Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment (TESSA)

The Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment (TESSA) provides accessible guidance on low-cost methods for how to evaluate the benefits people receive from nature at particular sites in order to generate information that can be used to influence decision making.

TESSA is primarily aimed at conservation practitioners, although the methods may be applicable to a wide range of users, including natural resource managers (e.g. forestry, fisheries, water managers), land-use planners, development organisations (e.g. for poverty alleviation), and the private sector.

The methods in the toolkit are designed to be applicable to users from developing and developed countries, and across all terrestrial and wetland habitats (currently excluding marine areas). The current version (1.2) provides methods for assessing global climate regulation, flood protection, water provision, water quality improvement, harvested wild goods, cultivated goods and nature-based recreation.