ESPA Knowledge
Research Workshop
Edinburgh
4th October 2010
ESPA goals
ESPA’s goal:
•
in developing countries, ecosystems are being sustainably managed
to contribute to poverty alleviation and inclusive/sustainable growth.
To achieve this goal, ESPA will invest in cuttingedge research:
•
•
•
•
improved understanding of how ecosystems function,
the services they provide,
The value of these services,
their potential role in achieving sustainable poverty alleviation.
ESPA research must provide evidence & tools:
•
to enable decision makers and end users to manage ecosystems
sustainably and in a way that contributes to poverty alleviation
All ESPA research programmes:
•
must deliver both development impact and excellent science.
ESPA Research
Delivery of excellent research will entail:
• a significant contribution to the advancement
of theory and understanding of the issues;
• theoretical and conceptual rigour in relation to
research design, methodology and process;
• employing effective interdisciplinary
approaches.
What are Ecosystem Services?
Everyone in the world depends on nature and ecosystem services to
provide the conditions for a decent, healthy, and secure life
MA 2005
www.maweb.org
Goals for ESPA Knowledge
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Understand the processes linking the full pathway of dynamic
socio-ecological systems.
Identify and research critical knowledge gaps in these dynamic
pathways adopting appropriate interdisciplinary approaches.
Identify critical thresholds in the systems and pathways which
may have negative impact (e.g. irreversible change or tipping
points) or positive impact (e.g. a critical threshold required to
create opportunities for the poor to benefit from ecosystem
services);
Improve knowledge of the environmental, political, social and
economic drivers of ecosystem degradation, and how to better
manage prevailing trends;
Develop a better understanding of the full value of ecosystem
services from the perspective of a wide range of stakeholders, as
well as new tools and methodologies for assessing these values;
Identify the drivers of sustainability, with a particular emphasis on
finding positive incentives for sustainable management that leads
to poverty alleviation.
Understand the processes linking the
full pathway of dynamic socioecological systems.
1.
ESPA – indicative framework
The overarching feedback loop considered by MA involved indirect drivers (such as economic
growth or social values that affect human well-being but do not directly affect ecosystems), direct
drivers that directly alter ecosystems (such as human-driven land use change or natural volcanic
eruptions), ecosystem structure and processes, ecosystem services, and human well-being.
Carpenter S R et al. PNAS
2009;106:1305-1312
©2009 by National Academy of Sciences
Conceptual framework for integrated analysis of coupled social–ecological
systems, highlighting key issues of space and time scales, social–ecological
interactions, dynamics of individual actors, and institutional responses.
Carpenter S R et al. PNAS
2009;106:1305-1312
©2009 by National Academy of Sciences
Conceptual framework
UK National Ecosystem Assessment
Social
feedbacks
Change
• Environmental (e.g. rainfall, sea level)
• Socioeconomic (e.g. markets,
preferences, demographic)
Human
Wellbeing:
-Economic
-Health
-Shared social
Goods and benefits
• Policies, governance.
Ecosystem
services
Ecosystems
Biosphere, Geosphere,
Atmosphere
Defra
http://uknea.unep-wcmc.org/
Future
scenarios
for the UK
Drivers of change identified (Scenario
generators)
Environmental Change
Climate change (e.g. temperature, precipitation, atmospheric CO2)
Air pollution (e.g. acid deposition, tropospheric ozone)
Sea level (e.g. flood risk)
Socioeconomic Trends
Market forces (e.g. fuel price change, food supply)
Economic growth (e.g. demand for resources)
Species introduction & removal
Social forces (e.g. population growth, demographic change, migration)
Technological change and input change (e.g. fertiliser usage)
Policies and Governance
Subsidy and taxation levels (e.g. CAP reform)
Legislation (both environmental and related) (e.g. WFD)
Valuation of goods and
ecosystem services in the NEA
Other capital inputs
Primary & intermediate
processes
Final ecosystem
services
Pollination
Soil formation
Nutrient cycling
Crops, livestock, fish
Water availability
Goods /Benefits
for people
Food
Drinking water
People
Well-being value
Economic
£
£
£
Water cycling
Trees, standing
vegetation, peat
Fibre
Energy
Primary production
Wild species diversity
Natural medicine
Waste detoxification
& purification
Pollution control
£
Climate regulation
Climate regulation,
local and regional
Equable climate
£
Pollination
Flood control
Erosion control
£
Hazard regulation,
Weathering
Diseases & pests
Disease control
Decomposition
Meaningful places,
terrestrial & aquatic
Recreation/Tourism
Socially valued
land- & waterscapes
Aesthetic/Inspiration
Spiritual/Religious
Unknown
Ecological interactions
Evolutionary processes
Unknown services
£
£
£
£
£
£
Health
+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/-
Shared
(social)
Understanding processes
Processes driving the
direct use value of
bushmeat
Nicholson et al 2009 J. Appl. Ecol.
Identify and research critical
knowledge gaps in these dynamic
pathways adopting appropriate
interdisciplinary approaches.
2.
Knowledge gaps
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
How do ecosystem services produce multiple aspects of human well-being?
What are ecosystem service synergies and trade-offs (at different spatial and
temporal scales)?
What are the opportunities of technology for enhancing ecosystem services?
How can we forecast the provision of and demand for ecosystem services?
How to map the levels and types of services supplied by alternative land
management regimes;
What are the tools and methods for measuring wellbeing: economic & noneconomic?
What values do ecosystem services hold and for whom?
What drivers are degrading and/or preventing the realisation of values?
What are the most critical dynamics and processes that influence the provision of
ecosystem services in the context of poverty alleviation?
How can we safeguard ecosystem services of particular importance to the poorest?
How can we manage ecosystem services sustainably, and realise more out of their
values, for poverty alleviation and growth/the economy?
Raudsepp-Hearne et al BioScience 2010;
Balvanera et al 2001, Science; ESPA.
ESPA research themes
• Water: Impacts of climate variability and other changes on
ecosystem services that underpin the water cycle and water
security
• Forests: Forests, land use change and ecosystem services
• Coasts: Strengthening the management of coastal
ecosystems to support sustained ecosystem service delivery.
• Health: Ecosystem services, disease ecology and well-being
• Biodiversity: Biodiversity and ecosystem services - ensuring
a sustainable flow of goods and services to enhance well-being
• Political Economy: The political economy needed for
sustainable management of ecosystem services for poverty
alleviation and sustainable growth
Trade-offs and synergies
2.
1.
1. Rodríguez, et. al 2006 Ecology and Society
2. Raudsepp-Hearne et al 2010 PNAS
Uncertainties and surrogate measures
Ricketts et al 2008 Ecol Lett
Identify critical thresholds in the
systems and pathways which may
have negative impact or positive
impact
3.
Critical thresholds
Red dots represent years of the forward switch in the late 1960s
and early 1970s. Black dots show the effect of gradual reduction of
the nutrient loading leading eventually to the backward switch in
the 1990s.
Scheffer et al 2001 Nature
Temporal lags:
1. Decline following acidification
2. Recovery following volcanic
eruption on Krakatoa
Improve knowledge of the
environmental, political, social and
economic drivers of ecosystem
degradation, and how to better
manage prevailing trends;
4.
Drivers and impacts of environmental
change
Economic & Sociological
Political
Technological
Adapted from Loreau 2010
Mitigation 1
Land & sea
Use change
Pollution &
additives
Globalisation invasives/disease
feedbacks
Mitigation 2
feedbacks
Climate
change
Impacts on biodiversity and
ecosystems
Food production
Freshwater & flood
control
Energy
Disease control
Wildlife conservation
Adaptation
Climate regulation
Wellbeing &
enjoyment
Interactions among ecosystem
services
Bennett et al 2009, Ecology Letters
Develop a better understanding of the full
value of ecosystem services from the
perspective of a wide range of
stakeholders, as well as tools and
methodologies for assessing values;
5.
Valuation : measuring marginal benefits
Marginal benefit
of carbon storage
(value of reducing
climate change)
(£/tC)
0
Marginal benefit of
recreational area
(£/hectare)
0
Baseline
scenario
Baseline
scenario
Alternative
scenario
Alternative
scenario
Bateman et al 2011 ERE
Quantity of
carbon stored (tC)
Hectares of
recreational area
Spatially explicit valuation
Bateman et al 2011 ERE
Identify the drivers of sustainability, with a
particular emphasis on finding positive
incentives for sustainable management
that leads to poverty alleviation.
6.
A General Framework for Analyzing
Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems
E. Ostrom Science 325, 419 -422 (2009)
Published by AAAS
ESPA – indicative framework