METHODS AND TECHNIQUES FOR QUANTIFYING THE VALUE OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

To quantify ecosystem services several methods have been developed, that succeed to address almost the entire range of ecosystems’ benefits for human. Using these methods has gained popularity in both developed and developing countries. However, most of studies focus on the U.S., UK and Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, and Finland). In addition, the economic approach to global ecosystem services is poor, the assessment proposed by Costanza et al. (1997), despite the many criticisms of methodological rigor, is still the most important point of reference. For Romania, the assessment of ecosystem services is at the beginning, but we can speak about a growing interest to conduct such studies.