Abstract
Accomplishing and implementing sustainable development goals in the context of insular socio-ecological systems requires effective policy integration—i.e., the integration of policy actors across multiple sectors and levels of government to improve policy outcomes. However, achieving policy integration entails significant challenges because it is highly context-dependent. This study investigates policy integration within the complex socio-ecological context of the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador. The paper analyses Galápagos legal and planning documents to evaluate the extent to which they support comprehensive policy integration. The analysis found that recently adopted institutional arrangements have strengthened government institutions at the provincial level, and started to consider concepts relating to socio-ecological and land–sea management. Nevertheless, key policy actors and pressing issues remain unattended, due to policy inconsistencies, institutional arrangements limitations, and fragmented approaches to conservation and development control between provincial and local governments. Insights are presented to improve the comprehensiveness of policy integration in Galápagos based on a landscape-scale planning approach.
Highlights
This paper discusses the need for more effective policy integration to accomplish sustainable goals within the context of small islands’ landscapes
The framework was used to carry out a document analysis of international, national, and regional legal and planning documents to distil insights for facilitating the accomplishment of sustainable development goals in the Galápagos Islands through effective policy integration facilitated by a landscape-scale planning approach
The Galápagos Islands’ case study outlined three main themes regarding the sustainability of small islands
Summary
This paper discusses the need for more effective policy integration to accomplish sustainable goals within the context of small islands’ landscapes. The highly-specialized islands’ socio-ecological systems seem unable to cope with the rapid changes generated by ever intensifying and conflicting land–sea uses (e.g., tourism, fishing, agriculture, urban development) [1,9,10,11]. These generate dynamic and often unforeseen consequences that could potentially result in severe environmental issues, such as the introduction of invasive alien species, habitat destruction, pollution, and the depletion of natural resources [6,12]. These could drive the loss of islands’ native biodiversity, jeopardizing the long-term provisioning of ecosystems services upon which human wellbeing depends [4,11,13]
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