Germany| All biomes and ecosystem services, value transfer | Status: Start February 2025 - April 2025
ValuGaps - Valuation of Natural Capital
Biodiversity and natural capital are essential to human well-being, yet, Germany's decision-making only partially accounts for their value due to information gaps and uncertainties. Existing valuation studies are limited, unsystematic, and overlook key ecological-economic dynamics.
ValuGaps addresses this need by providing comprehensive, reliable, and scalable valuations to support public authorities, including the German Environment Agency (UBA) and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN). In collaboration with key federal agencies, ValuGaps aims to mainstream biodiversity valuation in German decision-making, supporting the country’s commitment to CBD Aichi Target 2. A scientific foundation for integrating natural capital values into policymaking, accounting, and planning will be created by ValuGaps. Using grasslands and urban green spaces as case studies, the project will test its approach.
​
The project aims to answer critical questions: How can different value types be scaled and transferred effectively? What key parameters are needed for reliable valuation? What are the uncertainties in these processes? And how can decision-makers best use these valuations while managing uncertainties?
​
Values from the ESVD will be used to identify and refine benefit transfer functions that are specifically relevant for application in Germany. These functions will then be published within the value transfer tool. In addition, efforts will be made to enhance the user-friendliness of the value transfer tool will be improved. A comprehensive roadmap will be developed to guide the tool's future improvements.
Involved user groups and ESVD applications
In this project we aim to show the benefits of using the ecosystem services approach to take the 'full' value of ecosystems into account in a German setting. We are specifically targeting the following user groups through the following ESVD applications:
Research & Academia
Governments
We work on enhancing benefit transfer functions to ensure more accurate and reliable valuation of ecosystem services across different contexts. Additionally, we focus on improving the user-friendliness of the benefit transfer calculator, making it more accessible and practical for policymakers, researchers, and organizations.
Enhancing the benefit transfer calculator allows for the broader application of ecosystem service valuation, ensuring these values are considered in future decision-making processes.