Conference goals

The Conference brought together scientists, administrators, decision makers, the private sector, NGO’s and other persons interested in ecosystem management to discuss potential implications of the MA for Belgium. It addressed major ecosystem changes in Belgium, the relevance of the MA for environmental policy and research strategies and proposed possible research and policy priorities in Belgium. The colloquium equally addressed Belgian policy and research responsibility in ecosystem changes at a global scale.

Leading scientists addressed the following questions about selected major ecosystems in Belgium:

1. What ecosystem services, as defined in the MA methodology, are supplied by the ecosystem?
2. How did the ecosystem change over the last 50 years?
3. What are the consequences of ecosystem change for its services?
4. How will the ecosystem services change under current practice?
5. Which priority measures should be taken to remediate ecosystem services losses?
6. Is the MA methodology an appropriate approach to evaluate ecosystem change and ecosystem services?

The Conference ended with a panel discussion involving representatives of various categories of stakeholders and the audience, and addressed the following questions:

1. What is the importance of the MA approach for environmental and sustainable policies?
2. Which changes in the organisation of the policy response should be recommended?
3. Which research strategies should be recommended to underpin the MA approach?