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In this policy paper, a group of young researchers, among them Ecologic Institute's Holger Gerdes, provides possibilities and suggestions for a transformation of the approach taken in Germany towards ecosystem services, which should allow for the integration of this concept into relevant policy areas and cross-cutting issues. The policy paper is available for download.

The policy paper specifies seven guidelines for the protection and promotion of ecosystem services within man-made environments and shows how these could be realized and implemented within the existing German political system. As a cross-cutting issue, ecosystem services affect a large number of policy fields, including conservation, forestry, agriculture, and water politics. The paper therefore highlights particularly the opportunities for transformation in these sectors.

The researchers suggest the following guidelines:

1. The specific characteristics of different ecosystem services must be taken into consideration in the design of policy measures.
2. Successful policy instruments for the preservation and promotion of ecosystem services must take into account their different environmental, economic, and socio-cultural contexts.
3. Policy instruments should specifically promote the allocation of "bundles" of various ecosystem services.
4. Instruments for the promotion of ecosystem services must apply to every relevant regional level.
5. The preservation and promotion of cultural ecosystem services should play a larger role in the design of policy instruments.
6. New financing instruments for ecosystem services, involving all relevant stakeholders, should be developed and used.
7. Ecosystem services should also be considered in more cross-cutting policymaking – for example in planning and liability law.

The guidelines are based on the findings of a research project led by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research between 2009 and 2013 entitled "Market-Based Instruments for Ecosystem Services" (FKZ 01UU0904). The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Ecologic Institute, the Öko-Institut, and the University of Freiburg Department of Land Management were responsible for this project. With this innovative consortium, made up of a research academy, a university, and two policy consulting institutes, the goal of the project was to equally develop scientific knowledge and practical solutions at the intersection of land use, environmental conservation, and climate change prevention.