POTENTIAL OF BIODIVERSITY BUSINESS TO IMPROVE THE PROTECTION OF TEMPERATE FORESTS

Biodiversity loss is the second world environmental priority and its path depends largely on the state of forest ecosystems. The emergence of biodiversity and ecosystem service markets is credited with high potential and gained a tremendous political support in the last few years. Numerous uncertainties and the initial stage of application for many of the biodiversity business options make it difficult to draw straightforward conclusions. Analysis of biodiversity business options available for ecosystem service providers and how they compare with business as usual options would therefore improve the knowledge base in this area. The question is explored by using private temperate forests as case study and computing data estimates from various sources. It results that biodiversity business could cover the risks to be faced in Western Europe and North America, but has little potential to protect forests from Eastern Europe where governments should consider more effective policy tools.