Languages:
 

Table 2.1. Trends in the Human Use of Ecosystem Services and Enhancement or Degradation of the Service Around the Year 2000 - Cultural services

Legend

Arrow Up
= Increasing (for Human Use column) or enhanced (for Enhanced or Degraded column)
Arrow Down
= Decreasing (for Human Use column) or degraded (for Enhanced or Degraded column)
+/-
= Mixed (trend increases and decreases over past 50 years or some components/regions increase while others decrease

Click on the links below for similar tables on:

Provisioning services

Regulating services

Supporting services

Service Human Use (a) Enhanced or Degraded (b) Notes
Cultural services    
Cultural diversity  NA NA  
Spiritual and religious values Arrow Up
Arrow Down
There has been a decline in the numbers of sacred groves and other such protected areas. The loss of particular ecosystem attributes (sacred species or sacred forests), combined with social and economic changes, can sometimes weaken the spiritual benefits people obtain from ecosystems. On the other hand, under some circumstances (e.g., where ecosystem attributes are causing significant threats to people), the loss of some attributes may enhance spiritual appreciation for what remains. (C17.2.3)
Knowledge systems NA NA  
Educational values NA NA  
Inspiration NA NA  
Aesthetic values Arrow Up
Arrow Down
The demand for aesthetically pleasing natural landscapes has increased in accordance with increased urbanization. There has been a decline in quantity and quality of areas to meet this demand. A reduction in the availability of and access to natural areas for urban residents may have important detrimental effects on public health and economies. (C17.2.5)
Social relations NA NA  
Sense of place NA NA  
Cultural heritage values NA NA  
Recreation and ecotourism Arrow Up
+/-
The demand for recreational use of landscapes is increasing, and areas are increasingly being managed to cater for this use, to reflect changing cultural values and perceptions. However, many naturally occurring features of the landscape (e.g., coral reefs) have been degraded as resources for recreation. (C17.2.6, C19.??)

* = Low to medium certainty. All other trends are medium to high certainty.

NA = Not assessed within the MA. In some cases, the service was not addressed at all in the MA (such as ornamental resources), while in other cases the service was included but the information and data available did not allow an assessment of the pattern of human use of the service or the status of the service.

† = The categories of “Human Benefit” and “Enhanced or Degraded” do not apply for supporting services since, by definition, these services are not directly used by people. (Their costs or benefits would be double-counted if the indirect effects were included). Changes in supporting services influence the supply of provisioning, cultural, or regulating services that are then used by people and may be enhanced or degraded.

a For provisioning services, human use increases if the human consumption of the service increases (e.g., greater food consumption); for regulating and cultural services, human use increases if the number of people affected by the service increases.  The time frame is in general the past 50 years, although if the trend has changed within that time frame the indicator shows the most recent trend.

b For provisioning services, we define enhancement to mean increased production of the service through changes in area over which the service is provided (e.g., spread of agriculture) or increased production per unit area. We judge the production to be degraded if the current use exceeds sustainable levels. For regulating and supporting services, enhancement refers to a change in the service that leads to greater benefits for people (e.g., the service of disease regulation could be improved by eradication of a vector known to transmit a disease to people). Degradation of a regulating and supporting services means a reduction in the benefits obtained from the service, either through a change in the service (e.g., mangroves loss reducing the storm protection benefits of an ecosystem) or through human pressures on the service exceeding its limits (e.g., excessive pollution exceeding the capability of ecosystems to maintain water quality). For cultural services, enhancement refers to a change in the ecosystem features that increase the cultural (recreational, aesthetic, spiritual, etc.) benefits provided by the ecosystem. The time frame is in general the past 50 years, although if the trend has changed within that time frame the indicator shows the most recent trend.

Source: MA
  Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Biodiversity Synthesis (2005), p.33-37

Related publication:
Ecosystem Change homeEcosystem Change
Other Figures & Tables on this publication:

Box 3.1 Table. Selected Water-related Diseases.

Table 1.1. Comparative table of reporting systems as defined by the Millennium Assessment

Table 2.1. Trends in the Human Use of Ecosystem Services and Enhancement or Degradation of the Service Around the Year 2000 - Provisioning services

Table 2.1. Trends in the Human Use of Ecosystem Services and Enhancement or Degradation of the Service Around the Year 2000 - Regulating services

Table 2.1. Trends in the Human Use of Ecosystem Services and Enhancement or Degradation of the Service Around the Year 2000 - Cultural services

Table 2.1. Trends in the Human Use of Ecosystem Services and Enhancement or Degradation of the Service Around the Year 2000 - Supporting services

Table 2.2. Indicative Ecosystem Service Trade-offs.

Table 5.1. Main Assumptions Concerning Indirect and Direct Driving Forces Used in the MA Scenarios

Table 5.2. Outcomes of Scenarios for Ecosystem Services in 2050 Compared with 2000

Table 5.3. Outcomes of Scenarios for Human Well-being in 2050 Compared with 2000

Table 5.4. Costs and Benefits of Proactive as Contrasted with Reactive Ecosystem Management as Revealed in the MA Scenarios

Table 8.1. Applicability of Decision Support Methods and Frameworks

Marine, Coastal, and Island Systems

Urban, Dryland and Polar systems

Forest systems

Cultivated systems

Inland water and Mountain systems

Box Figure B. Proportion of Population with Improved Drinking Water Supply in 2002

Box Figure C. Proportion of population with improved sanitation coverage in 2002

Figure 1.2. Conversion of Terrestrial Biomes

Figure 1.3. Decline in Trophic Level of Fisheries Catch Since 1950

Figure 1.4. Locations reported by various studies as undergoing high rates of land cover change in the past few decades.

Figure 1.5. Global Trends in the Creation of Reactive Nitrogen on Earth by Human Activity, with Projection to 2050

Figure 1.7. Growth in Number of Marine Species Introductions.

Figure 1.8. Species Extinction Rates

Figure 3.4. Collapse of Atlantic Cod Stocks Off the East Coast of Newfoundland in 1992

Figure 3.5. Dust Cloud Off the Northwest Coast of Africa, March 6, 2004

Figure 3.6. Changes in Economic Structure for Selected Countries

Figure 3.7. Human Population Growth Rates, 1990-2000, and Per Capita GDP and Biological Productivity in 2000 in MA Ecological Systems

Figure 4.1. GDP Average Annual Growth, 1990-2003

Figure 4.2. Per capita GDP Average Annual Growth, 1990-2003

Figure 4.3. Main Direct Drivers of Change in Biodiversity and Ecosystems

Figure 5.1. MA World Population Scenarios

Figure 5.3. Number of Ecosystem Services Enhanced or Degraded by 2050 in the Four MA Scenarios

Figure 6.1. MA Sub-Global Assessments

Figure 7.1. Characteristic Time and Space Scales Related to Ecosystems and Their Services

Box 3.1. Linkages between Ecosystem Services and Human Well-being

Box 6.1 Local Adaptations of MA Conceptual Framework

Scenarios of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

MA Scenarios - Global Orchestration

MA Scenarios - Order from Strength

MA Scenarios - TechnoGarden

MA Scenarios - Adapting Mosaic

Marine, Coastal and Island systems

Urban, Dryland and Polar systems

Forest and Cultivated systems

Inland waters and Mountain systems

MA Systems

Box 2.1: Ecosystem Services

Box 2.1: Ecosystem Services

Box 3.2. Ecosystems and the Millennium Development Goals

Box 3.1. Linkages between Ecosystem Services and Human Well-being: Basic Materials for a Good Life

Box 3.1. Linkages between Ecosystem Services and Human Well-being: Health

Box 3.1. Linkages between Ecosystem Services and Human Well-being: Good Social Relations

Box 3.1. Linkages between Ecosystem Services and Human Well-being: Security

Box 3.1. Linkages between Ecosystem Services and Human Well-being: Freedom of Choice and Action

Box 6.1 Local Adaptations of MA Conceptual Framework

Figure 1.1. Time Series of Intercepted Continental Runoff and Large Reservoir Storage, 1900-2000

Figure 1.6. Estimated Total Reactive Nitrogen Deposition from the Atmosphere

Figure 2.1. Estimated Global Marine Fish Catch, 1950-2001.

Figure 2.2. Trend in Mean Depth of Catch Since 1950.

Figure 3.1. Net National Savings Adjusted for Investments in Human Capital, Natural Resource Depletion, and Damage Caused by Pollution compared with Standard Net National Savings Measurements

Figure 3.2. Annual Flow of Benefits from Forests in Selected Countries

Figure 3.3. Economic Benefits Under Alternate Management Practices

Table 4.1. Increase in Nitrogen Fluxes in Rivers to Coastal Oceans

Figure 5.2. Comparison of Global River Nitrogen Export

Figure 5.4. Number of Undernourished Children Projected in 2050 Under MA Scenarios

Figure 5.5. Net Change in Components of Human Well-being Between 2000 and 2050 Under MA Scenarios.

Figure 8.1. Total Carbon Market Value per Year (in million dollars nominal)