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Economics and Environment • 4 (51) • 2014
Małgorzata Stępniewska
RESOURCES OF THE POLISH OFFICIAL
STATISTICS FOR VALUATION
OF PROVISIONING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
ZASOBY POLSKIEJ STATYSTYKI PUBLICZNEJ DO OCENY I WYCENY
ZAOPATRUJĄCYCH USŁUG EKOSYSTEMOWYCH
STRESZCZENIE: Jedną z głównych przeszkód w ocenie usług ekosystemowych jest brak odpowiednich danych do
ilościowego ujęcia popytu i podaży na poszczególne usługi. Przedmiotem artykułu jest ocena potencjału staty-
styki publicznej do wsparcia ocen i wycen zaopatrujących usług ekosystemowych w Polsce. Analizę dostępności
danych źródłowych przeprowadzono w trzech wymiarach: dla klas Wspólnej Międzynarodowej Klasy kacji Usług
Ekosystemowych (CICES), jednostek podziału adm inistracyjnego Polski oraz głównych typów ekosystemów.
Oceniono także dostępność czasową danych i z wiązaną z nią możliwość określania wieloletnich trendów zmian
w poziomie usług.
Dokonany przegląd zasobów statystycznych pozwala oceniać, iż dostarczają one rozległego materiału do ocen
iw ycen zaopatrujących usług ekosystemowych, niemniej występują trudności przy korzystaniu z istniejąc ych
danych. Należą do nich szczególnie: zróżnicowana dostępność danych statystycznych na różnych poziomach
przestrzennych, brak informacji o niektórych usługach, a także rozproszenie danych związane z faktem, że usługi
ekosystemowe nie stanowią kryterium organizującego w zbieraniu i prezentowaniu danych.
SŁOWA KLUCZOWE: usługi ekosystemowe, ocena, wycena, raportowanie, dane statystyczne, źródła danych
Małgorzata Stępniewska, Ph.D. – Adam Mickiewicz University
correspondence address:
Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences
Dziegielowa 27, 61-680 Poznan
e-mail: malgorzata.stepniewska@amu.edu.pl
Studies and Materials 103
Introduction
The interest in ecosystem services (ES) in both the research and policy com-
munities has grown substantially
1
. The main obstacles in the valuation of ES in-
clude the lack of appropriate data for the quantiication of the supply and de-
mand for individual services.
2
The analysis of available data is considered to be
a necessary irst step towards the development of a reliable and feasible indica-
tor for ES mapping and assessment
3
. Data sources that may be used for the quan-
tiication of ES may include both maps and statistical data
4
. The latter are per-
ceived as particularly useful in the quantiication of provisioning ES. Many of
these services are market-related;
5
therefore, the input data for their analyses
may be obtained from statistical reports for individual economic sectors.
The aim of this paper is to assess the potential of public statistics for the sup-
port of valuations of provisioning ES and the reporting concerning the value of
these services in Poland. The aims of the studies include the identiication and as-
sessment of the available source data for the quantiication of provisioning services
in physical and monetary units. The practical aim involves the assessment of the
usefulness of the public statistics database for the implementation of target 2, ac-
tion 5 of the European Union Biodiversity Strategy. This action involves mapping
and assessment of the state of ecosystems and their services in member states by
2014 and the assessment of the economic value of such services and promoting the
integration of these values into accounting and reporting systems by 2020
6
.
Methodology
The analysis of the source data availability for the valuations of provisioning
services was carried out in three dimensions: for classes covered by the Common
International Classiication of Ecosystem Services (CICES version 4.3), Polish
1
L.M. Cox, A.L. Almeter, K.A. Saterson, Protecting our life support systems. An inventory of U.S.
federal research on ecosystem services, “Ecosystem Services” 2013 no. 5, p. 163-169; L. Braat,
R. de Groot, The ecosystem services agenda: bridging the worlds of natural science and econom-
ics, conservation and development, and public and private policy, “Ecosystem Services” 2012
nr 1, p. 4-15; R. Seppelt, et al., A quantitative review of ecosystem service studies: approaches,
shortcomings and the road ahead, “Journal of Applied Ecology” 2011, p. 630-636.
2
B. Burkhard, F. Kroll, p. Nedkov, F. Müller, Mapping ecosystem service supply, demand and
budgets, “Ecological Indicators” 2012 no. 21, p. 17-29.
3
Available data for mapping and assessing ecosystems in Europe, 2013 Final Report – task 5.2.5,
www.projects.eionet.europa.eu [04-07-2014]; Indicators for mapping ecosystem services: a re-
view, 2012 Report EUR 25456 EN, www.publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu [03-07-2014]. Mapping
of ecosystems and their services in the EU and its member states (MESEU). Final report, part 5:
task 4 – Recommendations on mapping approaches, Alterra Wageningen 2013.
4
Ibidem.
5
Study on the role of agriculture as provisioning ecosystem service, 2012 Final report, www.eco-
logic.eu [03-07-2014].
6
Our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020 [COM(2011) 244].
Economics and Environment 4 (51) • 2014104
administrative units and the main ecosystem types. The assessment covered also
the temporal availability of data and the associated possibility of deining mul-
ti-annual change trends.
The studies were based on the following data of the Central Statistical Of-
ice (CSO):
• Local Data Bank
7
;
• Environment – statistical yearbooks of 2005-2013
8
;
• Municipal infrastructure – statistical yearbooks of 2003-2012
9
;
• Forestry – statistical yearbooks of 2005-2013
10
;
• Agriculture – statistical yearbooks of 2007-2012
11
;
• Agricultural and horticultural crops production – publications of 2003-2012
12
;
• Farm animals – publications of 2002-2012
13
;
•
Physical dimensions of livestock production
– publications of 2006-2012
14
;
• Horticultural crops – publications from the National Agricultural Censuses
2002 and 2010
15
;
• Agricultural crops and selected elements of crop production methods –
a publication from the National Agricultural Census 2010
16
;
• Arable soil use and quality – a publication from the National Agricultural
Census 2002
17
;
• Maritime Economy – statistical yearbooks of 2007-2013
18
;
• Energy from renewable sources – publications of 2011-2012
19
;
• Energy Statistics – publications of 2007-2012
20
;
• Energy consumption in households in 2009
21
.
In this analysis the term ecosystem services indicator is used to refer to
the number
expressing
the level of
the service
,
presented in
an absolute
or
relative form
22
.
Source data for the quantiication of provisioning services were
analysed in two groups: indicators expressed in physical units (
such as tons,
square kilometres, cubic meters
) and monetary indicators (in PLN). The former
7
Bank Danych Lokalnych, www.stat.gov.pl [20-0-2014].
8
Ochrona środowiska 2005-2013, www.old.stat.gov.pl [16-06-2014].
9
Infrastruktura komunalna 2003-2012, www.stat.gov.pl [16-06-2014].
10
Leśnictwo 2005-2013, www.old.stat.gov.pl [16-06-2014].
11
Rocznik Statystyczny Rolnictwa 2007- 2012, www.stat.gov.pl [16-06-2014].
12
Produkcja upraw rolnych i ogrodniczych 2003- 2012, www.stat.gov.pl [16-06-2014].
13
Zwierzęta gospodarskie 2002- 2012, www.old.stat.gov.pl [16-06-2014].
14
Fizyczne rozmiary produkcji zwierzęcej 2006-2012, www.stat.gov.pl [16-06-2014].
15
Uprawy ogrodnicze. Powszechny Spis Rolny 2010, www.stat.gov.pl [16-06-2014].
16
Uprawy rolne i wybrane elementy metod produkcji roślinnej. Powszechny spis rolny 2010,
www.stat.gov.pl [16-06-2014].
17
Użytkowanie gruntów i ich jakość. Powszechny Spis Rolny 2002, www.stat.gov.pl [16-06-2014].
18
Rocznik statystyczny gospodarki morskiej 2007-2013, www.stat.gov.pl [16-06-2014].
19
Energia ze źródeł odnawialnych w 2011 r, w 2012 r., www.stat.gov.pl [16-06-2014].
20
Gospodarka paliwowo-energetyczna w latach 2007-2008, w latach 2011-2012, www.stat.gov.pl
[16-06-2014].
21
Zużycie energii w gospodarstwach domowych w 2009 r., www.stat.gov.pl [16-06-2014].
22
Joint Research Centre, op. cit.
Studies and Materials 105
provide a source material for the biophysical valuation of provisioning services,
whereas the latter – for economic valuation.
Results
Inventory of data at di erent spatial scales
In the analysed resources of the national public statistics, 588 provisioning
services indicators in physical units and 164 monetary indicators have been
identiied altogether (Table 1). These indicators enable the quantiication of the
services at different administrative levels. In the course of the studies, indicators
for the valuations of provisioning services at the national, provincial and com-
mune levels were identiied. The analysis did not cover districts, as – apart from
the Local Data Bank – in CSO’s publications used as a source material, no report-
ing on this administrative level was found.
As regards indicators for the biophysical valuations of provisioning services,
58% of them were identiied at the provincial level, 38% at the national level and
4% at the commune level. Most of the monetary indicators were identiied at the
national level (94%). Monetary indicators at the provincial level represent only 6%
of the total number, while no such indicators were identiied at the commune level.
At the national level, a considerable share (50%) of the indicators for the bi-
ophysical valuation of provisioning services is represented by the indicators for
the services from the CICES class concerning plant-based resources. They include
the statistics of production and energy consumption from plant-based resources.
The indicators for the class of genetic materials from all biota are also widely
represented (24% of all indicators in physical units). They are mainly character-
ised by forest genetic resources, including parents of family as well as seed tree
stands and seed orchards. Monetary indicators describing the level of provision-
ing services at the national level are mainly related to the classes of cultivated
crops (40% of all indicators), reared animals and their outputs (33%) as well as
ibres and other materials from plants, algae and animals for direct use or pro-
cessing (16%). The indicators related to the above-mentioned classes relect the
Ta b le 1
The number of identi ed indicators for provisioning services at di erent administrative units
Type of valuation Communes Provinces * Country * Total
Biophysical valuation 22 342 224 588
Economic valuation 0 10 154 164
* source data that do not occur in the reporting for lower-level administrative units
Source: own study.
Economics and Environment 4 (51) • 2014106
value of the crop and animal agricultural production in total and divided by prod-
ucts, as well as the value of the wood sales of the National Forest Holding, accord-
ing to product
assortments
.
The indicators, that are useful for the biophysical valuation of provisioning
services at the provincial level, are most widely represented by the classes of
cultivated crops (44% of all indicators) and materials from plants, algae and ani-
mals for agricultural use (17%). As regards the irst of the above-mentioned
classes, the analysed indicators are characterized by the size of the production of
consumer crops, whereas the second one – by the size of fodder crops. Monetary
indicators at this administrative level cover the value of the purchase of agricul-
tural produce, fruit and forest mushrooms as well as game.
At the commune level, as far as indicators expressed in physical units are
concerned, the classes of cultivated crops (36% of all indicators) and reared ani-
mals and their output (27%) are the most widely represented. They are related
to the sowing area of selected farmlands and orchards as well as the headage of
farm animals. At the commune level, no indicators reporting the level of provi-
sioning services in monetary units were identiied.
CICES classi cation coverage by data on provisioning services
The analysis covered the completeness of source data related to the classes of
provisioning services speciied in CICES version 4.3. The number of indicators for
individual classes is presented in table 2. As regards indicators in physical units
at the national level, at least one indicator for 7 out of 16 CICES classes was iden-
tiied, at the provincial level – for 12 classes, whereas at the commune level – for
6 classes. The analysed indicators were not identiied for four CICES classes alto-
gether. As regards monetary indicators at the national level, at least one indicator
for 5 out of 16 CICES classes was identiied, whereas at the provincial level – for
4 classes. No monetary indicators were identiied at the commune level. Mone-
tary indicators were not identiied for nine CICES classes altogether.
Availability of statistical data for the main ecosystem types
In the next phase of the works, the coverage of
the
main ecosystem types
with provisioning ES indicators was identiied. The analysis results are included
in Table 3. Indicators in both physical and monetary units are dominated by the
ones describing provisioning services of agricultural areas and forests. For many
indicators concerning the class of plant-based resources, it was impossible to ex-
plicitly match them to ecosystem types. These were indicators that covered the
total use of various forest, agricultural and peat biomass types for power-related
purposes, without taking into account their origin.
Temporal availability was determined for all identiied indicators. When ser-
vices are only assessed on the one-year basis, the drawback is the omission of
temporal changes of ES supply and demand. Provisioning services vary over the
Studies and Materials 107
years based on growing seasons or regulations, e.g. concerning the agriculture,
ishing or hunting. Such information has to be taken into account when commu-
nicating ES supply and demand to stakeholders. It was determined that 85% of
the indicators in physical units cover the period of at least 10 years, whereas 15%
of them are based on one-year data. As regards monetary indicators, these shares
are 95% and 5% respectively. The predominance of indicators covering the peri-
od of 10 years and longer provides a good possibility of deining multi-annual
change trends at the level of provisioning services.
Table 2
The number of indicators for provisioning services available in the resources
of the national public statistics according to CICES classes
CICES classes
Number of indicators for the administrative level *
Communes Provinces Country Total
P M P M P M P M
Cultivated crops 8 0 148 2 2 62 158 64
Reared animals and their outputs 6 0 21 2 22 51 49 53
Wild plants, algae and their outputs 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 2
Wild animals and their outputs 0 0 25 4 10 0 35 4
Plants and algae from in-situ aquaculture 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Animals from in-situ aquaculture 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Surface water for drinking 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Ground water for drinking 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Fibres and other materials from p lants,
algae and animals for direct use or processing 3 0 30 0 6 24 39 24
Materials from plants, algae and animals
for agricultural use 2 0 57 0 18 4 77 4
Genetic materials from all biota 0 0 17 0 53 0 70 0
Surface water for non-drinking purposes 2 0 10 0 0 0 12 0
Ground water for non-drinking purposes 1 0 8 0 0 0 9 0
Plant-based resources 0 0 22 0 113 13 135 13
Animal-based resources 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Animal-based energy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
P – indicators in physical units, M – monetary indicators
* A class with at least 1 indicator [grey color]
Source: own study.
Economics and Environment 4 (51) • 2014108
Discussion
The identiied indicators of the provisioning ES are included in the list of pre-
ferred indicators provided by Joint Research Centre (JRC)
23
. In the JRC’s work,
almost a half (46%) of the proposed indicators is characterised by food provi-
sion, 30% by water provision, while the remaining ones are medicinal resources
(4%) and genetic resources (3%). Indicators found in the resources of the Polish
public statistics are also consistent with the indicators of ES proposed by the
23
Ibidem.
Ta bl e 3
The number of identi ed provisioning services indicators for the main ecosystem types
The main
ecosystem types CICES classes
Number of indicators
For CICES classes Total
P M P M
Agriculture areas Cultivated crops 158 64 315 121
Reared animals and their outputs 49 53
Fibres and other materials from plants, algae
and animals for direct use or processing 12 0
Materials from plants, algae and animals
for agricultural use 77 4
Plant-based resources 19 0
Forests Genetic materials from all biota 25 4 180 30
Fibres and other materials from plants, algae
and animals for direct use or processing 2 2
Wild animals and their outputs 27 24
Wild plants, algae and their outputs 70 0
Plant-based resources 56 0
Freshwater Ground water for drinking 1 0 24 0
Surface water for drinking 1 0
Ground water for non-drinking purposes 1 0
Surface water for non-drinking purposes 12 0
Wild animals and their outputs 9 0
Baltic Sea Wild animals and their outputs 9 0 9 0
Forests/Agriculture areas Plant-based resources 58 13 58 13
Forests/Grasslands Plant-based resources 2 0 2 0
P – indicators in physical units, M – monetary indicators
Source: own study.
Studies and Materials 109
European Commission Working Group: “Mapping of Ecosystems and Their Ser-
vices in the EU and its Member States” (MAES).
24
Examples of indicators for agri-
cultural areas recommended by MAES available in the Polish oficial statistics
include the yields of food and feed crops, food and feed crop area, livestock data,
meat production and consumption. As regards forests, the examples of such indi-
cators include the data on forest harvesting, and as far as freshwater is concerned
– on domestic water consumption and water use for sectors of economy.
As pointed out by the authors of PEER
25
, indicators referring to ES need to
relect (the actual distance from) the sustainable production rates to ensure that
the long-term beneit low of services is represented. High values may arise from
over-exploitation of ecosystems and lead to wrong conclusions concerning the
most advantageous strategies of the use and protection of ecosystems. Currently,
there is no clear deinition concerning the meaning of sustainability with regard
to individual ES. However, in the Polish statistical data, no indicators characteris-
ing the level of provisioning services covering the aspects of
sustainability of
production were identiied.
It should also be noted that provisioning ES provided by agriculture are not
“pure” ES, but they originate from deeply modiied habitats. The values of those
services depend not only on the natural capital (e.g. the soil as a natural resource
for plant production), but also on the contribution of man-made input into the
system (i.e. labour, machinery, fertilisers, irrigation).
26
The availability of indica-
tors characterising both elements should enhance the usefulness of valuations of
provisioning services for the support of decision-making processes.
The presented indicators focus mainly on ES-supply assessment. ES-supply
indicators show the capacities of different ecosystems to provide ecosystem ser-
vices, but the locations of respective demands for these services cannot be deter-
mined on their basis. ES-demand indicators represent ⅓ of all identiied indica-
tors. This type of indicators makes it possible to determine the amount of ES
consumed or used in a particular area, and thus to assess where ES are actually
provided. In order to analyse the source and sink dynamics and to identify ser-
vice low, the information about the ES supply and demand needs to be merged.
27
The indicators identiied during the presented studies enable the creation of
budgets of ecosystem service supply and demand only for 5 out of 16 classes of
provisioning services: surface and ground water for drinking purposes, surface
and ground water for non-drinking purposes and plant-based resources.
24
MAES, Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services. Indicators for ecosystem as-
sessments under Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, 2014 Technical Report – 2014
– 080, www.ec.europa.eu [03-07-2014].
25
A spatial assessment of ecosystem services in Europe: Methods, case studies and policy analysis
– phase 1, 2011 PEER Report No 3, www.peer.eu [03-07-2014].
26
FRAGARIA consortium, op. cit.
27
B. Burkhard, F. Kroll, S. Nedkov, F. Müller, op. cit.
Economics and Environment 4 (51) • 2014110
Conclusions
The analysis of the existing statistical data makes it possible to conclude that
they provide a great deal of useful material for the valuations of provisioning ES;
there are yet still several challenges to be dealt with.
In particular, data are plentiful, but their availability is different at individual
spatial scales. On the national level, data availability is not so much the problem,
as many statistics are readily available, or national aggregations can be done
from regional and local data. At the local level, on the other hand, provisioning ES
remain poorly characterised by data; therefore, a comprehensive valuation of
services cannot be carried out on their basis. It is possible to use data from higher
administrative units
(e.g. yields on regional level) in order to carry out ES valua-
tion on the local scale. However, this may result in over-simpliication and coarse
assessment, since the crucial local
speciicity
remains hidden due to the high level
of aggregation of data coming from national and regional scales.
28
Great progress
may, therefore, be done by the improvement of the availability of local data on ES
by means of extending the scope of data collected at the commune level.
As not all ES are represented in the resources of the Polish public statistics,
treating them as the only source of data may lead to the under-representation of
some services and lack of information on other ones. The most important difi-
culties include also data fragmentation related to the fact that ES do not consti-
tute an organising principle in collecting and presenting data. Currently, the term
“ecosystem services” is not used in the public statistics resources; therefore, sta-
tistical data on them may be found only indirectly – through the analysis of statis-
tical publications concerning various economic sectors and subjects. The crea-
tion of an on-line platform storing data on ES on a central and accessible server
would increase data availability and enable the users to perform queries of data
for a particular output.
The presented analysis
opens the discussion
on the development of
a com-
plete system
of provisioning ES indicators in Poland. The identiied
data
need to
be discussed in an interdisciplinary manner,
involving
the correctness
and
use-
fulness of
particular indicators, the
necessary number of indicators
and desired
proportion
between the
indicators
in physical and monetary units
.
28
M. Kandziora, B. Burkhard, F. Müller, Mapping provisioning ecosystem services at the local scale
using data of varying spatial and temporal resolution, “Ecosystem Services” 2013 no. 4, p. 47-59.
