William Sidemo Holm

My research

My research focuses on understanding the values from nature to people and developing cost-efficient strategies for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service provision. My work centers around fours key challenges: valuing ecosystem services, promoting sustainable agriculture, enhancing the effectiveness of protected areas, and helping businesses reduce their impacts on nature.

Gross ecosystem product

I focus on valuing ecosystem services that lack direct market values to help integrate these into decision-making processes. Currently, my work primarily involves estimating the total national and annual values of ecosystem services, referred to as gross ecosystem product (GEP). The goal is to provide countries and regions with a comprehensive measure of ecosystem values for human well-being, offering an alternative to traditional metrics like gross domestic product (GDP).

Optimizing protected areas for biodiversity and ecosystem services

Protected areas are the backbone of global biodiversity conservation. Using global datasets, I study how different factors influence the effectiveness of protected areas in preserving biodiversity, maintaining natural capital, and generating ecosystem services. Additionally, I explore strategies for optimizing the expansion of the global protected area network to maximize its impact on biodiversity conservation and human well-being, incorporating values of ecosystem services and costs.

Bridging agriculture and nature conservation

In agricultural landscapes, a key challenge is restoring biodiversity and enhancing ecosystem services while minimizing economic trade-offs for farmers. To address this, I investigate how different agricultural practices and conservation actions affect biodiversity, ecosystem services, and farm income, as well as how policies can promote the most cost-effective strategies for biodiversity conservation and overall welfare gains. For example, I study how the effects of organic farming and semi-natural grasslands on biodiversity and farm income vary across different agricultural and ecological contexts. I also assess how these and other practices can be adapted to future climates and evaluate their impacts on human well-being beyond the farm, including via their effects on greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient leaching, and aesthetic values.

Reducing businesses' impacts on nature

The demand for commodities from large-scale businesses is a major driver of land use expansion and the degradation of natural habitats. I explore how businesses can evaluate commodity sourcing locations using data on biodiversity, nature's contributions to people,  risks of nature exploitation, and commodity costs. This research aims to help businesses make informed decisions that minimize their contributions to biodiversity loss and the degradation of nature’s contributions to people.

Keywords

Biodiversity, Ecosystem services, Cost-effectiveness, Costs and benefits, Policy assessment