Quantification and Monetization of Ecosystem Services in Agriculture & Forestry – Workshop Results

In environmental and agricultural policy discussions, demands are sometimes made to compensate farmers and foresters for the societal value of the ecosystem services (ES) provided, in order to increase the acceptance of providing ES and to create additional income opportunities. Such a demand is also found in the Vision 2028+ "Future Image for Austria's Agriculture and Rural Areas" of the Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management https://www.landwirtschaft.at/vision2028/ 

Prerequisites for the development of efficient instruments for rewarding provided ES are knowledge of the extent of the ES, their providers, and ultimately the value of the service to society. On June 27, 2025, the Federal Institute for Agricultural Economics and Mountain Farming organized a workshop in cooperation with the Environment Agency Austria, HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein, and BOKU University to support the current political process by providing scientific information. Scientists presented and discussed the current state of knowledge regarding quantification and monetary valuation methods as well as implementation instruments in order to derive recommendations for action. Thus, the workshop and its results represent an implementation step of Vision 2028+.

The workshop began with four presentations by recognized experts on the natural science and socio-economic aspects of the topic:

• Uta Schirpke (Institute for Alpine Environment, Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy)
  • Ecosystem services: Key concepts and biophysical assessment approaches
    
    es_workshop_bab_2025_keynote1_schirpke_cl.pdf

    5.53 MB 26/02/2026 13:04:10

     

• Martina Bozzola (Department of Agriculture & Food Systems, FiBL Switzerland)
  • Quantification and Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Agriculture and Forestry. Data, Scientific Methods & Policy Instruments
    
    es_workshop_bab_2025_keynote2_bozzola_cl.pdf

    2.93 MB 26/02/2026 13:11:52

     

• Dir. and Prof. Dr. Peter Elsasser (Institute of Forest Economics, Thünen, Germany)
  • Values of Forest Ecosystem Services: Examples from Germany
    
    es_workshop_bab_2025_keynote3_elsasser_cl.pdf

    1.83 MB 26/02/2026 11:54:13

     

• Prof. Dr. Sigrid Stagl (Institute for Ecological Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business)
  • Ecosystem Services from an Ecological Economics Perspective
    
    es_workshop_bab_2025_keynote4_stagl_cl.pdf

    1.36 MB 26/02/2026 13:12:29

     

Subsequently, working groups discussed the current methodological state of knowledge regarding the quantification and monetary valuation of ES, data availability, and the feasibility of political and, in some cases, private-sector instruments.

The presentations were held in English, while the working groups were conducted in both English and German.

A report on the event summarizes the content and results of the presentations and working groups.

Partners:

• Federal Institute for Agricultural Economics and Mountain Farming: Martin Schönhart, Josef Hambrusch, Dieter Kömle, Astrid Reitter, Martin Weigl
• Environment Agency Austria: Helmut Gaugitsch, Martin Tschikof
• HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein: Christian Fritz
• BOKU University: Martin Tschikof