A method to assess the economic impacts of forest biomass use on ecosystem services in a National Park

• Published in: Biomass & bioenergy Vol. 98; pp. 252 - 263
• Main Authors: Grilli, Gianluca, Ciolli, Marco, Garegnani, Giulia, Geri, Francesco, Sacchelli, Sandro, Poljanec, Aleš, Vettorato, Daniele, Paletto, Alessandro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2017
• Subjects: Decision support system (DSS); Economic value; Ecosystem services; Experts; Forest biomass; Protected area; Ecosystem services; Economic value; Experts; Protected area; Forest biomass; Decision support system (DSS)
• ISSN: 0961-9534; 1873-2909
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biombioe.2017.01.033

The aim of the paper is to develop a method to assess the effect of forest biomass use for energy on ecosystem services (ES). Such method has been in the GRASS GIS environment, by creating an Decision Support System (DSS) called r.green.biomassfor. The method has been tested in the Triglav National Park in Slovenia. The potential forest biomass was estimated with r.green.biomassfor DSS taking into account the effects of forest biomass harvesting on ES in terms of economic value. The economic value of each ecosystem service to society has been estimated using different economic evaluation methods and were spatially located with a Geographical Information System (GIS) application. Then, a semi-structured questionnaire was administered face-to-face to the experts in order to understand the effects of forest biomass harvesting on the ES at local level. Finally, the results of the questionnaire survey were elaborated to obtain indicators useful to assess the economic gain or loss on the benefits provided by ES based on the results of r.green.biomassfor DSS. •Strategies for the improvement of forest biomass supply in the protected areas must consider impacts on ecosystem services.•Our proposed Decision Support System has a flexible structure that can be applied from local to national scale.•The economic evaluation of ecosystem services is a key aspect in spatial planning.•The experts’ opinions are important in impact assessment of forest bioenergy use on ecosystem services at local level.•In the development of a Decision Support System for forest planning the socio-economic variables must be included.