backdrop for various experiences, but also as a provider of specific services.

In the Coreplan project, we use the term “ecosystem services” to describe the benefits and advantages that nature confers as well as the capacity it has to provide us with those benefits.

Ecosystem services can, for example, be described as the following functions served by nature:

  • Supplies us with food
  • Provides us with drinking water
  • Regulates the climate
  • Gets rid of waste
  • Forms sediments
  • Provides living conditions for different species
  • Generates electricity, firewood and fuel
  • Location for cultural heritage
  • Environment for recreation
  • Religious significance and experience
  • Well-being and aesthetics

Nature provides us with services that may come into conflict with one another. The Coreplan project aims at helping authorities improve their ability to take ecosystem services and various interests into consideration when making decisions about how the coast is to be used.