Ecosystem Services Integrated Approach for “Special Provision Watershed Protection Plans”

Ecosystems require ecosystem services (ESs) sustainability for the well-being of humans and the adaptation to climate change externalities. ESs are defined as diverse benefits/products/processes humans derive from ecosystems. The role of natural ecosystems in the climate adaptation process is immense, as put forward by top-level policymakers and scientists [1–3]. Because of this reason, their diverse impacts need to be highlighted and better integrated into the decision-making process. This paper will first elaborate on the significance of ESs in spatial decision-making. It will evaluate the integration of the ESs approach in watershed protection plans with special provisions and regulative background in the Türkiye case. Watersheds represent the diversity of terrestrial ecosystems with their significance in the adaptation process of climate change impacts. Extreme weather conditions, floods, forest fires, and water shortage/drought are the key expected impacts of climate change in watersheds. On the other hand, the contribution of watersheds to human wellbeing is a complex issue, and their interaction with settlement development pressures or the scale of different human use/needs to be taken into account under the lenses of the ESs approach [4, 5]. The paper’s methodology will review seven watersheds representing Türkiye’s different terrestrial and climatic characteristics. According to the initial findings, critical ESs may differ regarding the ecosystem characteristics and locational features of ecosystems/settlements in the selected watersheds.