Abstract
Local and indigenous communities play a crucial role in stewardship of biodiversity worldwide. Assessment of resilience in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS) is an essential prerequisite for sustainable human–nature interactions in the area. This work examines application of resilience assessment workshops (RAWs) as a biocultural approach to conservation management in Xinshe SEPLS, Hualien County, Taiwan. RAWs were conducted in 2017–2018 in two indigenous communities—Amis Fuxing Dipit Tribe and Kavalan Xinshe Paterongan Tribe—as a part of an ongoing multi-stakeholder platform for the “Forest–River–Village–Sea Ecoagriculture Initiative” (the Initiative). Objectives of the study include (1) performing a baseline landscape resilience assessment in two communities and identifying their common and varying concerns and priorities, and (2) eliciting a community-driven vision for enhancement of the landscape resilience based on adjustments to the action plan of the Initiative. Assessment methodology employs 20 indicators of resilience in SEPLS jointly developed by the United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) and Biodiversity International; an “Explain–Score–Discuss–Suggest” model is applied. Results show that the communities’ primary issues of concern and adjustments to the action plan are related to biodiversity-based livelihoods, transfer of traditional knowledge, and sustainable use of common resources. The study concludes that this approach has a high potential to help facilitate nature-based solutions for human well-being and biodiversity benefits in Xinshe SEPLS.
Highlights
Global environmental changes largely caused by past and present socio-economic activities make future development scenarios highly uncertain and unpredictable [1]
The overarching goal of the Satoyama Initiative is in line with that of nature-based solutions under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) [12,13], while conservation and restoration of ecosystems and focus on socio-cultural challenges occur at a rural landscape scale
The efforts of the Satoyama Initiative are growing in their significance as traditionally high levels of resilience in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS) are being severely undermined by the current land-use pressures, urbanization, globalization, and climate change [14]
Summary
Global environmental changes largely caused by past and present socio-economic activities make future development scenarios highly uncertain and unpredictable [1]. It is hard to overestimate the importance of local resilience when 70% of global food production takes place on small farms [8], and stewardship of biodiversity in land-based and marine environments is the most effective “in areas held or managed by indigenous peoples and local communities” [9]. There are many socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS) around the world that were shaped through sustainable human–nature interactions favorable both to human well-being and to maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem services [10]. The efforts of the Satoyama Initiative are growing in their significance as traditionally high levels of resilience in SEPLS are being severely undermined by the current land-use pressures, urbanization, globalization, and climate change [14]. And comprehensive assessment of SEPLS resilience is crucial for reversing this downward trend [15]
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