Stakeholders

Stakeholders can be defined as “any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the ecosystem services” in the specific context (Hauck et al. 2014) 1). To further substantiate this four main categories of stakeholders related to biophysical or physical resources and their ecosystem services/disservices can be distinguished (Demeyer & Turkelboom 2014) 2):

  1. Beneficiaries: Stakeholders who directly benefit from ecosystem services (e.g. people seeking relaxation, enjoing natural products);
  2. Burden: Stakeholders who are negatively affected by ecosystem services/disservices (e.g. people with allergic reactions);
  3. Impact Stakeholders: Stakeholders who directly impact ecosystems and/or their services (e.g. land owners, resource manager);
  4. Indirect Stakeholders: stakeholders who indirectly influence ecosystem (services) (e.g. decision maker, civil society organization).
1)
Hauck, J.; Saarikoski, H.; Turkelboom, F. & Keune, H. (2014): Stakeholder involvement in ecosystem service decision-making and research. In: Potschin, M. and K. Jax (eds): OpenNESS Reference Book. EC FP7 Grant Agreement no. 308428. Online available at www.openness-project.eu/library/reference-book, checked on 5/11/2016.
2)
Demeyer, R. & Turkelboom, F. (2014): The ecosystem services stakeholder matrix. Lovens A. et al. (eds): OpenNESS manual: Stakeholder analysis for environmental decision-making at local level. EC FP7 Grant Agreement no. 308428. INBO, Brussels., checked on 5/11/2016.