Great News! PIANC EnviCom Working Group (WG) Report 195 – ‘An Introduction to Applying Ecosystem Services for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure Projects’ has been released.
Ecosystem services (ES) are defined as the benefits people obtain from the environment and its ecosystems. The ES concept provides a framework for evaluating the costs and benefits of natural resource management. It can be used to evaluate, justify, or optimise decisions on how land- and waterscapes are managed, for a range of sectors, including the waterborne transport infrastructure (WTI) sector.
Although some promising project examples exist, PIANC (2016) concluded that there were a number of aspects of the ES concept which needed to be tailored to the WTI sector, and that practical guidance was required. To this end, EnviCom Working Group 195 – ‘An Introduction to Applying Ecosystem Services for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure Projects’ was formed.
This report is a basic introduction into the understanding and the application of the ES concept in WTI projects, illustrating how the application of ES concepts may benefit the day-to-day work of WTI designers, planners, operators, and managers.
Congratulations to PIANC ANZ representative on the WG, Dave Hopper, Senior Officer – Programs at the Maritime Infrastructure Delivery Office, Transport for NSW – Maritime.
“It was a truly exciting and valuable learning experience working with a great team of experts from around the globe as a member of WG195.” Dave said. “I certainly learned a lot about the Ecosystem Services Concept and ways that we can apply it to benefit WTI projects in Australia. I also made some great friends along the way.
“The report provides expert guidance on ES concept and its application to WTI and is state-of-the-art on this particular subject. I strongly encourage everyone to have a read and learn together with the rest of the world to continue improving quality of WTI projects in Australia through incorporating ES concepts.
“Thanks to PIANC ANZ (Will, Ron, Neil, Greg) for supporting my involvement in the group and making these opportunities available to PIANC members. Thanks also to TfNSW for their continued support for my involvement with PIANC.
“I look forward to sharing the report with my peers in Australia and working to promote ES concept incorporation into WTI projects.”
Please click here to download the PIANC Global press release.
PIANC members can download their free copy in the PIANC Members Only Section, non-members can purchase their copy at https://www.pianc.org/publications/envicom/wg195.
