Ecosystem services
The benefits people obtain from the environment. Ecosystem services are the transformation of natural assets including soil, plants and animals, air and water, into things that we value. They can be viewed as provisioning such as food and water; regulating, for example, flood and disease control; cultural such as spiritual, recreational, and cultural benefits; or supporting, like nutrient cycling, that maintain the conditions for life on earth.
Glossary. "Plan Vivo Standard 2012 Draft for Consultation". 2012 http://www.planvivo.org/wp-content/uploads/Plan-Vivo-Standard-2012-cons…
The functions of an ecosystem that offer direct or indirect benefits for human wellbeing. Forests provide essential benefits beyond carbon sequestration and storage - such as watershed protection, water flow regulation, nutrient cycling, rainfall generation and disease regulation.
