scholarly journals Does using the ecosystem services concept provoke the risk of assigning virtual prices instead of real values to nature? Some reflections on the benefit of ecosystem services for planning and policy consulting

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Fürst
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Nature Conservation ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Environmental Assessments ◽  
The Real ◽  
A Value ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Intrinsic Values

Abstract This forum article intends to discuss the question if using the ecosystem services concept in planning, management and decision-making can impair nature conservation objectives by hiding the intrinsic values of nature through overemphasizing monetary aspects in environmental assessments. The conclusion is drawn that using ecosystem services in a holistic social-ecological system understanding would help to overcome justified criticisms of a too narrow perspective on the real values of nature. The article is referring to and reflecting some thoughts and criticism of “Concerns about the use of ES as a tool for nature conservation: From misleading concepts to providing a price for nature, but not a value” by Morelli and Moller (2015).

scholarly journals Social Learning for Facilitating Dialogue and Understanding of the Ecosystem Services Approach: Lessons from a Cross-Border Experience in the Alboran Marine Basin

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 5239 ◽  
Author(s):  
María D. López-Rodríguez ◽  
Javier Cabello ◽  
Hermelindo Castro ◽  
Jaime Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
The Social ◽  
Governance Practice ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Marine Basin

Social learning (SL) appears to have considerable potential to enhance the impact of the ecosystem services approach (ESA) discourse on policy and society. However, empirical research to better understand the processes that support SL, the effects it generates, and the conditions that enable such learning is limited. This study assesses the ability of SL to enhance dialogue and understanding of the ESA to support transformative social change in governance practice in the Alboran Marine Basin. To do so, we conducted a specifically designed SL process oriented towards the ESA as a governance approach in this marine region. The SL process was developed through three interlinked workshops involving scientists, decision-makers and local users from Spain and Morocco, the two countries that share the governance of this social-ecological system. The results revealed that the SL process progressively facilitated (i) a more inclusive and constructive ecosystem services dialogue, (ii) a better understanding of the social-ecological system in which the actors were embedded, (iii) an enhanced recognition of science-policy-society complementarities to address sustainability issues, and (iv) a gradual social transformation towards more sustainable and equitable governance. Via the SL process, a variety of factors were identified as contributing to the creation of four relevant conditions that facilitated its successful operationalisation. These conditions included (i) the generation of trust and shared understanding, (ii) the facilitation of knowledge exchanges between actor groups across frontiers, (iii) the promotion of more democratic participation, and (iv) the co-production of practical outcomes. These contextual insights provided empirical evidence of the prominent role SL can play to enhance dialogue and understanding of the ESA for supporting its adoption as governance practice. On this basis, it is argued that operationalising SL in those processes focused on making the ESA relevant to policy and society is pivotal to its implementation in governance practice.

scholarly journals Examining Linkages among Livelihood Strategies, Ecosystem Services, and Social Well-Being to Improve National Park Management

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 823
Author(s):  
Siyuan He ◽  
Louise Gallagher ◽  
Qingwen Min
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
National Park ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Livelihood Strategies ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Sustainable Livelihood ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
The Impact

This research examines perceptions of ecosystem services (ES) and social well-being in the Wuyishan National Park, China. This study analyses the importance of and linkages between them based on the impact of new designation of protected areas on this social-ecological system. Realisation of rural well-being is critical to park-people relations in populated protected areas, and effective resolution is needed to achieve positive conservation outcomes. We conducted 372 structured interviews with community members with different livelihood strategies. Key findings from the research include: (1) the importance of provisioning (e.g., tea, rice, timber) and cultural ES (e.g., local culture, eco-tourism) is related to both current livelihood necessity and future development pursuit. (2) The perceived material well-being is higher than spiritual well-being, and high social well-being is closely related to high-income groups and those that think highly of cultural services, i.e., those engaged in non-agricultural activities (e.g., tourism) and tea cultivation. (3) Cultural values are better preserved in tea and rice cultivation and tourism, but in general, they are not incorporated to improve social well-being. The results suggest that Protected area (PA) management of local communities must seek cultural valorisation for differentiated livelihood strategies for rural people’s sustainable livelihood and stability of the social-ecological system.

scholarly journals Ecosystem Services Assessment for the Conservation of Mangroves in French Guiana Using Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping

2022 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Scemama ◽  
Esther Regnier ◽  
Fabian Blanchard ◽  
Olivier Thébaud
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
French Guiana ◽  
Cognitive Mapping ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Mangrove Ecosystems ◽  
The Many ◽  
Perceived Constraints

In 2016, the French government adopted a law for biodiversity, setting an objective of protecting 55,000 hectares of mangroves. This objective is particularly important to French Guiana, which shelters almost 60% of French mangrove ecosystems, and where mangroves occupy three quarters of the coastline. The coast of French Guiana is also where issues associated with demographic and economic dynamics concentrate. There is thus a need to plan for an economic development that is compatible with the objective of protecting mangrove ecosystems. Ecosystem services (ES) assessment can support such decision-making, informing on the costs and benefits associated with alternative mangrove conservation strategies. While the many services provided by mangrove ecosystems are well documented worldwide, the extent to which these can be encountered in the specific case of French Guiana is currently only very partially known. Relying on the Fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) approach, we collected and compared the perception of multiple and heterogeneous groups of stakeholders, of the functioning of the mangrove social-ecological system at the scale of French Guiana. Results, allow to identify mangroves ES and threats particularly influenced by the high sedimentary dynamism of the shoreline. This generates two distinct components of the mangrove social-ecological system: mud banks where ecosystem services are spatially and temporally unstable, and associated with perceived constraints for key coastal activities, and estuarine mangroves where the ecosystem services usually described in the literature on mangroves can be found. Disservices associated with mangrove ecosystems were also identified as a key interaction. This can inform the research needs that should support sustainable development trajectories, fully accounting for the protection of French Guianese mangrove ecosystems.

Application of payment for ecosystem services in China’s rangeland conservation initiatives: a social-ecological system perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanbo Li ◽  
Mingming Fan ◽  
Wenjun Li
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Basin Of Attraction ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Payment For Ecosystem Services ◽  
Pastoral Systems ◽  
System Perspective ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Massive Scale

The Chinese government has adopted Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) as a main approach for preventing or restoring rangelands perceived as undergoing degradation on a massive scale. Using the PES project, known as the ‘retire livestock, restore rangeland’ project in Alxa of Inner Mongolia as an example, the long-term ecological consequences of such projects is assessed, and the causes of the associated problems from the perspective of social-ecological system explored. Study findings demonstrate that PES, as used in the case study area, is unlikely to achieve the expected outcome of rangeland restoration in the long term. The root cause of such failure is that the PES approach focuses on end-point ecosystem services (outputs), while at the same time decoupling the feedbacks among social and ecological systems that are the key to generating such services. This drives the overall social-ecological system into an undesirable basin of attraction. It is concluded that a PES program for pastoral systems should aim to improve resilience of such a coupled social-ecological system to external shocks and changes, instead of simply maintaining ecological services without considering the origins of such services in the inter-relationship of humans and environment. It is argued that ‘Payment for Ecosystem Services’ should be displaced by ‘Payment for Social-ecological System Resilience’ in future policy discussions.

scholarly journals STRATEGI DAN KEBIJAKAN PENGELOLAAN TERUMBU KARANG COREMAP DI WILAYAH CORAL TRIANGLE DI INDONESIA TIMUR

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Siti Hajar Suryawati ◽  
Agus Heri Purnomo
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Coral Reef ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Marine Conservation ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Multi Criteria Decision Making ◽  
Coral Triangle ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Social Ecological

Tulisan ini mengusulkan sejumlah rekomendasi untuk perbaikan pengelolaan sumber daya terumbu karang di wilayah Coral Triangle Indonesia, yang didasarkan atas hasil penelitian pada Tahun 2011, di lokasi-lokasi Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program  COREMAP). COREMAP adalah program pengelolaan sumber daya terumbu karang yang merupakan wahana utama Kementerian Kelautan dan Perikanan untuk mengimplementasikan kebijakan  pengelolaan terumbu karang. Kebijakan tersebut dilatar-belakangi oleh degradasi yang terjadi pada sumber daya terumbu karang dan besarnyapotensi serta pentingnya fungsi dari aset alam tersebut. Metode yang diacu untuk penyusunan rekomendasi ini adalah analisis Sistem Sosial Ekologis (SES) dan analisis resiliensi yang mencakup perilaku positif dan negatif dalam pengelolaan sumber daya terumbu karang, dilanjutkan dengan analisis Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) terhadap perilaku-perilaku pengelolaan negatif. Data dalam penelitian ini mencakup aspek sistem sosial-ekologi, kerentanan dan resiliensi, yang diperoleh dari 1.244 responden masyarakat yang dipilih secara purposive dan 182 responden tokoh yang diperoleh dengan teknik snowball serta data sekunder yang diperoleh dari kepustakaan dan dokumentasi terkait. Hasil penelitian ini secara umum merekomendasikan 4 (empat) perbaikan terhadap kebijakan pengelolaan yang ada. Keempat rekomendasi tersebut adalah: 1) Peningkatan efektivitas Kawasan Konservasi Laut Daerah (KKLD) atau Taman Wisata Air Laut (TWAL) melalui penguatan kerjasama masyarakat-pemerintah dalam upaya-upaya menciptakan mata pencaharian alternatif, terutama di sektor non konvensional seperti pariwisata; 2) Memfokuskan pada intensifikasi pembentukan lembaga keuangan yang mendukung permodalan usaha dan perbaikan teknologi; 3) Perbaikan sistem koordinasi pihak terkait dalam pengawasan terhadap sumber daya; dan 4) Perbaikan desain program sosialisasi penggunaan alat tangkap ramah lingkungan. Title: STRATEGI DAN KEBIJAKAN PENGELOLAAN TERUMBU KARANG COREMAP DI WILAYAH CORAL TRIANGLE DI INDONESIA TIMUR This paper proposes recommendations to improve management for the resource management in the Indonesian’s part of Coral Triangle Area, based on a research carried out in the COREMAP locations in 2011. COREMAP is a program introduced by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries to implement its policies on coral reef management and conservation. The policies concern the ongoing alarming degradation of the resource and the disappearing physical existence as well as functions of such natural capital. The research methods were Social Ecological System (SES) analysis and resilience analysis covering both negative and positive management practices, followed by a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) analysis of the negative management practices to come up with prioritized strategy recommendations. Data used consisted of social-ecological system, vulnerability and resilience aspects, collected from 1.244 respondents representing ordinary citizens selected purposively and 182 key persons which were determined following the snowball sampling technique, and secondary drawn upon the documented files of relevant institutions. In general, the recommendation proposed through this paper are as follows: 1) Increasing the effectiveness Regional Marine Conservation Area and Marine Tourism Park by strengthening community-government cooperation aimed at creating alternative livelihood , particularly the nonconventional sectors, more specifically tourism, 2) Focusing on the intensification of the establishment of financial institutions to facilitate better access for business capital provision and technological improvements; 3) improvement of coordination system among local influential institutions in controlling the resource; and 4) improved design of outreach programs on the use of environmentally friendly fishing gear.

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