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With the case of Flanders (northern part of Belgium) we present an integrated approach to calculate accurate losses of wetlands, potentials for restoration, and their ecosystem services supplies and illustrate how these insights can be used to evaluate and support policy making. Flanders lost about 75% of its wetland habitats in the past 50-60 years, with currently only 68,000 ha remaining, often in a more or less degraded state. For five different wetland categories (excluding open waters) we calculated that restoration of lost wetland is still possible for an additional total area of about 147,000 ha, assuming that, with time and appropriate measures and techniques, the necessary biophysical and ecological conditions can more or less be restored or created. Wetland restoration opportunities were mapped according to an open and forested landscape scenario. Despite the fact that for 49,000 ha wetland restoration is justifiable by the actual presence of an appropriate spatial planning and/or protection status, the official Flemish nature policy only foresees 7,400 to 10,600 ha of additional wetland (open waters excluded) by 2050. The benefits of a more ambitious wetland restoration action program are underpinned by an explorative and quantified analysis of ecosystem service supply for each of the two scenarios, showing that the strongly increased supply of several important regulating and cultural ecosystem services might outweigh the decrease of food production, especially if extensive farming on temporary wet soils remains possible. Finally, we discuss the challenges of wetland restoration policies for biodiversity conservation and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Dutch sentence test (LIST) and a Dutch number test (LINT) have been developed and validated for the accurate measurement of speech reception thresholds (SRT) in quiet and in noise with severely hearing-impaired individuals and cochlear implant recipients in Flanders and the Netherlands. The LIST consists of 35 lists of 10 sentences of equal known difficulty uttered by a female speaker; while the LINT consists of 400 numbers (1-100) by two male and two female speakers. Normative values were determined at fixed S/N ratios and using the adaptive method (Plomp & Mimpen, 1979), yielding identical results for SRT and slope. For the LIST, average fitted SRTs were 27.1 (0.9) dB SPL in quiet and -7.8 dB (0.2) SNR in noise. In addition, the LIST in noise displayed a steep discrimination function (17%/dB) and good reliability (within-subject standard deviation=1.2 dB). For the LINT average fitted SRTs in quiet were 20.7 (0.9) dB SPL and about -9.0 dB SNR in noise. Again, the slopes of the performance intensity functions were relatively steep, i.e. 8.5%/dB in quiet and 15.2%/dB in noise, suggesting that the LINT is accurate and efficient and thus capable of reflecting subtle changes in performance. First data with cochlear implanted subjects show that both LIST and LINT are feasible and are capable of mapping a large range of hearing disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The estimated incidence of sensorineural hearing impairment (>40 dB HL) at birth is 1.86 per 1000 newborns in developed countries and 30–40% of these are unilateral. Profound sensorineural unilateral hearing impairment or single sided deafness (SSD) can be treated with a cochlear implant. However, this treatment is costly and invasive and unnecessary in the eyes of many. Very young children with SSD often do not exhibit language and cognitive delays and it is hard to imagine that neurocognitive skills will present difficulties with one good ear. In the current paper we review the most recent evidence on the consequences of unilateral hearing impairment for auditory and neurocognitive factors. While data of both adults and children are discussed, we focus on developmental factors, congenital deafness and a window of opportunity for intervention. We discuss which etiologies qualify for a cochlear implant and present our multi-center prospective study on cochlear implants in infants with one deaf ear. The large, state-of-the art body of research allows for evidence-based decisions regarding management of unilateral hearing loss in children. Highlights • Persons with single sided deafness (SSD) demonstrate deficiencies in several domains. • Children with SSD have difficulty mastering complex skills for spoken language. • Neurocognitive deficiencies do not appear to resolve with age without intervention. • The reviewed factors due to congenital deafness strongly support early rehabilitation. • 5 to 10 newborns with SSD qualify for a cochlear implant (CI) each year in Flanders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]