Ecosystem services are defined as all direct and indirect factors of ecosystems contributing to better human life. Although it is a relatively new concept, it receives a lot of attention from scientists and political factors, primarily because of the EU’s Strategy on Biodiversity which recommends carrying out an assessment of ecosystem services in all member states. Ecosystem services are also promoted as concepts that have the potential to improve ecological planning in urban areas based on a more complete understanding of the complex interdependencies and dynamics of socio-ecological systems. Although there are some studies on ecosystem services which assess only one component of it, e.g. only cultural services or populations of fish, this thesis’ aim is to have a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to some extent. For this reason, the thesis also deals with social and ecological aspects related to the services of aquatic ecosystems. Specifically, the method of calculating the recreational area was selected as a social indicator for the research areas – Zagreb’s Lakes Jarun and Bundek - and in the surrounding area of these two sites, while the geological-ecological criterion was the calculation of surface runoff. The results showed that there is a vast amount of recreational area in the area of Jarun and Bundek. Land cover such as lawns and woodlands are important for an infiltration and to prevent the surface runoff. For further estimations of ecosystem services, it is recommended to continue the research by using additional method which are descried in this thesis, as well as to involve a larger area of research, i.e. expanding it on the whole City of Zagreb.