The 'ProEcoServe' project assessed ecosystem services such as the provision of soil retention, shoreline protection, carbon sequestration and pollination, identifying almost US$1 billion of benefits in the four pilot countries of Chile, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa and Viet Nam. This final report includes the results of a four-year project to develop ecosystem assessment tools and products that decision makers can use to integrate the value of ecosystem services into policy, investment decisions and macro-economic models.
Project results published in the report show that ecosystems are critical to sustainable development. Additionally, it relays a number of ecosystem services and their value to the countries participating in the program, including, inter alia: soil retention services worth US$622 million and coral reefs providing up to US$49.6 million of shoreline protection services annually in Trinidad and Tobago; US$166 million in savings through an ecosystem service-based disaster risk approach and the creation of 400,000 jobs from ecosystem restoration services in South Africa; 45,523 hectares of mangroves generating ecosystem services worth up to US$1,560 to US$2,985 per hectare, per year in the Ca Mau province of Viet Nam; and information on water and ecotourism benefits in Chile based on data from an earth observation system and tourism data flows from internet-based platforms.