Integrated assessment of wetland services and values as a tool to anlayse policy trade-offs and management options: A case study in the Daly and Mary River catchments, northern Australia : final report

Abstract

In this report we present the results of a study carried out between May 2004 and May 2005 as a contribution to the Tropical Rivers Inventory and Assessment Project (TRIAP) of Australia's Tropical Rivers Program. The aim was to provide a framework for the analysis of the ecosystem services provided by the wetland and riverine ecosystems of northern Australia. The analyses drew heavily on the conceptual framework provided by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) where ecosystem services were defined as 'the benefits people obtain from ecosystems'. These benefits include: provisioning services such as food and water; regulating services such as flood and disease control; cultural services such as spiritual, recreational, and cultural benefits; and supporting services such as nutrient cycling that maintain the conditions for life on earth. The term 'ecosystem services' is now broadly used to encompass what can also be referred to as ecosystem goods and services and/or ecosystem functions and, at times, also environmental services. For the purposes of this report - given that the study was undertaken using the recognised 'function analysis framework' - the terms ecosystem services and functions are considered to be interchangeable unless a distinction is made otherwise.