ABSTRACT
Conceptual frameworks provide the basis for developing a common understanding of the problems and issues that need to be explored, relevant types of evidence about services and benefits, and the way changes in service supply and demand might be valued. A framework is a way of organising our thinking or working practice. To use conceptual frameworks effectively in the context of ecosystem assessment, it is worth reflecting in more detail on the different types of purpose to which they are put within the social process that surrounds their construction. In the context of an ecosystem assessment the development of a conceptual framework is therefore not a trivial matter, or merely an emblematic task designed to communicate what is distinctive about the particular initiative. Ecosystem assessments can be undertaken at a range of geographical scales. For any ecosystem assessment to be successful, it must be 'credible', 'salient' and 'legitimate'.
