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Forest ecosystems provide plenty of valuable benefits, known as ecosystem services, to both the surrounding environment and people.
However, not all of these benefits are traded on the markets, quantified, and conisidered in forest management and land use planning.
This causes overestimation of short-term direct gains of forests (such as cutting trees, selling timber, and collecting non-timber products)
and underestimation of the flows of their long-term benefits (such as recreation, eco-tourism, pollination, carbon sequestration, etc.).
In turn, this situation leads to overexploitation of forests and rapid degradation of their ecosystems, biodiversity, and ecosystem services.

Fortunately, there are now a number of methods and approaches that can help us account for non-market forest ecosystem services.
These methods allow us to estimate economic and social value of forests and their services and to communicate this value to stakeholders.
In such way, we have the tools to bring arguments and to create strategies favouring conservation and sustainable management of forests.
This is what we at the organisation MEGA are doing within the series of projects The Codru Quest with regard to the Codru forest in Moldova.

Now, we would like to share our experience and results with you through the course
"Forest Ecosystem Services: Valuation, Conservation, and Sustainable Management".
VIEW THE COURSE CONTENT

Economic Valuation of Forest Ecosystem Services

The first part introduces the concept of ecosystem services, the Total Economic Value of a forest, and the methods of measuring economic value of forest ecosystem services.

Strategic Planning of Sustainable Forest Management

The second part teaches about anthropogenic threats to forests, integration of forest ecosystem services into development planning, and cost-benefit analysis.

Stakeholder Engagement into Sustainable Forest Management

The third part reveals methods of informing stakeholders about forest ecosystem services and engaging them into conservation and sustainable management of forests.

The course is designed for anyone interested in nature conservation, environmental economics, and sustainable development.

It is especially useful to those, who work in the area of conservation and sustainable management of forests and protected areas
and who wish to apply economic valuation, integration of ecosystem services, and stakeholder management methods to their work.
No prior knowledge and experience in environmental economics and management are needed to successfully complete the course.

More information about personal benefits and gains from taking and completing the course can be found below.
  1. Learn to consider economic and social benefits of forests and to communicate them to other people and organisations
  2. Understand and learn to describe the concept of forest ecosystem services and their four main categories Try it now!
  3. Understand and learn to use available research on economic valuation of forest ecosystem services in your work
  4. Develop skills in applying economic and social values of forest ecosystem services into strategic planning and policy-making regarding sustainable forest management
  5. Develop skills in identifying, educating, and engaging relevant stakeholders into conservation and sustainable management of your local forest or protected area
The course was created for you by the organisation MEGA (Moldovan Environmental Governance Academy).

It is delivered to you by an experienced trainer, researcher, and environmental economist Alexandr Iscenco.

The preparation and delivery of the course were supported financially by the Rufford Foundation. 
Mobirise

MEGA

Social entrepreneurial organisation focused on gamification and e-learning with environmental and social value. It has organised 30 environmental projects, delivered 3 courses, and engaged over 4000 people into nature conservation.

Mobirise

Alexandr Iscenco

Environmental economist, trainer, researcher, and social entrepreneur. He has conducted 9 environmental research projects, published 27 scientific articles, delivered about 90 trainings and workshops, and educated over 320 students.

Mobirise

Rufford Foundation

Charity foundation established specifically for the development of the Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation (RSGs) programme. It has supported financially over 5000 environmental projects in more than 150 countries around the world.

Do you have questions or do you need clarification about other aspects of the course?

If yes, please check the Frequently Asked Questions below to find the answers you seek.

Alternatively, you can use the Contacts page to send us a message with your inquiries.

The course includes 10 video trainings and several learning resources. The total duration of all video trainings is approximately 2 h 20 min. The time needed for reading the materials largely depends upon you.

No. Due to the kind financial support from the Ruffod Foundation, the course is available to you for free. Nevertheless, you can still express your satisfaction with the course and its contribution to your professional development by offering a donation of your choice to our organisation MEGA. We will be most grateful for any support you could provide.

Yes. There is a Facebook group Forest Ecosystem Services Agents created specifically for students and alumni of the course. We encourage you to join it. Here you will be able to meet with your peers, discuss the course content with them, see recent news and useful articles on the subject of the course, share your own news and articles, post your questions, get different opinions from the multicultural community, and in such way gain advantage of collaborative learning beyond what is available on the course website.

If you did not find answer to your question here, you can address it to us and the trainer of our course, Alexandr Iscenco. To do this, access the Contacts page of this website and send us your question via the form available there. We will get back to you with an answer within 1-2 business days.

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