Abstract

As part of the Bio-Mo-D research project, focus groups are being held to gain a better understanding of the response of key stakeholders to the modernisation of economic reporting at national and corporate level.

The research team sees this as an important building block for the inclusion of natural assets in political and business decisions as well as a new basis for the appreciation of biodiversity, not least as part of an expanded prosperity report.

The focus group "Information on ecosystems and their services: Opportunities and challenges for agriculture" was held digitally on 22 April 2024 and moderated by Siegfried Behrendt and Christine Henseling (IZT). Eight people took part in the discussion. The event was divided into a short introductory section and a discussion section. In a 10-minute presentation, Roland Zieschank (IZT) introduced the topic and presented the concept of ecosystem services (ES) as well as current developments in reporting on ES at national and company level. This was followed by a discussion with the invited stakeholders based on a series of key questions.

The focus was on new developments in ESS reporting systems and the associated opportunities and challenges for the transformation of agriculture. The aim of the discussion round was to enter into dialogue with the various stakeholders from agricultural and food industry associations, the environmental sector and the scientific community and to obtain information on how the potential of current developments in ESS reporting can be exploited. The central concern of the focus group is to include the stakeholder perspective more closely in the project's research activities.

Representatives from the following organisations took part: Deutscher Bauernverband e. V., Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft e. V., Agrotech Valley Forum e. V., Industrieverband Agrar e. V., BASF, Deutscher Naturschutzring e. V., Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Ernährungsindustrie e. V.

The results of the discussion are organised as follows:

• Current role of ecosystem services in the associations and organisations
• To what extent are the instruments that are currently being developed nationally (in particular the ecosystem atlas) relevant for the agricultural and food sector?
• Opportunities and potential of the ESS concept
• The challenges
• Information on further steps and measures
• Summary and conclusions

Authors

Fields of research

Resources, economies and resilience