scholarly journals Protected Areas and Ecosystem Services — Integrating Grassland Conservation with Human Well-Being in South Africa

10.5772/59015 ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Pelser ◽  
Nola Redelinghuys ◽  
Anna-Lee Kernan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Grassland Conservation

scholarly journals Globalization and Biodiversity Conservation Problems: Polycentric REDD+ Solutions

Land ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mwangi Githiru ◽  
Josephine Njambuya
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Great Chance ◽  
Free Rider Problem ◽  
The Face ◽  
Negative Impacts

Protected areas are considered the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation, but face multiple problems in delivering this core objective. The growing trend of framing biodiversity and protected area values in terms of ecosystem services and human well-being may not always lead to biodiversity conservation. Although globalization is often spoken about in terms of its adverse effects to the environment and biodiversity, it also heralds unprecedented and previously inaccessible opportunities linked to ecosystem services. Biodiversity and related ecosystem services are amongst the common goods hardest hit by globalization. Yet, interconnectedness between people, institutions, and governments offers a great chance for globalization to play a role in ameliorating some of the negative impacts. Employing a polycentric governance approach to overcome the free-rider problem of unsustainable use of common goods, we argue here that REDD+, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate change mitigation scheme, could be harnessed to boost biodiversity conservation in the face of increasing globalization, both within classic and novel protected areas. We believe this offers a timely example of how an increasingly globalized world connects hitherto isolated peoples, with the ability to channel feelings and forces for biodiversity conservation. Through the global voluntary carbon market, REDD+ can enable and empower, on the one hand, rural communities in developing countries contribute to mitigation of a global problem, and on the other, individuals or societies in the West to help save species they may never see, yet feel emotionally connected to.

Supporting the Management of Ecosystem Services in Protected Areas: Trade-Offs Between Effort and Accuracy in Evaluation

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (02) ◽  
pp. 1750007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uta Schirpke ◽  
Rocco Scolozzi ◽  
Benedetta Concetti ◽  
Bruna Comini ◽  
Ulrike Tappeiner
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Spatial Scale ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Monetary Valuation ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Different Levels

Integrating ecosystem services (ES) into the management of protected areas, such as European Natura 2000 sites, can improve biodiversity conservation and human well-being; yet, the assessment and application of ES remains challenging. In this study, we propose a roadmap to guide managers in the assessment of ES at multiple levels, including a non-monetary valuation in qualitative and quantitative terms, as well as a monetary valuation, and suggesting the appropriate applications related to ES mapping, communication and planning. The roadmap proceeds through four steps and along a gradient of accuracy and effort required in the assessment methods, with different levels of spatial scale, to effectively support managers. Together with the description of the roadmap, this paper provides insights from its application to terrestrial Natura 2000 sites in Italy.

scholarly journals The Role of Tourism Impacts on Cultural Ecosystem Services

Environments ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taff ◽  
Benfield ◽  
Miller ◽  
D'Antonio ◽  
Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Positive Affect ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Cultural Ecosystem Services ◽  
Tourism Impacts ◽  
Parks And Protected Areas ◽  
Health And Well Being

Parks and protected areas are recognized for the important ecosystem services, or benefits, they provide society. One emerging but understudied component is the cultural ecosystem services that parks and protected areas provide. These cultural ecosystem services include a variety of benefits, such as cultural heritage, spiritual value, recreation opportunities, and human health and well-being. However, many of these services can only be provided if people visit these parks and protected areas through tourism opportunities. However, with this tourism use comes a variety of inevitable resource impacts. This current research connects potential impacts from tourism in parks and protected areas to the health and well-being aspect of cultural ecosystem services. We used an MTurk sample to record affective responses across a range of resource conditions. Results demonstrate that as tourism-related ecological impacts increased, positive affect decreased. Decreases in positive affect were more severe for park and protected area scenes featuring informal and/or undesignated social trails when compared to scenes with increasing levels of trampling/vegetation loss. Collectively, the results show that managing tourism in parks and protected areas in a manner that reduces impact is essential to providing beneficial cultural ecosystem services related to human health and well-being.

scholarly journals Recreational and Nature-Based Tourism as a Cultural Ecosystem Service. Assessment and Mapping in a Rural-Urban Gradient of Central Spain

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 343
Author(s):  
Cecilia Arnaiz-Schmitz ◽  
Cristina Herrero-Jáuregui ◽  
María F. Schmitz
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Outdoor Recreation ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Landscape Conservation ◽  
Urban Gradient ◽  
Social Ecological

Land management focused from the social-ecological perspective of ecosystem services should consider cultural services in decision-making processes. Nature-based tourism offers a great potential for landscape conservation, local development and the well-being of human populations. However, the subjectivity of recreational ecosystem services has meant a clear impediment to assessing and mapping them. In this study, an integrated numerical spatial method is developed, which quantifies the supply and demand of recreational ecosystem services and allows mapping their spatial correspondence along a rural-urban gradient. The procedure also allows quantifying the influence of the landscape structure and the presence of protected areas on the degree of coupling between supply of recreational ecosystem services and demand for outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism and reveals that protected areas are hotspots of recreational ecosystem services. The results obtained highlight the usefulness of the methodological procedure developed as a tool for sustainable land planning and management from an integrative social-ecological approach.

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 Land productivity dynamics in and around protected areas globally from 1999 to 2013

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Begoña de la Fuente ◽  
Mélanie Weynants ◽  
Bastian Bertzky ◽  
Giacomo Delli ◽  
Andrea Mandrici ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Land Degradation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Active Management ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Land Productivity ◽  
Productivity Dynamics

AbstractTracking changes in total biomass production or land productivity is an essential part of monitoring land transformations and long-term alterations of the health and productive capacity of land that are typically associated with land degradation. Persistent declines in land productivity impact many terrestrial ecosystem services that form the basis for sustainable livelihoods of human communities. Protected areas (PAs) are a key strategy in global efforts to conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services that are critical for human well-being, and cover about 15% of the land worldwide. Here we globally assess the trends in land productivity in PAs of at least 10 km2 and in their unprotected surroundings (10 km buffers) from 1999 to 2013. We quantify the percentage of the protected and unprotected land that shows stable, increasing or decreasing trends in land productivity, quantified as long-term (15 year) changes in above-ground biomass derived from satellite-based observations with a spatial resolution of 1 km. We find that 44% of the land in PAs globally has retained the productivity at stable levels from 1999 to 2013, compared to 42% of stable productivity in the unprotected land around PAs. Persistent increases in productivity are more common in the unprotected lands around PAs (32%) than within PAs (18%) globally, which may be related to more active management and vegetation cover changes in some of these unprotected lands. About 14% of the protected land and 12% of the unprotected land around PAs has experienced declines in land productivity from 1999 to 2013 globally. Oceania has the highest percentage of land with stable productivity in PAs (57%) followed by Asia (52%). Europe is the continent with the lowest percentage of land with stable productivity levels in PAs (38%) and with the largest share of protected land with increasing land productivity (32%), which may be related to the high population density and share of agricultural land within PAs as well as to rural land abandonment processes in many regions of Europe. In conclusion, we provide a relevant indicator and assessment of land productivity dynamics that contributes to characterise the state, pressures and changes in and around protected areas globally. Further research may focus on more detailed analyses to disentangle the relative contribution of specific drivers (from climate change to land use change) and their interaction with land productivity dynamics and potential land degradation in different regions of the world.

Editorial

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Louisa Denier ◽  
Willemien Du Plessis
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
South African ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Research Committee ◽  
Legal Recognition ◽  
High Court ◽  
Legal Perspective

On Sunday 3 July 2011 the Research Committee of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, the IUCN Environmental Law Centre, Bonn and the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law organised a pre-conference workshop entitled “Towards the legal recognition and governance of ecosystem services” at Mpekweni, Eastern Cape, South Africa. At this workshop, papers were delivered on various aspects of ecosystem services. These included an introduction to ecosystem services from a legal perspective by Alejandro Iza of the IUCN Environmental Law Centre, and an introduction from a scientific perspective, by Christo Marais of the South African Department of Water Affairs. Justice Antonio Benjamin from the High Court of Brazil gave a presentation on Jurisprudential experiences in Brasilia and the importance of the legal recognition of ecosystem services; Alistair Rieu Clarke (University of Dundee) spoke on “The 1997 UN Watercourses Convention and Ecosystem Services: Can a Combined Reading Ensure that International Watercourses are Utilised in an Equitable and Reasonable Manner?”; Jamie Benidickson (University of Ottawa) presented the new IUCN “Guidelines for Protected Areas Legislation” and David Hodas (Widener University) gave a presentation entitled “Seeing into Law's Blindspot: Ecosystem Energy Services”. The discussions during the workshop enabled participants to realise that there were numerous angles to the topic of ecosystem services and that the discussion had not been fully explored, in particular concerning the human livelihoods aspect and the intricate relationship between ecosystem services and rights. It was therefore decided that there would be an open call for papers for publication on these issues, which would contribute to furthering this important discussion in the light of the major world conferences that would have taken place from 2012 onwards.

scholarly journals Identifying and assigning values to the intangible cultural benefits of ecosystem services to traditional communities in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 116 (7/8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun Mowat ◽  
Bruce Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
South African ◽  
Economic Valuation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Cultural Ecosystem Services ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Traditional Communities

Cultural ecosystem services make an important and valuable contribution to human well-being. However, research efforts in relation to ecosystems do not reflect this value, with the majority focusing on provisioning service contributions in developed countries, with cultural services largely neglected. Consideration of the contribution and importance of these services in South Africa focuses on the more tangible cultural ecosystem services such as recreational and educational benefits, with a paucity of research on the more intangible aspects such as sense of identity, belonging and worship of the ancestors. This lack of research is out of keeping with evidence of an intimate and profound relationship between the land and traditional communities in South Africa. Here we reflect on the available evidence of the nature of cultural ecosystem services to traditional communities in South Africa, and consider one aspect of the global debate on cultural ecosystem services by analysing the suitability of two predominant methods of ascertaining their value – neoclassic economic valuation and deliberative approaches – in a South African context. The types and nature of the values associated with cultural ecosystems, and the way of life of traditional communities, suggest the use of deliberative approaches is better suited to this task. It is hoped that these discussions will encourage researchers from a range of disciplines to engage in furthering research efforts in this area, and improve the evidence base on identifying, assessing and valuing these services, which are of significant importance and value to many of the most marginalised and vulnerable members of South African society.

scholarly journals Impacts of marine plastic on ecosystem services and economy: State of South African research

2020 ◽  
Vol 116 (5/6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumaiya Arabi ◽  
Anton Nahman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
South African ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Marine Ecology ◽  
Policy Response ◽  
Knowledge Gaps ◽  
Plastic Debris ◽  
Marine Plastic Debris

In addition to its direct impacts on marine ecology and biota, marine plastic debris can affect the delivery of ecosystem services, with resulting impacts on human well-being, society and the economy. It is important to quantify these impacts in economic terms, so as to be able to provide evidence-based support for an appropriate policy response. We review the South African literature on the impacts of marine plastic debris on ecosystem services and on the economy, in order to identify relevant knowledge gaps. The gaps are found to be significant. Some research has been conducted in terms of impacts relating to recreation, aesthetics and tourism and the costs of beach and harbour clean-ups. However, there is a significant lack of research regarding impacts on ecosystem services relating to fisheries and aquaculture, heritage, habitat provision, biodiversity, and nutrient cycles. There is also a significant lack of research regarding direct economic impacts on the transport/shipping and fisheries industries, indirect economic impacts (such as costs associated with health-related impacts), and non-market costs (e.g. impacts on scenic, cultural and spiritual values). More research is needed in South Africa to address these gaps, in order to inform policy aimed at addressing plastic waste and marine plastic debris. Significance: • This review highlights the knowledge gaps in terms of the impacts of marine plastics on ecosystem services and on the economy in South Africa, which are important to understand in order to be able to direct funding for future research in this domain. Without better knowledge of the economic impacts of marine plastic debris, it is difficult to assess the costs of inaction, and therefore to inform an appropriate policy response for tackling the problem of marine plastic debris.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document