Abstract
Ecosystem-based management approaches are increasingly used to address the critical linkages between human and biophysical systems. Yet, many of the recently developed social-ecological systems (SES) frameworks neither represent the social and ecological aspects of the system in equal breadth or depth, nor do they adequately operationalize social dimensions. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s West Hawaiʻi Integrated Ecosystem Assessment, a program grounded in ecosystem-based management, recognizes the importance of place-based human dimensions in coastal and marine resource management that speak to a fuller range of social dimensions of ecosystem-based management. Previous work with stakeholders in West Hawaiʻi revealed significant SES dynamics and highlighted both the importance and lack of understanding of the links between ecosystem services and human well-being, particularly services that enhance and maintain cultural connections to a place. While cultural ecosystem services and human well-being are often recognized as important elements of SES, there have been substantial barriers to fully representing them, likely due to perceived difficulties of measuring intangible benefits and values, many which are socially constructed and subjective. This study examined SES frameworks related to cultural ecosystem services and human well-being to advance the representation and operationalization of important social aspects of SES in broad conceptual frameworks. We describe key insights and questions focused on: (1) points of inclusion for social elements in SES models, (2) culturally relevant domains of human well-being and related indicators, (3) the importance of place and its interaction with scale, and finally (4) the tension between a gestalt vs. discrete approach to modeling, assessing, and sustainably managing social-ecological systems.
Highlights
Ecosystem-based management has gained broad recognition as a crucial means to improve conservation and sustainable use of marine systems, through coordinated management of cumulative impacts from multiple sectors (Mcleod et al, 2005; Leslie and Mcleod, 2007)
Our research focuses on the desired outcomes of coastal and marine management related to particular human dimensions of management, namely human well-being and related ecosystem services, to advance their representation and operationalization in SES frameworks for coastal and marine management
We present results in four main areas that improve frameworks to integrate the human dimensions of marine management into SES models for decision making: (1) insights on how to improve the representation of human dimensions within SES conceptual frameworks; (2) potential additional social indicators that might be included in West Hawai‘i SES models; (3) the importance of place in relation to cultural ecosystem services and human well-being; and (4) depicting reciprocal and holistic aspects of SES models
Summary
Ecosystem-based management has gained broad recognition as a crucial means to improve conservation and sustainable use of marine systems, through coordinated management of cumulative impacts from multiple sectors (Mcleod et al, 2005; Leslie and Mcleod, 2007). This approach has been embraced by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency responsible for the stewardship of the nation’s ocean resources and their diverse habitats. IEAs initially followed the established Driver, Pressure, State, Impact, Response (DPSIR) approach to ecosystem assessments (as described by Kristensen, 2004), which largely includes humans only via activities that put negative pressure on the biophysical ecosystem. Recent work draws on a more holistic SES approach, conceptualizing the biophysical environment and human dimensions of the system as interconnected, influenced by both biological and social drivers, mediated by habitat and local social systems, affecting ecological integrity and human well-being, and often linked through human activities (Levin et al, 2016; Karnauskas et al, 2017; Ingram et al, 2018)
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