The EU overseas entities support unique ecosystems which are home to an estimated one-third of the globally threatened species, including many endemic species. Because of the importance of biodiversity and ecosystems services in EU ORs/OCTs both locally and to the EU and member states (MS), it is essential to develop effective approaches to biodiversity governance. Yet often short-term economic interests are given priority over the preservation of ecosystem services. Ecosystem valuations offer a policy tool to convert the concrete and abstract value that ecosystems and biodiversity contribute to EU OR/OCT economies into numbers.

The NetBiome-CSA project has collected information about the ecosystem valuation resources which exist specific to EU ORs/OCTs, yet so far there has been no broad investigation of the uptake of resources in policymaking. Through a series of interviews with stakeholders in five EU ORs/OCTs, we seek to create a more complete picture of the application of ecosystem valuation in policy practice.

Part I of this report gives an introduction to the concept of ecosystem valuation and its potential usefulness in policymaking. It then includes a review of the literature on governance of natural resources in the EU ORs/OCTs and characterises the state of the art in the integration of ecosystem valuation into policy based on existing literature.

Part II presents the results of stakeholder interviews about the uptake of ecosystem valuation in policymaking in the EU ORs/OCTs. Part II concludes with an analysis of the interview results and discussion of their implications for future research and outreach.