Ecosystem Services

Protecting natural resource availability and quality

BIER member companies acknowledge the important role that they play in understanding, protecting, and enhancing the services and biodiversity that ecosystems provide. Recognizing and integrating the value provided by nature into decision making and business planning is an essential element of a sustainability strategy. Through direct operations, by engaging upstream with communities and suppliers, and working downstream with customers, consumers and other partners, BIER member companies strive to preserve vital ecosystems through the following set of guiding principles.

Ecosystem Services Guiding Principles

OPTIMIZE OPERATIONS

• Optimize the efficient usage of natural resources with an emphasis on freshwater sources, agricultural crops and forest products.
  
• Minimize wastes released to nature.
  
• Increase reuse and recycling of packaging materials.

PROTECT ECOSYSTEMS AND BIODIVERSITY

• Integrate ecosystem service parameters into freshwater supply, agricultural crop, forest and extractive product sustainability initiatives.
  
• Invest in protection of ecosystems and biodiversity through human and financial capital.

RECHARGE NATURAL RESOURCES

• Evaluate and address opportunities to restore natural sources.
• Pursue wastewater treatment strategies that return equal or improved  water quality back to the ecosystem.

CONNECT ALONG THE VALUE CHAIN

• Engage with stakeholders along the entire value chain to build collaborative solutions.
• Monitor and communicate progress in achieving these principles.

Beverage Product Value Chain Infographic

This infographic illustrates a beverage product life cycle from the raw materials stage to the end of life phase, and what the dependence and impacts are for each stage.

Learn More About Ecosystem Services

See BIER’s work in action and read a selection of our recent case studies.

• AB InBev
  Building Local Capacity for Watershed Stewardship
• Pernod Ricard
  Achieving Biodiversity Balance at Martell Vineyards

Useful Outside Resources

These resources can help you learn more about ecosystem services and tools.​

• BSR Report: Private Sector Uptake of Ecosystem Services Concepts and Frameworks
• BSR Report: A Review of the Emerging Domain of Ecosystem Services Tools
• WRI Report: The Corporate Ecosystem Services Review