Sofia, Bulgaria was the host of the two-day Conference "Mapping and assessment of ecosystem services - Science in action", organized by the EEA-funded project "Methodological Support for Ecosystem Services Mapping and Biophysical Valuation" (MetEcoSMap). The event, which took place on 6 and 7 February, brought together 133 experts from 21 countries.

The conference focused on mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services across the different countries represented at the event. MetEcoSMap presented their work on the development of a methodological framework and application results for mapping and assessment of ecosystem services in Bulgaria.

ESMERALDA was represented at the event by several consortium partners, among them Benjamin Burkhard, who spoke on "Integrated mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services", as well as Joachim Maes and Fernando Santos, who presented their research in keynote speeches. The Bulgarian ESMERALDA partners Svetla Bratanova-Doncheva and Stoyan Nedkov were two of the key organisers of the whole event.

Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services (MAES) are core to the EU Biodiversity (BD) Strategy, where Action 5 sets the requirement for an EU-wide knowledge base. During the conference, progress towards achieving these objectives with special focus on Bulgaria was presented and scientists had the opportunity to exchange know how and measure progress against other countries.