From 6 to 9 March 2018, Plan Bleu participated to the socio-economic workshop entitled “Saltpan initiative: Addressing wetland conservation in the Med region” convened by BirdLife International in Sardinia, Italy.
This workshop was organized in the framework of the project “Wetlands Overarching activities addressing Wetland Conservation in the Mediterranean Region”, for project partners (including Plan Bleu) intending to undertake socio-economic valuation of wetland sites (3 pilot sites: Ulcinj Salina – Montenegro, Ghar El Melh – Tunisia, Oristano – Sardinia). The workshop was kindly hosted by Med Sea in Cagliari, Sardinia.
The purpose of this workshop was to provide capacity building on methods for socio-economic valuation and for participants to develop an initial plan for conducting this work. It focused on:
- Providing training on the Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment (TESSA)
- Exploring other complementary methods for socio-economic valuation based on participant’s experiences
- Sharing knowledge and experiences from previous wetlands projects in the Mediterranean region
- Discussing the socio-economic context of the sites supported by this project (Oristano, Ulcinj and Ghar el Melh)
- Developing implementation plans for undertaking socio-economic assessments at the sites
Dr. Céline Dubreuil shared Plan Bleu experience related to economic valuation of ecosystem services provided by wetlands. She was asked for making a short introduction about “why an economic valuation?” and to present the methodology used during the Med-ESCWET project for economically assess the flood control ecosystem service (Case of Lonjsko Polje). She also facilitated several working groups during interactive exercise to implement each step of TESSA toolkit.
Presentation of Céline Dubreuil : Economic valuation of regulating services
The workshop was interactive and participants were encouraged to share their own knowledge and experiences as well as to get involved in practical exercises using ecosystem services approaches. A field trip was also organized in Oristano wetland, one of the pilot site.
