Intergovernmental Platform On Biodiversity And Ecosystem Services Research Articles

Archetypes of social-ecological-technological systems for managing ecological infrastructure

The concept of ecological infrastructure (EI) as a lens for landscape management has the potential to address environmental challenges, such as biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, by instrumentalizing Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP). NCPs stems from the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and refers to the various ways in which the natural world provides benefits, values, and services that directly and indirectly contribute to the well-being, livelihoods, and cultural aspects of human societies. This research explores this potential by proposing an archetype analysis of social-ecological-technological systems (SETS) to manage EI. We derived archetypes using machine learning and clustering on a data-driven SETS framework co-produced with experts in EI management. The archetype analysis was conducted by combining K-means with hierarchical clustering on spatial patterns to generate clusters with similar configurations of social, ecological, and technological subsystems. The approach is illustrated for the canton of Geneva, Switzerland, which experiences high urbanization and ecological pressures. The resulting spatially explicit archetypes of SETS facilitate policy recommendations tailored to multifunctional landscapes, which can be used to derive coherent management strategies for EI. In addition, the approach demonstrates that by taking an integrated landscape approach and engaging with diverse stakeholders, it is possible to develop effective landscape-based management recommendations for promoting the sustainable provision of NCPs and biodiversity within the concept of EI.

A multi-taxon analysis of European Red Lists reveals major threats to biodiversity.

Biodiversity loss is a major global challenge and minimizing extinction rates is the goal of several multilateral environmental agreements. Policy decisions require comprehensive, spatially explicit information on species' distributions and threats. We present an analysis of the conservation status of 14,669 European terrestrial, freshwater and marine species (ca. 10% of the continental fauna and flora), including all vertebrates and selected groups of invertebrates and plants. Our results reveal that 19% of European species are threatened with extinction, with higher extinction risks for plants (27%) and invertebrates (24%) compared to vertebrates (18%). These numbers exceed recent IPBES (Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) assumptions of extinction risk. Changes in agricultural practices and associated habitat loss, overharvesting, pollution and development are major threats to biodiversity. Maintaining and restoring sustainable land and water use practices is crucial to minimize future biodiversity declines.

Diverse values of nature for sustainability

Twenty-five years since foundational publications on valuing ecosystem services for human well-being1,2, addressing the global biodiversity crisis3 still implies confronting barriers to incorporating nature’s diverse values into decision-making. These barriers include powerful interests supported by current norms and legal rules such as property rights, which determine whose values and which values of nature are acted on. A better understanding of how and why nature is (under)valued is more urgent than ever4. Notwithstanding agreements to incorporate nature’s values into actions, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)5 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals6, predominant environmental and development policies still prioritize a subset of values, particularly those linked to markets, and ignore other ways people relate to and benefit from nature7. Arguably, a ‘values crisis’ underpins the intertwined crises of biodiversity loss and climate change8, pandemic emergence9 and socio-environmental injustices10. On the basis of more than 50,000 scientific publications, policy documents and Indigenous and local knowledge sources, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessed knowledge on nature’s diverse values and valuation methods to gain insights into their role in policymaking and fuller integration into decisions7,11. Applying this evidence, combinations of values-centred approaches are proposed to improve valuation and address barriers to uptake, ultimately leveraging transformative changes towards more just (that is, fair treatment of people and nature, including inter- and intragenerational equity) and sustainable futures.

A call to strengthen local governance for preventing and mitigating global crises

Deforestation and land conversion have dramatic consequences to biodiversity and disease emergence, but they are also deep-rooted in historical forces involved in environmental injustice. Global guidelines tackling global crises approach the problem using top-down formulas that often fail to match local needs and priorities, and are rarely evaluated for local suitability, implications, and impacts. Motivated by the report of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) workshop, published in 2020, we reflect on how drivers of zoonotic disease emergence are linked to historical injustices and how global initiatives tackling global crises are prone to reproducing colonial structures. We provide examples of local governance strengthening through horizontal and interdisciplinary collaborations, and how the support of local solutions can build resilience against global crises.

Value Pluralism in Practice: Integrating IPBES to Refine Ecosystem Services Assessments in South Africa

As global biodiversity loss continues to increase, effective valuation of natural capital is a prerequisite for effective environmental planning decisions. The introduction of Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) in 2005 brought the concept of ecosystem services into the limelight. After that, The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) mirrors the MA's original use of the term ecosystem services and goes further by openly embracing concepts from multiple worldviews on human-nature relationships and knowledge systems. The emergence of the latter promises to provide new and improved suggestions for existing assessment methods in many countries around the world. One such example is Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in South Africa. By summarizing the current assessment methodology of the NCA in South Africa, this paper summarizes the current limitations of the NCA and suggests that the integration of the IPBES method into the NCA can effectively solve the above problems. The paper also analyses the first national form of IPBES organization, the Brazilian BPBES, to illustrate the need to tailor IPBES selectively to the specific problems of the country to achieve the best results. This paper is an attempt to optimize the methodology of the South African national-level ecosystem services assessment and an exploration of the application of IPBES, a conceptual framework linking nature and people.

Enablers and challenges when engaging local communities for urban biodiversity conservation in Australian cities

Across all landscape types, environmental managers work with communities to conserve biodiversity. The effectiveness of conservation practice, however, relies on acknowledging differences in preferences and values of nature. Implementing urban conservation is challenging because cities have diverse social, cultural and ecological attributes, meaning there are no simple solutions for the management or co-management of biodiversity. There is little guidance for urban environmental managers on how to 1) engage local urban communities and 2), implement conservation actions specific to cities and their communities. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 environmental managers from government and not-for-profit organizations across five Australian capital cities to 1) explore how environmental managers engaged local communities, and 2) understand the factors that enabled or constrained that engagement in conservation. Our aim was to understand the enablers and constraints of engagement with a view to share insights and patterns in the context of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) conceptual framework’s recognition of the diversity of values associated with nature’s contributions to people (NCP). We found that urban environmental managers facilitated NCP by working to improve people’s relationship with nature. Interviewees reported a range of enablers for community-based biodiversity conservation, including supportive organizational policies and strategies, community support, engaging Indigenous advisory groups, and deploying multi-use, integrative human-nature designs. Constraints and challenges included a lack of top-down commitment, reliance on individuals, and overly simplistic engagement strategies. Based on these findings, we identified opportunities for improved community engagement relevant to organizations responsible for urban environmental management.

International Environmental Law and Sea Turtles: Anatomy of the Legal Framework and Trade of Sea Turtles in the Lesser Antilles

Of the seven extant species of sea turtles, five navigate the waters of the Caribbean Sea surrounding the Lesser Antilles. As migratory species at all life stages, sea turtles need a coherent and strong legal framework in order to ensure the survival of the species for present and future generations. In light of the ongoing Holocene mass extinction crisis, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) conducted a comprehensive global assessment that presented alarming findings of unprecedented decline in global ecosystems and of rapid acceleration in extinction rates that threatens one million species. The current legal framework of international treaties implemented to protect these fragile species is fragmented and often ineffective due to deficient implementation and enforcement. Public health risks linked to the consumption of sea turtle parts and derivatives are also discussed in this article. Finally, this article offers recommendations for effectively monitoring sea turtle fisheries as to enhance an evolution toward more sustainable activities.

Stakeholders interest and influence and their interactions in managing natural resources in Lake Hawassa catchment, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT This study was conducted in Lake Hawassa catchment, Ethiopia where policy programs are aiming to restore degraded lands with participation of local stakeholders. We assessed the system in relation to natural resource management and degradation using the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) conceptual framework and conducted a stakeholder analysis to understand stakeholder interest, influence and interactions amongst the different categories of stakeholders. Data were collected using key informant interviews, field observation and a literature review. Results indicate that the degradation of natural resources in the catchment is attributed to several interlinked socio-economic and biophysical factors. Identified stakeholders include government and non-governmental organizations, local administrative bodies, civil society, the private sector and farmers. Most of the stakeholders have a role in landscape restoration, have similar interests and strategic options, and are flexible and innovative. Moderate to pronounced trust exists among identified stakeholders and could provide an opportunity to achieve better coordination and collective action amongst the different stakeholders. However, considerable differences between stakeholders in power, power resources and influence were detected due to differences in access to information, communication and negotiation skills, practical relevance, and social relations. The costs for empowerment measures could be low, as many of the stakeholders have access to and control of resources and high level of basic competencies. Our findings could guide practitioners and policy makers on whom and how to engage when planning and implementing natural resources management and landscape restoration interventions at catchment level.

¿Cómo pueden contribuir los estudios feministas y poscoloniales de la ciencia a la coproducción de conocimientos? Reflexiones sobre IPBES

Iniesta-Arandia, I., Quintas-Soriano, C., Garcia-Nieto, A.P., Hevia, V., Diaz-Reviriego, I., Garcia-Llorente, M., Oteros-Rozas, E., Ravera, F., Pineiro, C., Mingorria, S. 2020. How can feminist and postcolonial science studies contribute to knowledge co-production? Insights for IPBES. Ecosistemas 29(1):1936. https://doi.org/10.7818/ECOS.1936 The influence and social legitimacy of scientific knowledge are decreasing globally. One of the reasons is the lack of interaction and communication between the fields of research, management and local populations or society more broadly. In the contexts of sustainability policies and the global socio-ecological crisis, this has an impact on decision-making and the implementation of public policies. In this context, other action research models have emerged that promote a dialogue between society, science and policy and propose new scenarios where people from different fields and with different profiles collaborate in the production, exchange and application of knowledge. Despite this, difficulties in communication and collective knowledge building processes persist. In this article, we propose how the perspectives from feminist and postcolonial studies of science can help to address the problems found in these contexts from another angle. In addition, we illustrate these perspectives with a case study where there are different interactions between research and management personnel and / or the general public: The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Finally, we discuss how perspectives from feminist and postcolonial studies of science, with their emphasis on subjectivities, power dynamics and processes of knowledge production, can help design science-policy-society interfaces that are effective, legitimate and contribute to the co-production of knowledge.

Insights for policy-based conservation strategies for the Rio de la Plata Grasslands through the IPBES framework

Abstract The Río de la Plata Grasslands (RPG) are one of the most modified biomes in the world. Changes in land use and cover affect the RPG’s rich biodiversity. In particular, the expansion of crops, overgrazing, afforestation, and the introduction of exotic species pose a major threat to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES). In this study, we applied the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) conceptual framework as a new lens to approach biodiversity conservation enactments in the RPG. First, we systematically reviewed published scientific literature to identify direct and indirect drivers that affect the RPG’s BES. Further, we conducted an extensive analysis of management policies affecting the BES directly in the region, at a national and international level. We conclude by offering recommendations for policy and praxis under the umbrella of the IPBES framework.

Scenario-modelling for the sustainable management of non-timber forest products in tropical ecosystems

Abstract Ecosystems degradation, and consequently biodiversity loss, has severe impacts on people around the world. The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is one of the international initiatives that have emerged to inform policy makers and aid decisions to prevent further global biodiversity loss, focusing on the interdependence between natural systems and human culture. IPBES promotes the use of scenarios and modelling approaches as a fundamental tool to advance the understanding of the relationships between drivers of change, Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP), and social systems. Local-scale case studies with a system approach demonstrating how current knowledge can be used to inform decision-making are still scarce. Here, we present a comprehensive conceptual model and a series of four scenarios under different policies for shea tree species management, as a case-study of applying systems thinking and the NCP concept to a local-scale socio-ecological system. We first characterized the central processes, NCP, drivers and pressures affecting the shea tree system, to investigate the impacts of the multiple uses of the shea tree species on the system as a whole. We then described potential policy options, developed four scenarios, and evaluated them by a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN). We predicted qualitative outcomes of the proposed scenarios: Business-as-usual (BAU), “Conservation and fair trade”, “Agroforestry and fair trade” and “Industrial development”. We found that the scenarios focussing on conservation, fair trade and agroforestry, can improve the conservation status of shea trees, and enhance wellbeing in the local communities. In this case study, we demonstrate that the development of a comprehensive conceptual model at a local scale can be a useful exercise to identify opportunities for effective policy strategies and social innovation. The shea tree case study can provide an example for modelling non-timber forest products in other regions around the world that face similar drivers and pressures. Species for which this model could be adapted include Central and South American species such as the Brazilian nut (Bertholletia excelsa), cocoa (Theobroma cacao), andiroba (Carapa guianensis), açai (Euterpe oleracea) and the wax palm (Ceroxylon quindiuense). The model and workflow applied here may thus be used to understand similar socio-ecological systems with local and international economic value across the Neotropical region.

Can intrinsic, instrumental, and relational value assignments inform more integrative methods of protected area conflict resolution? Exploratory findings from Aysén, Chile

ABSTRACT This paper addresses Protected Area (PA) research gaps through an exploration of the plural nature of natural area values, using the three dimensions (intrinsic, instrumental, and relational) of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Conceptual Framework for values assessment. Research employs an online survey (n = 155), combining the Natural Area Value Scale (NAVS) and a fictional protected area decision making scenario to examine how visitor use planning participants in the Aysén Region of Chile assigned value to natural areas. Two relational values (aesthetics, recreation) emerge as the most highly assessed of the four NAVS dimensions in the study. Cluster analysis identified three distinct value orientation cluster groups, based on their NAV dimension ratings. Differences amongst the value cluster groups help identify potential power imbalances that have the potential to contribute to PA conflict. Comparisons of the user groups that local management authorities use to segment stakeholders reveal a number of similarities. Management scenario responses, which incorporate newly emerging relational value concepts, suggest that study participants incorporate plural value considerations and prefer solutions that include relational values.

Co-production in action: perceiving power in the organisational dimensions of a global biodiversity expert process

Opening up knowledge–action systems to a wider range of disciplinary and societal actors is considered to be a necessary step in achieving transformative change for sustainability. In science for sustainability, there is a growing body of experience and literature of putting this ‘co-production’ into action. However, there is an opportunity to strengthen the application of analytical resources for more explicitly recognising and accounting for the power relations embedded in these initiatives. This paper deploys social theory from science and technology studies to develop an approach to perceive power relations between the participants, processes and products of co-production. This necessitates paying attention to the multiple and distributed organisational spaces where co-production takes place to discern: who participates; who (and what) is represented; how deliberations are structured; and how outcomes are circulated. This paper shows that these organisational dimensions of participation, representation, deliberation, and circulation not only give structure to co-productive forums, but can also define the power relations between their participants, processes and products. The paper then illustrates the applicability of this approach using the case of a current global expert process for biodiversity: The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). This case study offers insights on the challenges and opportunities for designing and evaluating co-production initiatives for sustainability.

People-Centered and Ecosystem-Based Knowledge Co-Production to Promote Proactive Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development in Namibia

Growing levels of uncertainty and vulnerability generated by land use conversion and climate change set demands on local communities and national institutions to build synergies between the diverse array of knowledge systems in order to provide policy makers and practitioners with the best available information to decide what urgent actions must be taken. Science policy arenas and agreements such as the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) recognize the importance of different types of knowledge and the need for broad stakeholder involvement, yet the use of indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) in environmental decision-making processes is still underdeveloped. This study involved working with local stakeholders, using the MARISCO method (adaptive MAnagement of vulnerability and RISks at COnservation sites) to carry out a systematic situation analysis of the existing socioenvironmental conditions. The assessments were conducted in the Kavango East Region in northern Namibia with the participation of inhabitants of the Khaudum North Complex, a protected area network covering wooded savannahs belonging to the Northern Kalahari sandveld. General outcomes of the assessments and evaluations made by the local stakeholders concerning the most critical drivers of degradation of the ecosystems appeared to support existing scientific knowledge of the study area, demonstrating that community-based assessments can provide valuable information about socioecological systems where scientific data are scarce. The findings of this study also highlight the importance of power dynamics for the implementation of participatory processes and the interpretation of their outcomes.

Climate change, tree pollination and conservation in the tropics: a research agenda beyond IPBES

Tree‐pollinator interactions are important ecosystem services that are threatened by global warming and climate change. Very few investigations have focused on fruit‐tree pollination interactions in the tropics. In this paper, we analyze knowledge gaps proposed by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) with special reference to the tropics and associated with (1) the effects of climate change on plant‐pollinator interactions and (2) pollinator diversity and population attributes within the context of nature conservation. WIREs Clim Change 2018, 9:e502. doi: 10.1002/wcc.502This article is categorized under: Climate, Ecology, and Conservation > Observed Ecological Changes

Future science-policy agendas and partnerships for building a sustainable society in harmony with nature

The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has identified the development of scenarios as a key component of its Global Assessment. As part of the project entitled “Future scenarios and governance of social-ecological systems in the Asia–Pacific (AP) region through enhancing synergy between indigenous and local knowledge and scientific knowledge,” we conducted an online questionnaire survey to identify key science-policy agendas, and collaborations among science, policy, and society in the AP region. The results demonstrated the importance of traditional knowledge in ecosystem management as well as collaboration between policy makers and researchers. The findings will be useful inputs when IPBES and governments develop bottom-up and participatory scenarios and pathways that can lead to sustainable futures.

Where do IPBES delegates in Europe see challenges, needs, gaps and opportunities in policy uptake of “Nature’s contributions to people”?

This research note illustrates how European national delegates to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) perceive the challenges, needs, gaps and opportunities related to the policy implementation of “Nature’s contributions to people (NCP)” in their nation. Until now, only little information has been available on how IPBES delegations perceive national policy-uptake and the implementation of the IPBES core concept of NCP. Based on an online survey with IPBES delegates, we aim to provide a stock-take of how IPBES delegations see NCP currently being incorporated in national government policies in Europe and how these policies are being implemented through programmes. Survey results show IPBES delegates consider a lack of relevant data and methodologies for NCP assessments to be a major obstacle to the uptake and implementation of NCP concepts in Europe. We wonder if availability of data and methodologies are the most prominent challenges to make IPBES a success, and consider the need for policy uptake and implementation to be more prominently addressed within the IPBES process.

From shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs) to oceanic system pathways (OSPs): Building policy-relevant scenarios for global oceanic ecosystems and fisheries

There is an urgent need for developing policy-relevant future scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services. This paper is a milestone toward this aim focusing on open ocean fisheries. We develop five contrasting Oceanic System Pathways (OSPs), based on the existing five archetypal worlds of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) developed for climate change research (e.g., Nakicenovic et al., 2014 and Riahi et al., 2016). First, we specify the boundaries of the oceanic social-ecological system under focus. Second, the two major driving forces of oceanic social-ecological systems are identified in each of three domains, viz., economy, management and governance. For each OSP (OSP1 “sustainability first”, OSP2 “conventional trends”, OSP3 “dislocation”, OSP4 “global elite and inequality”, OSP5 “high tech and market”), a storyline is outlined describing the evolution of the driving forces with the corresponding SSP. Finally, we compare the different pathways of oceanic social-ecological systems by projecting them in the two-dimensional spaces defined by the driving forces, in each of the economy, management and governance domains. We expect that the OSPs will serve as a common basis for future model-based scenario studies in the context of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Stakeholder Engagement in the Making: IPBES Legitimization Politics

A growing number of expert organizations aim to provide knowledge for global environmental policy-making. Recently, there have also been explicit calls for stakeholder engagement at the global level to make scientific knowledge relevant and usable on the ground. The newly established Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is one of the first international expert organizations to have systematically developed a strategy for stakeholder engagement in its own right. In this article, we analyze the emergence of this strategy. Employing the concept “politics of legitimation,” we examine how and for what reasons stakeholder engagement was introduced, justified, and finally endorsed, as well as its effects. The article explores the process of institutionalizing stakeholder engagement, as well as reconstructing the contestation of the operative norms (membership, tasks, and accountability) regulating the rules for this engagement. We conclude by discussing the broader importance of the findings for IPBES, as well as for international expert organizations in general.

Accommodating consensus and diversity in environmental knowledge production: Achieving closure through typologies in IPBES

How can a diversity of perspectives be accommodated in scientific and political consensus on environmental issues? This paper adopts a science and technology studies (STS) approach to examine how the pursuit of consensus-based knowledge and diverse participation, as seemingly contradictory commitments, have been converted into practice in the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Through a series of negotiations, these commitments have been translated into a set of situated practices that now dominate this expert panel. Consensus has been achieved through the pursuit of closure, in which meetings of expert and administrator groups produce texts, tables and images that stabilise ostensibly collective decisions. Within this framework, diverse perspectives have been accommodated through the production of typologies, such as lists of comparable options, which allow for the coexistence and commensurability of a range of knowledges and experts. However there is a politics to typologies, which requires specific attention to how decisions are made (deliberation), who participates in them (participation), and the extent to which these participants are representative of broader knowledge and policy communities (representation). While the potential of typologies to accommodate consensus and diversity offers the hope of realising ‘unity in diversity’ for both environmental knowledge and policy, recognising the politics of their production is important for more equitable processes of environmental governance.