Rudolf de Groot is an ecologist by training and has worked for more than 35 years on the development and application of the ecosystem services concept as a tool to analyze the socio-economic benefits of sustainable ecosystem management, and the economic costs of biodiversity loss. In July 2021 he retired as Associate Professor in Integrated Ecosystem Assessment & Management with the Environmental Systems Analysis Group of Wageningen University, the Netherlands.
De Groot was involved as Coordinating Lead author in the UN-supported Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2001-2005) www.maweb.org and in the global study on “The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity” (TEEB 2008-2010) www.teebweb.org (leading the Conceptual Framework chapter and the development of a global database on monetary values of Ecosystem Services: www.esvd.info) which now contains over 8.000 unique value records.
He is co-founder (2012) and Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier Journal “Ecosystem Services: Science, Policy & Practice” www.journals.elsevier.com/ecosystem-services and since 2018 is listed among the top 1% most cited researchers worldwide on cross-disciplinary topics.
Next to his scientific work, he is passionate about the practical application of the ecosystem services concept. He is co-founder and Chair of the Foundation for Sustainable Development (www.fsd.nl) which aims to stimulate awareness of the many ways in which people depend on, and benefit from nature https://www.naturetoday.com/intl/en/home and `make nature count` in everyday decision making. Furthermore, he is Special Advisor on Ecosystem Services and Nature Based Solutions of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) and Chair of the Ecosystem Services Partnership (www.es-partnership.org), a worldwide network to enhance the science and practical application of ecosystem services assessment.