This webinar is the 4th of the series of online webinars that aim to stimulate knowledge sharing and managers’ participation while addressing various topics and challenges related to wetland conservation and management in the Mediterranean region.

The webinars are organized by MedWet under the MAVA OAP M3 project: “Disseminating knowledge and sharing experience for promoting wetlands conservation around the Mediterranean”.

The webinar, attended by 44 participants, explored the ecosystem services or wetlands’ contribution to people, which is a topic of global importance and is also an effective approach to supporting the management of complex systems like wetlands.

Participants also learned how to use these ecosystem services for proper planning and management of wetlands, and they explored their economic and social implications with a focus on monetary valuation techniques. A particular focus was on when and why it is useful to know the economic value of ecosystem services, and the most used methodologies were explained with examples.

The sessions were led by three experts on wetland-related issues from the Mediterranean region:

• Dr. Özge Balkiz, member of the Scientific and Technical Network Expert (MedWet/STN)
• Dr. Vania Statzu, Environmental Economist, vice-president of MEDSEA Foundation
• Dr. Flavio Monti, Manager of the Scientific and Technical Network of MedWet.