ABSTRACT
Ecological Economics published a specific issue in 1998. Due to a lag in recognition of the existence of ecosystem services, government-or marketoriented decision-making still lacks necessary information related to ecosystem service values, in both developing and developed regions. The contributions of academic professionals and institutions have made great achievements for the field of ecosystem services valuation, with three milestones in particular. The first is the mapping of global ecosystem services valuation by Costanza (1997) based on published literature and original research. The second is the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) organized by the United Nations during 2001 and 2005, under which ecosystem services valuation has been promoted in more than 30 countries. The third one is the publication of Ecosystem and Human-a Manual for Assessment Practitioners (2010), a manual for evaluators and researchers, supported by the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) & UNDP (United Nations Development Programme).
