Looking Beyond Ecosystem Services Supply: Co-production and Access Barriers in Marine Ecosystems of the Chilean Patagonia

Abstract

In this chapter, we propose a framework of analysis based on the ecosystem service cascade model, to describe and explore the distribution mechanisms of ecosystem services (ES) and their benefits and to inquire into the processes of co-production, capture and access to benefits. As a case study, we selected the Magallanes region in the southern Chilean Patagonia. We mapped five ES: sense of place, food from aquaculture, recreational opportunities, food from artisanal fisheries, and education and knowledge opportunities. For each ES, we determined the number and location of direct and indirect beneficiaries using the Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Classification System (FEGS-CS). Each ES showed a distinctive pattern of supply distribution, and most of the marine space presented low to very low values in all indicators. The areas where ES indicators increased corresponded to small areas and did not necessarily overlap, suggesting few spatial positive and negative synergies between ES. This dispersed distribution of the ES did not coincide with the highly concentrated locations of direct and indirect beneficiaries in the four cities of the region. Moreover, a large part of the ES supply were captured by foreign entities, either by foreign companies in the case of food from artisanal fisheries and aquaculture or by extra-regional beneficiaries in the case of recreation and education and knowledge opportunities. The analysis of co-production and access mechanisms evidences that past policies have favored a pattern where the regional population is deprived of accessing the direct benefits of these ES through consumption, enjoyment, or learning. Instead, the benefits that they receive are restricted to employment (sometimes low-quality employment such as at fish processing plants) and income. A better distribution of benefits requires deep transformations of preceding policies and institutions, which not only defined the concentration of people in certain territories but also defined the access mechanisms and power relations that determine who access ES benefits and who does not.