ABSTRACT
Ecosystem services are defined as the benefits people obtain from ecosystems'. Various ecosystem service classifications have been developed since the 1980s, harmonized into a consistent categorization by the UN-instigated Millennium Assessment (MA) for common application across global habitat types and bioregions. The four categories of ecosystem services in the MA classification – provisioning services, regulating services, cultural services and supporting services – reflect qualitative differences in the diverse services that nature provides to humanity. Subsequent reclassifications have been developed serving different purposes, although the central principle of recognition of the multiple, interconnected human benefits arising from the functions performed by ecosystems remain a constant. The MA was one of the most influential international initiatives in bringing the concept of ecosystem services into wider public and political awareness. However, recognition that natural systems support human needs and well-being has a far longer history.
