Spatial coupling and decoupling between ecosystem services provisioning and benefiting areas: Implications for marine spatial planning

Abstract

An essential part of ecosystem service (ES) assessments and a critical aspect of planning processes that aim at enhancing sustainability, is to identify where ES are supplied and where they are captured by beneficiaries. Based on the Magallanes region in southern Chile, we illustrate ES flows and the spatial coupling and decoupling between ES provisioning and benefiting areas. To this purpose, we (1) developed type-specific spatial indicators for five ES: sense of place, food from aquaculture, recreation opportunities, food from artisanal fisheries, and opportunities for education and knowledge, (2) mapped the distribution of direct beneficiaries (final users, consumers or enjoyers) and indirect beneficiaries (those benefited through employment and income) for each municipality within the region, and (3) assessed spatial connections and mismatches. The results are illustrative of four general situations: (1) The spatial decoupling between provisioning and benefiting areas within the same municipality for food from artisanal fisheries and aquaculture; (2) The coupling between provisioning and benefiting areas within the same municipality for recreation opportunities and education and knowledge opportunities; (3) The coupling between provisioning areas and beneficiaries of sense of place in most municipalities; 4) The “unidirectional” telecoupling in fish trade, tourism and knowledge, where the region acts as a provisioning area but without or few direct regional beneficiaries. Marine spatial planning can play a significant role in changing decoupling situations into spatial connections that ensure the sustainable access of local people to food, education and knowledge and recreation opportunities.